Black Mirror Mazey Day Explained(Detailed) & Review

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Black mirror Mazey Day seems really confusing at first glance. What exactly does the writer want to convey? Especially since the story in this episode feels like a werewolf tale, I even momentarily thought that “Mazey Day” was mistakenly inserted into Black Mirror.

Surprisingly, I found that its IMDb rating is only 5.3, which is lower than expected because I actually quite enjoyed the metaphors and allusions brought by the writer in “Mazey Day”.

If you also feel confused about what the writer and director are trying to express after watching “Mazey Day”, or if you think it’s not a good episode, perhaps reading an analysis article can help you appreciate all those intricate details and intentions behind it!

Black Mirror Mazey Day Explained(Detailed) & Review

Mazey Day review 1: Does the screenwriter portray paparazzi as inhumane “animals”?

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Firstly, the main focus of this episode of “Mazey Day” is on how camera stories have a huge impact on people. Just like in “Loch Henry“, where the protagonist uncovers the truth due to the camera’s influence, causing a whirlwind and tragedy.

The writer wants to convey the concept that “camera stories kill people“. Although I always felt that this episode had nothing to do with science fiction elements from Black Mirror, I don’t quite understand why the screenwriter created this story.

Perhaps it was because they wanted to show how invasive paparazzi can be towards privacy, which is why they also created a contrasting element of a “werewolf” (which will be discussed later in this article). In terms of technology, “Mazey Day” is similar to another Black Mirror episode called “Hated in the Nation” (Season 3 Episode 6), as both episodes use existing technology and devices without any virtual components.

On the contrary, “Mazey Day” is a very specific story centered around cameras and paparazzi characters. The screenwriter mentioned in an interview that they set up this story before everyone had high-resolution cameras on their phones (the time period for this episode was even set during dial-up internet era), showing that public perception and attitudes towards people were more cruel than we imagined.

Although this episode’s title is “Mazey Day”, it essentially revolves around Bo – who starts off like any other paparazzo (making money by exploiting others’ secrets) but has more layers added onto her character by having guilt and sympathy. Even if Bo doesn’t have money, she tries her best not to fall into situations where she has no choice but to become a paparazzo.

However, the Bo written by the writer is not a saint. The director deliberately arranged for Bo’s roommate to ask her for rent money, which was actually an indication that Bo’s mindset had already begun to waver. Therefore, when Hector suggested finding Mazey Day and offered $30,000, it shook her.

Who could refuse such an offer? From the first lie that Bo told Hector in response to his suggestion, we can tell that she has already fallen into this trap. In “Mazey Day”, I think viewers will understand how the screenwriter portrays paparazzi as inhumane and amoral “animals”, including how even at the end of the episode, Bo couldn’t escape from this toxic culture of being a paparazzo and still pressed down on her camera shutter instead of saving Mazey Day – showing how human nature can disappear in just a few moments.

Mazey Day review 2: The symbolism of Mazey Day turning into a werewolf? Satire on the pursuit of paparazzi.

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While watching “Mazey Day,” I was surprised and wondered why the writer added the element of “werewolf” to this story. Later, I discovered that it was a powerful concept and satirical idea designed by the writer.

In fact, it wasn’t until later in the second half of “Mazey Day” that we learned Mazey had turned into a werewolf. During several flashbacks to her car accident, we thought she was just hiding out due to guilt and shame, but eventually, the suspense was revealed by the writer-director.

However, there are many allusions and metaphors associated with “werewolves” in “Mazey Day.” The writer-director clearly intended two layers of meaning:

• (1) comparing paparazzi to wolves who harass celebrities at first causing their lives to become chaotic from within (this also explains why Bo chose suicide after taking photos and uncovering secrets about a male star);
• (2) when Mazey turns into a werewolf for killing those two paparazzi who invaded her privacy – these two paparazzi were reminiscent of how they took pictures upskirt shots or made provocative remarks towards Mazey at first which provoked her anger. Therefore, when Mazey gained power over them like an animal without humanity chasing down these paparazzis as if reversing roles.
  
  

Moreover, we can see irony in this chase scene where previously it was always paparazzi pursuing celebrities like animals; now it’s reversed with celebrities hunting down paparazzis like animals instead.

There is even one scene where Hector steals another dead dog’s camera while running away during this chase sequence – illustrating how their greed outweighs their own lives since he continued snapping photos even though he knew he might die.

This fast-paced and exciting scene shows how the writer-director has incorporated so many metaphors, fully explaining why Mazey Day turned into a werewolf – because she was essentially forced by paparazzi to lose her humanity.

Mazey Day ending explained: Toxic Paparazzi Culture Robs “Humanity”

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In Mazey Day ending, the scene takes place in a restaurant where Mazey Day wants to end her life and asks Bo to shoot her. However, Bo hands over the gun to Mazey Day and lets her do it herself.

The final flash in the restaurant can be interpreted as Mazey Day actually committing suicide, which Bo captures on camera. Although the ending seems to signify that Bo’s humanity is intact, the writer-director still cleverly flips it because if Bo had pressed the shutter button, it would mean that she hadn’t escaped from toxic paparazzi culture since she didn’t help a miserable person.

I think this ending is brilliant and I also realized how ingenious the writer was with this episode. There’s a song in my regular playlist (it brings back so many memories!) that plays during this episode – Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole” The fact that “Mazey Day” chose this song really impressed me with its cleverness.

Because this song perfectly describes Meideqi turning into a werewolf and unable to escape from her inner darkness! The lead singer has explained before that this song actually describes certain women becoming centers of attraction like an endless black hole that sucks you in but you can never escape.

So for paparazzi, Meideqi is like an attraction who draws everyone towards her~ But being sucked into a black hole isn’t usually good news; hence why all these paparazzi surrounding Mazey Day die one by one (except for Bo).

This is also why the production team used this song. The lyrics of MUSE’s “Supermassive Black Hole” are important, with lines like “And the superstars sucked into the ‘supermassive'” and “Supermassive black hole” taking up most of the song.

Clearly, they wanted to convey this point. The ending of “Mazey Day” also fits with this concept. The writer/director mocks the toxicity of paparazzi culture and how it strips away humanity from people. The paparazzi are attracted to Mazey Day, but they too are consumed by her black hole.

This is reflected in Mazey Day herself as she ultimately wants to die. As a celebrity who enjoys being in the spotlight, she attracts paparazzi attention but cannot handle the release that comes with losing her humanity when she turns back into a human.

After being relentlessly pursued by everyone around her, Mazey Day truly becomes an animal devoid of humanity and transforms into a black hole that consumes everyone except Bo.

Bo doesn’t die or seem affected because she still has some conscience left in her – especially when she first discovers Mazey Day chained up and checks on her well-being instead of taking pictures like everyone else around her does.

The reason why Bo gets to escape at the end may be due to this conscience not having died yet – after all, Black Mirror tends to give good people some chance for forgiveness at its endings. Therefore, not only does Bo manage to escape but even receives rewards for doing so in her own ending.