Black Mirror: Loch Henry ending explained what happened to Pia?

March 2024 · 8 minute read

Season 6 continues on in a strong vein with Loch Henry, which on the face of it, seems to just be a tale about a documentary-making couple who are intrigued by a true crime case.

As per the synopsis: "A young couple travel to a sleepy Scottish town to start work on a genteel nature documentary, but find themselves drawn to a juicy local story involving shocking events of the past."

But of course, the synopsis gives literally nothing away, and nothing could quite prepare any viewer for the twist this episode takes. But what happens to Pia (played by Myha’la Herrold) and Davis (Samuel Blenkin) in the end? Read on for everything you need to know about the ending of Loch Henry, but be warned as there are full spoilers ahead.

Black Mirror: Loch Henry ending explained – what happened to Pia?

The second episode of season 6 provided all the chill of a Scottish crime drama and also simultaneously managed to hold a mirror up to alarming true crime content consumption. So, you just knew that the ending of Loch Henry was going to be one for the books.

As Pia and Davis enjoyed a long weekend over in his small Scottish village, they went to go and visit Davis's longtime friend Stuart (Daniel Portman) at his pub. He complained that tourism was a thing of the past after the case of Iain Adair, a quiet farming boy who was found to have killed and tortured multiple people and then shot his parents, himself and Davis's police officer father Kenneth in the shoulder.

Soon, Pia was interested in exploring the case further and why Adair had killed those people. Originally, the pair kept the documentary a secret from Davis's mother Janet (Monica Dolan) but after she finds out about it, she's happy to sit down and recount her version of events as a local and wife of the now dead Kenneth.

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When they take it to the production company, they ask for new material and so, the pair get working intently, going back to Adair's house with Stuart. But on the way back home, they get into a car accident with Davis having to spend the night in hospital. Stuart's father Richard (John Hannah) also has to spend the night in hospital after falling down the stairs.

That evening, Janet cooks dinner for Pia who is now spending the night back at the home by herself with Davis in hospital. At the same time, we see that Richard has found Davis's hospital bed and has something to tell him.

As we flash back to Pia in Davis's room, she's watching the footage that they shot that day on the old camera that requires VHS tapes. Of course, they needed some blanks but unable to get any, Davis said that filming over his mother's old Bergerac tapes would be fine as she doesn't watch them anyway.

In the hospital, Richard tells Davis that he needs to stop the film. He doesn't have proof but he thinks he's "always known" and just when you're left thinking what the hell he means, we go back to Pia and the video footage. Their footage of the day stops at a certain point with the ending credits of Bergerac rolling but then, another clip starts to roll and it's Iain Adair.

Pia takes notice of it and soon sees that the video shows Dawn and Simon, the missing couple that Davis told her about and they're crying on the sofa, tied up and unclothed. The person holding the camera gives it over to Adair and it's Kenny, Davis's father in his police uniform. He narrates the video behind the couple saying that "the mistress" will be "having fun" with them both.

As Janet continues making the dinner, Pia sees that the camera then flashes to a younger Janet dressed in a nurse's uniform and red mask. She dances round with an electric drill in her hand and you can only hear the couple's screams. But then in the present, Janet comes up behind Pia to tell her dinner is ready. Pia tries to keep calm through dinner but notices the very same red mask from the video hanging on the wall behind Janet.

Pia takes herself off to the bathroom and then makes excuses to leave the house, saying she needs to go for a walk. Suspicious of her actions, Janet goes up to Davis's room and sees one of her Bergerac videos in the VHS player, clearly knowing what Pia has seen. She drives up behind Pia saying for her to get in the car.

But Pia runs off and unable to get a phone signal, she hides behind a brick wall so that Janet can't see her. Janet continues to call out for Pia but Pia walks into a stream, trying to make her way to the other side. But she loses her balance, tripping and landing on a rock. We then see her body float downstream.

Frustrated at not being able to find her, Janet shouts into the air and later drives back home. Underneath her bed, she pulls out a box that has memorabilia from that time including the butterfly broach Dawn was last seen wearing before she disappeared. She pulls out the stack of polaroid pictures and it's then that we see the victims of her and Kenneth's crimes.

She places the box along with all of the Bergerac videos on the dining room table and writes a note, which she leaves on top of the box. She puts on the red mask one last time and hangs herself in her bedroom with a rope that was also in the drawer underneath her bed.

What happened to Davis?

After the chilling events of that night unfold, the next scene we see is Davis being interviewed in the style of a documentary. The producer says to him: "So, tell us about the film you're making."

But what we don't realise immediately is that it's actually a Streamberry documentary trailer and we soon see the footage that Davis shot of Pia, along with those historical clips they were originally going to use. But it's also clearly a documentary about what we've just found out as clips of Janet and Kenneth are overlayed with tense trailer music.

It's in the trailer that we learn that Richard, Stuart's father, confesses he spent a night with Kenneth and Janet where things got carried away. He said they took part in sex games but the way they behaved that night made him think that Adair didn't act alone.

We then see current day news reports breaking the news of the pair's involvement and the fact that Adair had been under the guidance of Kenneth. It's then revealed that Kenneth shot the Adairs dead and deliberately wounded himself to cover up his role in the murders.

As for Davis, the trailer then shows him breaking down crying as the name for the documentary is revealed: Loch Henry Truth Will Out.

It then flashes to the night of the BAFTAs where Loch Henry Truth Will Out wins best factual series and the head of Historik Productions Kate Czar dedicates the award to him and his late girlfriend, Pia. At the party after the awards, they then see Weruche Opia, and Kate approaches her about auditioning for the drama TV series role of Pia.

Back at his hotel room afterwards, Davis drinks alone and accepts a call from a very happy Stuart but quickly hangs up after he tells him how booked up he's been. At the pub, we see how the pub goers are wearing the same red mask that Janet was wearing in the crimes – clearly a new trend.

Davis then opens up a note from his pocket and it's the note Janet had written him before she died, it reads: "For your film. Mum." The last shot is of Davis crying, looking at the BAFTA award and drinking his champagne.

Caught up on Black Mirror season 6? Read our episode breakdowns below:

Read our interview with Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker, as well as season 6 stars Salma Hayek, Aaron Paul and Rob Delaney, in the latest issue of Radio Times magazine – out now.

Black Mirror season 6 is streaming now on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

Take part in the Screen Test, a project from Radio Times and the Universities of Sussex and Brighton, to explore the role of television and audio in our lives.

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