This episode "Mazey Day" is easily the worst of Black Mirror. Set circa 2005, the plot involves a persistent and desperate (is there any other kind?) paparazzi photographer (played by Zazie Beetz from Joker) who is struggling to survive in Los Angeles. All the cliche plot beats and characterizations are there. None of the characters are memorable and just come off as bland and cliche. The main character is the typical protagonist who is the only one of her peer group that possesses any kind of a conscience. Then there's the supporting cast consisting of (1) the frenemy potential love interest rival photographer, (2) the slimy uncaring tabloid boss and equally slimy other rival photographers, and (3) the weird and VERY annoying neighbor. This neighbor is so shy that he actually reads from cue cards as a subsitute for natural interaction. How quirky of you, writers! Lol The flip side of this boring story involves the title character Mazey Day (played by Clara Rugaard from the Netflix movie I Am Mother), a Hollywood starlet who goes missing after an overseas movie shoot, and the reason she goes missing is that she is in disarray after a hit and run accident that she caused by driving under the influence. So Mazey goes into hiding. The magazine publisher promises 30,000 dollars as incentive to get photos of Mazey Day, wherever she is. The lady photographer sets off on a mission to locate the missing actress and through a series of convenient plot devices, she and her cohorts find her at a remote wellness retreat in the California Valley. As stated, everything was just handed to the main character on a silver platter to find the actress. This includes an incredibly shallow scene of that curly-haired, bug-eyed diner worker (could have done without close-ups of this guy) telling her exactly where the actress was heading. The plot couldn't be any more transparent and the dialogue nothing but exposition with characters explaining their actions and stating the obvious. The payoff of this episode was shocking in a bad way. Werewolves? Really, Black Mirror writers? This series is supposed to be about the horrors of technology, not ACTUAL horror! I can totally see the writers in the writing room patting themselves on the back for this cheap, tacky ending. If I wanted horror, I would watch actual horror anthology shows like American Horror Stories or re-runs of Tales from the Crypt or The Twilight Zone. Black Mirror is not supposed to be a supernatural series. The climactic chase scene was a tiresome retread of scenes from other horror output with the very predictable ending of the heavily plot-armored main character miraculously surviving. I get it Black mirror writers. Paparazzi will do anything for a photo, a story, and a big payday. Also, famous people aren't everything the public thinks they are and have secrets. And these "messages" were delivered in the most ham-fisted way possible in what is now the worst episode of the series.
