Warning: this article contains spoilers for Black Mirror season 7, episode 4.
Black Mirrorseason 7 is now streaming on Netflix, and one of the new episodes brings back Will Poulter’sBandersnatchcharacter seven years after the movie’s release.Black Mirrorepisode 7 has six great episodesthat really highlight how the series has been so successful for so long. While many of the show’s episodes have subtle references to other popular episodes,Black Mirrorseason 7, episode 4 “Plaything”, directly brings back two characters from the 2018 interactive film.
The cast of “Plaything"is led by Peter Capaldi and Lewis Gribben as the main character, Cameron Walker, at different ages, and both Will Poulter and Asim Chaudhry reprise their roles fromBandersnatch, with the former’s Colin Ritman playing a crucial role in the events of the episode.“Plaything” centers on Cameron Walker as he becomes invested in Colin’s gameThronglets, which allows players to care for creatures called Thronglets that respond and adapt to human interaction, leading toBlack Mirrorseason 7, episode 4’s endingwhich sees the Throng take over years after Colin attempted to destroy the game.
Season 7 Brings Back The Interactive Movie’s Character
WhileBlack Mirror: Bandersnatchwas set in the 1980s, “Plaything” returns to the same universe in the 1990s and brings viewers back to Tuckersoft. Tuckersoft was the game development company that was introduced in the 2018 interactive movie where Colin Ritman worked as a famous programmer.
The new episode’s later setting does confirm that Colin is alive and still working in his job at the company, but it is revealed that he had severe mental health problems after the events of the movie. The newBlack Mirrorepisode reveals that Colin had a"breakdown"in the past and went “gaga,” though his new gameThrongletsinitially makes it look like he is now OK.
SinceBandersnatchhas multiple different endings, it is hard to say exactly what really occurred that caused Colin to break down, but there are a fair few decisions that could be traumatizing.
SinceBandersnatchhas multiple different endings, it is hard to say exactly what really occurred that caused Colin to break down, but there are a fair few decisions that could be traumatizing. Even the association with Stefan and his violent decisions could have led Colin to a dark place, so it is not exactly surprising that he ended up destroyingThronglets’s code, leaving Cameron with the only copy.
What Colin’s Return Reveals About Which Bandersnatch Ending Is The “Real” One
There Are A Few Endings That Would No Longer Work
Black Mirror: Bandersnatchhas numerous different endingsthat see the main character variously release his game to success or failure, die in several different ways, end up in jail, or realize that the whole thing is a TV set. While there are five main endings that players/viewers can come to, what happens before reaching that point can change as well, and that is where Colin comes into play. He is not the main focus of the movie, butColin does play a crucial role in several of the decisionsthat viewers make.
There is one option in the movie where, while at Colin’s apartment, the viewer either chooses to have Stefan jump off the balcony, which ends the game, or have Colin do it, which kills him. Likewise, in the prison ending, there is an option to kill Colin. While part of the point ofBandersnatchwas that it was impossible to tell which ending was right or if it was even real, the newBlack Mirrorepisode does seem to rule out a couple of options, though clearly the events portrayed in the movie had an impact on Colin.
