The Reel Rejects - BLACK MIRROR Season 6: "Mazey Day" Breakdown & REVIEW!! | 6x4 | Netflix 2023

Episode Date: June 20, 2023

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN BLACK MIRROR! Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 4 Full Reaction: https://www.patreon.com/thereelrejects Greg & John react to the supernatural, paparazzi horror episode of Black Mirror Season 6, "Mazey Day", starring Zazie Beetz (Joker). This episode is one of the standouts of the season, which also features greats such as "Joan Is Awful", "Beyond The Sea", and "Loch Henry". In this reaction video, we from Reel Rejects dive into the nuanced premise of 'Mazey Day,' a standout episode from Black Mirror Season 6, and discuss how it deftly subverts expectations. We explore its central themes of celebrity culture, invasive paparazzi, and supernatural elements with a chilling horror twist - there's a werewolf involved! Our review includes a thorough analysis of the impressive performances, particularly that of Zazie Beetz, as well as the sharp writing and masterful directing that hallmark this episode. We'll also break down the plot, where a famous starlet grapples with the aftermath of a hit-and-run while fending off relentless paparazzi. Finally, we delve into the episode's ending, giving our take on its deeper meanings. Whether you're a Black Mirror aficionado or just a horror enthusiast, our recap and ending explained is sure to entertain and enlighten you. This is a must-watch episode and certainly one of the best of Black Mirror Season 6 #blackmirror #blackmirrorseason6 #mazeyday #zaziebeetz #supernatural #paparazzi#horror #reaction #review #recap #breakdown #endingexplained #blackmirrorseason6episode4 #blackmirrorseason6bestepisode #blackmirrorseason6standoutepisode#blackmirrorseason6mustwatchepisode - Get Yourself A Batverse Shirt: https://rebrand.ly/rbd2wr7 - POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-reel-rejects/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reject listeners, I'm Greg. I'm John. We are going to watch Black Mirror Season 6 episode 4 today. It's called Maisie Day. I don't think this is one of the most loved ones. I haven't been hearing anyone talk about it, so this is a waste of your time and mine, but we're going to do it anyway.

Let's see what's going on. That's it. Moonlighting professionals. Yeah. Moonlight. Moonlight. It's all moonlighting all around. So much moonlighting. So many creatures of the night colliding. Yeah. That was fun.

That was really fun. It was like one of those straightforward, like punchy, like 85-minute horror movies where you're just like, I mean, obviously, it's a. but you know within proportioning like yes lean and mean and to the point one big twist that's all you need again yeah media consumerism seems to be the topic sure yeah this really seems to be the topic yeah and the the lengths media entertainment and otherwise will drive us to well past the brink of humanity yeah the exploitive nature of our kind too yeah yeah that's a good thing it's exactly what charlie booker seems to want to be talking about except for episode three

which is a meditative space movie about hope and loss and grief but other than that one these other ones i mean i don't know what the next one's going to be but this one i thought it was fun this is this is one of those where i can definitely i i have no idea what the responses on this one but i can see people like not like it it just it's it sings like one of those episodes that feels so out of place for what black mirror is yeah because it's such a super like it doesn't feel science fiction at all no it is just purely i mean neither was a true crime one but that at least had more of a technological angle in some element um this exploring it through the lens of paparazzi ha ha get that exploring it through the lens of oh my god i was well done i don't care what

anyone says that was great that was great use of vocabulary there So, yeah, exploring it through the lens of the paparazzi. I just love the way that sounds. It just works so well. It just live in this loop right here. It works so well, doesn't it? Right through the lens of what the paparazzi is. Yeah.

Right through the, not. You guys get in line. No, no, no. I think we should deep dive this to really explore the brilliant. That sentence is there's so many layers of pearl right there. Because you're not, you're seeing it through the perspective of them, but then also the. physical analogy of how they use their

lens. Yeah. Yes, exactly. The extension of their villainy, of their desire, of their greed. Yes. It's a really good lot. It's terrific. Yeah. We need a moment of silence for the joke. This movie's a little...

