Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 2: Pia's Fate Explained

Contains spoilers for "Black Mirror" Season 6, Episode 2 — "Loch Henry"

A new season of "Black Mirror" means five new episodes about the dehumanization of humanity through a satirical lens. One of the most intriguing installments to come out of Season 6 is "Loch Henry," which follows two budding documentarians — Davis (Samuel Blenkin) and Pia (Myha'la Herrold) — who return to Davis' Scottish hometown to do a project on an egg collector. However, upon hearing about a man who tortured and murdered tourists years ago, Pia wants to make a more engaging true crime documentary they would have an easier time finding a distributor for.

Davis is reluctant to dig up the past, and it turns out those fears were warranted. When going through his family's old tapes, she uncovers a snuff film showing how Davis' parents worked alongside the murderer. His mother, Janet (Monica Dolan), realizes that Pia has discovered this secret and goes after her when she runs out of the house. When Pia's on the run through the wilderness, she trips and hits her head on a rock. So what happened to Pia in "Black Mirror?" She dies, which is confirmed later in the episode when the finished documentary wins awards dedicated to Pia's memory. 

Pia's death serves to highlight the cost of chasing sensationalism. Davis wanted to leave the story alone for fear of it digging up old wounds, but Pia insisted on pursuing this story. In the end, Davis may have a BAFTA, but he's lost everything else.

The following contains mentions of suicide.

"Loch Henry" is an interesting addition to "Black Mirror" canon because it doesn't focus so much on a piece of technology, as is the case with so many other episodes. Instead, it looks at how society treats true crime stories for entertainment. Pia wants to pursue the murder documentary because it's obviously more enticing than making something about a guy who collects eggs. Davis is apprehensive because he has a direct link with the case since the murderer shot his father. He agrees to go along with it and ends up learning more than he wants. 

Upon realizing the family's secret is uncovered, Janet leaves the tapes for Davis to find and dies by suicide. He completes the documentary, which gets picked up by Streamberry. He wins awards and acclaim, and it's easy to see how his career will likely flourish after this. However, he lost everyone he was close to. In this way, Episode 2 of "Black Mirror" Season 6 feeds into many of the ideas the show has toyed with in the past. In the pursuit of success, Davis has lost part of his humanity, with people dying who wouldn't have if they had just decided to film the Egg Man. 

The tragedy comes from everyone else getting what they wanted besides Davis. The executives at Streamberry are pleased with the documentary's success. Stuart (Daniel Portman) is ecstatic at the win because there will be more tourism in the small town, which means more money for him. Davis has a fancy trophy, but he's alone, more isolated than ever. It's a commentary on how true crime projects aren't just mindless entertainment. There are real people impacted by these cases, and digging into them further can cause greater harm. 

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.