Let's Be Honest: Demon 79's Great, But It Doesn't Belong in Black Mirror
Could Demon 79 be a backdoor pilot for a Black Mirror spinoff?
Let's admit it, after Demon 79, we all added Boney M's Rasputin to our playlists. And that was not the only good thing about the final episode of Black Mirror Season 6. The fact is that almost two months after the season premiere, we can officially say that fans have calmed down, and many now concede that Demon 79 was probably one of the best episodes of the show, even if it didn't quite fit into the Black Mirror concept.
The story is set in 1979 and follows a good-natured Indian-British female protagonist, Nida (Anjana Vasan), who works as a shoe salesclerk and leads a pretty boring life. However, her daily grind comes to an abrupt end when she accidentally summons a demon who tells her there will be a global apocalypse unless she makes three human sacrifices in three days.
While the episode deals with some serious issues like racism, politics, justice, human nature, and our perception of good and evil, what truly sets it apart is its comedy and style. The writing, dialogue, cinematography, acting, and character dynamics are all top-notch.
Demon 79 does a great job of putting the audience in the main character's shoes and showing the world from her perspective. The 1980's England setting feels as authentic as ever. So what was it that Black Mirror fans disliked about it so much, then?
The thing is that over its five-season, Black Mirror has faithfully followed the same format of providing social commentary in futuristic science fiction settings, and Demon 79 completely breaks with that tradition and ventures into supernatural territory instead. The only tech featured in the episode comprises television and nuclear weapons. And that might very well be the demarcation line between Black Mirror and Red Mirror.
Many viewers were surprised to see a Red Mirror label at the start of the episode. Creator Charlie Brooker later explained to RadioTimes.com that the new label was meant to emphasise the episode's departure from tech-centric themes to horror stories set in the past. In the same interview, Brooker also teased that Demon 79 might not be the only Red Mirror episode, depending on the viewer's response.
It looks like Black Mirror may be getting a spinoff titled Red Mirror in the future. And we'll definitely be there to watch it.
Source: RadioTimes.com.