Entertainment

Netflix Just Revealed There's A Secret 'Bandersnatch' Scene That Nobody Noticed

by Maitri Suhas
Netflix

If you haven’t watched Netflix' Black Mirror: Bandersnatch yet, it might be because a choose-your-own-adventure movie is a lot of work for one movie. But, the streaming site is making things a tiny bit easier by releasing new clues for how to watch the Black Mirror special. And on Tuesday, Netflix revealed how to unlock a secret Bandersnatch scene, so set aside some more time to dive right back in.

On Tuesday, the Netflix UK and Ireland account tweeted: "think you've seen everything there is to see in bandersnatch? try picking up the family photo, ~twice~ [sic]." The action, fans soon found out, unlocks a new scene fans might previously have missed. As Forbes pointed out, the secret Bandersnatch scene results from a crucial choice in the television event is whether or not Stefan should pick up a family photo or a book, with each choice resulting in different safe room scenes. "But there’s one thing that happens the first time you pick up the family photo, and another that happens when you pick it up again in another loop," Forbes wrote. That’s probably why it’s been so tough for viewers to spot: they would have to perform the same action twice, which is unusual.

The ending that gets "unlocked" through this double action is... pretty scary. We won't say more here — no spoilers — because this is one scene that really deserves to be experienced.

This new surprise scene is just one of many small events and footage left to be uncovered by viewers. There are a total of five possible Bandersnatch endings, but over a trillion permutations for how to get there, according to Variety. (Math is nuts!) Of course, so many of these permutations are due to tiny details, like choosing what kind of cereal Stefan eats in the morning, a choice that seems really important at the beginning of the movie.

There is no "correct" way to watch Bandersnatch, but there are more satisfying paths to the ending. There's also the path of least resistance — meaning the quickest way to get to an actual ending. Variety reported that "viewers who choose the quickest path, and decide against any do-overs, can make it through the film in around 40 minutes. The average viewing time is around 90 minutes." That's like, almost four episodes of The Office.

Netflix

If you have a hard time making decisions, which clearly, tons of people watching do, Bandersnatch is absolutely going to stress you out. But probably not as stressed as the people making the movie. See What's Next tweeted some "fun facts" about the making of Netflix' first interactive adult film (in fact, they have tons of choose your own adventure content for kids). Bandersnatch took over a year to make, and its script was 157 pages compared to the regular length of Black Mirror scripts, around 65 pages. Talk about overachieving. With such a long script it's no wonder there are so many choices to make a long the way to one of the five endings.

So if you've got the time to go back through Black Mirror: Bandersnatch again to pick up that photo twice, get to it, but if not, there are of course lots of spoilers to let you know what happens. You can watch or spoil the secret ending for yourself: choose your own adventure!