S06.E04: Mazey Day

[TheOtherOne]

A troubled starlet is dogged by invasive paparazzi while dealing with the consequences of a hit-and-run incident.

[Adgirl]

Didn't see the twist coming...ultimately disappointing though.

[Avaleigh]

I actually liked the twist, but I'm not sure how I felt about the overall journey. 

Also, was the ending meant to be ambiguous? Isn't it possible that Mazey could have killed the photographer? I can see it going either way. 

[Brn2bwild]

Did Prince Harry write this episode?  I was waiting for those two obnoxious paps to get theirs, but I didn't expect it to come from a werewolf attack.  

[Paloma]

This was not one of my favorite BM episodes, partly because for a significant part of the episode I was confused about the identity of the young woman having these strange experiences. There was a quick scene where we saw a glamorous starlet with long straight blond hair and nightclub-type dress being chased by paps in LA (I think), then a scene in Czechoslovakia (or Czech Republic) with an actress in period costume and very different hairstyle (but still blond), and then the rest of the scenes with a somewhat plain-looking young woman who had shorter hair that wasn't so blond. It took me quite a while to figure out that these were all the same person.

Besides that confusion, the werewolf scenes looked like a grade B horror film, and I didn't see a connection to the typical BM theme of advanced technology gone wrong unless you consider regular cameras to be advanced technology. And the characters were mostly one-dimensional and unsympathetic. 

On 6/16/2023 at 2:40 AM, Avaleigh said:

Also, was the ending meant to be ambiguous? Isn't it possible that Mazey could have killed the photographer? I can see it going either way. 

Although it was probably meant to be ambiguous, and it could have gone either way, I'm pretty sure that the photographer gave the gun to Mazey so that Mazey could kill herself.  killed Mazey. Not only was Mazey pleading to be killed, the photographer (I forget her name--Zoe?) had already shown some compassion for the celebrities she chased, and had wanted to help Mazey when she was chained in the cabin. After witnessing Mazey's horrific transition and the killings that resulted, and probably understanding that this would happen again, the photographer likely felt that the most compassionate thing for Mazey was to grant her wish for death. So in a way the photographer redeemed herself by killing Mazey. 

Thanks to @Lady Calypso for correcting my faulty memory on this scene and the photographer's name. I was giving too much credit to Bo (not Zoe) for being compassionate in doing a mercy killing of Mazey, when in fact Bo let Mazey kill herself so that Bo could get the ultimate photo to sell.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Paloma
Got the whole scene wrong due to bad memory

[Cranberry]

2 hours ago, Paloma said:

There was a quick scene where we saw a glamorous starlet with long straight blond hair and nightclub-type dress being chased by paps in LA (I think), then a scene in Czechoslovakia (or Czech Republic) with an actress in period costume and very different hairstyle (but still blond), and then the rest of the scenes with a somewhat plain-looking young woman who had shorter hair that wasn't so blond. It took me quite a while to figure out that these were all the same person.

They actually weren't -- the first girl was named Sydney Alberti (or, as the paps referred to her, "Slutty Alberti") and her scene was included to show Bo how awful her profession was and motivate her to leave that life. The other two were Mazey Day, though, just in and out of costume.

[Lady Calypso]

So, I liked the idea of this episode, I liked the first half quite a bit. I like the idea of exploring how scummy paparazzi can be, especially at their worst in the mid-2000s. Although I tend to prefer Black Mirror episodes where the message is a little more ambiguous than "well duh", since people DID fall for paparazzi back then, I didn't think it was a horrible idea.

Well, until the werewolf twist. I 100% get where they were going with that. I like the karma that the paparazzi got as a result of their scummy and intrusive behaviour. But werewolves, really? Did Black Mirror turn into a supernatural horror show all of a sudden? Yes, we've had sci-fi, obviously, but this is the first real episode where it's like "well, this isn't part of any reality we live in." While other episodes have had very advanced technology where it's unlikely that it could happen in real life, this one went to werewolves. 

I just don't think the twist worked for me, although I didn't hate the last scene in general. Even at the end, Bo couldn't help but favour the camera shot for cash.

6 hours ago, Paloma said:

Although it was probably meant to be ambiguous, and it could have gone either way, I'm pretty sure that the photographer killed Mazey. Not only was Mazey pleading to be killed, the photographer (I forget her name--Zoe?) had already shown some compassion for the celebrities she chased, and had wanted to help Mazey when she was chained in the cabin. After witnessing Mazey's horrific transition and the killings that resulted, and probably understanding that this would happen again, the photographer likely felt that the most compassionate thing for Mazey was to grant her wish for death. So in a way the photographer redeemed herself by killing Mazey. 

