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The Best Way To Watch Kaleidoscope, Netflix’s Mind-Bending New Show
The episodes are randomized for each viewer.
Minor spoilers ahead for Kaleidoscope. After the success of Black Mirror’s “Bandersnatch” episode, Netflix is debuting another interactive experience around the holidays. But rather than a choose-your-own-adventure, Kaleidoscope (previously titled Jigsaw) is a non-linear story, which randomizes the order in which episodes are played. Viewers enter the drama at a different times, thus changing their perspective on the characters and the big heist at the center of the show.
The series was inspired by the real story of $70 billion in bonds that went missing during Hurricane Sandy. It follows Giancarlo Esposito’s Leo Pap, a criminal mastermind who’s set on taking down Roger Salas (Rufus Sewell), the head of a corporate security company. Leo assembles a team to break into Roger’s elaborate safe: weapons specialist Ava (Paz Vega), explosives expert Judy (Rosaline Elbay), safe-cracker Bob (Jai Courtney), smuggler Stan (Peter Mark Kendall), and driver RJ (Jordan Mendoza). Meanwhile, he works to win back his daughter Hannah (Tati Gabrielle) and dodge FBI agent Nazan (Niousha Madera).
Kaleidoscope consists of eight episodes that take place across 25 years. Each episode is named for a color. “Black,” which explains the storytelling format, always comes first, and “White: The Heist” always comes last, finally revealing how the heist went down. The rest of the episodes shuffle, but only a little: The sequence always starts with “Yellow” or “Green,” then “Blue,” “Violet,” or “Orange,” and then finally “Red” or “Pink” before “White.”
How to watch Kaleidoscope in chronological order
You can always follow the randomized order you’re given. But if you like a more linear story, here’s how to watch Kaleidoscope in chronological order:
- “Violet”: 24 years before the heist
- “Green”: 7 years before the heist
- “Yellow”: 6 weeks before the heist
- “Orange”: 3 weeks before the heist
- “Blue”: 5 days before the heist
- “White”: the heist
- “Red”: the morning after the heist
- “Pink”: 6 months after the heist
Keep in mind that if you choose to view “White” sixth, you’ll watch what was intended to be the series finale two episodes early. (Note: To choose the order yourself, you’ll need to return to the series homepage after each episode concludes, and select the next one you’d like to play; if you let the series autoplay, it’ll randomize.)
The best way to watch Kaleidoscope
Alternatively, you can watch the series in an order that feels more natural for the story. There’s of course no right way to watch Kaleidoscope, but in my humble opinion, this is the ideal episode order:
“Green”
This episode partly explains why Leo wants to take Roger down — though “Violet” gives the whole truth of Leo and Roger’s past — and shows how Leo knows some of the crew members. You also meet FBI agent Nazan in “Green,” who’s pretty important throughout.
“Yellow”
This episode introduces you to the rest of the crew members and explains the heist plan and how the vault is protected. You also get to see where Hannah is now, after meeting her briefly in “Green.”
“Violet”
This is a difficult episode to place because it jumps so far back in time. I watched this episode fifth, but it’s useful to know about Roger and Leo’s full past earlier rather than later.
“Orange”
At this point, it makes sense to follow the story more chronologically, and “Orange” brings us three weeks before the heist. We get some more info about Nazan here, and see how the crew continues to plan the heist.
“Blue”
“Blue” is set five days before the heist, and shows how the crew decides to use Hurricane Sandy to their advantage.
“Red”
“Red” jumps to the morning after the heist, when we find out that things went sideways — but it isn’t yet clear how or why.
“White”
You can then go into the finale episode, which shows what exactly happened, and offers an impressive reveal.
Which leads me to my final recommendation: I would skip “Pink” entirely, or wait to watch it until a potential Kaleidoscope Season 2 is announced. Without going into major spoilers, it’s a depressing episode no matter where it’s placed, and the information reveals isn’t really necessary to enjoy Season 1. If you’re a major fan of Jai Courtney and Kaleidoscope’s main love triangle, you might enjoy watching “Pink” before or after “White.” But the episode left my family and I feeling rather ambivalent about the whole series — so proceed at your own risk!
