Black Mirror secretly dropped two different Bête Noire episodes to mess with viewers

15 April 2025, 12:26 | Updated: 15 April 2025, 12:29

By Katie Louise Smith

Is it Barnies or Bernies? There's two different versions of Black Mirror's Bête Noir and fans are now realising they've been gaslit.

Black Mirror's 'Bête Noire' is a brilliant commentary on 'gaslighting' and the Mandela effect but after watching the episode, viewers are now starting to realise that they are the ones who have been gaslit by Netflix...

At the start of the episode, viewers meet Maria (Siena Kelly) and her boyfriend who used to work at a chicken shop called 'Barnies'. In the very first scene, the camera focuses very clearly and very obviously on his 'Barnies' branded cap.

Later in the episode, Maria and her workmates get into a disagreement about the name of the chicken shop – is it Barnies or Bernies? Viewers who have previously seen the cap know that Maria is right. But when she googles the name, it turns out that she is wrong.

The baffling detail has led viewers to rewind to make sure they're not seeing things but it turns out that the show is in fact gaslighting us. There's actually two different versions of the episode. [WARNING: Spoilers ahead!]

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Yep, two different versions of Black Mirror's Bête Noire have been released – one that starts with a cap reading 'Barnies' and one that starts with a cap reading 'Bernies'.

Of course, when the episode then gets to that pivotal scene where Maria is gaslit by her co-workers, half of the viewers have completely different memories of the actual name of the chicken shop.

"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!" one user wrote alongside images showing the two different scenes.

Another added: "I felt like Maria for a minute there because I KNOW it was Barnies first and changed to Bernies, then I come on here and see the opposite??!!!"

At the end of the episode, we later learn that Maria was right all along and it was actually Verity (Rosy McEwen) who was purposely manipulating reality by using a high tech gadget to make others see things from alternate universes. It drives Maria to literal madness as a result.

It's unclear how Netflix decides who sees which version of the episode – it currently appears to be completely randomly assigned to each viewer.

Neither Netflix nor creator Charlie Brooker have addressed the two different variations just yet but we'll update this article as soon as they do.

And if you're wondering whether it's Barnies or Bernies? Barnies is where Kenny works in season 3's 'Shut Up And Dance'. So there you have it – it was Barnies all along!

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