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From the moment Rashida Jones first watched the U.K. version of Black Mirror in 2011, she had to know more about its creator, English screenwriter Charlie Brooker.

“I muscled my way into his life,” the self-professed Black Mirror superfan says with a laugh. “I had a friend who knew him and worked with him, and I asked if I could email him, then I just cold-emailed Charlie. We were friendly for a couple of years, so when he did his first season [of Black Mirror] with Netflix, he called me to ask if I wanted to write ‘Nosedive.’ “

The episode, starring Bryce Dallas Howard, about a society in which people are rated on their every social interaction — which in turn affects their socioeconomic status — was one of the most-talked-about of season three. Audiences have had a similar response to season seven’s “Common People,” in which Jones steps in front of the camera as Amanda Waters,...

Black Mirror is back for another season, and boy did it start off on an interesting foot. Fans of the show are known for having favorite episodes, and while I can easily see this becoming one of them, the episode raises some issues about the existence and future of the show itself.

The first episode, titled "Common People," follows the story of Amanda (Rashida Jones) and Mike (Chris O'Dowd) Waters, a couple celebrating their third wedding anniversary. Shortly after the couple celebrate their anniversary in their usual motel and diner fashion, Amanda comes down with a headache before fainting at work in front of her classroom of kids.

Mike runs to the hospital from his work, a construction site, to find out that Amanda has a brain tumor. The nurse informs Mike that there is only one thing for it: He must go off the beaten path to save his wife,...