Honestly, I thought that Bo handed Mazey the gun to shoot herself while she captured the shot on camera. Was I wrong in seeing what I did, because I thought Bo put the gun in Mazey's hand instead of doing it herself. I may need to rewatch, but I thought it was Bo making Mazey kill herself while she took the photo. 

Which kind of parallels the opening where Bo's first target told her that she was "killing him", followed by him killing himself because of Bo's photos that got published. 

I know Bo was shown to have felt compassion and remorse, but we still see her aim the camera up for the shot, so she wasn't above the money and the shot, after all of that.

[Paloma]

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

Honestly, I thought that Bo handed Mazey the gun to shoot herself while she captured the shot on camera. Was I wrong in seeing what I did, because I thought Bo put the gun in Mazey's hand instead of doing it herself. I may need to rewatch, but I thought it was Bo making Mazey kill herself while she took the photo. 

Oh, you are right, I don't know how I forgot that Bo put the gun in Mazey's hand! I guess I was just thinking that Bo wanted to give Mazey the mercy of death but could not pull the trigger herself because she (Bo) could not murder someone. But now that you have reminded me of how it went down, with Bo taking the photo of Mazey killing herself, that puts Bo in a worse light--which sounds odd, but when I thought of Bo killing Mazey, I thought Bo was being compassionate. But letting Mazey kill herself while Bo takes and later sells the ultimate exploitative photo(s) shows that Bo was not redeemed at all.

I'll see if I can correct my original post.

[Paloma]

5 hours ago, Cranberry said:

They actually weren't -- the first girl was named Sydney Alberti (or, as the paps referred to her, "Slutty Alberti") and her scene was included to show Bo how awful her profession was and motivate her to leave that life. The other two were Mazey Day, though, just in and out of costume.

Thanks for clarifying the characters. Obviously I was too tired when I watched this episode, unable to recognize the difference between characters or to remember what happened in the final scene.

[SHD]

I’m not sure why this episode had to be set in the past. It’s not like paparazzi aren’t still around and as obnoxious and predatory as ever.

I absolutely thought Bo gave her the gun so she could get the photo, but what I expected to see once we heard the gunshot was visible camera flash strobes in the window. But there was nothing but darkness after the gunshot. So did Mazey, figuring she was going to die anyway, decide to take out Bo?

[SnapHappy]

Even though the episode took place about 15 years ago, I LOVED the callback to the original "American Werewolf in London" special effects pioneered by the amazing Rick Baker WAY back in 1981. Over FORTY YEARS AGO. (Yes, I saw it's original run in the theaters). He set the bar & his transformations still look bad-ass in light of todays now-commonplace FX computer manipulations. 

I liked it as just a stand-alone, "gotcha" episode.  The paps with all their tech gear connected it to DM, but I'm not all twisted about every single episode being so slavishly adhering to previous BM criteria.  

I loved it. 

Edited June 17, 2023 by SnapHappy

[braziliangirl]

was this an weird homage to Twillight or Kristin Stewart?lol

I thought Masey last look and nod to her was ambiguous. Like she was waiting for her to photography before pulling the trigger. But I'm not sure. 

[Hanahope]

4 hours ago, SHD said:

I’m not sure why this episode had to be set in the past. It’s not like paparazzi aren’t still around and as obnoxious and predatory as ever.

I absolutely thought Bo gave her the gun so she could get the photo, but what I expected to see once we heard the gunshot was visible camera flash strobes in the window. But there was nothing but darkness after the gunshot. So did Mazey, figuring she was going to die anyway, decide to take out Bo?

I was pretty sure Bo took the photo right as Mazey shot her self.  

[Nordly Beaumont]

3 hours ago, SnapHappy said:

Even though the episode took place about 15 years ago, I LOVED the callback to the original "American Werewolf in London" special effects pioneered by the amazing Rick Baker WAY back in 1981. Over FORTY YEARS AGO. (Yes, I saw it's original run in the theaters). He set the bar & his transformations still look bad-ass in light of todays now-commonplace FX computer manipulations. 

Totally agree about American Werewolf in London! Along with that movie, the paparazzi angle also made me think of "Nope"

[Shaynaa]

4 hours ago, SHD said:

I’m not sure why this episode had to be set in the past. It’s not like paparazzi aren’t still around and as obnoxious and predatory as ever.

