What Is the Point of 'Arkangel' in Black Mirror?

One of Black Mirror's most haunting episodes came in Season 4, which focused on the mismanagement of kids and harmful, insensitive parenting.

With Season 6 of Black Mirror looming, fans are intrigued about how it'll stack up to previous seasons. The trailers so far promise trouble to come with humanity embracing technology, nodding to the drama of the "Playtest" episode on virtual reality. Of course, fans are hoping there'll be other deft cuts and themes -- not just on pleasure, but society's habits in general.

To that point, one of the most thought-provoking episodes unfolded with a scathing indictment on toxic parenting. It came via Season 4's "Arkangel," which focused on Marie trying too hard to control young Sara's life. Unfortunately, Marie alienated her daughter, which led to bloody consequences and a lesson on the most important tool parents can use: verbal communication.

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In "Arkangel," Marie was scared after almost losing Sara in the operating room, and years later, at the park. She developed an unhealthy obsession and attachment, using the Arkangel surveillance-ware to see what her daughter saw. She'd temper, censor and alter what the child heard and felt too, which messed with Sara's mind. It made her more robotic, not understanding what it meant to feel.

When Sara got older, the overprotective Marie would spy on her sex life. She lost her temper over Sara's drug usage, going on to force Sara's beau, Trick, to dump the teen. She even went as far as to use the device to trick Sara into taking abortion pills when she learned the girl was pregnant.

After Sara learned all this from her nurse and found the control panel, it led to a violent confrontation and her physically attacking Marie. She destroyed the device and fled home, doing the opposite of what her mom wanted. She couldn't stand that she was a pawn, programmed and used. Unfortunately, Marie drove her away from town, turning the tech from something meant to accentuate and protect the teen to something Sara classified as an invasive enemy.

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Black Mirror has sadistic villains like Kenny from "Shut Up and Dance," and tragic killers, such as Mia from "Crocodile." But Marie is more sympathetic as she doesn't want to lose her child. As a single mom, she has insecurities and fears that are understandable when it comes to her whole world being ripped apart.

The show also subtly revealed Marie and her father didn't have the best bond, and his death would eventually scar Marie. To that point, Marie wasn't handling trauma well for either herself or her daughter. As such, she wanted to proactively prevent Sara from experiencing it. It's why she went the extra mile and spied, reactivating the software program to monitor the girl's coming-of-age.

But this took away the teen's self-discovery, wonder and freedom, which is why Sara latched onto Trick. Instead of meddling, though, all Marie had to do was sit down in person and talk about sex, drugs and love. But like M3GAN with its doll, and so many parents who give kids electronic devices to keep them distracted, Marie negates the power of the human condition. All she needed was interaction and honest discussion -- a main point of Black Mirror, in general. But by making tech a substitute and crutch, Black Mirror disconnected the endearment of the mother-daughter bond and played into paranoia in the worst way possible.

Black Mirror Season 6 premieres June 15 on Netflix.

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