You Might Have Missed This Black Mirror Post-Credits Scene In “Joan Is Awful”

Spoilers ahead for Black Mirror Season 6, Episode 1. Black Mirror made its highly anticipated return on June 15, and with it came one of the series’ most meta episodes yet. Episode 1, “Joan Is Awful,” follows a woman named Joan who’s unwittingly signed away her life rights to Streamberry (an in-universe Netflix) by skimming past the platform’s terms and conditions. Once she realizes that Streamberry’s buzziest new title is a beat-for-beat dramatization of her life, she enacts a plan to stop the streamer in its tracks.

At least, that’s the surface story. In the episode’s last ten minutes, Black Mirror drops a bombshell that adds a few twisty layers to Joan’s arc — so if you need the “Joan Is Awful” ending explained, you’re not alone!

To recap: In an effort to stop the in-universe drama from stealing her life, Joan (Annie Murphy) resorts to obscene acts (like pooping in a church) to get the attention of her on-screen avatar, Salma Hayek, whose deepfake image has been licensed to Streamberry. Hayek is understandably mortified to be seen on screen that way, so she agrees to work with Joan to break into Streamberry and destroy the show’s servers.

Once they arrive at the control room, however, they’re greeted by a worker (Michael Cera) who tells the women the entire saga we’ve been watching is, itself, an adaptation of the real Joan (the “Source Joan”)’s life. He acknowledges that he’s a deepfake of Michael Cera and tells our Joan she’s borrowing Annie Murphy’s image. (Remember when Salma Hayek’s “Joan” discovered “Joan Is Awful,” and she was played by Cate Blanchett? There are levels! When Source Joan watches her show, she’s played by Annie Murphy.)

Ultimately, Source Joan (Kayla Lorette) decides to destroy the quantum computer that makes this show possible — and in real life (Level 1), she did so with the help of Annie Murphy in Salma Hayek’s place. By the end of the episode, Source Joan and Murphy are pals who both wear ankle monitors because of their crimes at Streamberry. But they’re otherwise free!

In a final post-credits scene, viewers get to see the footage of Source Joan and the aforementioned poop scheme. This further confirms the layered aspect of “Joan Is Awful” — implying that in real life, the awful scene was embarrassing enough to get Murphy’s attention and force her to take action.

There was actually a wink to the meta-ness of “Joan Is Awful” earlier in the episode, too. When Joan meets her ex, Mac, at the restaurant, “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)” can briefly be heard playing in the background. The tune probably sounds familiar to Black Mirror viewers because it’s been used a few times throughout the series’ run — first and most notably in “Fifteen Million Merits,” which also concerned the high cost of entertainment on the people we watch every day.