The fourth episode is Mazey Day, and really, it's just the name of one of the characters. Given the lack of creativity shown thus far with regard to episode titles, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, much less disappointed.
The Premise
The story is set in Los Angeles, USA, and centers around a freelance photographer. She and some others violate the privacy of a celebrity, Mazey Day, only to find a nasty surprise waiting for them.The Characters
Zazie Beetz is her bubbly engaging self as Bo, a photographer who has an attack of conscience. I've always found her immensely watchable in films like Deadpool 2, Joker and Bullet Train. This time, she gets to show off some acting chops by portraying Bo as someone who's desperate for work, but not willing to compromise her ethics all the way. She's also probably the most obvious shutterbug around, having been caught twice in this episode while trying to be sneaky. I found myself wondering how this character survives this profession!Clara Rugaard as Mazey Day, an actress who later on becomes a werewolf. The portrayal was kind of bland, to be honest. Just not very compelling, though perhaps the blame can be laid at the feet of whoever wrote the script.
Danny Ramirez as Hector. Not really sure what the character's function was here. Just another warm body for the werewolf to savage?
Robbie Tann as Whitty, a sociopathic jerk who likes to run his mouth. Some of the stuff he says is cold and unnecessarily cruel but contains some uncomfortable truths.
James P. Rees as Duke, a sleazy shutterbug who tries to take upskirt pics of Sydney Alberti. Rees plays him as a mouthy dirtbag, and no tears are shed when the character eventually gets eaten.
Jack Bandeira has a dual-purpose character, Terry the talkative bartender. He's chatty (and blond, and blue-eyed, astonishingly good-looking, really) and provided Bo with a lot of plot-pertinent information. Later on, he also functions as a casualty in the diner, accidentally shot dead by the lawman, no less.
Kenneth Collard as Dr Dmitri Babich, a celeb doctor who's into alternative medicine. Didn't do much with a largely expository role.
Corey Johnson as Clay the police officer who is, quite amusingly, really into eating chicken. I do like it when characters ramble on about stuff that doesn't necessarily tie in to the plot. It feels relatable, somehow.
David Rysdahl is Bo's housemate Nathan. He's played as passive-aggressive and annoys the hell out of me. Which I suppose is pretty effective acting because it's a major plot point that Bo wants to pay Nathan her late share of the rent.
Charles Hagerty plays Justin Camley in an extremely short appearance, as a TV actor who gets caught having a tryst with a gay partner. He appeared all of a few seconds, but I thought the actor was worth mentioning because he made the character's desperation and frustration really shine through.
Patrick Toomey is Nick, the one who pays these shutterbugs to take incriminating photographs for his scandal reporting. Toomey plays this limited role with the appropriate amount of smarminess.
Lucía Pemán also makes a short appearance as actress Sydney Alberti, who has a sex tape leaked. The purpose of this character is pretty much just to have Whitty and Duke show off what douchebags they are.
The Mood
It's a dusty atmosphere in the sunlight, but soon switches to a dim, dark color palette as the story begins taking place in the night. And soon enough, it turns into a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse with a ravaging beast. Basic monster movie fare, really.Later on, it's a drawn-out tragedy when Bo gives Mazey a gun to kill herself with.
What I liked
I groaned and cheered in equal measure when Whitty met his grisly end after refusing to escape while he could, and continue to take pictures of a still-transforming Mazey. The trope of passion for his craft outweighing common sense was strong here, but also because the character was such a jerk, watching him get wrecked was cathartic.
Whitty and Duke finding out about Cedarwood Spa Retreat by placing a tracker on Hector's bike. This is so character-appropriate!
The unnamed actor who players the security detail that slashes Bo's tyres is so suitably menacing and nonchalant at the same time. I heartily approve.
The episode ends with Bo taking a photograph after giving Mazey the means to off herself. It's what got her into this mess in the first place, and this is darkly poetic.
What I didn't
The showrunners might not have meant to draw attention to this tattoo under Bo's navel, but draw attention they did and now I want to know why. It's never addressed. I'm a Chinese man and I know the character for "snake" when I see it. Question is, what significance does this have? Or was this to tell us that Bo, like too many non-Chinese educated people, have an unfortunate habit of inking words on their skin in languages they can't even read?
Bo finds out where Mazey is staying by accidentally running into a food delivery worker who just happened to deliver to that address. Seems a bit convenient, no? And Bo didn't even have to pay for the information, that's the best part.
It doesn't make sense that Bo wouldn't just take the 500 that Justin offered, for her photos. It's not the first time she's working for that cheap bastard Nick, so she has to know he's going to low-ball her.
Speaking of things that don't make sense, how does Cedarwood have this big-ass fence that can be defeated by digging under the fence, just like that? The soil is even conveniently loose!
This was not a tech episode, though a case could be made for it being centered around media. Still, this detracts from Black Mirror being less science fiction and more supernatural horror. I can't say I approve, really. Black Mirror has been around long enough to have its own identity. It's not like Black Mirror is in the stages of infancy, still trying to figure out what it is.
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