Like the ending of the Black Mirror episode "The Waldo Moment," the end of "The National Anthem" wraps up a memorable and disturbing story about fame and politics. The very first Black Mirror episode focuses on Prime Minister Michael Callow (Rory Kinnear) being put into a terrible position as he is asked to do something unimaginable.

Black Mirror's "The National Anthem" was critically acclaimed at the time of its release. Many believed that it provided an intelligent analysis of what would happen if this awful incident happened in real life. The ending of the episode speaks to the aftermath of a political scandal, an angle that isn't always covered.

How Does Black Mirror's "The National Anthem" End?

At the end of the Black Mirror episode "The National Anthem," Callow listens to the kidnapper who took Princess Susannah (Lydia Wilson) and decides to be intimate with a pig on live TV. 1.3 billion tune in, and the situation is distressing for Callow, who can't believe he has been put in this position. Callow knows that he has to do this or Susannah will be murdered and his family will be in danger.

While two Black Mirror episodes have happy endings, "The National Anthem" has a bleak twist that suggests that the story will end darkly. Alex Cairns (Lindsay Duncan), the Home Secretary, finds out that Callow's TV broadcast was all for nothing. Half an hour prior, the kidnapper let Princess Susannah go free on London's Millennium Bridge.

Before this moment, Cairns emphasizes how the public will react to the broadcast:

"Everyone will see it. The world will see it. The mood will border on insurrection, and you will be destroyed, I guarantee you. Utterly destroyed...You won't just be a disgraced politician. You'll be a despised individual. The public, the palace, and the party insist on complying."

This quote is spot-on and proves that some Black Mirror episodes are too realistic. A second revelation: Carlton Bloom, a famous artist, was the kidnapper, and he took his life while Callow was being filmed. Bloom also cut off his own finger and sent it, pretending that it was Susannah's.

The Black Mirror "The National Anthem" episode ends with a pregnant Princess Susannah, who of course can likely never forget the trauma that she faced. While Prime Minster Callow is popular once again, he and his wife Jane (Anna Wilson-Jones) haven't been talking and have faced trouble in their marriage ever since the broadcast.

The ending is clever, dark, and upsetting as it's likely that this is what would happen to a politician in the same predicament. It would be hard for their family to recover from the humiliation and attention. Rory Kinnear, who starred in the A24 horror movie Men which also has a surprising ending, gives a nuanced and complex performance as a politician struggling to do what is right. While he of course wants to save Princess Susannah, he is horrified by the price he thought he had to pay.

What Is The Black Mirror "The National Anthem" Episode About?

The best Black Mirror episodes analyze the way that people behave around technology or, in some cases, political situations. Black Mirror's "The National Anthem" is about how the public would be fascinated by a politician or celebrity doing something terrible and mind-boggling on live TV. At the beginning of the episode, Prime Minster Callow is told about the kidnapping, and the rest of the episode focuses on whether he will agree to the intimate act or not. He looks torn in every scene as he can't imagine actually following through.

As the Black Mirror showrunner Charlie Brooker told GQ in an interview:

"If that was happening, people would tune in. Then the grim reality would set in; suddenly it is not fun at all."

He continued:

"There's a real relish and delight in seeing them fail."

In 2015, reality mirrored fiction a little bit when The Daily Mail reported that a book about Foreign Secretary David Cameron included a story that involved a dead pig. It reminded fans of the Black Mirror episode "The National Anthem," which is as eerie and realistic as "Arkangel." The story about Cameron has never been confirmed, but it did get some attention.

Brooker was interviewed by The Guardian about this situation and said, “I did genuinely for a moment wonder if reality was a simulation, whether it exists only to trick me. Which isn’t meant to sound narcissistic. It’s just a bit of a worry.”