Black Mirror Season 7’s Episodes All Repeat This 1 Subtle Detail That’s Extremely Easy To Miss

Every episode of Black Mirror season 7 is connected to one another through a very subtle detail that you might have missed. Though it’s an anthology show, there have been plenty of hints through the years that every episode of Black Mirror exists in a shared universe. The series constantly references older episodes, such as the “White Bear” symbol that appears in Jon Hamm’s White Christmas episode, and several others. Black Mirror season 7, however, added new fuel to the discussion of the show’s shared universe through a subtle, blink-and-you-miss-it detail in each of the new episodes.

Black Mirror season 7 was unusual before it even began due to its two sequel episodes: USS Callister: Into Infinity, a sequel to the acclaimed season 4 episode, and Plaything, which is a sequel to the 2018 interactive movie Bandersnatch. Both of those sequel episodes expanded their individual stories and provided more evidence of a shared universe in the way of Easter eggs, but they also made one brilliant detail possible. Each episode of Black Mirror season 7 features a hidden reference to Bandersnatch that essentially ties them all together.

All 6 Black Mirror Season 7 Episodes Feature The Same Bandersnatch Book In The Background

The Choose Your Own Adventure Book That Was Central To Bandersnatch Has Remained Popular Through The Years

In every episode of Black Mirror season 7, a copy of the book “Bandersnatch” is visible in some scene. For example, in Black Mirror season 7, episode 2, Bête Noire, the book could briefly be seen when Maria was searching through Verity’s bedroom, though it was only identifiable by the end of the title on its spine. It makes similarly brief appearances, usually sitting on a desktop, in USS Callister: Into Infinity, Plaything, Hotel Reverie, Eulogy, and Common People. A book titled “Bandersnatch” is a clear reference to the 2018 Black Mirror movie of the same name, and the source of the episode Plaything.

The book “Bandersnatch” was a choose your own adventure novel that the Black Mirror movie Bandersnatch‘s protagonist, Stefan (Fionn Whitehead), used as inspiration for a game of the same name. The book was quite well known within Bandersnatch due to the fact that its author went insane, but Black Mirror season 7 proved that it’s still popular in the future of the show. Additionally, since a major theme of Bandersnatch was the concept of branching, parallel universes, it may be a clever hint that the entire season of Black Mirror takes place in the same shared universe.

Black Mirror Season 7’s Episodes Also Frequently Mentions Juniper

The Black Mirror Season 4 Episode “Saint Junipero” Frequently Makes Appearances In Newer Episodes

Bandersnatch isn’t the only classic Black Mirror episode that was referenced in season 7, however. The lauded Black Mirror season 3 episode, San Junipero, also had a few appearances across the season’s episodes. In Common People, Mike (Chris O’Dowd) and Amanda (Rashida Jones) regularly go to the Juniper Lodge. USS Callister: Into Infinity mentions “St. Juniper Hospital,” and Hotel Reverie focuses on a movie titled “Saint Juniper,” while Brandy lives on a street named “Junipero Drive.” The plot of Eulogy also shares thematic similarities with San Junipero‘s digital afterlife, though there isn’t an overt reference in it.

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18 Black Mirror Season 7 Easter Eggs & References To New & Old Episodes

Similar to previous Black Mirror installments, the Netflix sci-fi show’s season 7 also does not shy away from featuring many in-universe easter eggs.

Black Mirror season 7 also isn’t the first time the series has made a callback to San Junipero. Both Black Mirror season 4, episode 6 and Bandersnatch reference Saint Junipero in different ways. That’s really only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Black Mirror shared universe Easter eggs, however. Other facets of the series, like Tuckersoft from Bandersnatch, crop up in various episodes across seasons, as well as the previously mentioned White Bear symbol. There are more than a few clues that hint at a shared universe in Black Mirror just waiting for eagle-eyed viewers to spot them.

Black Mirror

6/10

Release Date

December 4, 2011

Network

Channel 4, Netflix

Showrunner

Charlie Brooker

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