'I'm actually terrified.' This is the scariest episode of Black Mirror ever.

This post contains spoilers about season six, episode two of Black Mirror.

I've watched every episode of Black Mirror. Some have freaked me out, some have made me laugh, some have disgusted me, one made me switch off Netflix – but only one episode has actually terrified me.

This episode is in the latest season, which debuted earlier this month.

Watch the trailer for season six here. Post continues after video.

Season six features episodes of uneven quality. It's a deeply subjective experience to watch Black Mirror, but for me personally, the episodes started strong with 'Joan Is Awful' but got slowly worse, with the notable exception of final episode, 'Demon 79' which was quite fun.

But there's one episode that I cannot speak more highly of, especially for people who want the bejesus scared out of them.

The episode is called 'Loch Henry'. Unlike a lot of Black Mirror, this episode felt grounded in reality. It felt real. It wasn't set in a faraway land or a far-off time – which made it SO MUCH SCARIER.

At first glance, the story is spooky but not particularly revelatory. Two aspiring documentary filmmakers (and cute couple), Pia (Myha'la Herrold) and Davis (Samuel Blenkin), travel to the isolated Scottish town where Davis grew up. They end up deciding to make a documentary about a series of grisly murders committed in the '90s by town outcast Iain Adair.

Iain was said to have kidnapped holiday-makers, kept them captive in his farmhouse basement, tortured them, killed them, and buried their bodies on the grounds of his farm. The documentary features interviews with the townsfolk who remember the story, along with Davis' mother, Janet.

Davis has a personal link to Iain Adair, as his father Kenneth had been a police officer at the time of the murders. He was shot by Iain, who then shot himself and his parents.

Image: Netflix.
Like most Black Mirror episodes, from the outset, there's an overwhelming feeling of dread and fear that permeates every scene. This is heightened in darker moments, like when Pia, Davis and his friend Stuart decide to break into the farmhouse basement that had hosted so much brutality.

Stuart attempts to ham up the drama for the documentary by streaking lemon juice on the wall so that a blue light camera will recognise this as blood. When he turns on the UV lamp though, the group realise there's very real blood splattered across the entire room.

Yikes. 

At this point, the episode is already a super-effective and enthralling true crime thriller. I was definitely spooked, but as someone who spends way too much of their spare time bingeing horror movies, I wasn't scared... yet.

Then the entire episode was turned on its head. Pia and Davis are filming the documentary on a VHS recorder after becoming inspired by his father's nostalgic camera which sat in his childhood bedroom. 

There's a bunch of videotapes stacked around the house, which are labelled recordings of Bergerac, the mum's favourite show. When recording the basement scene, Davis grabs an old Bergerac tape to record over and when Pia is reviewing the basement footage, she comes to a disturbing discovery.

(Okay big spoilers here, you've been warned.)

At the end of the tape, there's filmed footage of torture scenes. And the perpetrators? Davis' mum and dad Kenneth and Janet, along with Iain Adair, who was merely their puppet.

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The scene is genius because, as a horror film fanatic, I'm trained to be watching the basement scene for any signs of ghosts or paranormal activity. That's what the viewer expects from this kind of setup.

But instead, the episode skillfully turns the table on true crime addicts with the perspective twisting from that of an outsider to becoming part of the true crime they're trying to portray.

Meanwhile, Davis is in hospital after getting into a car crash on his way home, but he finds out the truth at the same time as his girlfriend when Stuart's father finally explains why he didn't want the documentary to go ahead, as he had suspected Kenneth and Janet all along.

Pia, now stuck in the house with Janet and aware of what she's done, obviously has to get out of there asap. She manages to escape, but cracks her head on a rock while crossing a river to get away from Janet – and dies. 

Because this is Black Mirror and of course she does.

The episode ends with Janet taking her own life and leaving Davis a note, its contents only uncovered in the final moments. Left beside the pile of torture tapes, it first appears like Janet has written, 'Forgive me'.

Instead, the note reads: 

“For your film. Mum.” 

Image: Netflix.

At this point I don't know if there are four more loaded words in the English language.

In mere seconds, the episode perfectly captures how the true crime genre has taken people's trauma and repackaged it as content. 

And I can't stop thinking about that letter.

Black Mirror has hosted a lot of scary moments. 'Playtest' has some jump-scare moments with protagonist Cooper stuck inside a virtual horror videogame. 'White Bear' is also just deeply traumatising from beginning to end.

But it's the simple yet masterful episode 'Loch Henry' that I will remember for years to come.

Feature image: Netflix.