Who does ‘The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri play in ‘Black Mirror’ season 6?

Comedian and actress Ayo Edebiri may not seem like a shoo-in for the techno-mindfreak series Black Mirror but she completely owns her minimal screen-time in the series’ season 6 premiere. The Bear actress has already more than proved her acting chops, but her stint in Black Mirror showcases her ability to make any part, no matter how small, believable. Edebiri appears in the episode “Joan is Awful,”as Sandy, an unfortunate employee who is let go at the beginning of the episode by Joan, played by Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek).

Though Joan tries to let her down easy, Edebiri’s character — a programmer for the company — is understandably frustrated, pointing out that her project is unfinished and sacking her will push the company to break many environmental pledges they had previously made. Joan is apologetic, but the command comes down from the board and is out of her control. Upset by Joan’s perceived indifference, Sandy begs her to reconsider. She’s just put a down payment on an apartment and even invited her now-former boss to the housewarming party.

Sandy is escorted from the premise as Joan awkwardly watches and anxiously looks at her phone from her office’s balcony. As Sandy exits the building, Joan accidentally drops her E-cigarette on her former employee’s head as she leaves. Joan drops down to avoid being seen, but Sandy isn’t fooled. When Joan doesn’t fess up, Sandy’s last words to her are, “You’re a coward, Joan!”

Later on in the episode, the scene plays out again on the Netflix knock-off, Streamberry as Joan (and everyone she has ever known) watch the dramatization unfold. Salma Hayek plays the television version of Joan and is infinitely crueler than the real one. She shamelessly relishes in Sandy’s misery and offers no sympathy to the dramatized Sandy. Television-Sandy is much more upset than her real-life counterpart, sobbing in Joan’s office and begging her to reconsider. As the drama-Sandy is forcefully escorted from the premise, drama-Joan purposefully hurls her e-cigarette at her head.

As the real Joan agonizes over the interaction, Edebiri’s Sandy watches the drama unfold in a bar, commenting to a friend, “You see what she’s like,” which serves as her final line in the episode.

Season 6 of Black Mirror is available to stream on Netflix.