The new season of ‘Black Mirror’ can be seen on Netflix on Thursday

A new season of “Black Mirror” is always something of an occasion, especially since Netflix opportunistically scooped up the sci-fi-esque anthology series back in 2015. Four years on from Season 5, the latest batch comes about two out of five in terms of memorable episodes in a run that leans more towards horror, not feeling like everything the critically acclaimed show has to be.

To emphasize the positive, “Joan is Awful” is an almost instant classic. The episode stars Annie Murphy as Joan, a human resources officer with a big boring job and an equally boring boyfriend, who suddenly finds her life being reenacted in near real time on everyone’s favorite streaming service, something called “Stromberry.”

The “why” of that turns out to be extremely clever, if not so much the how, but because the show is television, Joan is understandably conflicted about the role of Salma Hayek Pinault, who dives into the role with juicy abandon. It’s also no coincidence that “Joan” is the best example of the show’s signature unease about technology and how it could disrupt our lives.

The runner-up, “Beyond the Sea”, is the longest of the episodes at 80 minutes and has a sci-fi element reminiscent of “2001: A Space Odyssey”, where a pair of astronauts (Aaron Paul and Josh Hartnett) can project their consciousness back to Earth, allowing them to communicate with their wives and families. When an unforeseen event occurs at home, it changes the dynamics of their relationship, which can be very, very uncomfortable on a two-man mission whose viability depends on them fulfilling their roles.

The quality clearly goes beyond that, with “Mazey Day” featuring a conflicted paparazzi (Zazie Beetz) who begins to pursue a famous actress, biting off more than she bargained for; “Loch Henry,” in which a pair of young aspiring filmmakers (Samuel Blenkin and Myha’la Herrold) return to the former’s Scottish hometown, where she learns of a sordid past that propels them into the world of true crime; and “Demon 79,” easily the weirdest and most polarizing of the bunch, in which a silent saleswoman (Anjana Vasan) is the unlikely conduit chosen by a bureaucratic demon (Paapa Essiedu) to save the world from destruction.

As usual, producer Charlie Brooker handles the writing chores (along with Bisha K Ali on “Demon 79”), and the episodes are generally both playful and provocative, including the aforementioned poke at the platform that fuels it.

Yet “Black Mirror” has distinguished itself as, at best, “The Twilight Zone” for our time, adept at tapping into the fears associated with things like social media, gaming, and artificial intelligence, among other modern distractions and conveniences. .

The new season packs a few punches in that regard, but otherwise seems content to be creepy without being consistently distinctive in a way that’s typical of the best episodes.

Brooker remains an astute observer of the modern age, with a keen ear for the current nexus between pop culture, politics and technology. But where “Black Mirror” once felt invigorating and new, the latest season only occasionally rises to the level that would take it to the top of anyone’s Streamberry – er, sorry, Netflix – watch list.

The sixth, five-episode season of “Black Mirror” premieres on Netflix on June 15.