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The folks who create the Black Mirror episodes are pretty diabolical. This we knew. What we didn’t realize is the lengths they would go to just to mess with viewers’ heads.
If you thought the choose-your-own-adventure Bandersnatch film that Black Mirror put out in 2018 was creepy because not everyone got the same experience while watching it. Then just go watch the second episode of Season 7 of Black Mirror called “Bete Noire.” Then maybe watch it again.
While the episode itself is the usual mind-bending Black Mirror twists, it’s not the storyline or the characters that is making viewers feel trolled. It’s the fact that they released two different versions of the episode so what one person watched might not be what someone else they know saw. Diabolical.
Spoilers ahead…
The scene that has people on the internet questioning reality, much in the same way as what happened to the main character in the episode, Maria.
In “Bete Noire” Maria, her boyfriend, and her co-workers argue over whether the name of a restaurant chain is Bernies or Barnies. Maria, despite knowing with 100 percent certainty that she is correct, gets tricked by Verity without her knowing it, making her think she’s losing her mind.
The same thing is now happening to viewers of the episode because some people who watched it saw learned that the restaurant’s real name is Barnies, while others were told it is Bernies.
So my friend and I were watching the new Black Mirror episode “Bête Noire” and we noticed that there was a stark difference between our episodes… even the viewers are getting gaslit at 16:40! #BlackMirrorS7 pic.twitter.com/G2Ne1SuvJV
— Vastolorde | AKIO 🫡💖🇺🇸 (@actualakio) April 10, 2025
Some people even thought they were losing their minds because when they watched the episode for a second time Barnies and Bernies had been switched.
EXCUSE ME??!!
I felt like Maria for a minute there because I KNOW it was Barnies first and changed to Bernies, then I come on here and see the opposite??!!! #BlackMirror #BêteNoire https://t.co/UKuHnn0unc pic.twitter.com/TRQGZtlE64— Sisco is not okay (@RandomSisco) April 10, 2025
The correct answer, at least according to the Season 3 episode “Shut Up and Dance,” is Barnies.
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For what it’s worth, the two ladies who played the main characters, Rosy McEwen and Siena Kelly, shared their own thoughts on the episode.
“It’s meant to be fun and silly! It’s a romp,” McEwen, who played Verity, told Cosmopolitan UK. “Especially in a show where the themes can feel daunting.”
Kelly, who believes the meaning of the episode is “open for audience interpretation,” understands why it bothers some people.
“Our current society is full of misinformation and disinformation which feels very, very relevant to the episode,” she said. “I, personally, am really struggling to know what to believe and to feel 100 percent sure on anything.”