Summary
“Mazey Day” feels more like a Blumhouse horror than a Black Mirror experience. While entertaining, it does miss the mark.
Here is our Recap and Review of Netflix’s Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 4, “Mazey Day,” which will contain significant spoilers and plot twists.
On May 16th, 2023, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry claimed that they were dangerously chased around New York City by the paparazzi after leaving the Ms. Foundation 50th anniversary gala event. A dangerous high-speed chase so fast that no one could capture the horrific nature of it on camera.
Almost a month later, on June 15th, 2023, Black Mirror released a paparazzi-related episode with Season 6, proving that the series still remains ironically on-point.
For what it is worth, “Mazey Day” is tame by Black Mirror standards. The episode highlights the unhealthy relationship between the media and celebrities (which I’m sure Meghan will be happy about) while providing a tangible twist at the end.
Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 4, “Mazey Day” Recap
Who is Bo?
Bo, played by Zazie Beetz, is one of the lead characters in “Mazey Day.” She’s a celebrity photographer who is well-initiated in the paparazzi lifestyle.
Episode 4, “Mazey Day,” opens with Bo outside a motel waiting for a celebrity called Justin Camley. The celebrity leaves their motel room, and Bo quickly uses her camera to snap photos of him. Afterward, Justin approaches Bo; he’s desperate, and he asks for the photos. He’s willing to pay for them, but Bo refuses.
Bo sells the photos to the media at $300 dollars each.
Later on, Bo learns that Justin Camley committed suicide due to a story leaking in the news that he is having an affair. Black Mirror highlights the cruel nature of stardom and the lack of privacy it involves.
Interestingly, this appears to be a turning point for the character who begins to understand the dark nature of her job.
Who is Mazey Day?
The episode then moves to a different character. An actress called Mazey Day (also the title of the feature and played by Clara Rugaard) is practicing the lines of a new film she is in. Seemingly bored of doing her job, Mazey takes mushrooms and drinks wine.
A high and drunk Mazey dances on her own, until she accidentally breaks her wine glass, cutting her finger.
What did Mazey do?
Intoxicated, Mazey decides to drive her car in the pouring rain. She’s clearly not sober enough to drive as she becomes fixated on her bleeding finger. A distracted Mazey accidentally runs someone over. Mazey is immediately shaken by the ordeal, and seemingly drives away, causing a “hit and run” incident.
The following day, Mazey cleans her room and heads out. She sees the police at the “hit and run” crime scene from the night before. She looks traumatized.
Why does Bo need the money?
Bo is confronted by her housemate Nathan about late payments on rent. She promises him that she’ll get the money.
It turns out that Bo has quit the life of a celebrity photographer. That’s until she realizes that there’s a $30,000 reward for finding the actress Mazey Day, who has stopped showing up on set for her movie.
Bo rings her insider but there’s no information on Mazey Day. Eventually, Bo finds out that Mazey is staying at the producer’s house. Mazey stays outside the house overnight, committed to capturing a photo of her.
How does Bo find out the location of Mazey?
The following day, Bo follows a car leaving the producer’s house. However, the driver suspects they are being followed, so he uses a screwdriver to burst all of Bo’s tires.
Bo goes to a diner nearby as she tries to source a tow truck. She learns there’s a rehab place nearby and that someone has hired the complex for the entire weekend. Bo realizes that this person must be Mazey. Only a wealthy person could hire out an entire rehab complex.
Bo and her paparazzi friend head to the private rehab complex. However, other celebrity photographers have been made aware of Mazey Day’s whereabouts by tracking Bo and her friend, and they join in on the assignment.
Night-time looms, and the paparazzi find a way to infiltrate the rehab to get a photo. However, they see that Mazey is tied up by a chain around her neck; she’s completely restricted to a bed. Bo is horrified at how Mazey is being treated.
Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 4 Ending Explained
Is Mazey Day a werewolf?
Bo and the paparazzi break in, and while the photographers snap their photos, Bo tries to help free Mazey. Mazey tells them to leave and asks them to “run away”. Mazey looks up to see a full moon and transforms into a werewolf. It appears that when Mazey ran over that man, she was also encountering a werewolf.
Most of the paparazzi flee, while Mazey feasts on one of the photographers that stayed to take photos. Bo and the others try their best to run away but Mazey the Werewolf is persistent and chases them into the woods.
They eventually reach the nearby diner. A police officer tries to calm Bo down, not understanding the situation.
Does Mazey Day die?
Mazey the Werewolf makes it into the diner and kills a few people, including Bo’s friend. The police officer is also killed, so Bo picks up the cop’s gun and shoots the Werewolf. Mazey returns to human form, grabs the gun, and points it to her head. As Mazey shoots herself, Bo ironically takes a photo.
She may as well make that $30,000.
Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 4, “Mazey Day” Review
While “Mazey Day” was an entertaining forty minutes, the message is lost as soon as Mazey turns into a werewolf. Metaphorically, it could be argued that Black Mirror is highlighting the dangers of invading a person’s privacy intensely and the ramifications it can bring. However, this message becomes diluted when we learn that Mazey became a werewolf with no involvement of the paparazzi.
There’s a minor disconnect between the werewolf story and the paparazzi case study and the episode suddenly becomes a Blumhouse film (in fact, if I was shown this episode without knowing it was Black Mirror, I’d have assumed this was a Blumhouse Production).
That’s not to say “Mazey Day” is a waste of time. However, we hold Black Mirror to very high standards. More is expected here.
What did you think of Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 4, “Mazey Day”? Comment below.
