Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
CMU School of Drama
Friday, April 18, 2025
'Black Mirror' Released Two Different Versions Of Same Episode
brobible.com: The folks who create the Black Mirror episodes are pretty diabolical. This we knew. What we didn’t realize is the lengths they would go to just to mess with viewers’ heads.
5 comments:
Genie Li
said...
Honestly, the idea of releasing two versions of the same episode is pure genius—and a bit twisted, of course. It reminds me of interactive theatre performances, where audience members each experience slightly different realities, making them question their own memories afterward. I couldn’t help but laugh at myself imagining how confused I'd be if I watched it twice and noticed the change from "Barnies" to "Bernies." It’s like the creators are intentionally giving viewers a taste of Maria’s confusion, blurring the lines between fiction and our own lived experience. I guess that’s part of the brilliance of Black Mirror—it’s not just about telling stories, but about directly involving viewers in the unsettling experience.This playful manipulation of truth immediately makes me think of experimental theatre or even immersive art exhibits that deliberately mess with audience perception. Just like walking through an art installation designed to confuse your senses, this episode challenges our trust in our own eyes and memories.
I’ve honestly been interested in watching Black mirror since I discovered its existence. I have yet to actually do so, but it remains on my list. As of late I’ve gotten really into watching Severance, and I love it. Black Mirror seems so similar to it in many ways, and so I feel like if I like one I’m bound to like the other. Unfortunately, without a Netflix subscription, it's unlikely I’ll watch it anytime soon. The idea of switching parts of an episode around depending on who is watching is such an interesting concept, and I definitely can see why it really bothered some viewers. Playing with people’s minds is scary- especially in a political climate like this where nobody is sure whether to believe the news and social media or not. It’s so easy to fake things with editing and AI, I honestly don’t know if I would have believed the alternate posts if I had seen them after watching the show myself. I hope to watch the show one day and see what ending I get.
Black Mirror’s newest hit episode Bete Noire follows a woman, Maria as she is gaslit and toyed with by her former classmate, Verity, who resents Maria for having bullied her in school. Verity has discovered how to alter reality and, instead of using her powers for good, she uses them to gaslight Maria and punish her for her past actions. In true Black Mirror fashion, it provides an interesting commentary on gaslighting through the lens of technology without feeling heavy-handed in the slightest. The fact that the series released two versions of the same episode (to spark conflict online and simulate the same “gaslighting” effect felt by Maria during the story) is a genius way to involve the audience in the story while also generating massive amounts of publicity. Black Mirror has been considered cutting-edge since it first released in 2011, and this new stunt was a great example of how well it keeps with the times.
This is such a subtle and interesting way to fuck with viewers that proves the entire point of the black mirror episode, because viewers of the episode are recreating the exact argument from the episode with their friends, and presumably one of the people, who is arguing what, according to their episode, was the right answer, is convinced by their peers that they are wrong. Its a commonly studied psychological theory, the group mentality. Black Mirror has always been one of the most creative and introspective shows in the world right now, and it takes every opportunity to point out the things we don’t want to see in society, and then prove those theories right through very creative writing and marketing. Whether its within the traditional confines of the episode, like Shut Up And Dance, or by releasing two versions of the episode, Black Mirror keeps us constantly on our toes.
Black Mirror really stresses me out. It is one of those shows that I honestly cannot watch because it just puts me in a terrible mood. It is all dystopian with no fun, it’s just miserable, and while I definitely understand the appeal (like a car crash you can’t look away from) it’s definitely not for me. That being said, the show constantly makes headlines for it’s incredibly creative plans and episodes, and I honestly think that this is one of the most creative and unique things a show has done in recent memory. Releasing two versions of the same episode is such a neat way to mess with people’s heads, and it goes so well with the whole Mandela effect theme of the episode. I’m really impressed with the show for being able to pull off this move, I imagine that it was logistically challenging to figure out how to mix these two variations of the episode.
5 comments:
Honestly, the idea of releasing two versions of the same episode is pure genius—and a bit twisted, of course. It reminds me of interactive theatre performances, where audience members each experience slightly different realities, making them question their own memories afterward. I couldn’t help but laugh at myself imagining how confused I'd be if I watched it twice and noticed the change from "Barnies" to "Bernies." It’s like the creators are intentionally giving viewers a taste of Maria’s confusion, blurring the lines between fiction and our own lived experience. I guess that’s part of the brilliance of Black Mirror—it’s not just about telling stories, but about directly involving viewers in the unsettling experience.This playful manipulation of truth immediately makes me think of experimental theatre or even immersive art exhibits that deliberately mess with audience perception. Just like walking through an art installation designed to confuse your senses, this episode challenges our trust in our own eyes and memories.
I’ve honestly been interested in watching Black mirror since I discovered its existence. I have yet to actually do so, but it remains on my list. As of late I’ve gotten really into watching Severance, and I love it. Black Mirror seems so similar to it in many ways, and so I feel like if I like one I’m bound to like the other. Unfortunately, without a Netflix subscription, it's unlikely I’ll watch it anytime soon. The idea of switching parts of an episode around depending on who is watching is such an interesting concept, and I definitely can see why it really bothered some viewers. Playing with people’s minds is scary- especially in a political climate like this where nobody is sure whether to believe the news and social media or not. It’s so easy to fake things with editing and AI, I honestly don’t know if I would have believed the alternate posts if I had seen them after watching the show myself. I hope to watch the show one day and see what ending I get.
Black Mirror’s newest hit episode Bete Noire follows a woman, Maria as she is gaslit and toyed with by her former classmate, Verity, who resents Maria for having bullied her in school. Verity has discovered how to alter reality and, instead of using her powers for good, she uses them to gaslight Maria and punish her for her past actions. In true Black Mirror fashion, it provides an interesting commentary on gaslighting through the lens of technology without feeling heavy-handed in the slightest. The fact that the series released two versions of the same episode (to spark conflict online and simulate the same “gaslighting” effect felt by Maria during the story) is a genius way to involve the audience in the story while also generating massive amounts of publicity. Black Mirror has been considered cutting-edge since it first released in 2011, and this new stunt was a great example of how well it keeps with the times.
This is such a subtle and interesting way to fuck with viewers that proves the entire point of the black mirror episode, because viewers of the episode are recreating the exact argument from the episode with their friends, and presumably one of the people, who is arguing what, according to their episode, was the right answer, is convinced by their peers that they are wrong. Its a commonly studied psychological theory, the group mentality. Black Mirror has always been one of the most creative and introspective shows in the world right now, and it takes every opportunity to point out the things we don’t want to see in society, and then prove those theories right through very creative writing and marketing. Whether its within the traditional confines of the episode, like Shut Up And Dance, or by releasing two versions of the episode, Black Mirror keeps us constantly on our toes.
Black Mirror really stresses me out. It is one of those shows that I honestly cannot watch because it just puts me in a terrible mood. It is all dystopian with no fun, it’s just miserable, and while I definitely understand the appeal (like a car crash you can’t look away from) it’s definitely not for me. That being said, the show constantly makes headlines for it’s incredibly creative plans and episodes, and I honestly think that this is one of the most creative and unique things a show has done in recent memory. Releasing two versions of the same episode is such a neat way to mess with people’s heads, and it goes so well with the whole Mandela effect theme of the episode. I’m really impressed with the show for being able to pull off this move, I imagine that it was logistically challenging to figure out how to mix these two variations of the episode.
Post a Comment