Although various Black Mirror episodes are part of the same universe, the show has only officially given a sequel to one episode, but there’s also a secret sequel episode with a twist. Black Mirror has positioned itself as one of the best sci-fi TV shows of all time, thanks to its production quality, writing, themes, and mix of sci-fi, drama, and horror. At the time of writing, Black Mirror is preparing its eighth season, to be released on Netflix.
Black Mirror is an anthology series, meaning that every episode tells a different story with a different cast. However, most episodes live in the same universe, with characters and events being referenced in different episodes. Still, Black Mirror has only made one sequel episode so far: season 7's “USS Callister: Into Infinity”, a sequel to season 4's “USS Callister.” However, season 7 has a secret sequel episode thanks to “Plaything.”
“Plaything” was written by Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker and directed by David Slade, and it’s set in the same universe as Bandersnatch, the show’s interactive movie. Although not categorized as a direct sequel to Bandersnatch, unlike the USS Callister episodes, “Plaything” is a perfect, secret continuation of the movie, with one key returning character whose fate is finally revealed after the confusion left by Bandersnatch.
Black Mirror’s “Plaything” Amplifies The Horrors of Bandersnatch
In 2018, Black Mirror joined the divisive trend of interactive movies with Bandersnatch, written by Brooker and directed by Slade. Bandersnatch takes viewers back to 1984 to meet Stefan Butler (Fionn Whitehead), a young programmer adapting the title fantasy “choose your own adventure” book into a video game. Stefan pitches the idea to video game company Tuckersoft, where he meets famous game designer Colin Ritman (Will Poulter).
The rest of the movie and Stefan’s actions depend on the choices of the viewer, but in every scenario, Stefan begins to feel he’s being controlled by outside forces, and it doesn’t end well for him. Bandersnatch has multiple possible endings, with none of them considered definitive, though the one widely considered as such is where Stefan kills his father and finishes the game. In the present day, Colin’s daughter, Pearl, is trying to adapt Bandersnatch into an interactive Netflix movie.
Regardless of the path Stefan takes, Colin ends up disappearing after their LSD night at Colin’s apartment. Poulter returns as Colin in “Plaything”, revealing he survived the events of Bandersnatch and continued working in video games in the 1990s. “Plaything” presents Colin’s new game Thronglets, containing the world’s first fully sentient digital lifeforms. Colin invites reviewer Cameron Walker to write about the game, but he ends up stealing it and obsessing over it as the creatures within the game evolve more and more.
Bandersnatch showed how far obsession can go, and explores themes like free will, guilt, and determinism, and “Plaything” took them even further. “Plaything” adds ethics, isolation, escapism, and the value of human and artificial lives into the mix and makes the horrors of Bandersnatch even bigger by showing a massive technological threat. Bandersnatch’s threat was in Stefan’s head, while the one in “Plaything” went beyond the screens and used Cameron’s isolation and vulnerability to fulfill its plan.
Without Bandersnatch, “Plaything” Loses Its Core Message
Unfortunately, “Plaything” is now an incomplete experience over at Netflix. Bandersnatch was one of Netflix’s first interactive movies, but with time, the platform shifted its focus from this format to video games. As a result, many interactive movies and specials were removed from Netflix, with the only ones remaining being Bandersnatch and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. However, these were also removed in 2025 as part of an update.
Those who never watched Bandersnatch will miss the core message of “Plaything”, as they don’t have the background of Stefan’s work on the game, Colin’s involvement, and the impact that the game had on both. At the core of Bandersnatch and “Plaything” are the themes of free will and determinism, as Stefan and Cameron are subjected to the illusion of having control when, in fact, they are being controlled by the games. This also leads them into isolation, and both are meant to have dark fates.
Without Bandersnatch, “Plaything” is just another Black Mirror episode centered around a video game and with disastrous consequences, like most episodes, and it misses the question of whether humans do have free will or the events in their lives are a consequence of a predetermined timeline. It’s unknown if Netflix will bring Bandersnatch back or not, but its absence makes “Plaything” an incomplete experience.
Black Mirror
- Release Date
- December 4, 2011
- Network
- Channel 4, Netflix
- Showrunner
- Charlie Brooker
Cast
-
Nanette Cole -
Walton
WHERE TO WATCH
- 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
