A while ago I heard that Black Mirror was going to do a you choose your storyline sort of season. Where as you watch the show choices pop up and you have to choose what happens next. I didn’t understand how this would work. Then I stumbled upon Minecraft Story Mode on Netflix (don’t ask how) and gave it a go.

I have seen Minecraft videos before on YouTube so this concept wasn’t new to me at all. What I loved was before the main show began they had a little PSA of how it worked (given by the characters of course) and just filled you in a little. Then you actually got into the show, and with Minecraft anyway, you got to choose your character and everything.

I only watched/played for about ten minutes but the amount of cleverness that seemed to go into the mechanic was quite staggering. It kept you engaged and excited to see what you got to choose next and the story wasn’t too bad either.

But, and this is more for Black Mirror, I have one big concern.

Black Mirror is utterly fabulous with its storytelling and its social commentary and my issue is, whenever I make a choice I will then wonder what would’ve happened if I chose differently. This’ll then lead me to want to choose every option and make me watch the show countless times. This could cause burn out or loss of interest in the show and that’s not something I want to happen. I would much rather Black Mirror stick to their usual storytelling or make the audience choice element far and few between so we don’t then have to keep going back to see what’d happen if we chose differently.

While I think an interactive Netflix is something very unique and exciting I believe it’d work best for some shows and not others. With Black Mirror I want to sit back and have my mind blown at what is happening on screen, whereas, with Minecraft for example I would prefer to be in the driving seat and make it my own. It’s no fun watching people play video games and make all different choices then you would do right?

In the end, we’ll have to see how well this turns out, I just hope it doesn’t overshadow the deep and dark messages Black Mirror like to delve into.

What do you think of an interactive Netflix?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding