This article contains no major spoilers about Loch Henry: Truth Will Out, episode 2 of the new season of Black Mirror. However, there is an Easter Egg in “Loch Henry” that references “San Junipero,” from Season 3. So we will spoil only this.
In “Loch Henry,” there is a documentary film made. That film goes on to achieve success. It is in fact nominated for a BAFTA Award, the British equivalent to an Emmy. In the category for Best Documentary, the other two nominees are Suffer the Children, The Tipely Pedophile Ring, and Euthanasia: Inside Project San Junipero.
We, like many, feel San Junipero is one of the best Black Mirror episodes in the entire show. In fact, as a college professor, I’ve been teaching this episode for several years and students love it. It’s twists, foreshadowing, gorgeous settings and soundtrack make it an enjoyable episode to watch and talk about. It’s also a love story. And unlike most episodes of Black Mirror, it has a happy ending, sort of. The last image we see in San Junipero is a massive super computer inside a mega-corporation called Tucker Systems. (Another Easter Egg spread across the disjointed Black Mirror universe.)
When we are left with this haunting image of a super computer housing countless consciousnesses, it is a little harrowing. To think that a corporation has that much power is scary, to say the least. What if the server goes down? What if the corporation sells the info. It’s too much power in one place. That image is also a throwback to the last scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where we sell a warehouse with endless boxes, knowing one of them houses the devilish arc.
San Junipero Easter Egg
To see the San Junipero Easter Egg in Loch Ness begs the question: did something go wrong? What happened? Are we to believe “Project San Junipero” is still up and running? We say no. Documentaries are not usually made about up and running projects. They are made in hindsight, usually after something goes wrong. Which leads us to believe the answer is no. Project San Junipero is not currently functional. And yes, something did go wrong. But that’s just our opinion.
We will likely never get the answer unless someone asks Charlie Booker. But we appreciate the question being asked. And we appreciate the Easter Egg.