I keep calling these movies. They kind of feel that way. This one I thought, I like how tight and lean and mean it is. I think it could have a little bit longer because actually you know what now screw that it plays like a it plays like a well shot B movie specifically this one

like a B movie especially right down to when they're all like trapped in the diner in the way that's all lit yeah 100% like the cop you got the other customers there you got the cook like in a movie that probably would have been like 45 minutes that would be the second half

it would be this bottle situation where they're just in the diner trying to survive or something like that yeah because it's like once the reveal comes around you get like kind of a medley of tropes then because oh yeah it's we cut back to the the foggy night and oh the victim looks up and they're the werewolf and that's you know step one and then yeah we're running through the woods and we got wolf vision and then we're holed up in the diner and you even get like an american like one of that transformation shot where it's like profile on her and the teeth are coming in and she's like mostly covered in here like that really looks like one of those shots from americans

werewolf and uh it feels like if to me it feels like from dust till dawn meets american warwolf in london in the sense of how they are two separate stories that merge into one yeah and it would probably be fun to watch it again to see what they might allude to theme wise it's a comparative from dust till dawn you know um the in some people constantly people usually say that like oh it's just this one you know getaway movie with these bank robbers that then suddenly becomes a vampire movie out of nowhere and whenever i really watch it i don't see it that way like you can see sort of the um bloodlust of the characters just within the humanity of them and then they had this opening scene where like someone is set on fire and so they're establishing certain

motifs that feel like they could be um they're establishing these certain motifs that feel like they could be uh you know vampire vamp vamp um vampiric yeah yeah that's what you say vampiric they could feel vampiric and here i i didn't really pick up on much like it feels like it could be werewolf except for the idea of who these people are during the day and then what they do in the shadows or at night you know what they would they really morph into and like the uh analogy of arzazi beats character of someone who's trying to lead the straight and narrow morally righteous life but who she really morphs into is like she is the werewolf herself for it's still this act yeah like it's in her so i could see that

parallel which is probably what they're doing yeah i think i think that's yeah i mean it's like and two i can imagine like like you said before it's like i can sort of imagine this being ranked low in the season partly too because it's allegorical content isn't like super revelatory or super at least at first glance super deep or anything it's yeah it's like the addictions that live within the dark sides of humanity are that kind of werewolf metaphor that are very apparent within Maisie Day, but also, yeah, a character like Zazi Bates

who's trying to, who's clearly conflicted with what she does, but also is, like, good at it and determined, and, yeah, so it's like, that's the dark side that lurks within that then gets pulled out by the full moon of opportunity. Yeah, it's, I think this does work best as viewed through the lens of an exploitation flick or something like that.

It kind of reminded me of, like, watching dog soldiers or something like that, which is, again, lean, mean, werewolf joint. And, uh, and I, yeah, like, I, I really enjoyed this for the immediacy. And I think, yeah, it's like celebrity addict blacking out erratic behavior. Totally makes sense for a werewolf allegory. Going to the, you know, secluded, uh, wellness retreat center is like such a well-worn

Hollywood trope that like, it's, it's like, it's, it's a nifty idea to me. Like, it's fun. It's a little silly. but also in like a clever sort of way where I'm like, yeah, like just do directly, yeah, like actors struggling with both the public eye and their own demons but also make those demons

personified horror style, you know? Yeah. Yeah, and I don't think it's necessarily getting at something super heady, which is something that like Black Mirror, I think, like Charlie Brooker said he wanted to, again, expand the idea of what that means to be a Black Mirror episode.

and I like that they're doing more horror overtly this season, certainly. But I do think, like, yeah, that's the one thing I guess you could complain about is, like, it's not that deep, you know, or it's not, like, shining a light on something that you're like, oh, wow, that's true. Or, like, you know, I never would have thought of that. But, yeah, like, stylistically, and the way that they capture, like, the mushroom sequences and then trade that, you know, at least spiritually then for werewolf carnage, I thought was cool and complimentary. It's really well shot. And, I mean, aside from the unbelievable traffic conditions,

it also just showcases the beauty of our state, which is nice. Yeah, and I like the presence of Zazi beats a lot. I think she's Bates, Zazze. I think from her pronunciation, I think it's supposed to be Zatzi Bates. Zatzi Bates. Yeah. Well, it could be mistaken.

I always love her presence. No matter how minor a role she might have in something. but here she's the lead and i love i just love watching her i think she has a really great screen presence and so just enjoying her and i think this is the one to where i think this was the one episode out of the four we've seen so far where i could feel the writing uh kind of talking at me about them versus just living in the character perspective solely you know what i mean because i think that's what makes that's what's been making a lot of these episodes very effective yeah the streamberry one kind of

does that but this one yeah you have those two other guys who are just the absolute worst you know who are clearly like message care like if it was just sassie bates and the other guy and her other buddy like i think you might have like more grayness to play with or like a more nuanced sort of but they didn't even really do it with zazi bates It's his character. They didn't really do it with her. It was really obvious that she was going to take that photo. Yeah.

