History Recap / BlackMirrorLochHenry

* EveryoneHasStandards: Stuart may like to bust Iain's balls and make politically incorrect remarks towards him and Pia for the sake of riling them up, but he's genuinely angered and disgusted when Richard starts hurling cruel insults at them for trying to create the Loch Henry doc.

Costarring Creator/DanielPortman as Stuart, Creator/MonicaDolan as Janet and Creator/EllieWhite as Kate Cezar.

->''"The mystery is, "how could someone do that shit?". It's "what the fuck?". It's "give me the details!". And the details are so awful, it's irresistible.''

[[Recap/BlackMirrorJoanIsAwful Joan Is Awful]] | '''Loch Henry''' | [[Recap/BlackMirrorBeyondTheSea Beyond The Sea]] | [[Recap/BlackMirrorMazeyDay Mazey Day]] | [[Recap/BlackMirrorDemon79 Demon 79]]-]]]]]

* RedHerring: Richard initially looks as if he might have been involved with the murders, given that he openly discourages the documentary and later approaches a bedridden Davis in an overly ominous fashion as if he might be about to kill him. However, he's actually there to reveal the truth behind Kenneth and Janet's involvement in the murders.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Kenneth shoots himself nonlethally in order to frame Iain, gets an infection from the wound and does.

* AllForNothing:
** Janet's suicide is this: she kills herself due to believing Pia had escaped and is about to report her, not knowing that Pia accidentally fell and died while wading across a river.
** Pia crossing the river is also this. Janet doesn't as much step off the road or give chase to Pia, only standing on the road and shouting for Pia to show herself before letting out a ClusterFBomb and returning home to kill herself. Pia could have hid in the bushes and she would have been just fine.

* TourismDerailingEvent: The episode takes place in a Scottish village that used to thrive on tourists exploring the scenic wilderness. However, during the '90s, local man Iain Adair was found to have abducted, tortured, and murdered eight visitors, effectively frightening off the tourist trade, leaving Loch Henry a DyingTown. As such, Pia and Davis hit upon the idea of making a Netflix-style documentary about the murders, with Stuart supporting it in the belief that it will lure in a more modern breed of tourist. However, it's discovered that Davis' parents were enthusiastic participants in the murders, resulting in an AloneWithThePsycho situation that ends with Pia dying in her attempt to escape, Janet hanging herself to avoid arrest, and a huge stockpile of {{Snuff Film}}s being uncovered. The documentary is extended to encompass the more recent tragedy and becomes successful enough to rejuvenate Loch Henry's tourist trade.

* TourismDerailingEvent: The episode takes place in a Scottish village that used to thrive on tourists exploring the scenic wilderness. However, during the '90s, local man Iain Adair was found to have abducted, tortured, and murdered eight visitors, effectively frightening off the tourist trade, leaving Loch Henry a DyingTown. As such, Pia and Davis hit upon the idea of making a Netflix-style documentary about the murders, with Stuart supporting it in the belief that it will lure in a more modern breed of tourist. [[spoiler: However, it's discovered that Davis' parents were enthusiastic participants in the murders, resulting in an AloneWithThePsycho situation that ends with Pia dying in her attempt to escape, Janet hanging herself to avoid arrest, and a huge stockpile of {{Snuff Film}}s being uncovered. The documentary is extended to encompass the more recent tragedy and becomes successful enough to rejuvenate Loch Henry's tourist trade.]]

** Pia successfully eludes Janet (who isn't even trying to chase her in the first place), only to slip on a stone, fall over, hit her head over a rock and either die from that or simply drown while unconscious.

** Davis notes that the ''Bergerac'' videotape they're using has been recorded over several times. It's later revealed that one of those times was a SnuffFilm.

* IdiotBall: Pia continuing to watch the tape well after realizing both Kenneth and Janet were in it, on a monitor that faced the room's unlocked door, all with Davis' mom in the house... not a good idea, to say the least.

* MeetTheInLaws: The episode opens with Pia meeting her boyfriend Davis' mother. She's concerned that Janet doesn't like her because she's black and American.