 

I'm not sure if you were around in the mid 2000s but they were an especially vile time for tabloid press.  Famous women were constantly subjected to misogyny, slut shaming and body shaming.  Here's an a recent article from The Guardian reflecting on that time: 'I was worried Lindsay, Paris or Britney would die': why the 00s were so toxic for women

Quote

Widdicombe tells me that, even back then, the press treatment of Spears was horrifying to watch. “It was clear to us reporting staff at the time that we needed to leave Britney alone,” he says. “Her mental health required the media to step back. But this voracious capitalist engine wasn’t going to do that.” While Widdicombe didn’t personally report on Britney’s breakdown, he says he was powerless to stop his editors from splashing it on the front page, because there was simply too much money to be made from it.

 

[Shaynaa]

I just found this Washington Post article that breaks down so much of the effed up media coverage in the mid-aughts.  Highly recommend reading if you are wondering why the episode was set at that time.

‘Reading the story today makes me cringe’: Female stars and the media machine of the early 2000s

Quote

Less than a week after Lohan’s [18th] birthday, Rolling Stone contributing editor Mark Binelli met the “Mean Girls” star to profile her for the cover of the magazine’s “Hot List” issue. His article begins with Lohan’s assurance that her breasts are real; he writes that he discerned as much through “reporting” that consisted of “discreet visual fact checking” and “a goodbye hug.” In the life of any girl who begins her career under Mickey Mouse ears, he writes, there comes a point at which she is as appealing to adults as she is to children, and that for Lohan — “or, more accurately, for Lindsay Lohan’s breasts” — that moment had arrived. “It became socially acceptable to note that the redheaded child actress was hot.”

 

[Paloma]

8 minutes ago, Shaynaa said:

I just found this Washington Post article that breaks down so much of the effed up media coverage in the mid-aughts.  Highly recommend reading if you are wondering why the episode was set at that time.

‘Reading the story today makes me cringe’: Female stars and the media machine of the early 2000s

Excellent article. In some ways things have changed for the better with the Me Too movement etc., but there's also now a backlash to Me Too and female empowerment. 

[Marley]

I liked the episode when it was about how paparazzi were trash then it switched to some dumb werewolf shit. So stupid. This made me kind of hate the show lol. 

[SnapHappy]

Way back, there were actual media count-down clocks for the moment the Olsen twins turned 18.  It was disgusting.  Not much has changed in 20 years, sadly.    https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/olsen_twins_turn_18/

 

[SHD]

8 hours ago, Marley said:

I liked the episode when it was about how paparazzi were trash then it switched to some dumb werewolf shit. So stupid. This made me kind of hate the show lol. 

I don’t necessarily agree with everything you said but this might be my favorite review of the episode so far - LOL 

[benteen]

The werewolf twist elevated an average at best episode. 

[Nordly Beaumont]

4 hours ago, WatcherUatl10 said:

I got a "Who are the REAL monsters?" vibe out of it.

The last scene with Bo really nailed that!

When they were running away from the werewolf, I got the feeling we were supposed to be hoping Bo and Hec get away, and the other two don't. But Bo and Hec were no better than them.

[foxfreakinmulder]

Didn't care for this one. Why was Mazey a werewolf, did hitting that man in the road turn her into one?

[tennisgurl]

That certainly took a wild turn, I didn't see this episode turning into a full on supernatural story. This season in general has been a departure from typical Black Mirror, but I didn't expect an actual horror movie monster to show up! Its a weird episode but I did like it, even if the ending sort of came out of nowhere. I like the way they connected the werewolf to mid 00s celebrity culture, where the big trashy celebrity secret that is set up to be drugs is actually this other crazy thing and that the amoral sleazy paps were the real monsters, even Bo ending up putting her picture over decency, but it still felt like one hell of a swerve. 

I really enjoyed the mid aughts of it all, I was in high school at the time and this really took me back, and they really leaned into it right away as Bo listened to Katie and Tom news as the episode started and then spending her money on her tiny ipod shuffle while playing 1 Thing, a song that was inescapable that year. It was also a time when the paparazzi and celebrity media coverage was really tasty, even compared to now. There are certainly plenty of trashy paparazzi and exploitative media now, but it was so much worse back then, especially when it came to the slut shaming and harassment of young female stars, plus it was a time when being outted as LGBTQ was almost a guaranteed career killer if you wanted a mainstream career and people were even more nasty about it. 

Bo might have more qualms than the other paparrazzi, it cant feel great to drive a man to suicide for money and to participate in horrible amounts of slut shaming, but in the end she still took that picture of Mazy as she killed herself and she did still keep choosing this as a way to make a living. In a way its even worse than the other guys, who are just total scumbags. She knows better but is still choosing to do this. 

[ExMathMajor]

On 6/19/2023 at 7:27 AM, WatcherUatl10 said:

I got a "Who are the REAL monsters?" vibe out of it.

