Summary
- Black Mirror Season 7 explores tech companies controlling emotions & well-being for $1000+
- Episode Bete Noire delves into a sinister story of revenge with haunting performances
- The episode showcases tech's invasive and destructive potential with a chilling psychological thriller.
The first episode of Black Mirror Season 7 gave viewers a glimpse of how big tech companies have the power to control what you feel and how you feel it. Apart from that, it also showcased how these companies are now enhancing the senses of a human being by providing them with a subscription-based model. Yep, you heard that right. The well-being of humans is now being categorized into tiers, and to get maximum coverage, people would have to shell out more than $1000 a month. But the second episode of the seventh edition takes a more sinister turn and is more relatable because of the themes it explores.
While the first episode was all about how far people can go to help their loved ones, the second episode, "Bete Noire", is precisely the opposite and features a storyline where a young woman goes to extreme lengths to harm one of her office colleagues. But the story is not as simple as it seems to be, and there's a lot of backstory to why this woman wants to hurt her colleague. This episode of Black Mirror is the perfect example of what's right, what's wrong, and how certain people don't take accountability for some of the things they did in the past. And when the past comes to haunt them, they realize that redemption isn't a choice—it's a reckoning they've been running from all along.
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Maria Reconnects With a Mysterious Face From the Past in Bete Noire
The episode follows a young woman named Maria (played by Siena Kelly) who works at Ditta, a company responsible for making several confectionery items, including chocolates. Along with the head chef of the company, Maria is working on a new product named Hucklebuck, but it doesn't have nuts in the nougat. The company has called upon people from the community to taste the new product and give their opinions on it. So, they all gather in the conference room to start the tasting. Maria is surprised when she sees that one of her high school classmates, Verity Greene (played by Rosy McEwen), is also a member of the group who has been called in for the tasting. Initially, the tasting didn't go as planned, and people didn't like the flavors and the ingredients used in the chocolate. However, Verity asks for one more piece, and after eating the second piece, she holds the pendant she is wearing around her neck, and says that the flavors are growing on her. Also, she believes that the second piece she took actually gave her a better experience. After listening to her, everyone else takes another bite, and suddenly, their opinions change, and they like it as well. Change in reality? Well, that's one way to see it.
"Bete Noire" explores how easily people can be swayed when someone speaks with authority or conviction. It’s a dark yet subtle take on how trends, tastes, and even reality itself can be manipulated—not with technology, but with pure human psychology. Verity becomes the “influencer” in the room, not because she’s loud, but because she’s believable. Her connection to the pendant adds a layer of mystery—did it trigger something, was it just a ritual of belief, or was the pendant some kind of remote through which she was controlling the entire moment?
A Disturbing Reunion Unfolds in a World Where Technology Twists Reality
This is another subtle, yet chilling episode from Black Mirror where the world of sugary treats becomes the backdrop for a slow-burning psychological thriller with a high-tech twist. Maria's life spirals into a nightmare when a former schoolmate, Verity, joins her company under suspicious circumstances. What starts as an awkward reunion quickly evolves into something far more sinister. Although technology does come in the form of a small, flashy gadget, it's far more insidious than what viewers have seen previously, including data manipulation.
That's one of the reasons why Black Mirror has been such a revelation from the beginning. The kind of technology it features is possible, and some things are actually happening now. Characters weaponized trust and technology with frightening ease, demonstrating how invasive tech in the wrong hands can destroy reputations, relationships, and a person's grip on reality. The episode effectively captures the loneliness of being gaslit by both people and machines, where even your memories can't be trusted.
One of the standout scenes in the episode comes when Verity uses the tech to manipulate an entire situation, which showcases Maria as the true villain. She sabotages her reputation and destroys her mental well-being, pushing her into a full-blown panic in her personal life. That entire sequence is gut-wrenching and intriguing, encapsulating the episode's darker themes, like control and erasure of self in a tech-dominated world. The performances are splendid, especially Kelly and McEwen, and relatable. Both actors have done an extraordinary job of showing contrasting behaviors of paranoia, confidence, and jealousy. While the ending doesn’t offer a neat resolution — a typical Black Mirror hallmark — it lingers hauntingly. Maria is left questioning what’s real, and we, as viewers, are left questioning how far someone would go for revenge and how easily they could.
There are no grand twists or flashy effects, just a slow, creeping sense that something isn’t right. And that’s what makes "Bete Noire" one of the most psychologically unnerving episodes of Black Mirror in recent times. Once again, the Netflix series proves why it is the perfect mixture of great storytelling, eerie visuals, and terrifying real-world situations.
All episodes from Black Mirror Season 7 are now streaming exclusively on Netflix.
- Release Date
- December 4, 2011
- Network
- Channel 4, Netflix
- Showrunner
- Charlie Brooker
- Directors
- Owen Harris, Toby Haynes, James Hawes, David Slade, Carl Tibbetts, Ally Pankiw, Bryn Higgins, Dan Trachtenberg, Euros Lyn, Jodie Foster, Joe Wright, John Hillcoat, Sam Miller, Tim Van Patten, Uta Briesewitz, Colm McCarthy, Jakob Verbruggen, James Watkins, John Crowley, Otto Bathurst, Anne Sewitsky, Brian Welsh
- Writers
- Jesse Armstrong
Cast
-
Cristin MiliotiNanette Cole -
Jimmi SimpsonWalton
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