Spoilers Ahead for Black Mirror episode one of season 6
“Joan is Awful” is the first episode of the new Black Mirror season (season 6). The episode follows an average woman named Joan (Annie Murphy) whose life is chosen by the global streaming company, Streamberry (the Black Mirror version of Netflix), to be adapted in a new show called “Joan is Awful.” The company uses her phone to track whatever she does in the day, transfer it to their systems, and produce a CGI recreation of the events (with Salma Hayek’s likeness as Joan) the same day for viewers to watch. Her privacy, therefore, is completely destroyed, and all her secrets fly out the window.
On the first day we meet her, Joan fires someone (Ayo Edebiri) and cheats on her fiance, Krish (Avi Nash) with her ex boyfriend, Mac (Rob Delaney). Krish finds out about her cheating on him because they watch, gobsmacked, the new recommended show, “Joan is Awful”. In the first episode, Awful Joan (Salma Hayek) heartlessly fires a CGI likeness of her employee from earlier and cheats on Himesh Patel, her TV fiance, with Ben Barnes, her TV ex. Awful Joan even watches her own version of “Joan is Awful” on the in-universe streaming service, which stars Cate Blanchett. The next day, in the real world, the real Joan is fired from her job for spilling company secrets on television, even though it wasn’t actually her. From here, her life is essentially ruined as everyone around her recognizes that the show is about her real life.
She attempts to sue Streamberry, but her lawyer tells her that the company is within their legal limits, as she unknowingly signed away the rights to her life by agreeing to the terms and conditions of her Streamberry account (which she did not read, because no one reads them).
At a loss for what to do, Joan decides to completely embarrass herself to in turn embarrass Salma Hayek and get her to act on her behalf. It works, Salma is furious, but finds that, legally, she also cannot do anything. The two women team up to infiltrate Streamberry’s offices and destroy the quantum computer device (quamputer) that is allowing the tech company access to her life.
Inside, they meet Michael Cera, who reveals to them that, actually, “real Joan” isn’t even Joan. They’re on the first fictitious level of the world; they live in the show “Joan is Awful” that the REAL real Joan (or source Joan) watches, and Annie Murphy really is actor Annie Murphy (and Salma Hayek Pinault is playing herself), she’s just convinced that she’s Joan because she’s playing her as real on this plane of existence. Kind of a lot to process, but a great example of why Black Mirror is known for their plot twists.
Annie Murphy breaks into the area with the device anyways, and has a moment of self-reflection while trying to decide whether or not to break it. The higher ups at Streamberry tell her life on this plane will cease to exist if she destroys it, effectively killing this version of her and Salma Hayek and everyone else within it. Annie concludes that the choice isn’t really hers and if she’s here, it must mean that real Joan has already been here and already chosen to destroy the device, otherwise she wouldn’t be doing this. Every action she takes completely relies on the real Joan having already taken it, just like Salma Hayek’s likeness recreated every single thing Annie Murphy did as Joan and nothing else.
Annie Murphy destroys the device and glitches with the real Joan. But they break free. Both Annie and Joan are arrested and placed on house arrest for the destruction of property, but they end up friends. The episode ends with them catching up in Joan’s new coffee shop after the big twist, ankle bracelets locked on, but relatively unharmed.