This post contains spoilers for season 7 of “Black Mirror.”
When Charlie Brooker’s “Black Mirror” burst into the scene in 2011, it had a finger on the pulse of all things speculative fiction. Think the most thought-provoking, dystopian story bytes fitted into the anthology format, exploring everything from data privacy and consumerist identity to virtual realms of consciousness within a sci-fi setting. Even the most middling episodes were backed by a worthwhile vision, as every story underlined an essential truth. A dip in quality, however, was apparent by the time season 6 rolled around, which already stretched the premise to its limits. Season 7 seems to have followed in the footsteps of its predecessor, offering a mixed bag of disappointing tales that don’t create a lasting impression. It is almost as if “Black Mirror” has lost its edge.
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Having said that, the latest season does feature a handful of episodes that explore a solid premise. Toby Haynes’ “Bête Noire” is one of them, taking an interesting (if predictable) approach to the notion of altered reality. The episode opens with confectionary whizz Maria (Siena Kelly) taste-testing her latest batch of miso jam chocolates (!) with her boyfriend, Kae (Michael Workeye). Maria seems to have her life figured out: she’s the development executive at a chocolate company, where her out-of-the-box artistry is deeply appreciated. During a group taste-testing of her batch of miso jam treats at the office, a familiar face pops up. Verity (Rosy McEwen), who went to the same school as Maria, appears at the testing, single-handedly improving the group’s opinion on the batch of sweets, which was poorly received at first.
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Does “Bête Noire” set up an emotional reunion, or does it frame Verity’s arrival as nefarious? Given the anthology series’ penchant for grim storytelling, the episode leans toward the latter, creating situations that evoke tense paranoia for both Marie and the audience. The very nature of reality is questioned, along with Marie’s credibility as a protagonist, as fact and fiction blur into a chaotic mess. Just when you think the episode has done a decent job of employing its narrative ace, it springs a lame, lazy ending that ruins everything it has worked hard for. Let’s talk about it.
The ending of Bête Noire strips the episode of its scattered merits
Maria establishes an adamant personal belief from the get-go: there is something “off” about Verity, as she used to be the unpopular geek back in high school who spent most of her time in computer class. This assessment, of course, cannot be taken at face value, as Maria’s conversations about Verity are extremely revealing of her own insecurities and mean-girl tendencies. If anything, Verity was the one bullied by popular folks like Maria in school, forced to exist in the sidelines while being made fun of. This aspect of Maria’s character seems pretty transparent when she reacts negatively to Verity being hired as a Research Assistant in her company, where her deep-seated prejudices about the woman start to appear a tad vindictive.
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While Maria’s flaws are rooted in truth (which forces us to re-evaluate her claims about Verity), the episode gradually reveals the flip side of reality. As the week progresses, Maria’s life takes a turn for the worse, where small details about her life change within the blink of an eye. A chicken shop (which Maria has known for years) magically changes its name (a subversive use of the Mandela Effect), and a seaweed-based ingredient she mentions in an email changes into a non-pork one. For obvious reasons, she blames Verity, who seems distressed due to Maria’s increasingly paranoid behavior. When the climax unfolds, we learn what we have been guessing all along. Verity is malicious as heck and is here for revenge after mastering a way to alter reality on a whim.
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Predictability might be the name of the game in “Bête Noire,” but it comes close to exploring interesting questions about casual cruelty and its lifelong consequences. People like Maria might deliberately erase unsavory aspects of their past as they grow up, but the ones affected by her cruelty will always remember. Verity weaponizes her intelligence against her bullies, using it to be whoever she wants, including a figure worthy of worship. But these grounded themes are sidelined at the end, where Maria shoots Verity and uses the reality-manipulation signal to become…”the empress of the universe.” This ridiculous notion is interpreted with shoddy CGI, thousands of kneeling worshippers, and a tone-deaf spin on a story that almost had a point worth considering.
This ending gives us nothing. It is a shallow cop-out to evade accountability for Maria, who is now on a megalomaniacal trip with endless possibilities instead of facing consequences or growing as an individual. There are no riveting sci-fi tropes employed here either, as Verity’s mind-boggling invention is merely a MacGuffin that is quickly glossed over. In essence, “Bête Noire” feels pretty empty, and its momentum is derailed the moment Maria presses the doomed button on one of Verity’s pendant remotes.
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