With Season 7 of Black Mirror comes the usual cautionary tales of sci-fi technology and near-future dystopias, but one particular episode has viewers questioning their concept of reality. In a clever twist, the second episode, “Bête Noire,” is told through two subtly different versions, reinforcing its thematic exploration of perceived truth.
[SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for “Bête Noire” (Episode 2). PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION!]
The entry follows food researcher Maria (Siena Kelly, Domino Day), who gets thrown for a loop after a troubled classmate from her past, Verity (Rosy McEwen, The Alienist) takes a job at her company. It appears that the latter can alter reality by the force of her will, but Maria is the only person realising this strange occurrence. As the episode would later reveal, the ability is a by-product of a gadget that Verity invented, allowing her to transport herself and Maria to an alternate timeline where everything she says is always true.
But the Mandela effect — a phenomenon in which a large group of individuals collectively misremembers something that didn’t actually happen or recalls it differently from the way it took place — is also unravelling in real time. During a workplace conversation with Verity, Maria states that the name of an old fast-food restaurant chain is Barnies, and she’s certain about it because her boyfriend used to work there and still has the cap. Her colleagues insist on “Bernies”, however, and are proven right on Google Search.
As it turns out, a switcheroo has been replicated for audiences, creating two versions of this scene — one with the initial “Barnies” spelling, and the other with “Bernies.” A fan took to X/Twitter to share the comparison: “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!”.
Netflix has yet to address the variation for “Bête Noire”, which seems to be random, but there’s no denying that the Black Mirror team is having fun with the gaslighting on social media:
barnies https://t.co/TaS4MzrXam
— Black Mirror (@blackmirror) April 11, 2025
Well played, indeed.
Released on 10 April, the anthology series’ seventh season consists of six episodes, including the highly-anticipated sequel to “USS Callister”, one of its most acclaimed episodes to date. Alongside Kelly and McEwen, “Bête Noire” also stars Ben Bailey Smith a.k.a Doc Brown as their boss Gabe.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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