I really wasn't feeling the werewolf twist, but you just saved it with this comment. 👍

[topanga]

11 hours ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

Didn't care for this one. Why was Mazey a werewolf, did hitting that man in the road turn her into one?

Yes, I'm trying to figure that out as well. Was she always a werewolf? In one of her flashbacks, I saw a werewolf mixed in the images of her just before and after the car accident. Or did it have something to do with the voodoo doctor? Did he put some kind of spell on her that would empower her to attack the paparazzi? 

I enjoyed the episode overall, though the ending was sad. And I think Zazie Beetz is gorgeous. 

Edited June 21, 2023 by topanga

[marny]

My impression was that the man she hit was a werewolf and that she got bitten when she checked on him (he was still breathing when she got out of the car and approached him). I think her flashback scenes were meant to make us think she felt horrible guilt when instead she was terrified about becoming a werewolf. 

[iMonrey]

On 6/20/2023 at 9:05 AM, foxfreakinmulder said:

Didn't care for this one. Why was Mazey a werewolf, did hitting that man in the road turn her into one?

As marny said, she didn't actually hit a man. In one of her flashbacks, when she got out of the car to check on him, it turned out to be a werewolf, not a man, and it bit her. I didn't pick up on this though until I read a review of the episode. When I saw that flashback, I thought it was just some dead animal in the road, and didn't pick up that it bit her.

I didn't hate this episode, but again, like Loch Henry, it just didn't feel like a Black Mirror episode. It felt more like a Twilight Zone episode. I don't get where the technology comes into play. It seems like the show has really moved away from its original premise, or it's running out of ideas or something. I still liked this better than Loch Henry though. It helped that it was a relatively short episode.

[Spaceman Spiff]

18 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I didn't hate this episode, but again, like Loch Henry, it just didn't feel like a Black Mirror episode. It felt more like a Twilight Zone episode. I don't get where the technology comes into play. It seems like the show has really moved away from its original premise, or it's running out of ideas or something. I still liked this better than Loch Henry though. It helped that it was a relatively short episode.

I agree. Twilight Zone or Cabinet of Curiosities that I recently watched. I really haven't like many of the shows this season, it veered more toward horror instead of technology/futuristic. Plus so many episodes had loooong drawn out scenes that never seemed to end, and some very dark lighting that made it difficult to watch.

[millennium]

"Welcome to Chiller Filler Theatre ..."

So damn weak.  A freshman film student could have come up with a more original idea.

Edited June 23, 2023 by millennium

[Kel Varnsen]

On 6/18/2023 at 1:55 AM, Marley said:

I liked the episode when it was about how paparazzi were trash then it switched to some dumb werewolf shit. So stupid. This made me kind of hate the show lol. 

That was really dumb. Especially with the werewolf thing just being the last 5 minutes. I think they maybe could have saved it if there was a follow up scene showing Bo as much richer, but the world kind of fucked up because there are werewolves now. Like would anyone care about celebrity gossip at that point.

On 6/19/2023 at 7:27 AM, WatcherUatl10 said:

I got a "Who are the REAL monsters?" vibe out of it.

Was it the actress who got high and then decided to go out for a drive at night in the rain to get some smokes? I did think it was kind of interesting that they didn't make Mazey a totally good and innocent person.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Nice hearing that old Amerie song. Too bad Beyonce stole her act. (Allegedly 😏)

Did one of the paparazzi actually upskirt the initial female celebrity shown as she was walking away from her limo? That can't be legal, right?

I thought the people who locked Mazey in the isolated cabin didn't realize she was a werewolf because it didn't seem to me like one chain would've held her after she turned. However perhaps their knowing would explain the live animals left in the room with her. Meals.

Count me as not satisfied with the ending either. I would've like to have seen what Bo did next. Would she call 9-1-1 or go sell the photos first? Probably sell the photos before her camera was confiscated as evidence during the police investigation of two insane crime scenes. Either way, Bo was probably going to become a bit of a celebrity herself, as one of the most notorious and gutsy paparazzi of all time.

Quote

there was nothing but darkness after the gunshot.

There was a crane shot of the diner again, with the camera clicking sound effect. Presumably it meant Bo did take the gunshot photo because she was the only one inside who wasn't dead or dying.

[Sakura12]

I wasn't expecting the Werewolf twist, so I'll give them that. Otherwise this one is my least favorite so far. 

I didn't catch it was an animal she hit until they showed right before she turned.

I guess the lesson is the paparazzi are vultures that will do anything for money. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I get the point of the episode, but they could have tied it to technology better than just going warewolf. I mean, Mazey herself could have gone all Death Wish and started picking them off. That would have been better. 

