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Episode Details

Season / Episode: Season 7, Episode 2
Release Date: January 11, 2024
Runtime: 53 minutes
Genre(s): Psychological Thriller / Sci-Fi / Dystopian Drama
Production Company: House of Tomorrow
Streaming on: Netflix

Black Mirror: Bête Noire

Directed by: Toby Haynes

Written by: Charlie Brooker

Starring: Siena Kelly and Rosy McEwen

A classic tale of revenge, best served cold.
Siena Kelly and Rosy McEwen breathe fire into this notion, locking horns in a tense battle of trauma, memory, and guilt in Bête Noire, a slickly composed psychological thriller with a dystopian twist on gaslighting.

Maria (Kelly), a flavor developer at the trendy Ditta company, is gearing up to launch the newest flavor of their Hucklebuck candy when her world begins to unravel—enter Verity (McEwen), a former high school classmate with an eerily poised demeanor and a sharp memory. What begins as an awkward reunion soon morphs into a reality-warping mind game.

The episode cleverly layers a Mandela Effect-like mystery with the increasingly relevant theme of gaslighting. Kelly delivers Maria with a compelling cocktail of confidence and denial, often doubling down even as irrefutable evidence is laid before her. As viewers, we teeter alongside her—unsure of what’s real, questioning if her paranoia is warranted, or if she’s truly losing it.

And that’s where Bête Noire sinks its claws in.

The episode examines the dangerous comfort of self-righteousness—how far some will go to avoid admitting guilt. Maria becomes a fascinating (and frustrating) figure to follow. Initially, her dismissiveness seems casual, even understandable. But as Verity’s tactics become more overtly manipulative, we begin to wonder: Is Maria a victim… or is this just accountability catching up?

Turns out, Verity has been using a quantum compiler hidden in her basement to power the pendant she wears around her neck—a device that allows her to shift between alternate realities by vocal command. In effect, she becomes the architect of Maria’s undoing, bending truth and memory to her will. This late-game twist transforms the episode on rewatch. Suddenly, subtle details—shifting emails, restaurant names (Bernie’s vs. Barnie’s), even surveillance footage—snap into focus under a new light.

The emotional core deepens when we learn about the past they share. Maria, once part of the popular clique, helped spread a rumor about Verity’s supposed relationship with a teacher—someone who, to Verity, offered rare solace during her isolating school days. Another former classmate, Natalie Caine, also part of that same clique, reportedly died by suicide following Verity’s attempts to confront her using the same pendant tech.

This isn’t just revenge; it’s trauma with a long memory.

“I’ve been a queen, a billionaire, married to Harry Styles. None of it mattered. The only thing that stuck was what you did.”

– Verity

In a last-ditch attempt to dissuade Verity, Maria begs her to escape to an alternate universe—one where she’s an empress, a ruler, a god—anything but this. But Verity confesses: no reality can numb the pain and humiliation etched into her past. She’s tried paradise. But revenge? That’s real. That sticks.

In a reality where Verity holds infinite possibilities in the palm of her hand, she doesn’t choose peace, or healing, or harmony between nations—but instead, chooses to fixate on a high school bully and the emotional residue left behind. It’s a powerful reflection of how revenge, at its core, is rarely about justice—and often about the selfish need to soothe a long-festering wound.

The final showdown ends with Maria killing Verity and seizing the pendant. In a moment that perfectly encapsulates her arrogance, Maria’s first order is to declare herself “Empress of the Universe,” continuing the cycle of delusion and manipulation Verity tried so desperately to dismantle.

Controversial ending? Maybe. But it’s quintessential Black Mirror.

Brooker leans into the darker human impulse: that with power, many will choose selfishness over healing. There’s no clean, moral resolution here—only a transfer of toxic control.

Bête Noire is a potent story of manipulation, revenge, and guilt—one that challenges us to ask: who do we believe, and when? Who gets to tell the story? Who shapes the reality? With stellar performances, smart commentary, and an ending that invites furious debate, it’s easily one of the standout episodes of the season.