Netflix recently released the much-awaited episodes of Black Mirror Season 6. And all this time, the show has been notorious for giving its viewers an open ending with room for interpretation.
So we can't help but ask: Black Mirror: Does Joan is Awful have a happy ending or is it one that will make you shake your head in frustration?
In this article, we'll discuss the ending of Joan is Awful episode and share the number of times Black Mirror episodes ended on a positive note.
Black Mirror: Joan Is Awful Ending Explained
The first episode of Black Mirror Season 6 starts with an episode called Joan is Awful and stars Annie Murphy and Salma Hayek-Pinault.
The official synopsis reads:
“An average woman is stunned to discover a global streaming platform has launched a prestige TV drama adaptation of her life – in which she is portrayed by Hollywood A-lister Salma Hayek.”
So how does the episode end? Effectively, Joan's life has been ruined by Streamberry after dramatizing her life and gets her fired from her job, losing her friends and loved ones.
As she learns from her lawyer, Joan cannot sue Streamberry since she consented with the terms and conditions of her subscription. So she turns to her only option available: get Salma Hayek's attention.
And Joan does so by embarrassing the Hollywood A-lister in front of a church. Since Hayek's face is deepfaked into Joan's actions, she is sure to take notice and take matters into her own hands.
In the next scene, Hayek consults her lawyers and finds that she, too, cannot do anything as she agreed to Streamberry using her image in their content.
After learning this, she seeks out Joan and confronts her. The two work together to bring down Streamberry and its quantum computer.
After being able to smuggle in Joan into the building, they manage go up to the CEO's office where they get to learn more about the technology and the platform's plans.
They then head over to the control room where the quamputer can be found, along with Michael Cera, who explains to them what's going on.
As it turns out, Joan is not the real Joan. She is a simulation with actress' Annie Murphy's face deepfaked upon.
If you're confused by this, here's a bullet point of the different layers and who actress playing the role:
- Real Joan - is technically a nobody who watches her life being portrayed by Annie Murphy
- Annie Murphy (Layer 1) - Watches as her life gets portrayed by Salma Hayek
- Salma Hayek (Layer 2) - Watches as her life gets portrayed by Cate Blanchett
- Cate Blanchett (Layer 3) - Watches as her life is portrayed by an unknown actress
We do not go beyond Cate Blanchett's layer and even before what we presume to be real Joan. But since she was able to destroy the quamputer, we can believe that there might not be another simulation layer beneath the real Joan.
Does Joan Is Awful in Black Mirror Have a Happy Ending?
We'd like to believe Joan is Awful got a happy ending in Black Mirror, which doesn't happen too often in the show.
After destroying the quamputer, we see that the real Joan takes over while Annie Murphy is in Salma Hayek's place. The police then escort Joan away as the two women smile at each other.
While we believe that is the end, the real Joan is still on the screen and giving her therapist an update on how her life is going.
She reveals that she has started dating again and that she is okay with being alone. We also learn that she has pursued her dream of opening her own coffee shop.
Life seems to be doing well for real Joan, except that she is placed under house arrest with the GPS tag on her ankle.
Annie Murphy also walks in and orders her usual. Along with real Joan, she is placed under house arrest with a GPS tag on her ankle. The episode ends with the two smiling and chatting.
How Many Black Mirror Happy Endings Are There?
The answer to this is actually pretty controversal and depends on how you view each episode.
Personally, I believe that White Bear is a happy ending since everybody is able to torment the killer every single day. But that's just me. There's more to happy endings than just what meets the idea.
Unanimously, the Black Mirror episodes that people belive have a happy ending include the following:
- San Junipero (from Black Mirror Season 3)
- USS Callister (from Black Mirror Season 4)
- Striking Vipers (from Black Mirror Season 5)
- Nosedive (from Black Mirror Season 3)
- Hang the DJ (from Black Mirror Season 4)
- Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too (from Black Mirror Season 5)
And now, we can add Joan is Awful and Demon 79 (from Black Mirror Season 6). This makes it eight episodes that end on a happy note.
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