‘Black Mirror: Mazey Day’ Review

Black Mirror is strange in that it can be a pretty scary show, but it doesn’t necessarily derive it’s scariness from straight-up horror. Instead, it creates terror through situations made worse with technology. Besides moving into science fiction territory, Black Mirror also creates scariness through societal commentary. This episode focuses mainly on the latter, but it is, without a doubt, a horror episode. It doesn’t start that way, and it isn’t exactly clear what type of episode it’s going to be until much later. It’s very loose in its plot and character arcs with multiple aspects that don’t necessarily gel together. It never feels quite like a Black Mirror episode, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be profound or scary along the way.

Bo (Zazie Beetz) is a paparazzi photographer who’s not exactly happy with her job. The constant buzz around taking inappropriate photos of celebrities weighs heavy on her conscience, but it’s the easiest way for her to make cash fast. She’s very good at it. While tight for rent, she’s drawn back into the gig to find a celebrity (Clara Rugaar) who has been in hiding after getting into a car accident during a movie shoot. She tracks her down and discovers that she’s in a rehab facility. Unfortunately, this isn’t a normal rehab facility; the actress was found chained up. While her colleagues took photos of the bizarre scene, Bo helped the poor woman. As it turns out, she was chained because she had been bitten by a werewolf and was about to turn.

The episode begins as a very poignant commentary on the bizarre nature of celebrity and scandal. Bo obviously has a very heavy story arc that deals with her contributing to this culture while not enjoying it. However, the very grounded nature of the episode is flipped upside down into complete horror once the werewolf enters the picture. In the end, though, Bo takes a picture of the naked and bleeding actress as she returns back to her human form. There’s a lot to be said by this one moment. But that’s really all this episode is from a Black Mirror standpoint. It has a surprise twist and great horror, but it’s only in the episode’s closing moments that the audience gets their Black Mirror fix. While it was enjoyable, it just wasn’t enough to make it a standout in the roster of series greats.

Black Mirror is now streaming on Netflix.