The season 2 Black Mirror episode "The Waldo Moment" focuses on politics and delivers the kind of dark, surprising ending that viewers associate with the popular TV show. The episode, which was written by the showrunner Charlie Brooker, aired in February 2013.
"The Waldo Moment" isn't the most popular Black Mirror episode, and viewers and critics have shared their opinions on why it doesn't measure up to the high standard set by many other episodes. However, it still has something interesting to say about the state of politics, what happens when someone goes viral, and celebrity culture in general.
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What Happens During Black Mirror's "The Waldo Moment"?
In the Black Mirror episode "The Waldo Moment," which isn't one of the most popular or even the most chilling episodes of Black Mirror, Jamie Salter (Daniel Rigby) is having trouble getting over heartbreak and isn't happy with the way that his career is going. Jamie is an actor whose memorable character, Waldo, is a bear who hosts a kid's TV show-within-the-show and asks politicians questions. He isn't pleased when he is told that he's going to be featured in his own TV show if a pilot is picked up.
Black Mirror's "The Waldo Moment" has two other main characters who are politicians: Labor Party candidate Gwendolyn Harris (Chloe Pirrie) and Liam Monroe (Tobias Menzies). Gwendolyn and Liam run to become members of parliament and Waldo does too. While Waldo's campaign is originally intended to be a joke, everyone takes it fairly seriously, and Jamie has complicated feelings about that. In the middle of all of this chaos, Waldo and Gwendolyn bond and begin a romantic relationship.
The Black Mirror episode "Rachel, Jack and Ashley, Too" focuses on the perils of celebrity culture, and the Black Mirror episode "Mazey Day" has a similarly bleak ending. "The Waldo Moment" is meant to be a parody of going viral and even of political commentary. When Waldo insults Gwendolyn and Liam, he ends up going viral on YouTube, which of course upsets Gwendolyn. While Jamie feels bad, it's hard for him not to get caught up in the celebrity that he is now experiencing.
"The Waldo Moment" is a rare Black Mirror episode that is about politics, and it offers up commentary on the political culture in Britain. According to Entertainment Weekly, when Charlie Brooker talked about Black Mirror at a panel at the Vulture Festival in May 2017, he said, "It felt like people just wanted authenticity, even if it was ugly authenticity, and that’s what that episode was about. It’s an unusual episode, probably should have been its own miniseries. Now it seems quite prescient.”
How Does Black Mirror's "The Waldo Moment" End?
The ending of the Black Mirror episode "The Waldo Moment" sees Gwendolyn refusing to forgive Jamie. After Jamie makes a public statement that people should cast their votes for someone other than Waldo because things have gone too far, TV executive Jack Napier (Jason Flemyng) asks a stranger to beat Jamie up. Although this is scary to watch, it doesn't feel as effective as it could be. The characters besides Jamie and Gwendolyn often feel as if they are evil for the sake of being evil without as much nuance as there could be.
Since the Black Mirror episode "The Waldo Moment" is about politics, it's another example of how realistic Black Mirror can be. While hopefully, no one would actually meet the same fate that Jamie does, the ending of the episode is a painful reminder of how quickly someone can go viral and become famous and then fall from grace.
When the election is over, Gwendolyn has gotten third place, Monroe wins, and Waldo is the runner-up. The episode concludes with a cop telling Jamie, who is now homeless, that he needs to find somewhere else to spend his time. Jamie is haunted by Waldo who appears on a TV screen before him. Members of the police force begin beating Jamie up when he pitches a bottle at the image of Waldo.
The Black Mirror episode "The Waldo Moment" is less subtle than other episodes, which makes it less interesting. While it's effective to watch an actor wearing a bear costume insulting politicians, that is the most compelling part of the whole episode. The ending could be a lot more powerful if Jamie found a way to fight back against what has happened to him. He could find more agency in his own life and the show could still end on the dark note that fans expect from Black Mirror. However, the episode does poke fun at the state of political commentary and the fact that people sometimes tire of watching the same kinds of interviews over and over again. No matter how someone feels about it, it's fair to say that "The Waldo Moment" isn't a Black Mirror episode with a happy ending.