Black Mirror viewers ‘going mad’ after being shown two different versions of episode

What in the Black Mirror is going on?

That’s what fans would like to know after the second episode in the recently released seventh season appeared to show up differently for viewers.

Taking to social media with Easter Eggs and theories, some viewers have been left utterly confused after noticing that the name of a restaurant in the Bête Noire episode is different for them compared to other viewers.

The episode of Charlie Brooker’s sci-fi dystopian series follows a woman named Maria, played by Siena Kelly, as her life is turned upside down when her former classmate Verity, played by Rosy McEwen, enters her life again.

Using a high-tech pendant, Verity slowly changes Maria’s and everyone else’s reality, and many close to Maria become concerned about her well-being.

At one point in the episode, Maria is talking to someone and insists the chicken shop her boyfriend used to work out was called ‘Barnies’ while everyone else tells her it was called ‘Bernies’.

After researching it online, she discovers they are right, which leads Maria to question what is going on in her life.

And she isn’t the only one.

It seems the show could be gaslighting real-life viewers, as some have taken to social media after noticing the chicken shop name is spelt differently for them compared to their friends.

One user, @actualakio, shared two screenshots of the episode on X, taken with the exact same timestamp, which showed the subtle spelling difference.

‘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!’

The post quickly went viral, with almost 700,000 views and thousands of comments. Many of the commenters claimed they experienced the same thing, while others praised the showrunners for the cheeky tactic.

@FloatyRedHead23 replied: ‘The showrunners probably did that to mess with people lol.’

@sp00kybinch added: ‘Black Mirror filming two versions of the bernie’s/barnie’s scene and distributing them randomly is next level diabolical.’

Another compared it to the Mandela Effect, in which a large group of people share a false memory of a fact, event, or detail and believe it to be real.

@iamgeographic wrote: ‘Amazing. They force injected a Mandela.’

Meanwhile, @Acecostumes also claimed it was happening to them: ‘What the f**k!! Netflix what happened with Bête Noire episode, if i want to go forward or backward I see Bernies but on the TV I see Barnies.’

Netflix has yet to address the disparity in the episodes or reveal if there is something deeper at play.

It’s not the first time a Black Mirror episode has caused a ruckus online, in previous seasons there has been pig f***ing, child killers tortured through forced amnesia, blackmail with a perverse twist and dating app woes.

It’s safe to say that Bernie’s dilemma is one of the least disturbing storylines for fans, but it’s no less unexpected.

Both Charlie and Netflix have been open about the show’s essence, which is its ability to delve into the disturbing crevices of the human psyche and offer both horrifying and revolutionary ways in which technology could evolve in humanity’s future.

Black Mirror season seven is available to stream now.

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