You probably figured out the twist in the ‘Black Mirror’ Season 7 episode ‘Bête Noire’ long before the protagonist did.
You didn’t know how Verity (Rosy McEwen) was altering reality, driving Maria (Siena Kelly) insane. But you knew that she was. “It’s obviously advanced technology blah blah changing reality blah blah physics,” you thought to yourself smugly.
And you were more or less right.
The big “twist” of the episode is that Verity has been manipulating supercomputers with her necklace in order to access parallel realities. Verity then delivers the following pseudoscientific explanation: “Technically, it’s not really changing anything … It retunes our corporeal frequency to one of the parallel realities where whatever I’ve said has always been true.” In this case, “corporeal frequency” is the kind of phrase that Star Trek loves to create: It sounds like a revolutionary concept because it contains multiple syllables and a formal synonym for an otherwise commonplace word (“corporeal” for “bodily”), but it literally means nothing. Yes, human cells have “frequencies,” or vibrations, that they regularly give off, but these change regularly — and there’s evidence that one body can have multiple concurrent frequencies. Essentially, Verity’s explanation that she can retune “corporeal frequency” using supercomputers is the same as saying, “It’s obviously advanced technology blah blah changing reality blah blah physics.”
And yet, the episode has made at least one brilliant move to get people talking about it. You may not even be aware of it!
Siena Kelly stars in “Bête Noire” as Maria.
A key moment in “Bête Noire” is when Verity tries to gaslight Maria into thinking she’s wrong about the name of a fried chicken franchise. Maria is absolutely sure of the restaurant’s name, Barnies, since her boyfriend used to work there and even has a cap with the restaurant’s logo on it. However, Verity uses her Advanced Technology Blah Blah Necklace to make everyone else think the restaurant is called “Bernies,” driving Maria mad. It’s a clever dramatization of the Mandela effect.
Or wait, was it the other way around? Was the restaurant franchise really called “Bernies,” and Verity made people think it was “Barnies?”
Well, why not both?
In fact, Netflix has released two versions of “Bête Noire” into the world. Some viewers have seen the “Bernies” logo throughout the episode whereas others have seen a “Barnies” logo. This way, viewers have had the same debate as Maria, wondering if they’re seeing the same show as their friends. Indeed, a Reddit thread has even made viewers believe that there are two endings to the show — one in which Maria becomes Empress of the Universe, and one in which Maria shoots herself. Now, this is the Mandela Effect: Somehow, this rumor about two endings has spread across the Internet like wildfire and made people believe that it’s true, despite the fact that no one, to this day, has seen this supposed alternate ending. Life imitates art!
And all because of Netflix’s sneaky attempt at gaslighting us. The streamer never even announced that there were two versions of “Bête Noire.” It has simply created two realities — one in which there is a “Bernies” and one in which there is a “Barnies.” By cleverly mirroring the plot of “Bête Noire” in real life, it has sentenced us all to the same fate as Maria: questioning our collective reality.
Or, what if I’m lying to you? What if Black Mirror Season 7 isn’t actually on Netflix? How do you know that this isn’t an alternate reality version of the real Thought Catalog article that discusses the episode “Bête Noirée,” now streaming as part of Black Mirror’s ninth season on Hulu? I guess you’ll just have to accept that I’m telling the truth and that we’re both in the same reality. Besides, I heard that President Harris is giving her speech about the thriving American economy right now, and you wouldn’t want to miss that. I missed her last speech because I was watching the critically and commercially beloved Snow White, marvelling over that Zionist actress Rachel Zegler’s starring performance.
Anyway, my food just arrived, so I should go! I ordered an omelette from my favorite breakfast joint. Eggs are so cheap right now!
You didn’t know how Verity (Rosy McEwen) was altering reality, driving Maria (Siena Kelly) insane. But you knew that she was. “It’s obviously advanced technology blah blah changing reality blah blah physics,” you thought to yourself smugly.
And you were more or less right.
The big “twist” of the episode is that Verity has been manipulating supercomputers with her necklace in order to access parallel realities. Verity then delivers the following pseudoscientific explanation: “Technically, it’s not really changing anything … It retunes our corporeal frequency to one of the parallel realities where whatever I’ve said has always been true.” In this case, “corporeal frequency” is the kind of phrase that Star Trek loves to create: It sounds like a revolutionary concept because it contains multiple syllables and a formal synonym for an otherwise commonplace word (“corporeal” for “bodily”), but it literally means nothing. Yes, human cells have “frequencies,” or vibrations, that they regularly give off, but these change regularly — and there’s evidence that one body can have multiple concurrent frequencies. Essentially, Verity’s explanation that she can retune “corporeal frequency” using supercomputers is the same as saying, “It’s obviously advanced technology blah blah changing reality blah blah physics.”
And yet, the episode has made at least one brilliant move to get people talking about it. You may not even be aware of it!
Siena Kelly stars in “Bête Noire” as Maria.
A key moment in “Bête Noire” is when Verity tries to gaslight Maria into thinking she’s wrong about the name of a fried chicken franchise. Maria is absolutely sure of the restaurant’s name, Barnies, since her boyfriend used to work there and even has a cap with the restaurant’s logo on it. However, Verity uses her Advanced Technology Blah Blah Necklace to make everyone else think the restaurant is called “Bernies,” driving Maria mad. It’s a clever dramatization of the Mandela effect.
Or wait, was it the other way around? Was the restaurant franchise really called “Bernies,” and Verity made people think it was “Barnies?”
Well, why not both?
In fact, Netflix has released two versions of “Bête Noire” into the world. Some viewers have seen the “Bernies” logo throughout the episode whereas others have seen a “Barnies” logo. This way, viewers have had the same debate as Maria, wondering if they’re seeing the same show as their friends. Indeed, a Reddit thread has even made viewers believe that there are two endings to the show — one in which Maria becomes Empress of the Universe, and one in which Maria shoots herself. Now, this is the Mandela Effect: Somehow, this rumor about two endings has spread across the Internet like wildfire and made people believe that it’s true, despite the fact that no one, to this day, has seen this supposed alternate ending. Life imitates art!
And all because of Netflix’s sneaky attempt at gaslighting us. The streamer never even announced that there were two versions of “Bête Noire.” It has simply created two realities — one in which there is a “Bernies” and one in which there is a “Barnies.” By cleverly mirroring the plot of “Bête Noire” in real life, it has sentenced us all to the same fate as Maria: questioning our collective reality.
Or, what if I’m lying to you? What if Black Mirror Season 7 isn’t actually on Netflix? How do you know that this isn’t an alternate reality version of the real Thought Catalog article that discusses the episode “Bête Noirée,” now streaming as part of Black Mirror’s ninth season on Hulu? I guess you’ll just have to accept that I’m telling the truth and that we’re both in the same reality. Besides, I heard that President Harris is giving her speech about the thriving American economy right now, and you wouldn’t want to miss that. I missed her last speech because I was watching the critically and commercially beloved Snow White, marvelling over that Zionist actress Rachel Zegler’s starring performance.
Anyway, my food just arrived, so I should go! I ordered an omelette from my favorite breakfast joint. Eggs are so cheap right now!