At least with Loch Henry, the technology of the videocamera in the late 80s/90s was what did Janet in, and the technology of being able to digitize tape to make a film led to the discovery. 

I take the point about the advent of the digital camera made it way easier to get pics of celebs, and they picked the right time period to explore that. But, and then she was a warewolf is basically "a wizard did it". 

Bo screaming and grabbing the cop's gun was ridiculous too. 

[PurpleTentacle]

This was fine. Although only very tangentially related to technology. I guess the theme of the media and fame are still running through it though.

Still, not sure how I feel about fantasy in my black mirror.

On 6/17/2023 at 2:32 PM, Paloma said:

This was not one of my favorite BM episodes, partly because for a significant part of the episode I was confused about the identity of the young woman having these strange experiences. There was a quick scene where we saw a glamorous starlet with long straight blond hair and nightclub-type dress being chased by paps in LA (I think), then a scene in Czechoslovakia (or Czech Republic) with an actress in period costume and very different hairstyle (but still blond), and then the rest of the scenes with a somewhat plain-looking young woman who had shorter hair that wasn't so blond. It took me quite a while to figure out that these were all the same person.

The woman in front of the club was Sydney Alberti (clearly meant to be Paris Hilton), the actress in the Czech Republic who turned out to be a werewolf later was Mazey Day. Not the same person.

On 6/17/2023 at 11:57 PM, SHD said:

I’m not sure why this episode had to be set in the past. It’s not like paparazzi aren’t still around and as obnoxious and predatory as ever.

Are they? I think their heyday is over. There were even some laws passed that limits what they can do. Sure they are still somewhat around, but the 90s and early 2000s were the worst of it, I think.

On 6/21/2023 at 3:16 AM, topanga said:

Yes, I'm trying to figure that out as well. Was she always a werewolf? In one of her flashbacks, I saw a werewolf mixed in the images of her just before and after the car accident. Or did it have something to do with the voodoo doctor? Did he put some kind of spell on her that would empower her to attack the paparazzi? 

Ran over a werewolf while on drugs in the Czech Republic. In the first part of the episode it looked like she ran over a guy and drove away, but later we saw that she actually got out of the car and found the wolf lying there. I assume that is when she got bit.

Unlucky that he hadn't turned back yet, like she did, quite a bit before she died...

[Madding crowd]

The plot was a rip-off of the movie “Wolf” with Jack Nicholson where he hits a wolf with his car, gets out to check and gets bit and turns into a werewolf. I get the paparazzi are evil stuff but this one didn’t feel like a fresh idea to me or much to do with technology. 

[MagnusHex]

I actually enjoyed myself after initially finishing this episode just now, especially since it feels like a more entertaining episode than last episode's soap opera slow burn. However, the more I think about it, the more the episode fell apart.

Naturally, the lack of technological elements in the story is a big flaw, but it didn't bother me that much since I'll take any good horror story with a twist since I'm a sucker for those. That said, the ending felt weak. There's not really a memorable punchline, but I guess if you really want to push it, I guess the punchline is that Bo got more than what she asked for and "paparazzi bad." But considering that Bo didn't really seem to learn her lesson anyway, that message became invalidated.

I didn't hate the twist though. In fact, I love how realistic and high-budget the transformation was. I've been disappointed over and over again by shoddy low-budget werewolf transformations that have failed to impress me over the years (looking at you, CW's Supernatural), so it's nice to finally see one that could match up to the greatest werewolf transformation in the entire history of cinema: An American Werewolf in London. C'mon, that's literally the same transformation from the movie, the same look and design. It's not original, but I'll take it for the cool homage and well-done design. I originally thought it was gonna be a Hostel situation though, especially since they mentioned people coming out with power tools. lol

Overall, not too bad for the nice special effects, but a weak ending really hurts the episode.

6/10

[Dobian]

I started with Demon 79 and then this one.  Still waiting to see the first Black Mirror episode this season.  I did like this one better than Demon 79, though.  Nice twist, and the werewolf was scary.

[DrSpaceman73]

Utter trash hated it. 

Over the top and sensationalist. And I dont care if they met that to be some sort meta reference or message. Just didn't work

[Zmanda]

On 6/25/2023 at 1:26 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

 

Did one of the paparazzi actually upskirt the initial female celebrity shown as she was walking away from her limo? That can't be legal, right?

They absolutely used to do that. Did you notice his elbow pads?  Paparazzi have done this to many young women hoping that they weren’t wearing underwear.   

Totally disgusting and should be illegal. I hope it is now.