It wasn't like, yeah. What position you in? Yeah, totally. There's never any doubt. And there's not really like a crazy growth so much. You're like, no, don't go bow in that back.

Yeah. Don't go back. Like, yeah. Like, don't seal your fate with this final act of, you know, moral vultures. Yeah.

Yeah. So it was kind of, it was kind of missing that little punch. but not really i mean i just think it was a fun exploitation one i thought this was fun this was really fun yeah and i don't begrudge this show a a quick tight fun one you know and and like it does seem like with it is a little impersonal with everybody i like the way it captured uh maisie whatever her name is um maisie day because when we're with her with her in all these intimate situations, but it still feels like

you're observing somebody when you shouldn't be. And I think that works really well. I think, you know, Zazi Bates has a lot of presence in the supporting cast, especially her buddy, I thought, had a nice presence. The guy at the diner had nice presence. But you don't really, the furthest you get to know her is just like,

I'm trying to live, you know, an honest life, but also I need money. Yeah. Because I got problems with my roommate. And I would have preferred a little bit more of a controversial approach. Sure. of should we really be sympathizing with you know yeah should we really be seeing this in the view of them because that was kind of keeping me as a third party observer yeah which maybe kind of

works because that's what they do yeah it's at least worth a good debate yeah because i would like the challenge of oh should i be in their perspective because they are awful yeah and i thought that's kind of what we were doing in the middle when they're when they're on the check Because I was, because they give you enough with Maisie Day to be like, I can sympathize with the position you're in, but also until the reveal comes around, it seems like you've done something pretty terrible. So there's a good quandary there. And then, yeah, with Zazi Bates, you have her conflict. And then when you mix those two together, I think that's the most emotionally interesting the episode becomes. And then that all, you know, gives way to the werewolf thing. Because they set it up where that one person died because of her. So I thought they were going to have some type of character moment there. Yeah. But maybe. I mean, it didn't at all.

I mean, by the end, it's like, in doing what you guys did, I guess maybe, I mean, a couple people died here, but maybe you helped save Lai? I don't know. If they couldn't contain this at the wellness retreat, then, you know, at least you wipe to a werewolf off the map. So not more people will die. Yeah. It's a little confused in that sense, I guess, or just under kind of developed in that sense. And yeah, I mean, you also have that bit on the street where the guys like berating and verbally assaulting that woman. And then immediately is like, oh, you're assaulting me.

You know, like there are interesting questions about this particular world of the paparazzi that it starts with, that it leads with. And then kind of just, I guess that just allows those things to be in your kind of. consciousness and little else beyond that it's just the conflict of living this life yeah yeah this is the least thought-provoking one yeah of the four because even though it's not as silly as streamberry it's it's still the least enchanting with the mind yeah um but very enjoyable sure i think plays two things we like yeah and i mean i'm always you know it's i love a good vampire story I know you do as well, but I'm always giddy when something surprises me with werewolves just because it's a little bit less trodden in terms of classic monster territory.

Yeah, that was fun. All righty, guys. What did you think about this one? Did you like it? Leave your thoughts down below. You can subscribe, leave a like. Check us out of the patron. Hey, let's send us for the Patreon.

Chris Whamoff. Chris, if there's anyone at our Patreon who I could see being a werewolf, It's definitely you. You do too many good deeds. And when you do that many good deeds, you know where that stems from? The anger and guilt of not doing enough of good deeds. It's true. And that you take that guilt and you project it and trying to write other things,

but you have something brewing within you, simmering, seething, waiting to be unleashed. because that darkness that you fight against is really within you and that's why you're trying to externally shut it down but we all know we all know there's a monster within you that's willing to come out

just waiting, chomping at the bitch for its opportunity to do good with its warwolf abilities and kill bad guys we don't get enough vigilante werewolves by night It's really hard to control your werewolf abilities. But I can see you just taking matters into your own hands.

All these things you get arrested for and fired for for trying to do good things. I can see you finally going after these people who are wrong in our world by straight up murdering them as a werewolf. As a wearhoff. Chris, weiroff. Yeah. Oh, get that on a t-shirt. Waroff.

Weir-off. Weir-hoff. Hawwawmolf. Chris Wambwolf. Chris Wemwolf. I like it a lot. There we go. Plus a werewolf named Chris.

How mad could you be? Yeah, that goes Chris. It was Chris. Still helping people with his teeth and claws. I'm cleaning up after them, Chris. Even a stain. Chris, thank you for cleaning up this world one bit at a time. You're one of the good ones, Chris.