Black Mirror: Bête Noire ending explained – Was Maria right about Verity?

In typical Black Mirror fashion, Bête Noire appears to have quite the simple premise but soon reveals itself to be quite the mind-bending episode, as Maria knows something is seriously awry – but everyone keeps convincing her otherwise.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com about the episode, McEwen said of the episode: "I loved that it feels like such tiny things, and I think that’s the thing with Black Mirror episodes, is that it sort of could be so real and then it becomes absurd.

"So when the seeds are being sown, you're like, 'Wait, am I going mad?’ And if that was me, I would 100 per cent be feeling exactly the same thing. Like, all those characters, especially Maria, you feel completely aligned with. And I just think it's the little details that send you a little bit loopy."

Those final moments are some of the stars' favourites of the entire episode, they admit, but just what exactly ended up unfolding at the end of Bête Noire?

Siena Kelly told RadioTimes.com: "On set, our director Toby [Haynes], he pushed us really far. A lot of it's on the cutting room floor, but on set, I mean, he's like a big kid. It was so much fun. And he just really, really pushed me and Rosy to go as big and emotional and ridiculous as possible.

"And then they figured out in the editing room, like, what actually worked for the episode. But yeah, being on set was, like, really liberating. It felt like a big playground. It was a really nice family vibe on set."

McEwan describes the end as "campy", while Kelly adds of some of those cut different versions: "We kind of look nuts! They pulled it back because we went too far!"

Read on to for a full breakdown of the episode, complete with more exclusive tidbits from the stars themselves.

Black Mirror: Bête Noire ending explained – Was Maria right about Verity?

After Verity comes into the Ditta offices for a group tasting session, it's not long before she becomes ingratiated into the company and Maria's life.

Immediately, Maria is perplexed by her arrival after not seeing her for years, but she does remember the rumours that would go on about her and their teacher having inappropriate relations.

Verity interviews for a new research assistant position and after just one interview is hired by Gabe (Ben Bailey Smith), much to Maria's confusion. The next day, Gabe tells Maria that he's arranged for Verity to conduit between her and chef Yudy (Amber Grappy).

Explaining the list of ingredients for new mallow concept the Doubloon to Verity, Maria struggles with the spelling of carrageenan and so just tells Verity that she'll send her the list via email instead.

As Maria's typing up the ingredient list, she overhears a conversation with her colleagues about fast food chains when one of them mentions Bernie's.

Maria is certain it was Barnie's because her boyfriend Kae (Michael Workéyè) used to work there and he still wears the cap from there every day.

She's sure it's Barnie's, but when they do a quick google, the results state that it was actually Bernie's. Even when she returns home, her boyfriend tells her it was Bernie's, and she feels as though she's going mad.

Speaking about the turn of events, McEwan told RadioTimes.com: "I think that was probably the [most fun] thing for me. I think [Verity] has to come in convincing everyone in the office that she's this certain type of person.

"And so I guess it was about playing sort of 60 per cent of the soft and sweet and lovely, and then slowly all the other stuff underneath, and just sort of peppering that throughout the episode as it would sort of slowly come out.

"And you realise maybe she's not who we think she is. But you have to try and convince the audience at the very beginning that it’s Maria, so I'm trying to convince the audience and everyone in the office that what's happening is all in Maria's head."

Maria is certain that Verity's arrival has jeopardised her own standing in her office, going on a social media stalk that evening to look back at old pictures of her school days. She spots Verity in the background of one of the pictures and remembers her other old friend, Natalie Caine, who she texts to catch up with.

The next day, Mr Ditta – aka the head of the company – comes into the office to sample Maria's latest creation, the miso jam Hucklebuck. He also samples the Doubloon, the new mallow concept of Maria's that she was working on with Yudy and Verity the day prior.

Mr Ditta tries to guess what's in it, and when he questions the texture of the mallow, Maria tells him it's a plant-based gelatine derived from seaweed, much to Yudy's confusion.

The meeting seems to be an overarching success for Maria especially, that is until Yudy tells Maria and Gabe that the gelatine used in the Doubloon is actually made from beef.

Gabe says that Mr Ditta is Hindu, and thus, they've made a major mistake. Maria is furious, telling Yudy that she was specific about the use of carrageenan, but Yudy says it was never on the list.

Verity was of course in charge of being a conduit between the pair, and when questioned by Gabe about it, Verity says that Maria never even used the word carrageenan, saying that Maria was likely distracted by Luisa's outburst about her almond milk.

Maria attests that she knows what she wrote, but both Gabe and Verity tell her that she's shouting and needs to remain calm. Maria says that Verity must be mistaken, and so the only way to settle it is to look at the email. Once she gets it up, Maria is horrified to see that she'd actually only written 'non-pork gelatine', as Verity said.

Gabe tells Maria to apologise but later tells Maria that maybe she needs to take some time off, going on to say that her targeting of Verity is beginning to look vindictive. Even Kae begins to doubt Maria when she returns home and tells him the story.

