Pratik Handore
Netflix’s ‘Black Mirror‘ season 6 explores various topics through its five standalone stories. In the fourth episode, titled ‘Mazey Day,’ viewers see the dark side of the highly controversial relationship between stars and paparazzi. It stars Zazie Beetz (‘Atlanta‘), Clara Rugaard (‘The Rising‘), and Danny Ramirez (‘The Gifted‘). In the episode, actress Mazey Day goes through a public meltdown, making her a coveted presence among the paparazzi, including the cash-strapped Bo. As Bo searches for Mazey in hopes of earning a large paycheck, she discovers a startling secret that is equally baffling and terrifying. Hence, viewers must be looking for answers about the events, twists, and the ending of ‘Black Mirror’ season 6, episode 4. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 4 Recap
The fourth episode, titled ‘Mazey Day,’ follows Bo, a photographer who works as a paparazzi. She waits outside a motel to click pictures of television actor Justin Camley. When Camley emerges from his room, he is pictured with another man, implying Camley is cheating on his wife. Camley spots Bo clicking his pictures and follows her. He fears the photos will destroy his life and ruin his career. As a result, he begs Bo not to publish the pictures and even offers her money. However, Bo flees the scene and hands over the photos to her boss. The photos are published, causing Camley to die by suicide.
Sometime later, Bo attends a red carpet event where she meets her photographer friend, Hector, who reassures her that Camley’s death wasn’t her fault. Meanwhile, the other paparazzi harass actress Sydney Alberti, instigating a reaction from her that results in an assault. After the incident, Bo gives up working as a paparazzi owing to her quilt over Camley’s death. She works as a bartender to make ends meet but is struggling. On the other hand, actress Mazey Day is shooting for a fantasy film in the Czech Republic. After the shoot, Mazey drinks in her hotel room but realizes she is out of cigarettes. As she drives to get cigarettes on a stormy night, her car crashes into another car.
The following morning, Mazey’s road to the set is blocked by the aftermath of a hit-and-run case. At work, Mazey is unable to concentrate and feels constant restlessness. She abruptly leaves the set, and the story moves a few weeks ahead. In the United States, Mazey’s behavior on the set is reported by news outlets as she hasn’t made a public appearance since returning from the Czech Republic. The media are questioning her ethics and attitude to work. Meanwhile, Hector visits Bo and reveals her former boss is willing to pay heaps of money for the first photograph of Mazey. A cash-strapped Bo decides to pick up her camera again to make a massive payday from photographing Mazey.
Bo contacts her former informants and tries to track down Mazey’s whereabouts. Her search leads Bo to Mazey’s favorite restaurant, which the actress mentioned in one of her interviews. On the other hand, Mazey is living in isolation at a producer’s mansion. Bo arrives at Mazey’s favorite restaurant and learns that she ordered food from the place in the past week. Eventually, Bo finds the mansion where Mazey is hiding. However, before she can find a way to photograph the actress, Mazey is moved to a different location after she trashes the mansion. As a result, Bo goes on the hunt for Mazey.
Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 4 Ending: Does Bo Find Mazey Day?
In the episode’s final act, Bo comes close to finding Mazey’s location. However, she is stranded at a diner when Mazey’s bodyguard catches her and punctures her tires. As a result, Mazey is forced to call Hector for help. From the diner’s waiter, the duo learns that the only lodging facility nearby is a rehab center. However, the entire place has been booked by a wealthy person whose identity is a closely guarded secret. Hence, Bo deduces that Mazey is being kept at the rehab facility. Meanwhile, two other greedy paparazzi track down Mazey’s location by following Hector using a tracker.
The paparazzi enter the facility and search for Mazey. However, they find her chained and strapped to the floor. It is revealed that the doctor who previously examined Mazey is a voodoo specialist. As the paparazzi click photos of Mazey, Bo desperately tries to free the famous actress. However, to everyone’s shock, Mazey begins to transform in front of their eyes. As Bo, Hector, and the others watch in horror, Mazey becomes a horrifying werewolf. Ultimately, the paparazzi who are looking for a scoop about Mazey, expecting her to be succumbing to alcoholism or drug addiction, find a far more devastating truth behind Mazey’s turmoil and public downfall.
How Did Mazey Become a Werewolf?
The major twist of the episode comes when Mazey transforms into a werewolf in front of the paparazzi. In her animal form, Mazey loses control of her bloodthirst and attacks the paparazzi. While three of them escape, one of them is killed on the spot. Mazey pursues the others, including Bo and Hector, who flee the scene. As Mazey’s werewolf demonstrates its raw and brute strength, the twist of her lycanthropic transformation is a major surprise. However, it is planted in an earlier scene when Mazey goes for a drive in the Czech Republic. During the accident, it is likely that Mazey was bitten by another werewolf, contracting the curse. The werewolf revelation provides a fresh twist on the perception of stars whose public downfalls and troubled personal lives are often the subject of speculation among the general public.
Is Mazey Day Dead? Why Didn’t Bo Shoot Her?
The episode’s climax sees Mazey in her werewolf form tracking down Bo and Hector at the local diner. One by one, Mazey massacres everyone inside the diner, including an officer, the waiter, a couple, and Hector. However, Bo is the only survivor as she manages to get hold of the officer’s revolver and uses it to shoot Mazey. The gunshot wound causes bleeding, forcing Mazey to return to her human form. However, she is still alive and begs Bo to finish her. Bo refuses to kill Mazey but hands her the gun to complete the deed herself. In the final scene, Mazey pulls the trigger, and Bo clicks a photograph of the actress as we fade to black.
The ending implies that Mazey dies by suicide since she cannot get hold of her werewolf transformations. The episode uses lycanthropy as a metaphor for the animalistic treatment celebrities receive at the hands of the paparazzi, as if they are display attractions at a zoo. The last scene sees Bo refusing to kill Bo but does “shoot” the actress, which is her job. Thus, the ending implies that Bo finally accepts she is not responsible for the fates of Camley and Mazey, as she was merely doing her job. Instead, the celebrities’ fates are their own doing, and the photographer did not affect the outcome of their actions, leading to their demise. Hence, the episode tries to highlight the relationship between celebrities and paparazzi, with the other side often seeing their counterparts as the antagonist.
Read More: Where Was Black Mirror Season 6 Filmed?
