These hidden 'Black Mirror' easter eggs show how all the episodes connect

Black Mirror Black Mirror Black Mirror BLACK MIRROR BLLLAAAAACCKK MIIIRRRROOORRR. That’s all you’re gonna be hearing for the next few weeks - at home, in the office, on the bus - everyone is talking about the fourth season of Charlie Brooker’s Netflix show and they’re not going to shut up soon.

The paranoid sci-fi series has just landed on Netflix and you heard it here first: it’s good. But in case you haven’t seen it all yet, then I suppose I should warn ya of a couple of mild spoilers hurtling round the bend, but nothing to ruin anything too important, if I can at all help it. The reason for this is that IndieWire trawled through every episode of every series and picked out an exhaustive list of easter eggs that connect nearly every episode with the others. It’s like Brooker’s own shared universe, and it shows the exhaustive effort and thought that goes into the making of the show.

So strap in those butt cheeks, because I’m about to slam a wad of egg into your face, a big Black Mirror chocolate omelette. Starting from Season 2 (Season 1 had nothing to reference, obviously), here’s a list of the interconnecting tidbits:

Season 2

’Be Right Back’

Connection to: ‘The National Anthem’

• The UKN news channel is the same one, and it’s not the only episode which features it. It’s seen many times later on, too.
• The headline “Geraint Fitch cleared of wrongdoing following paparazzi scuffle”, is the same headline that’s seen on TV in ‘The National Anthem’.

Unconnected easter egg:

• When Martha is mourning the loss of her husband, she sees three books about grieving in her email. One is written by Erica McEwan, who just happens to be Black Mirror’s graphic art director.

’The Waldo Moment’

Connection to: ‘The National Anthem’

• It’s that pesky “Geraint Fitch cleared of wrongdoing following paparazzi scuffle” headline again.

Connection to: ‘Fifteen Million Merits’

• Jessica Brown Findlay’s character Abi Khan is seen on a billboard next to a Waldo ad.
• Backstage on the set of the Waldo show, someone says “People believe some crazy things, I mean ABBA believed in angels!” In ‘Hot Shot’, Selma sang ABBA’s ‘I Have a Dream’, which includes the chorus lyrics “I believe in angels”.

Unconnected easter egg:

• Erica McEwan’s back sticking her oar in - her name can be seen on a Twitter feed.

’White Christmas’

Connection to: ‘Fifteen Million Merits’

• The song ‘Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)’ in the karaoke scene is the same song Abi Khan sang for her ‘Hot Shot’ audition in ‘Fifteen Million Merits’.
• One of the voyeurs watching Harry date is named ‘Pie Ape’ which you might recognise as an insult that is hurled in ‘Fifteen Million Merits’.
• Joe Potter briefly watches ‘Hot Shot’ on TV.

Connection to: ‘Be Right Back’

• Bethany uses a pregnancy test that has the same happy baby animation on it as the one used by Hayley Atwell’s character Martha.

Connection to: ‘White Bear’

• A news crawl at the bottom of a TV screen reads, “Victoria Skillane appeal bid rejected”. Skillane was the woman being punished on the TV show.
• Joe’s holding cell at the end has the White Bear symbol on the name plate.

Connection to: ‘The Waldo Moment’

• One of the voyeurs watching Harry date is called ‘I_AM_WALDO’.
• A news crawl reads, “MP Liam Monroe claims Twitter account was hacked”. Monroe was the main political candidate opposing Waldo.

Season 3

‘Nosedive’

Connection to: ‘The National Anthem’

• In Lacie’s social media feed, one of the top trending posts is by Michael Callow, otherwise known as the pig-fucking PM. His post says “Just got thrown out of the zoo again :(“, which is obviously very funny, ain’t it.
• The sci-fi show Sea of Tranquility was first mentioned in ‘The National Anthem’.

’Playtest’

Connection to: ‘White Bear’

• In the initial testing room, the White Bear symbol can be seen in the case on the table and over one of the virtual gopher holes.

Connection to: ‘San Junipero’

• At the top of EDGE magazine is the headline, “Inside TCKR: Turning Nostalgia Into A Game”. TCKR is the company that created the world of San Junipero.

Connection to: ‘Hated in the Nation’

• On the EDGE magazine cover featuring Saito CEO Shou Saito, in the lower left-hand corner is a reference to Granular, the company that makes the scary robotic bees.

’Shut Up and Dance’

Connection to: ‘The National Anthem’

• On a computer screen, a news headline reads, “PM Callow to Divorce”, while a tweet also mentions “Michael Callow is getting divorced”.

Connection to: ‘Fifteen Million Merits’

• On a computer screen, a news scroll announces the premiere of a talent show called 15 Million Merits.

Connection to: ‘White Bear’

• On a computer screen, a new headline reads: “Victoria Skillane Trial Latest.”

Connection to: ‘White Christmas’

• On a computer screen, an ad reads: “ONE SMART COOKIE? Click to witness the kitchen tech of tomorrow.”

Connection to: ‘Playtest’

• Kenny robs National Allied bank, which is the same bank whose ATM Cooper uses.