* WhamShot: While going over some footage from the shoot, Pia discovers that she actually recorded on the same tape that Iain used. Turns out he had an accomplice, Janet which is revealed when she appears in the tape.

** While being filmed, Janet remarks that it's the first time in years she's been in front of a camera -- subtly referencing her starring role in the snuff films. The true crime documentary even uses it as a hook.

* BaitAndSwitch:
** Stuart screams at Davis when he walks into the pub claiming he told Davis to never show his face there again. Davis shrugs this off and recognizes it as a joke between old friends.
** Towards the end of the episode Richard, who has been acting oddly the whole time, approaches Davis alone in a darkened hospital room in a seemingly menacing fashion ... only to reveal that he wanted to speak to Davis privately to try and warn him about his parents' possible involvement in the murders.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Davis and Pia wish to make an award winning documentary and Stuart is more than happy to help as he believes it will bring tourists back to the dying town. By the time the credits roll the documentary has been made and won a BAFTA and the tourists seem to have returned to Loch Henry in droves... but Pia has died in the process and Davis' is a broken man over the death of his girlfriend and the exposure of his parents as serial killers.
* BitingTheHandHumor: The aftermath shows the Loch Henry tourists wearing replicas of the killers' masks. In 2022, Netflix caught some heat after their [[Series/DahmerMonsterTheJeffreyDahmerStory Jeffrey Dahmer series]] inspired viewers to dress up as Dahmer for Halloween.

** The taped episodes of ''Bergerac'' not only become instrumental to Davis and Pia's recorded footage of Iain Adair's TortureCellar, but are later revealed to contain recorded footage of serial torture and murder.

* ClusterFBomb: The normally mild mannered and soft-spoken Janet lets loose an ''extremely'' foul mouthed tirade when it seems like Pia has escaped into the fields right after discovering Janet's past as a serial killer.
* ContinuityNod: Multiple, almost all of them happening at the end with the in-universe trailer for the TrueCrime documentary which in itself is a inter-season one by depicting it being released on [[Recap/BlackMirrorJoanIsAwful Streamberry]].

* DeathByOriginStory: Davis explains that his father died when he was eight. We then learn that Dawn and Simon callis were killed by Iain before he killed himself.

* FetishesAreWeird: It's all but stated that Kenneth and Janet's torture (and possibly rape) of innocent people was all part of an extreme sadistic fetish. Sex toys can be seen in the footage showing the dungeon, Janet is shown wearing a latex nurse uniform and a carnival mask (both pretty common fetish apparel) in their snuff film, and in the documentary trailer, Richard admits that he started suspecting of the couple's involvement in the crimes after participating in sexual games with them.

** Davis notes that the ''Bergerac'' video tape they're using has been recorded over several times. It's later revealed that one of those times was a SnuffFilm.

* MeetTheInLaws: The episode opens on Pia meeting her boyfriend Davis' mother. She's concerned that Janet doesn't like her because she's black and American.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Downplayed with Stuart, who's a bit crass and moves against the progressive grain, but becomes fast friends with Pia and supports her and Davis's endeavour to the fullest. [[DarkHorseVictory He's probably the only character to come out of the episode with a happy ending]].

* SceneryPorn: Upon seeing the Loch, Pia remarks that is absolutely beautiful and is surprised no one else is there. Later her and Davis get some in universe scenery porn of the Loch via their drone.

* TrashyTrueCrime: The show's theme is about the contemporary fascination with TrueCrime. Pia takes a detour to the farm where they found the bodies and pitches a documentary about it instead, because their original idea didn't have mass appeal. In her and Davis' unethical efforts to do so, she finds that the truth is ''even worse'', and dies for it. And then it all becomes a sensationalized TrueCrime doc anyway, with a dramatization on the way. The whole experience destroys Davis emotionally.

* UnholyMatrimony: For a pair of sadistic serial killers, Davis' parents seen to have been HappilyMarried. Janet angst over her husband's death shown during the episode appears to be genuine.