Note: Contains huge spoilers for 'Bandersnatch'.
It’s been the viewing essential of Christmas 2018 – and with an alleged one trillion storyline combinations, it’s little surprise that Black Mirror's 'Bandersnatch' has proven so irresistible and infuriating to viewers on Netflix.
Anyway, the premise is simple: the first interactive film in Charlie Brooker’s cult-viewing Black Mirror series, 'Bandersnatch' presents viewers with the opportunity to control the storyline of what they’re watching with a tap of their finger. From the mundane – Frosties or Sugar Puffs for breakfast? – to the grave (hmm – chop up or bury dad’s body?), the audience at home is given the power to shift and influence the on-screen plot.
Set in 1984 (yep, we see what they did there) the story follows the journey of Fionn Whitehead's Stefan, a young games developer who is turning his favourite choose-your-own-adventure-type book, Bandersnatch, into a computer game.
There are believed to be ten ‘proven’ endings. Here they are:
Endgame #1: Tea party
An exasperated Stefan has spent weeks working on the game, with both his temper and sanity pushed to the limit. His well-meaning but frustratingly earnest father invites him to ‘tag along’ with him for lunch at the pub. Stefan declines, but his dad keeps pushing for him to say yes. Stefan tries to launch the game, but there’s a glitch.
You, the viewer, are given the option to choose how he reacts: does he pour tea over his keyboard, or shout at his father? Don’t be fooled – whilst the first option might sound pleasingly dramatic, it’s actually the quickest way to end the film – Stefan's work is lost, end of story, literally. Essentially, you need to select ‘shout at dad’ in order to progress with the storyline.
Endgame #2: The leap of faith
Okay: you made Stefan shout at his dad but he still insists on taking him out to lunch. Except, actually, he doesn’t; rather, it’s a cunning ruse that results in the pair pulling up outside Dr Haynes’ office.
Here, you are presented with an option: do you step inside the office, or do you follow the mysterious Colin, who has (some might say, conveniently) just walked past? You choose to follow Colin, who takes Stefan to his flat. Here, he is introduced to Colin’s partner, Kitty, who is nursing their baby daughter, Pearl. Colin promises to help Stefan get past his seeming creative block, giving him a puff on a spliff and offering him his first taste of LSD.
The viewer must choose if Stefan accepts it: if you select ‘no’, Colin still sneaks the tab into Stefan’s teacup, making it a bit of a dud choice. Colin monologues about how none of us truly realise the depth to which the government controls us, talking about mind control and perceptions of freedom (uncomfortable squirming optional, but that’s a whole other essay).
He then takes Stefan on to his balcony and tells him one of them must jump over the edge. Choose Stefan for another quick-fix ending; unsurprisingly, he is killed outright and doesn’t respawn, Pac-Man-style, as Colin seems to suggest.
Endgame #3: Take your meds
Keep the story moving by choosing Colin to jump (he does so with chilling speed). With the sight burnt onto his retinas and the shrieks of a devastated Kitty ringing in his ears, Stefan wakes up and realises – phew! – it was apparently all just a bad dream. He’s still outside the therapist’s office in his dad’s car, and steps inside for his appointment.
Here, you can choose whether Stefan bites his nails or rubs his ears; it doesn’t matter, really, as either way, he’s about to receive an increased dose of his medication. Flash-forward to Stefan in his bathroom at home, holding two red-and-yellow pills in the palm of his hand.
You the viewer are asked to decide what Stefan should do with the tablets, and if you didn’t follow Colin in the previous stage, you will be able to swallow them. Game over: Stefan completes Bandersnatch, it’s released and everyone lives happily ever after. Well, probably.
Endgame #4: Meta-fu
Let’s assume you choose to get rid of the tablets in the previous decision-making round. You’re then presented with an inconsequential choice of whether you flush them down the toilet or throw them in the bin.
Either way, the action continues and deadline day for the game looms heavy. Frustratingly, it’s still crashing when Stefan tests it, resulting in the option of making him destroy the computer (resulting in the same ending as scenario #1) or hitting the desk. He hits the desk. You are then presented with what catches his eye; will it be the battered old copy of Bandersnatch, or will it be an old family photograph?
Pick up the latter for a dream-like hallucination that sees Stefan slip through the looking glass (neatly in keeping with the Alice in Wonderland-inspired Bandersnatch name). In reality, Stefan then starts to play the game once more, only for it to glitch. Again!
Pick between throwing tea over the keyboard or destroying the computer as a whole; either way, the screen will flicker back to life and you will get to pick whether he receives a message from Netflix or sees a mysterious binary symbol.
Let’s assume you choose Netflix – how could this possibly play out? A message from Netflix appears on screen, telling Stefan that his actions are being controlled by users of its 21st-century streaming platform. Stefan tries to explain this to his bewildered father, who insists on taking him back to his therapist. Stefan and Dr Haynes begin fighting (on her insistence that there would be more action if it were really a film or TV show).
She breaks out the nunchucks and Stefan attempts to jump out of the window. A director then walks onto the set, breaking the fourth wall, and the episode ends with Stefan confused about his identity – is he even real?
Endgame #5: Meta-fu 2
Alternatively, you didn’t jump out the window in the doctor’s office. Instead, you make Stefan fight back, until his dad rushes in; choose whether Stefan gives him a karate chop or a well-aimed kick, before watching him being dragged off, cackling manically. Game over.
Endgame #6: Dead dad
Let’s go back a couple of steps, to the end of #4. Instead of clicking on Netflix, you opt for the 'binary symbol' (aka the 'White Bear' logo). Stefan slips into insanity, and you are asked to choose if he kills his father or cools down. Naturally, you elect for the former, giving you the option of 'chopping up' his body or burying him.
Get chopping for a plot line that sees Stefan successfully complete Bandersnatch. He also manages to escape jail after his inevitable arrest, too. A flash-forward sees a now grown-up Pearl (Colin's baby) attempting to redesign the game for a modern audience, before also beginning to go mad.
Endgame #7: Drop out
Instead of killing his dad, you decide Stefan should cool down and back away. This results in another ending; Stefan seemingly drops out of the Bandersnatch project although it’s a little inconclusive.
Endgame #8: Chaotic spree
If you decide to bury the body of Stefan’s father, things play out quite differently. You can decide if Colin is still missing; then, either Kitty, Colin, or Thakur show up at Stefan’s home, and with the latter two you are given the option of killing them or letting them go. It doesn’t matter either way, as Stefan winds up arrested for murder, Bandersnatch doesn’t get completed and Tuckersoft folds.
Endgame #9: An early death
Rewind! Cast your mind back to scenario #4; instead of picking up the photo, you pick up the book. Then select the 'toy' option to see Stefan whisked back in time to try and save his mother from her untimely death. Decide whether or not he follows his mother; if you choose 'yes', it results in a sweet rewrite of history until you realise Stefan dropped dead instantly during his first therapy session with Dr Haynes.
Endgame #10: Programme and Control
Another option presents itself in scenario #4 if you’ve chosen the correct password (PAC) for the filing cabinet in Stefan’s dad’s office.
Stefan discovers he is being watched as part of the PAC (Programme and Control) initiative. This pushes him over the edge and he kills his father before trying to contact his therapist. He buries his dad, but next-door’s dog uncovers the body and Stefan is arrested as he arrives at the office of Dr Haynes.
Bandersnatch is completed and released, although Stefan is in jail.
Now start again.
