User Reviews

I was stunned to see the negative response to this episode. No, it is not directly about technology, but it is about how documenting and amplifying horrific events affect the people that were traumatized by them.

Davis is a true dichotomy. He is influenced by Pia to make "something people actually want to watch" with such dark material while also being affected wholly by this tragedy.

This is a commentary on shows such as Dahmer that glorify the killer, create a morbid fan base (red masks in the pub), and tourism around disaster and death. However, Netflix is simultaneously calling themselves out for making series like these and continuing to be hypocritical for exploiting victims (the Polaroids of Janet/Kenneth/Iain's victims alluding to Dahmer's Polaroids and the recreation of the evidence Dahmer left behind in the Netflix series; making a television show from a documentary)

Netflix shows it is a self aware company by broadcasting a hyperbolic evil version of the company (Streamberry). BUT Netflix cannot have 100% praise from me if they continue to profit off real trauma.

People seeing no sci-fi gadget or tech or mumbo jumbo have not been following Black Mirror enough. BM has always been a social criticism of the impact tech has on everyday people. This time in episode 2, Loch Henry has been about humongous content on OTT platforms catering to needs of "bored" people, binge watching content on these platforms. Thus it is breeding a new crop of indie-filmmakers, ready to set themselves apart and shoot films in various genres like "true crimes", which do get them popular but at the expense of a victim or some (now) reformed person (by digging out his/ her past), which sometimes may not be worth it. Some skeletons should remain in the closet. A lot of times, this (views) fame comes at a personal cost.

This episode is also a social commentary on how production houses are insensitive to content and just look for view count.

As for this episode, it is very scenic and chilling at the same time. Awesome cinematography and great work with creating a chilling atmosphere. It will sometimes feel like some jump scares are waiting at corner.

But overall a very good watch and rewatch (with added insights).

Spoiler: I feel the guy who owned the bar and his father and his (expired) mother, all knew about Dave's family but didn't had any proof. His used Dave to bring the limelight back to his town and his bar.

People here seem confused about what constitutes a Black Mirror episode.

Several of the episodes of this series don't feature technologies, including the first episode 'The National Anthem' and one of the most acclaimed episodes 'Shut Up and Dance'.

This episode was about media, one of the most important technologies that exist, and our relationship with it. It was tense, sick and damning of true crime culture and our morbid obsession with it.

The last ten minutes offer up some of the best satire of the modern media landscape I've seen recently.

The only thing that bothered me was how the character of Pia reacted to the revelations in the third act, seemed a bit cheap to me.

Apart from that, one of the best episodes of the series for sure.

It's surprising to see that this episode has a lower score. Considering the fact that everything in this episode is better than the last. The acting is far superior, I mean it's not even a contest. The story is very well written and even though a perceptive viewer can pick up all the que's and see the twist(s) coming, the average viewer, most likely won't. And the thing is when the twist does happen it's always very satisfying even if you see it coming because it's not handed to you on a plate for the most part.

The things that give away the mother's involvement are extremely subtle at times. But it all adds up. E.g. The most memorable one is that she says (paraphrasing) "It was all going great, before he broke it all." Now, that could esily be interpreted as her talking about her life being great before the serial killer caused her husband to die and thus "broke" her life. But "broke" is just enough off for you to wonder why she used that. So I quickly interpreted what she said as "our deal was going great, until he started blurting his mouth and ruined it for us all" (the drunk and his late wife) and paid even more attention to what she said and how she said it. And every time she would give small clues and hints, but they were slight enough that it made you feel smart for noticing them. That's how you do such a mystery episode right.

I quickly started suspecting the dad and the drunk guy, and then soon after also the mom. And here is another twist I think most people missed since the show played a trick on the audience. In the end, the drunk comes out and claims he suspected it for a while now and that he once cheated with them and that they behaved so strange it made him suspect they might have been involved in the serial murders. I think for most people the case is closed, it was the parents of the protagonist and the one dude that had the basement.