’Men Against Fire’

Connection to: ‘Fifteen Million Merits’

• That song again: ‘Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)’. This time it’s sung by ‘Hunter’ Raiman.

’Hated in the Nation’

Connection to: ‘The National Anthem’

• One of the trending topics on Twitter is PM Michael Callow, that good ole pig-shagger.

Connection to: ‘White Bear’

• Blue Coulson had to leave the force after working on the Ian Rannoch case. Rannoch was Victoria Skillane’s boyfriend.
• One of the trending topics on Twitter is “FreeTheWhiteBearOne”
• A news crawl on TV reads “Victoria Skillane in jail cell suicide attempt”.

Connection to: ‘The Waldo Moment’

• A Waldo sticker is seen on the laptop of Clara Meades, the eventual and unfortunate recipient of a face full of bees.

Connection to: ‘White Christmas’

• A news crawl on TV reads, “ECHR rules ‘cookies’ have human rights”.

Connection to: ‘Playtest’

• A news crawl on TV reads: “Saitogemu team investigated over tourist disappearance”.
• #Saitogemu is a trending topic on Jo Powers’ computer after her death.
• A news crawl on TV reads: “Shou Saito announces immersive new gaming system”.
• A news crawl reads: “Saito unveils Harlech Shadow VI“. The original game was mentioned by Sonja in ‘Playtest’, and a poster for the game is also seen in the waiting area before Cooper gets experimented on.
• Later, one of the trending topics on Twitter is Harlech Shadow V.

Connection to: ‘Men Against Fire’

• A news crawl on TV reads: “US military announces MASS project” - that’s the technology that enabled the soldiers to view the enemy as non-human.
• #MASS is a trending topic on Jo Powers’ computer after her death.

Season 4

’USS Callister’

Connection to: ‘White Bear’

• The planet where Valdack escapes to is Rannoch B, a reference to Iain Rannoch, the boyfriend of Victoria Skillane.
• The planet where Daly and Cole go swimming is Skillane IV, a reference to that same Vicky Skills.

Connection to: ‘Playtest’

• The same swiping dating app is used by the receptionist Elena.

Connection to: ‘Men Against Fire’

• Robert Daly drinks Raiman-branded milk. Raiman was the name of one of the soldiers in the MASS project.

Unconnected easter egg:

• The voice of Gamer691 was provided by Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame.

’Arkangel’

Connection to: ‘Men Against Fire’

• A clip of Raiman firing on the Roaches is played to demonstrate how the Arkangel can censor disturbing content.

’Crocodile’

Connection to: ‘Fifteen Million Merits’

• The hotel’s porn selection includes Best of Wraith Babes, a reference to the show that Abi Khan is tricked into performing on.
• Brooker’s fondness for ‘Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)’ is repeated when it’s heard coming from a car during the accident with the pizza truck.

Connection to: ‘USS Callister’

• Fences Pizza is the company that owns the truck in the accident, and is also the company that delivers pizza to Robert Daly.

’Metalhead’

Connection to: ‘Crocodile’

• Bella loves a good old peppermint candy, and so does ‘Crocodile’’s insurance investigator.

’Black Museum’

Connection to: ‘The National Anthem’

• The man who had kidnapped the princess to blackmail the Prime Minister later hanged himself. An image of his body can be seen as part of the exhibit.

Connection to: ‘Fifteen Million Merits’

• Jack is seen reading a graphic novel called 15 Million Merits.

Connection to: ‘Be Right Back’

• The power-up station next to the Black Museum is named BRB Connect, aka ‘Be Right Back’ Connect

Connection to: ‘White Bear’

• In the museum exhibit, one artifact is a ‘White Bear’ hunter’s outfit with other details of the case and a video of Victoria Skillane.

Connection to: ‘White Christmas’

• Rolo describes how his company developed the early version of the cookie.

Connection to: ‘Shut Up and Dance’

• The two white lab rats are called Kenny and Hector, the same names as the two people blackmailed in ‘Shut Up and Dance’.

Connection to: ‘San Junipero’

• The research company that made the experimental neural transmitter is TCKR, the same lot who created San Junipero.
• A reference is made to how “they upload old people to the cloud”.
• In the hospital where Dr. Dawson works, one of the wards is named the Saint Juniper Ward.

Connection to: ‘Hated in the Nation’

• One of the robotic bees is seen as an artifact.

Connection to: ‘USS Callister’

• Another artifact is Robert Daly’s DNA scanning machine and also Tommy’s red lollipop.
• Raiman’s Milk - Robert Daly’s choice of drink - is seen again.

Connection to: ‘Arkangel’

• Another artifact is the Arkangel monitoring tablet, complete with a smashed screen.

Connection to: ‘Crocodile’

• Also seen is the bloodied bathtub belonging to the insurance claim investigator’s husband.

So there you have it - quite the exhaustive list, I think you’ll agree. And if you can believe it, they probably didn’t spot them all, because I’m sure that crafty old Charlie chucked in a bunch more - you know what he’s like. Let us know if you’ve spotted something extra when watching it - we’ll give you a tenner if it’s a good one.*

*Of course we won’t give you a tenner, you ape

(Images: Netflix)