Summary: Bo is a paparazzi and takes a photo of an actor having a gay affair, and he later kills himself. Bo feels guilty and quits her job, but struggles to make a living. After famous actress Mazey Day flees the country following a hit and run unknown to the public, Bo returns to her job to collect an enormous $50,000 reward for photos. She and fellow photographer Hector track down Mazey to a rehab center and they are followed by other photographers. They break in to get their pictures but find that Mazey has become a werewolf that starts killing everyone. Bo and Hector escape to a nearby diner where the werewolf kills everyone, but Bo is able to defeat her with a gun. Reverted to her human form, Mazey takes the gun and kills herself as Bo takes a picture.
The Good: Paparazzi is a good concept to tackle, especially with how willing these people are to invade people's privacy to expose online. This fits perfectly with the themes of "Black Mirror", and I was excited to see what the show's take on paparazzi would be. The Bad: Except the message of this episode is completely confused, and the story is pretty awful. The idea of paparazzi is wasted because I'm left confused if "Black Mirror" is condemning or supporting paparazzi. Sometimes I feel like this episode is about how awful paparazzi are, like with Bo feeling guilty about indirectly causing a suicide, and the other photographers getting killed by Mazey because they stuck around to take pictures. But then at other points it seems like paparazzi are justified, especially since Mazey Day actually is hiding a deadly secret that needs to be exposed to the world. The end of the episode suggests that it's so valuable that werewolves have been exposed to the world, justifying paparazzi. So ultimately, I'm confused what the episode's message is. It's jumbled and confused between the pros and cons, leading to a less satisfying and clear story overall. Furthermore, Bo is one of the weirdest main characters we have had because she doesn't have any clear arc in this episode, and her conclusion offers no emotional closure or any interesting conflict. The writing is all so strangely unclear and messy. The werewolf twist is one of the worst things I've seen from "Black Mirror". Sure, it subverted my expectations, but to what end? What benefits did the werewolf twist provide this episode? Absolutely nothing. The idea is given the most shallow exploration, and it shifted the attention away from the main idea about paparazzi, diluting the episode's main message and making the whole experience more convoluted. I have very little to say about this episode, because it feels like there's hardly anything to talk about. This went from an interesting story to a random horror/thriller for no real reason, and the climactic sequence as Bo is chased by Mazey's werewolf form feels entirely out of place compared to the rest of the episode. I found the episode's setting to be pretty bad. This season played around with time a lot, and this episode is set in the early 2000s. The problem is that this is hardly noticed by the story and it doesn't create as unique of a setting compared to episodes like "Demon 79" and "Beyond the Sea" which are set much more significantly in the past. The early 2000s setting doesn't have much to offer the episode, and is another wasted idea. The Unknown: What happens when the werewolves get exposed? Is there a backlash? Is it explained away somehow? How prevalent are these werewolves? Why is this such a big secret? Best Moment: The opening scene of Bo taking pictures of the celebrity is the most interesting because this is when it still felt like "Black Mirror" was going to explore an interesting idea. Character of the Episode: Bo. Conclusion: What a weird, confused, ridiculous episode. I didn't see much of a point to this episode and didn't get much out of it. A dull, overly ambitious episode that doesn't have much that's worth your time. Score: 43
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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