Following the release of season seven of Black Mirror on Netflix yesterday, April 10, our time has consisted of one thing and one thing only—deep diving into all the theories and Easter eggs we can find. And it appears some eagle-eyed viewers have spotted a stark difference in their “Bête Noire” episodes, when comparing certain scenes with their friends.
Black Mirror's second episode in the new season 'Bête Noire' follows a woman named Maria (Siena Kelly) who is working at a chocolate company, when her life gets turned upside down after a former school classmate Verity (Rosy McEwen) joins her team and things start not making sense anymore.
While Maria is sure of certain things—her own nut allergy, not drinking the almond milk her colleague is so protective of, and adding a vegetarian gelatin to a recipe she's developing—those around her are in disbelief at her statements, and reality starts changing around her.
It turns out her former classmate Verity has been changing the reality in which Maria and everyone around her lives with a high-tech pendant.
And one of the first examples of this is when Maria is insistent the chicken shop her boyfriend used to work at was called “Barnies,” but everyone else around her calls it “Bernies.” She then does a quick Google search which revealed it's called “Bernies” and this is when she starts to question what is going on around her.
However, some viewers have pointed out they've had different variations of the spelling on their own TV screens.
One user on X (formerly known as Twitter) shared accompanying screenshots, writing: “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!”
And another said something similar: “WHATS THE F*CK!! NETFLIX WHAT HAPPEN WITH BÊTE NOIRE EPISODE, IF I WANT TO GO FORWARD OR BACKWARD I SEE BERNIES BUT ON THE TV I SEE BARNIES.”
It's not uncommon for the Black Mirror team to involve the audience as part of the show. Back in 2018 they released Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, an interactive movie that has different endings depending on what you select for the characters along the way.
Right now it's not clear what is actually going on with the spelling of the chicken shop as it only seems to be a very small percentage of viewers reporting the change. However, it has lead to many enthusiastic comments from fans, with one saying "Are we still watching a show or is this reality?" and another said: "The mind bending is through the roof!"
So, Bernies or Barnies? You decide.
