‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’: All the Easter Eggs in Every Timeline and the Tuckersoft Website
[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” and the previous seasons.]
Leave it to “Black Mirror” creator Charlie Brooker to figure out a way to still incorporate Easter eggs into “Bandersnatch,” an interactive episode set in 1984, which predates the world of apps and downloadable consciousness that viewers are accustomed to in the dystopian anthology series about the near future. Here, Brooker hints that what happens in “Bandersnatch” may have influenced the events of all the episodes in previous seasons.
In the episode, young programmer Stefan Butler (Finn Whitehead) is hired by Tuckersoft to develop a new type of video game called “Bandersnatch,” based on a choose-your-own-adventure novel of the same name. Easier said than done, Stefan finds himself progressively losing his grip on reality as the viewers at home continue to direct his actions through binary choices on the screen.
“Bandersnatch” might be the ultimate Easter egg delivery episode yet. Not only are there plenty of references throughout, but diehard fans figured out that one post-credits scene includes yet another elaborate pathway to even more Easter eggs, in this case, a Tuckersoft website where another video game from the episode is available.
Here are all the references found in “Bandersnatch” and the Tuckersoft site, along with a few other insights. For a refresher of what has come before, check out the Easter egg lists for Season 2, Season 3, and Season 4.
”The National Anthem” references:
- One of the five main endings is set in the present day, with game developer Pearl Ritman (Laura Evelyn) revealed to be the grown daughter of Tuckersoft video game developer extraordinaire, Colin Ritman (Will Poulter). As a news story covers her revival of the “Bandersnatch” game that was pulled after Stefan confessed to killing his father, a chyron news crawl at the bottom of the screen includes multiple Easter eggs. The first news item refers to Rory Kinnear’s fateful character, Prime Minister Michael Callow who was driven to televised fornication with a pig. Apparently he’s not doing too badly post-infamy, as the crawl reads: “Former PM Michael Callow Wins Celebrity Bake Off.”
References from the Tuckersoft website:
- In the episode, a poster of the game “Pig in a Poke,” a sly reference to the horrifying act, hangs in the Tuckersoft offices. The website provides a better look at the cover art and description of the game: “Who’d have thought a ramble through the countryside would be so fun? You must escape from flying arrows and giant bees, squishing the little mice as flowers bloom all around you.”
”Fifteen Million Merits” references:
- Stefan’s dad finds out the hard way that cigarettes – or at least the ashtray used with them – can indeed kill you. Zooming in and freeze-framing on one scene, it’s possible to see that he smokes a brand called Wraith’s Gold Band cigarettes. In “Fifteen Million Merits,” Wraith (Rupert Everett) is the smarmy judge for the “Hot Shot” singing competition and also makes a pornographic show called “WraithBabes.” This seems like a sign that Stefan’s dad may be more manipulative than he first appears.
- In the Pearl Ritman ending, a newspaper story from 1984 about Stefan murdering his father appears on the TV screen. It includes an ad that reads, “15 Million Talent Team: ‘Hot Shots’ talent show to start a new series in the beginning of 1985.”
References from the Tuckersoft website:
- The “Rolling Road” game looks very much like the stationary cycling game that Bing (Daniel Kaluuya) rides to earn “merits.” The description of the game also makes a reference to the singing competition: “Think you’ve got what it takes, hot shot? See if you can ride your bike day in, day out, going absolutely nowhere, but everywhere at the same time…”
”Be Right Back” references:
- In the Pearl Pitman ending, the same newspaper story includes an ad that mentions a BRB software company. Of course, “BRB” is messaging/text-speak for “be right back.” BRB was also the name of the refueling station seen in “Black Museum.”
”White Bear” references:
- The entire episode references “White Bear” throughout, specifically the strange glyph that’s seen on the screen and ski masks in the false reality Victoria Skillane (Lenora Chricklow) endured as punishment. The symbol appears on the cover of the “Bandersnatch” paperback, on a billboard with the words “No Future” scrawled in graffiti, in blood in a book about the novel’s author Jerome F. Davies, and as part of the flowchart Stefan uses to keep track of the multiple storylines in his video game.
- Brooker couldn’t resist putting an actual “White Bear” video game, featuring a polar bear, in the episode — one that outsold all of the other titles to be the number one game in a shop window display.
References from the Tuckersoft website:
- The game’s page includes the cover art and this description: “A great icebreaker of a game of skill. Escape the flying ice blocks over and over, and remember to beware of the white bear.” Of course, the “White Bear” glyph is seen spinning at the bottom of the page.
”The Waldo Moment” references:
- In the Pearl Ritman ending, the news crawl reads, “Liam Monroe Enters Buckingham Palace,” referencing Waldo’s political opponent, played by Tobias Menzies.
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