Netflix’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch continues to be an interesting experiment in interactive filmmaking, as the “Choose Your Own Adventure” horror/thriller has become a cultural phenomenon, and yet another hit for Netflix over the course of the last month.
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Now that Bandersnatch has had time to run the viewing circuit, a lot of discussion has been focused on all of the different variations to the story of young game designer Stefan (Fionn Whitehead). There have been charts plotted out mapping each of pathway of choice that could lead to different endings, but what may be even more interesting is the internal data from Netflix about which of the choices in Bandersnatch were accessed the most by viewers – and which ones got the least amount of play.
Relax. It’s hard to predict the future!
And it’s even more difficult to change the past.
Out of the 5 main endings, the one where Stefan goes on the train with his mum *fights tears* was the path least traveled.//t.co/NhxbbmSzZj
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) January 17, 2019
As you can see in the interaction between Netflix‘s various Twitter accounts, the one path that Bandersnatch chose the least was actually the one where Stefan is able to go back in time, and change events leading to the train accident that would end up killing his mom. That outcome is built on Colin’s LSD-inspired metaphysical musings about multiple realities, and sees Stefan use a mirror as portal back to house when he was just five. Several versions of the story expose the fact that Stefan has major lingering guilt issues, over the fact that it was the search for his beloved toy rabbit that caused his mother to take a later train that day – a train that derailed and killed her, along with many others. He later discovers that his father actually hid the rabbit, thinking Stefan was too old for it. By returning to that day and replacing the rabbit, adult Stefan gives his younger self the option of getting on the train with his mom. If young Stefan goes on the train, he ends up dying along with his mom, which in turn kills adult Stefan’s body while he sits in his therapist’s office.
To be honest if you look at the full chart of Bandersnatch choices, getting to the train ending with Stefan’s mother does require one of the more extensive and precise series of choices to reach that particular end. That could be why so many viewers never got there, as so many other enticing choices along the way would’ve pulled them onto different pathways, and into different endings.
What was your favorite ending? Let us know in the comments!
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is now streaming on Netflix.
