Actually for me they do. Maybe I'm more sensitive to this than others but I've seen the first two and both left me rather disoriented, alomst detached from reality, the first minutes after watching them. I only reach such a state through brilliant (from my point of view, I guess) film or music, or by using drugs. So: no complaints here :]
E.g. I really like how the first episode makes you not only reflect on a possible-but-too-close future that looks horrible to live in, but at the same time reminds you to realize maybe it's already a reality for some people today - possible including yourself, and that in a broader sense it has been like that all throughout history.
Personally, Shut Up and Dance was my favorite episode, as it was on the level of White Bear as being so insanely messed up. Also one of my favorite albums is OK Computer by Radiohead, so when Exit Music (For a Film) played, just wow.
S3 is probably not as good as the rest of the series, but it's much better than anything else currently on TV, except for Westworld of course.
Production value is better and stories can sometimes have happy endings. Definitely more mellow for larger audience.
I think the episodes so far (1-4) are more hard hitting than the rest of them (playtest + shut up and dance, especially), but it might be because they are more recent in my mind.
Do you feel like the earlier episodes could be applicable to anyone in future society, but the current episodes are too specific to apply to "anybody" - rather, "This is the dystopian future, but only for these personality types."
Affecting society versus affecting the self?
Additionally, not sure if anybody agrees, but I considered the end of episode 1 season 3 a happy ending.
1 was my least-favorite episode of the entire series. Flabby editing, could have trimmed a solid 5 minutes, and something about the shot choices and/or the editing made every serious conversation look like watching two people ACTING, which is not a good thing.
5 was a bad episode in an interesting world. If 1 hadn't had technical issues I'd definitely rank this one under it. Story needed more work.
2 and 3 were mid-tier. 2 is pretty much a really great Outer Limits episode and 3 is just... well, Black Mirror. Good, but not amazing like some others in the series.
I'd say that puts its average under either of the other 3-episode seasons, yeah. Still some good stuff in there.
I did consider "Shut Up and Dance" to have a pretty interesting progression though.
I am looking forward to watching "San Junipero", because unlike the other episodes, I have no idea what it's about based on its episode description (or 80s-themed screenshot).