Black Mirror fans call Mazey Day 'worst episode ever' after shock plot twist

20 June 2023, 12:46

Watch the Black Mirror season 6 trailer

By Katie Louise Smith

"Mazey Day down there as one of the worst black mirror episodes ever."

Black Mirror season 6 takes quite a departure from the show's usual formula. Ditching the more satirical, tech-y, sci-fi aspects of the show, the final two episodes are more horror-inspired. And that change appears to have split Netflix viewers' opinions.

'Mazey Day' (episode 4 of 5) follows Bo (Zazie Beetz), a paparazzo working in Los Angeles in 2006, desperate to earn a cheque. After a horrifying situation where she outs a closeted actor who later kills himself after she sells the photos, Bo quits the industry. Later, when young, troubled starlet Mazey Day completely disappears from public view, she gets back in the game.

READ MORE: Black Mirror Beyond The Sea's horrific ending leaves viewers traumatised

There's an absolutely WILD and unexpected twist that happens in the episode's climax but it hasn't gone down well with viewers at all. In fact, fans have placed 'Mazey Day' right at the bottom of their rankings, with some even calling it the 'worst episode of Black Mirror ever'.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Black Mirror's 'Mazey Day' ending!

What happened to Mazey Day?

A few minutes into the episode, we find out that actress Mazey is involved in a hit-and-run accident where it's presumed that she killed someone. After struggling to deal with it, she stops showing up to set and goes completely off the radar.

The paparazzi catch wind of the whole thing and are tasked with getting the first photo of her – for a very, very high fee. Bo does some digging and finds out that she's been taken to a rehab retreat.

A group of paparazzi then show up at the retreat and force their way into the cabin where Mazey is being held. They find her chained to the bed in an apparent state of withdrawal. Assuming it's because of drugs, the paparazzi begin taking invasive photos of the starlet.

And then the twist happens... Mazey is not at the retreat for drug abuse, she's there because she is a werewolf. Yes, seriously... A werewolf.

It turns out that Mazey actually hit a werewolf (?!?!!), and after getting out the car to inspect it, she was bit.

On the night the paparazzi break into the cabin, it's a full moon. As Mazey transforms before them, the paps refuse to stop taking pictures. Mazey ends up killing two of them as Bo escapes with Hector to a nearby diner.

The final scenes of the episode show Werewolf Mazey on a rampage, killing multiple people in the diner before being shot and returning back to her human form. She asks Bo to shoot her once and for all, but Bo simply puts the gun in her hands and takes one last photo before Mazey pulls the trigger on herself.

'Mazey Day' turning out to be a full blown, supernatural werewolf horror show is not what many viewers expected. Some argued that it didn't feel like a Black Mirror episode at all, others just absolutely hated the change in genre.

"Mazey Day down there as one of the worst black mirror episodes ever," one viewer wrote. Another added: "Did ChatGPT write the Mazey Day episode of Black Mirror? Cause what in the abomination was that???"

While he hasn't directly addressed the complaints about the episode, creator and writer Charlie Brooker previously reminded viewers that Black Mirror is not exclusively a show about 'tech being bad', it's about humans being bad too.

Speaking to GamesRadar+, he said: "There was a slight danger... that people were bracketing [the series] as the 'tech is bad' show – and I found that a bit frustrating partly because I always felt like, 'Well the show isn't saying tech is bad, the show is saying people are fucked up'. So, you know, 'Get it right!'"

The whole meaning behind the 'Mazey Day' episode is meant to make a statement on the obsessive culture of celebrity and being the first to break news, regardless of consequences and morals.

The werewolf bit was crazy, though.

READ MORE: Netflix says it has "never cancelled a successful show"

LISTEN: Niall Horan breaks down every song on The Show on new podcast Making The Album

Niall Horan Breaks Down Every Song On 'The Show' | Making The Album