This article contains spoliers forBlack MirrorSeason 6 Episode 2: “Loch Henry.”
The second episode ofBlack Mirror’s newest season signals a turn in the season toward the show’s typical, thrilling mood. Following the comparatively lighthearted “Joan Is Awful,” “Loch Henry” offers a tenser, more high-stakes narrative centered on serial murder and family secrets.
The episode’s ending, however, may have left someBlack Mirrorfans scratching their heads over its various twists and subtleties. The plot is far from straightforward, and compounded by underlying social criticism,“Loch Henry” warrants two or three viewings. The ending in particular might raise some questions, not the least of which being: what did that have to do with technology?Black Mirroris known for using modern advancement as the focal point of its horror shows, often offering chilling commentary on the growing inseparability between human and machine. “Loch Henry” keeps to that trend, albeit in a way that requires a little more interrogation.
RELATED:Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 5 ‘Demon 79’ Review
What is Loch Henry about?
Davis McCardle (Samuel Blenkin) has returned home to the rural Scottish town of Loch Henry with his girlfriend, Pia (Myha’la Herrold). The two are both film school graduates looking to make a documentary about a man in another town known for fiercely defending rare eggs against the persistent attempts of egg thieves. In the meantime, they’ve decided to stay with Davis’s mother, Janet (Monica Dolan), whose less-than-friendly exchanges with Piacan make for awkward viewing.
Overlooking the stunning Scottish vistas of Loch Henry, Pia wonders aloud to Davis why so few people live there. They then go to a local bar and run into Davis’s childhood friend Stuart King (Daniel Portman), and he and Davis tell Pia the story of the serial killer that made Loch Henry such an undesirable tourist destination. It’s a gruesome tale about a man called Iain Adair (Tom Crowhurst) who tortured and killed numerous tourists and locals for sport. Davis’s father Kenneth (Gregor Firth), a police officer at the time, died of infection after Ian shot him in an altercation.
Pia is captivated by the tale. Although her boyfriend is conspicuously uncomfortable with the idea of it, she insists that they changethe focus of their crime documentaryto Iain Adair and the heroism of Davis’s father. The two argue over it, but eventually Davis agrees, and they break into Iain’s now boarded-up house with Stuart to capture some footage.
Eventually, the teams discovers that—much to their surprise—Davis’s mother and father were both willing accomplices to Iain Adair’s horrendous crimes. Afterward, fleeing from a furious Janet, Pia falls and hits her head, presumably dying. Janet then leaves tapes of evidence, along with a note that reads “For your film. Mum,” before hanging herself in her home. Following this sequence, the episode’s ending somewhat jarringly—though not inappropriately—transports the narrative from itsisolated small town settingto center-stage at the BAFTA Film Awards. Davis and a team of documentarians accept an award for their true crime documentary, “Truth Will Out.”
Who is the real killer in Loch Henry?
The twisting story of “Loch Henry” can be difficult to follow. Especially as essential information remains hidden from the audience for so much of the episode, many viewers might easily reach the end and have several lingering questions. To fully understand its ending, though, it is crucial to have straight exactly who killed whom, when, and why.
The audience, along with the people of Loch Henry, believe at first that Iain Adaire acted alone. He murdered countless innocents, got caught by Kenneth, shot him, and then shot himself and his own parents. Kenneth laterdies of an infection sufferedby way of his wounds.
This, of course, turns out ot be a lie spun by Kenneth and Janet to protect themselves. In reality, Kenneth killed Iain and his parents and then shot himself in the shoulder to frame Iain. This plan went sour, though, as Kenneth really did die of an infection, if a self-inflicted one. While recounting Iain’s story for Pia, Stuart says that his father, Richard (John Hannah), reports having seen Iain openly mocking a missing couple, leading Richard to suspect him of their kidnapping. According to Stuart, he contacted Kenneth to investigate. So, it seems likely that Kenneth murdered Iain and his family for fear that the young man had become a liability to their sinister operation.
If Kenneth and Janet were the real masterminds, then why did Janet encourage the production of a documentary about her own crimes? When she finds out the nature of her son’s forthcoming documentary, she looks teary-eyed and eager to have her husband’s story told. As opposed to what one may think, those areprobably not crocodile tears. Iain’s brazenness really did cause her husband’s death, in a way, and Janet clearly views her days of murdering with her husband in a rose-colored light.
Viewers might still ask: but how does Pia die? Unfortunately, the answer to that question might disappoint some readers. While running away from Janet, she falls and hits her head, apparently knocking herself unconscious. When the episode cuts to the BAFTAs, she’s dead. With no other information to go off of, she merely died when she hit her head or shortly thereafter.
What Does Loch Henry Say About Technology?
Black Mirrorepisodes almost always contain come kind ofcommentary about modern technology. In fact, the title of the show refers to the “black mirror” one sees when looking at an un-powered digital screen. So what does winning a BAFTA have to do with the horrors of tech addiction and artificial intelligence?
Looking back to the first episode of the first season of the show, “The National Anthem,” one remembers thatBlackMirrorneed not always derive its horror from unrealized, near-future tech. Sometimes, all it has to do is illustrate the most objectionable use imaginable for something people use every day. This is certainly the case with “Loch Henry.”
While it does not rely on the introduction of some terrifying new gadget, it exposes perversity of the glee people derive from watching true crime. Davis may have his BAFTA now, but what did he lose to achieve it? What do his viewers lose when they watch it? True crime as a genre depends upon the existence and accessibility of horrible trauma and tragedy, and yet many people today consider it among their favorite genres for casual, comforting enjoyment.Together with “Joan Is Awful,““Loch Henry” cements the sixth season ofBlack Mirroras a creep show firmly rooted in the horrors of modern entertainment.