That night, Maria receives a text back from Natalie, but it isn't her and is actually her husband. He tells Maria that Natalie actually died just a few days ago, prompting Maria to call him back instantly. He tells Maria that Natalie took her own life after some kind of breakdown, exhibiting irrational and paranoid tendencies in the weeks prior.

Maria thinks it may have something to do with Verity, but with Natalie's husband needing to cut the call and Kae himself disappointed at Maria's line of questioning, she's left without any roads leading back to Verity.

The next day, Maria comes into an empty office to find that a team meeting that she's supposed to be in is going on, something that Verity wastes no time in telling her about.

With just the pair of them in the office, Verity asks Maria if she has a problem with her, going on to talk about the rumours that went around about her and Mr Kendrick during school.

It's clear that Verity still harbours some resentment about it all, with Maria saying that she never had a problem with Verity and eventually apologising for Verity's treatment at the time.

But things get evermore chilling as Verity rounds the kitchen counter to the fridge, retrieving Luisa's almond milk (that she's been suspecting the office of using over the entire week) and drinks it right from the carton.

Coming back from their meeting, Luisa questions the office again and Maria can't hold her tongue after what she's just seen, telling her that it was Verity.

Verity then says it was actually Maria, who states that it can't have been her because she's allergic to almonds. Gabe says they can settle it by checking the CCTV, and when they do, the footage shows Maria guzzling Luisa's almond milk.

When Maria tries explaining her nut allergy, Gabe, the security guard and Verity all state that they have no idea what Maria's saying when she uses the term 'nut allergy'. Googling it, nothing appears for the term, and Maria turns around to question how Verity is doing this, noticing that Verity is regularly holding on to the pendant on her necklace.

Trying to lunge at Verity, Gabe informs Maria that he's having to let her go. Later that evening, Maria waits in the parking lot and follows Verity home – to her impressive mansion – to get some answers. Breaking in, Maria enters a hallway decked out in hard drives and all kinds of impressive tech.

She enters Verity's bedroom once Verity has gone into the shower and finds a painting of her as a goddess with men feeding her. Maria then spots pictures of Verity on the cover of Vogue, out with Harry Styles, as an astronaut and an Olympian. Maria finds the pendant but hides under the bed once she hears Verity coming out.

Verity soon clocks on that Maria is underneath the bed, telling her to come out, and Maria confronts her about the pendant. Verity explains that it's just a remote that connects to the quantum compiler downstairs, which changes reality.

"Technically, it's not really changing anything. It just retunes our corporal frequency to one of the parallel realities where whatever I've said has always been true," Verity explains, getting out one of the many other pendant remotes she has.

Verity says that she picks one of the infinite timelines where Maria is the only one who knows what's really going on, leading her to feel as though she's losing her mind.

Why was Verity messing with Maria's reality?

Verity says she built the entire system herself, harking back to her computer nerd days at school, and admits she's only doing it to hurt Maria.

Verity explains that Maria was the one to start the rumour about her and Mr Kendrick at school, saying that Natalie told her as much just before she jumped from a building.

Maria eventually admits it was her who started the rumour, but says that Verity needn't have to remember the past when she can use her remote to change her life and become an empress. But it turns out that's something Verity has already done, pointing at the painting of herself being worshipped, saying it was the first thing she did.

Although she's done and been everything, she can't forget her past and the years of bullying she endured at school. She simply wants Maria to take her own life, like Natalie did. Verity says it took five weeks to crack Natalie, compared to Maria's five days.

Maria lunges at Verity, with the two getting into quite the tense physical fight. Verity manages to retrieve her remote, telling it that armed police are here after Kae called the police on Maria, who broke into Verity's house with a knife.

Just like that, it's reality and the armed police come into the room, telling Maria to drop the knife and turn around with her hands on her head. She does so, and as the officer comes up to arrest her, Maria quickly retrieves his gun and shoots Verity dead.

With the other officer shooting at her, Maria manages to get the pendant from Verity's hand and tell it that it now works for her instead. She says that the policemen saw Verity shoot herself but when they say that they need to take her to the station for questioning, Maria tells them (and the pendant) that they now work for her.

Soon, that quickly turns to them worshipping her as empress of the universe and we're transported to a Greek god-like fantasy where Maria is being cheered on by an expansive crowd of people, proving all she's ever really cared about is popularity.

Speaking about the way things end for Maria, Siena Kelly told RadioTimes.com: "I loved that. I loved that it's not clear who the goodie and the baddie he is. And then when you think you finally [realise] like, 'Oh, OK, I think I know who it is,' the final choice, you're like, oh!

"I love when it’s not clear and it’s not fair and it’s real life. We’re all complicated and capable of everything, and I loved that final decision - it was my favourite thing about the episode."

McEwen also added of Maria's final decision to become Verity in a way: "She’s exactly the same!"

McEwen went on: "When we were rehearsing, me and Siena were like... we were trying to work out why are they sending themselves to this extent, and then Charlie [Brooker] said to us, 'They're both just incredibly petty.' And we were like. 'Oh!'"

Kelly added: "We were trying to do a detailed backstory and he was just like, 'Guys, they’re just petty.' He didn’t need to do anything after that, I was just like, 'I get it.'"

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