Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Black Mirror season 6, episode 5 "Demon 79"
With the return of Netflix’s sci-fi anthology show comes a slew of new twists, and Black Mirror season 6, episode 5, “Demon 79,” features one of the show’s most shocking endings ever. Since the show’s inception, the anthology series Black Mirror has been renowned for its killer twist endings. Black Mirror’s dark satire of technology and the way it is enmeshed in modern life has won the show considerable critical acclaim, but it is Black Mirror’s endings that keep viewers coming back for more. Black Mirror’s twists range from the sweet coda of season 3, episode 4, “San Junipero,” to the crushing nihilism of season 2, episode 2, “White Bear.”
From Black Mirror’s most disturbing episode to its most optimistic outing, the series consistently wrongfoots viewers who think they know what to expect from the show. This remains as true as ever in Black Mirror season 6. Black Mirror season 6 includes a trippy meta episode about the horrors of streaming services, an alternative history story set in the ‘60s, and the cautionary tale of a star trying to evade the paparazzi at any cost. However, Black Mirror season 6, episode 5, “Demon 79,” takes the series in an entirely new direction with an outing that leans into supernatural horror rather than dystopian sci-fi.
What Happens In Black Mirror's "Demon 79" Ending
“Demon 79” begins when Anjan Vassan’s mild-mannered shop assistant Nida accidentally summons Papa Essideu’s charismatic demon Gaap. Gaap tells Nida she must kill one person per day for three days to avoid the apocalypse. Since Nida lives in Thatcher’s England, where anti-immigrant sentiment is on the rise and National Front fascists are vandalizing her house’s doorway, there is no shortage of viable candidates. A Black Mirror episode with no sci-fi technology, “Demon 79” is a straightforward horror story wherein Nida sacrifices a local pedophile, a man who murdered his wife, and the murderer’s innocent brother as she attempts to avoid the end of the world.
However, when the murderer's death doesn’t count toward her tally, Nida needs to find an alternative third victim. She chooses an ambitious Conservative politician whose rise to power will cause the deaths of thousands due to his policies. Gaap is not happy about this but can’t stop Nida from making her choice. Nida runs this politician off the road after a speech and attacks him with a hammer, but a policeman stops her before she can deliver the killing blow. Taken in for questioning, Nida awaits the stroke of midnight. Nuclear bombs descend, wiping out all life on Earth as Gaap and Nida prepare for eternal oblivion together.
Nida’s Victims In Black Mirror "Demon 79" Explained
Nida’s first victim is a seemingly sweet man who meets her by a canal when she first encounters Gaap. In a classic dark Black Mirror twist, Gaap reveals this man is an incestuous pedophile who abuses his young daughter. Nida hits his head with a brick, a method she uses on her next victim too. Keith is a widower who is rumored to have murdered his wife. Nida has an unsettling encounter with him early in the episode, and after a few shots to steady her nerve, she follows him home from the pub and kills him with a hammer.
However, Keith’s brother comes home shortly after this killing which poses a problem for Nida. After a struggle, Nida stabs Keith’s brother to death. However, Gaap informs her he is “ordinary” rather than a morally flawed person like her earlier victims. This leaves Nida feeling despondent, and Gaap worsens this condition when he learns that Keith’s murder didn’t count toward her tally. Black Mirror sets up a sad ending as Nida then decides to kill an ambitious political candidate stoking anti-immigrant sentiment and promoting ethnonationalism. This would-be victim proves her undoing.
Why Keith’s Murder Didn't Count
Keith’s murder doesn’t count toward Nida’s tally because he is already a murderer, having killed his wife three years earlier. While the pedophile Nida killed is responsible for the eventual suicide of his daughter, this doesn’t occur until decades later, and Nida’s decision to murder him saves his daughter from this fate. Similarly, although the political candidate is indirectly involved in the deaths of thousands, he is not a murderer by the time Nida meets him and remains a viable sacrifice. According to Gaap, murderers don’t count as sacrifices since Satan considers their souls to already belong to Hell.
Was Gaap Real Or Imaginary?
The ending of “Demon 79” makes it seem like Gaap must be imaginary. However, this Black Mirror season 6 episode soon quashes that possibility. The small tablet that keeps track of Nida’s murders magically turns into a normal game piece when the police question her, and the stroke of midnight es without incident during her interrogation. However, just as viewers might start to presume that Nida imagined Gaap to justify a killing spree, nuclear bombs begin to drop, and Gap reappears to explain his absence.
Once Nida insisted on attempting to kill the political candidate, Gaap went back to Hell to look through the guidelines explaining his job. While he knew he would be sentenced to eternal oblivion if Nida failed to kill three sacrifices, he wanted to check whether he could bring Nida with him. There was nothing in the rules against this, prompting Gaap to reappear with a romantic proposition at the end of “Demon 79.” The end of Black Mirror’s world doesn’t stop Nida and Gaap from starting an unlikely, sweet relationship.
What Black Mirror's "Demon 79" Ending Really Means
The ending of “Demon 79” subverts what viewers might expect from the episode’s familiar storyline. Nida fails to kill the most odious of her potential victims, and she never even tries to kill her racist colleague and boss. However, her failure doesn’t ultimately matter as the ending of “Demon 79“ reveals that her killings were never the episode’s real focus. As the inexperienced Gaap led the lonely Nida through her trials, the pair forged an unlikely bond. While Gaap and Nida’s plans both failed and the duo lost their lives, they also found each other. Thus, Black Mirror season 6, episode 5, “Demon 79,” featured a surprisingly sweet ending.