But not only does that not make any sense, a scene at the end lingers on the old man.. in a crowd of partying people, he's sitting there, guilty as sin. Remember that this guy was in a mad panic over this docu. Because he knew the truth was going to come out, so he acted before the "whole truth" came out and blamed it all on the protagonists parents. In reality he and his wife were likely involved. Which why he was so disturbed his son gave away all his wife's "mementos" (did you guys notice the mother of the protagonist had a very similar box .. filled with very similar stuff?). Which is why he broke his bones intentionally falling from the stairs to distract them from making the docu. And when he saw no way out tried to save himself by telling the protagonist a half truth leaving out the involvement of himself and his wife. The show tries to give you the impression that he wasn't involved and just didn't come forward because he was ashamed people would find out he cheated. But if you think about it that makes no sense . And if you pay attention to the same subtle ques and clues that showed the mom's involvement it becomes clear this man was also involved.

I was a little disappointed when I thought we were getting a happy ending, considering the horrifically bad first episode, and the crowd cheering at the bar and all until I saw the camera linger on the drunk that got away with it, then the poor protagonist holding a note from his mom, which out of context would be a very sweet note from a caring mother. She leaves him all that evidence, because she's convinced her secret is out and it's over for her (She thinks the gf is gonna snitch, isn't aware that the girl died but her son also got the info) and figures he can use it to further his career. What is also clear is that the mother, whom I was convinced at first was a .. not too bright person just brainwashed by her husband, was just playing dumb likely to throw off suspicion. The ending was perfect for a black mirror episode. Bitter sweet, more bitter than sweet.

Lastly, at first I was worried the show was gonna focus on the interracial relationship part and make a whole virtue signal over it. Instead it was handled absolutely brilliantly! As a minority that grew up in a small homogenous town, I recognized a lot of it. The "oh .. so where you born here or.." is a question that many minorities are familiar with for example, but generally it's just curiosity, people who don't know many if any foreigners etc. People very rarely mean harm or have any evil/negative intent and I feel like esp American TV tends to really represent stuff like that which only makes things work. The subtle "diversity an'all that" the barman said to the gf etc etc.

This episode was absolutely brilliantly done. The only criticism I have is that there was a distinct lack of a sci fi or tech theme aside from the old timey camera. Which btw was introduced to the show brilliantly, the way the wife looked at her husband when he heard them have sex which was also a great subtle clue that could be interpreted one way but completely differently if you suspect her. Anyway, so yeah. This is the first true black mirror episode of this season, I was super worried after episode one and the nickolodeon level acting we got there despite the celeb casting.

Lastly, the first episode is super American. And the second one is super British. The quality difference between the two is astonishing. And did anyone notice both the first episodes are taking constant digs at netflix? I was anoyed they changed the name to "strawberry stream" or whatever. But in ep two the barman actually says "netflix" but then at the end it's all berry stream. I think netflix forced black mirror to remove their name from the show since it was only being mentioned in a negative light. It almost feels like meta commentary lol.

1. Davis is hard 2. Pia eats shepherd's pie 3. Janet is crazy

This was a solid episode. I appreciate that Netflix is continuously taking a self-satirical approach on these episodes with their alias Streamberry. While there's nothing "technical" about this episode, it shows that these horrible events could just be another form of entertainment. In the end, true crime shows are based on "true crimes" - events that really happened and really hurt many people. With the flood of true crime shows, I think this episode takes a justifiable look at it. As someone who had to dig through painful past to be presented, it's a very traumatizing experience and should not be taken lightly.

I appreciated the twist in this episode. You could see it coming but I didn't expect Janet to commit suicide. It's kind of stupid how Pia just slips and dies. I thought that writing was a bit weak and only exist to dramatize Davis' reactions. Regardless, still a solid episode and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I read many reviews complaining about this episode not being "Black Mirror", but this show is about thinking about our relationship with technology and media, and always have. This episode is just like S01E01, when the PM is expected to make out with a pig, there was no technology but media influencing the story itself. The fact that this is so "not Sci Fi" doesn't make it an unrealistic future, but a close one : this could happen tomorrow and everything will go the exact same way. Actually, it kinda already happened, as said in other reviews.

Here, the story is revolving around this poor guy, that doesn't really want to do sensational content, but ends up being the center of the story.

He lives outside of this town, doesn't know his father that well... He kinda have nothing to do with this part of his life, even the connection with his mother doesn't feel that strong.

In the end, the documentary helps him reach his dream (getting a prize, as Pia implied earlier), but in a very twisted way : he is absolutely miserable.

