When the successful British "Black Mirror" series debuted in 2011, it seems only logical that imitators would start cropping up left and right. So, we were presented with anthology series such as Tales From the Loop, Dispatches from Elsewhere, Wildfire, Westworld, and reboots of the original Outer Limits and Twilight Zone.

Enter now Amazon Prime's "Dark Web," an eight episode Season One that follows a similar formula: a storyline thread runs throughout (vaguely, about the disappearance of a genius programmer and unearthing her whereabouts could lead to the end of the world. Or something). Some of the episodes are standalone stories (kind of like flashbacks, except not). The rest are the weaving of the main characters together as they search for their friend.

I'll say it right now: Most of these "hip" techno-savvy fail to hit the same mark as the original TZ or OL. I thought Tales From the Loop had its bright spots, as did Westworld (I thought the first season was excellent, but it has drifted off into I-don't-know-what at this point). Some of Black Mirror's episodes were sheer brilliance, others were so-so.

So, now we have eight half-hour episodes of a lot of vulgar language, everybody using their cell phones, and a large disregard for subtlety. But, if you're looking for something to kill a few hours over this long weekend, and you're a fan of sci-fi, horror and suspense (?) shows, it's only four hours.