What Is ‘The Waltonville Claw’ on Netflix? ‘Black Mirror’ Season 6 “Loch Henry” Reference Explained

The new season of Black Mirror is filled with endless jabs at Netflix — with one reference being a bit more obvious than the others. In the first episode, Season 6 of the series introduces the fictional global streaming platform Streamberry, which is established to be an evil, money-hungry corporation. But then in Episode 2, the anthology series calls Netflix the home to a true crime documentary called The Waltonville Claw. This moment caught the attention of viewers because (a) we’re all watching Black Mirror on Netflix, and (b) the show didn’t mention its newly established platform instead, which goes on to make an appearance at the end of the same episode. It’s meta! It’s crazy! We’re breaking the fourth wall! I’m losing my mind! 

Showrunner Charlie Brooker penned all five episodes of the new season, including one we’re currently discussing: “Loch Henry,” which is a dark and shocking take on true crime fanatics.

Samuel Blenkin and Myha’la Herrold play two young filmmakers, Davis and Pia, who visit a Scottish village to investigate a story about egg theft. While staying in Davis’s hometown, Pia catches wind of an old story about a gruesome murder case that hits quite close to home for her partner, as his father was one of the victims.

While visiting a local pub, Pia and Davis meet Stuart, a bartender and old friend of Davis. He’s the one who tells Pia about the murders and she convinces Davis to shift focus from their nature documentary to a true crime one based on the case, despite his initial reaction, which is that unearthing the murders feels “tacky” and exploitative. 

The couple asks Stuart about the idea and he is on board, saying that the finished product might help draw tourists back to the area after they were scared off by the incident. “Visual showcase, bring the tourists back,” the Scottish bartender exclaims. 

Stuart then looks at Pia and asks, “What was the name of that Netflix thing? About the guy that killed women?” She responds, “Maybe narrow that down.”

Stuart explains, “One of them, he ate her own eye in front of her…” The young woman pipes up and immediately recalls, “The Waltonville Claw.” Stuart continues, “Half this show was just amazing, constant footage of Waltonville, forests and mountains – fucking waterfalls. Looked like a brochure!” Pia is quickly on board, but Davis is still skeptical about proceeding with the investigation. As you can guess, there are loads of twists and turns and big reveals to follow, but that’s not what this article is about. Instead, let’s talk about The Waltonville Claw.

Is The Waltonville Claw on Netflix?

The Waltonville Claw is a fictional series mentioned in Netflix’s Black Mirror. As of reporting, the series is not currently on the streamer, nor does it exist – however, we wouldn’t put it past Brooker to bring it back up later down the line as the “Loch Henry” did with a delightful mention of the Season 2 episode “San Junipero”.

What Is The Waltonville Claw?

The Waltonville Claw is a fictional documentary in the Black Mirror universe that is mentioned by the local bartender in the “Loch Henry” episode. The town, Waltonville, that the bartender mentions is not a real town in Scotland; though, there is one in Illinois. Additionally, Loch Henry isn’t a real town and instead the episode was filmed outside of Glasgow in Loch Lomond.

While Netflix hosts many true crime documentaries, the fictional work seems to be a reference to cannibal killer Jeffrey Dahmer, whom the streamer recently fictionalized in a Ryan Murphy series starring Evan Peters. Building on Stuart’s comments about true crime media feeling like “brochures,” Brooker compared them to a “gourmet burger” while chatting with Tudum.

Brooker said the visuals often disguise that viewers are tuning into the program “to have a good old bloody gawp.” He added, “You’re still eating something full of fat and salt, but because it’s called an artisan burger, you almost feel good about yourself rather than like a horrible pig.”

In using Netflix as the name drop in the series, rather than Streamberry, Brooker adds more weight to his criticism by making a direct jab at the streamer. One viewer shared their interpretation on Reddit, writing, “In the Black Mirror universe, Netflix is a shitty streaming service that pumps out bland forgettable true crime and murder mystery shows. Streamberry is a shitty streaming service that puts out Joan is Awful, has the S logo, but feels exactly like our real-world Netflix. Basically, this specific joke wouldn’t have landed properly if they used ‘Streamberry’ in this one line. This line is a direct swipe at Netflix.”

Well, you might not be able to watch The Waltonville Claw in real life, but perhaps that’s for the best… As that was what Black Mirror was telling us in the first place.