Around him, nobody cares that he lost absolutely everything (his father, his mother, his girlfriend, the innocent image of his whole childhood -even his rental!).

All the people around him are so self-centered on their own benefits (money for the producer, tourists for the pub, entertainment....) that you can't see any compassion from anybody. Even the award being a mask seems like a reminder that this creep show is now all that he has left in his life.

And the final touch is about making it about the "evil streaming service" Streamberry that is the second shot at Netflix itself, and at us at the same time : we're actually paying for a service that produces this kind of content. Can this be more of a mirror?

I've been a fan of this show since the start. And it was so twisted and original and edgy and scary. And then came season 5, which was disappointing already.

But this season.. I'm confused. Ep 1 was still different and shows what could happen in the future with AI taking off.

But episode 2 is basically the average detective show episode. It's not original. It's not edgy. It's not scary. If you watch a lot of detective shows, you could see the direction of this coming from miles away. When I realized that, I thought, well sure. But the twist is still coming. It has to. And then I saw there was like 20 minutes left.

And no twist came. It just.. followed that storyline to the end. And honestly it was good. For a detective show. For Black Mirror, it's really lame. And not memorable.

What happened to this show? Did the creators up and leave? Did they just give up on the original stuff and are now making whatever they want, and using the fame and name of the show to do it with? It just makes 0 sense. It's like Black Mirror is now a production company that just makes whatever comes to mind. And fine. But then don't call it Black Mirror anymore. And just give it a random name. Because this is not the same.

For those who are treating this as a crime/thriller episode and nothing else and saying it "isn't Black Mirror," I think you're all missing a few key things.

Black Mirror has several episodes that could happen in the current day without anything "future-tech-y" in them. The National Anthem, Shut Up and Dance, and Smithereens are the most compelling of those for me personally. Davis even has a Waldo sticker (from The Waldo Moment), which I took as a sign that this episode is in the same real, current-day universe that that episode takes place in. Just because there isn't any crazy new technology in these episodes does not make them less compelling as a social commentary. In some ways it I would argue it makes them much more relevant and they hit much closer to home.

In a similar vein, Loch Henry might not have any technology from the future, but it is still a solid commentary on true crime as a genre, specifically its consumption in digital media platforms. It looks at how filming true crime involves using the victims as tools, being disproportionally impacted as their pasts get drudged up. Davis is clearly uncomfortable making this movie at the start and gets pressured by his partner and friend into doing something he does not want to do, but they are only focused on what filming the story will do for themselves. The film corporation is hesitant since it's "another Ted Bundy," only less interesting/well known, wanting something personal/special to set it apart, not caring what emotional toll that might have on him. And when Davis' life falls apart around him, he is still clearly just a tool - standing on the side of the stage when the award is given, his feelings ignored by his friend calling him to say the bar is packed, etc. Davis does not matter, only the story, its consumption, and its impact on everyone around him do.

If you want to say the commentary isn't compelling, that's your opinion and I respect it. But I feel like so many people are missing the fact it is there in the first place just because there isn't some shiny new tech at the center of the plot.

All the spoilers possible are in this review. Read at your own risk.

I liked the episode, was it amazing no but it was entertaining and shocking enough. I like playing the guessing game and I like it keeps me attentive. I liked the "there's something about the depressed dad, but what?" sense since the beginning and the twist with the tapes and the shocking fact that it was all out in the open in the living room for all those years. Also the masks the people in the bar were wearing had a nice wink at how us humans materialize everything even if it's connected to a horrible series of murders and drama. But I especially had fun with the fact that in the first episode on Streamberry they were scrolling through and Krish said not to watch Loch Henry because he doesn't feel like watching true crime. Cool connection.

Going in to this episode it was slow and those ones are usually the darkest.

Series 5 was a complete let down. I have only watched one of the three episodes more than once and I usually rematch a lot. Besides Men Against Fire and Metalhead I had watched every episode before season 5 a 2nd time

It is obvious there will be a twist involving Davis's dad but the twist was very dark So many tapes of Bergerac. Makes you wonder how long the torture lasted for all the victims.

Poor Davis is left with nothing in the end. I had hoped Pia wouldn't die. No parents. No girlfriend and the network didn't care.

John Hannah being a mess was an added bonus.