{"id":33730,"date":"2023-06-15T10:00:52","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T08:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1844981"},"modified":"2023-06-15T10:56:38","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T08:56:38","slug":"black-mirror-joan-is-awful-ending-explained-what-happened-to-joan-2","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/black-mirror-joan-is-awful-ending-explained-what-happened-to-joan-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Mirror: Joan Is Awful ending explained \u2013 what happened to Joan?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Annie Murphy leads the cast of the Black Mirror episode as Joan, but what happens to her? <\/p>

By Morgan Cormack\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 15 June 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Warning: This article contains full spoilers for Black Mirror season 6 episode 1, Joan Is Awful.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps one of the most meta episodes of Black Mirror<\/a> yet, Joan Is Awful gets the new sixth season off to a mind-bending start.<\/p>\n

The new season of Black Mirror opens up with the Annie Murphy<\/a>-led episode that is also a parody of Netflix, with the fictional streaming service Streamberry as the major faceless player in this episode.<\/p>\n

As per the synopsis for the episode: \u201cAn average woman is stunned to discover a global streaming platform has launched a prestige TV drama adaptation of her life \u2013 in which she is portrayed by Hollywood A-lister Salma Hayek Pinault.\u201d<\/p>\n

But how does the episode end? And how do things wrap up for our unlucky protagonist, Joan? Read on for everything you need to know about the ending of Joan Is Awful but be warned as there are full spoilers<\/strong> for the episode ahead.<\/p>\n

Black Mirror: Joan Is Awful ending explained \u2013 what happened to Joan?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\""Salma\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Ben Barnes and Salma Hayek Pinault in Black Mirror episode Joan Is Awful.<\/span><\/figcaption> Ana Blumekron\/Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

It goes without saying that while terribly funny, this Black Mirror episode is seriously trippy in more ways than one.<\/p>\n

After growing increasingly infuriated by the way that Streamberry is showing her every move on its new series, Joan Is Awful, Joan (Annie Murphy) takes matters into her own hands. As she\u2019s played in the series by a deepfake image of A-list Hollywood actress Salma Hayek Pinault, Joan thinks that Salma won\u2019t want to be associated with anything that could be damaging to her successful career.<\/p>\n

So, in a move that\u2019s all too reminiscent of a certain scene from Bridesmaids, Joan eats a number of hamburgers, takes laxative medication, dons a cheerleading costume and runs into a church to defecate in the middle of a wedding ceremony. Of course, the same scene plays out on the Streamberry show with Salma doing the same.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s after this that Salma goes to her lawyers to complain about the way that Streamberry is using her image but she\u2019s told that the image rights agreement contract that she signed explicitly mentions that it covers any acts or behaviours of Joan\u2019s \u201cup to and including and beyond defecation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Also angry at Streamberry now, Salma pays Joan a visit at her home and the two come up with a plan to destroy the computer system and server that lays by Streamberry CEO Mona Javadi\u2019s (Leila Farzad) office. Salma goes to the office and tells the receptionist she\u2019s gone to the toilet, but actually lets Joan in through the back. They run to the server room while Mona is giving an interview about the future of Streamberry.<\/p>\n

\""Black\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Annie Murphy in Black Mirror episode Joan Is Awful.<\/span><\/figcaption> Netflix<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

While listening to the interview, Joan and Salma hear Mona say that the \u2018quamputer\u2019 they\u2019re after is just down the corridor on the left. Mona explains that the quantum computer wills entire multiverses into existence and then produces fully-edited programmes that usually take months to make. The plan is to take this worldwide, she explains, with personal content for every Streamberry user in their very own Joan Is Awful show.<\/p>\n

After running out of Mona\u2019s office, Salma and Joan go to the quamputer room where Michael Cera\u2019s Beppe is manning the computers that follow Joan around. Confused as to why she\u2019s on the screen, Beppe explains that Annie Murphy\u2019s Joan is on the screen because that\u2019s the variant of Joan that the Joan below her sees when she watches the show.<\/p>\n

He explains: \u201cYou\u2019re not the original Joan. That\u2019s Source Joan. You\u2019re just a<\/em> Joan.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then shows Annie the real Joan and says: \u201cYou\u2019re a version of Joan played by a digital likeness of Annie Murphy.\u201d He then brings up footage of Annie on the red carpet and mentions Schitt\u2019s Creek before showing the footage of Source Joan in reality.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s then all unveiled that when Source Joan watches the TV show Joan Is Awful, she sees Annie playing her. Annie\u2019s show is the fictive level they\u2019re all on \u2013 fictive level 1. Michael Cera, Annie Murphy and Salma Hayek have all licensed their faces for the show but Salma believes she is herself because she\u2019s been coded to think that on this level of the show.<\/p>

Basically, they\u2019re not in reality right now and they\u2019re on fictive level 1, just in Source Joan\u2019s story. Now even angrier, Annie takes an axe and goes into the chamber that houses the computer. But she gets freaked out when she thinks about the versions of themselves that think they\u2019re real that they could be destroying as well.<\/p>\n

But Annie says the events that this is based on have already happened, meaning she doesn\u2019t have a choice about destroying the computer or not because the real Joan would\u2019ve already done it. Destroying the computer, we soon see the reality of it all play out with the real Joan destroying the computer and Annie dressed in the yellow jumpsuit that Salma was previously wearing.<\/p>\n

The real Joan is then arrested, with Annie being questioned by the police before waving goodbye to a smiling Joan. As the credits roll, we see Joan back in her therapist\u2019s office, admitting she\u2019s dating again and trying to make time for herself. She talks about her new business and she then admits that she feels like the main character in her own life.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s on house arrest and has a tag on her ankle but we see her walk over to her business \u2013 Joan\u2019s Coffee. Annie walks into the coffee shop, also with a tag on her ankle. Joan takes her \u201cusual\u201d order and the pair get talking, saying how much they\u2019ve missed each other and laughing.<\/p>\n

Caught up on Black Mirror season 6? Read our episode breakdowns below:<\/strong><\/p>\n