Black Mirror season 6 has been on Netflix for a couple of weeks now and, in general, the reviews are very positive. Although some episodes such as Joan is Awful or Beyond the Sea stand out, in general fans of the series highlight that it is a season quite up to the level of the series created by Charlie Brooker.
However, there is one episode that is well below average in general criticism, and is even being labeled by many as the worst of the entire series – Mazey Day. The fourth episode of the season is receiving much more negative reviews than the rest, and many even say that it makes no sense for it to be part of a brand like Black Mirror.
But is Mazey Day as bad as they say? Below we try to answer the critics.
A new stone in the path of Black Mirror
Mazey Day is about a paparazzi, Bo, who considers abandoning her morally dubious profession when she causes the suicide of an actor whose only crime is being gay. However, this seems to be an anecdote when Bo changes targets when she attempts to portray Mazey, an actress who has been missing for some time. Bo follows Mazey for days until, well, he discovers she’s a lycanthrope and kills all the attendants at a restaurant… which gives Bo his wanted picture.
While it may have Black Mirror touches, there are several things why the episode has been so heavily criticized. First, because supernatural elements are not usually part of the series; this is a science fiction anthology, and throwing in a werewolf makes it lose the thread a bit.
It also doesn’t help that the episode is set in the past. As many have said, Black Mirror has gone from being a series of futuristic dystopias to past anachronisms… and while it works well in episodes like Beyond the Sea, it crashes this time around.
But more problematic is that the message of the episode fails to get through. Although it clearly tries to reflect on the paparazzi, the message is too buried by everything else… and the disruptive ending does not invite too much reflection. It may not be the worst episode of Black Mirror, but it is certainly one of the least striking.
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