After four years, “Black Mirror” is back for Season 6 and considering it’s the premiere destination for storytelling that comes swinging at big tech, it was only a matter of time before it took aim at the streaming industry. Season 6 comes out of the gate hitting directly at Netflix — the streaming company on which it airs — with the arrival of the Streamberry app in the hyper-meta episode “Joan Is Awful.” And hoo boy, does the arrival of Streamberry shake up the current understanding of the “Black Mirror” universe.
Not least of all because the Streamberry homepage is jam-packed with familiar titles that references episodes from every season of “Black Mirror.” Some of the shots go by in a hurry, and not everyone has time to pause (over and over again) to obsess over the details, so we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to all the Easter Eggs, callbacks and references you’ll find in the Streamberry lineup.
“Mad Mind: The Jerome F. Davies Story”
Let’s kick off with a deep cut. The first row of thumbnails on the Streamberry home screen scrolls by in a flash, but if you pause it just right, you’ll see the first thumbnail in the “Recommended for You” tab is for “Mad Mind: The Jerome F. Davies Story.” So, who the heck is Jerome F. Davies?
The name might ring a bell for folks who watched/played “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch,” the interactive 2018 film that starred Fionn Whitehead as a programmer who loses his grasp on reality in his mission to adapt the chose-your-own-adventure fantasy novel “Bandersnatch” into a video game. That novel was written by Jerome F. Davies, who has a dark history of his own and cut off his wife’s head after writing his book.
If, for some reason, you’re inclined to meet the man after that intro, “Bandersnatch” has a secret scene that features him if you chose to pick up the family photo twice.
“Smart?”
Next up is “Smart?” which appears to be a documentary about Michael Smart, a conservative politician played by David Shields (“The Crown”) who plays a pivotal role in the fifth episode of Season 6, “Demon 79.”
“Space Fleet”
Finally, the top row contains a sci-fi show called “Space Fleet,” which is, of course, a reference to the fan-favorite, critically celebrated episode “USS Callister.”
The Season 4 episode is a twisted “Star Trek” homage that stars Jesse Plemmons (“Breaking Bad”) as Robert Daly, the CTO of Callister Inc., which offers customers the ability to captain their own interactive starship in a simulated reality. Disgruntled and mistreated by his colleagues, Robert uses that technology to clone his least favorite co-workers into his personal space fantasy — a “Star Trek”-esque series called “Space Fleet” — where he’s the captain and they must bend to his every whim or face horrific consequences.
“Loch Henry: Truth Will Out”
Moving down to the next row of titles, you’ll see “Loch Henry: Truth Will Out,” which Joan and Krish describe as the “Scottish true crime” and is a reference to the second episode of Season 6, titled… “Loch Henry.” We even get a little synopsis for this one, which serves just as well as a spoiler-free synopsis for Episode 2: “A sleepy lochside town is rocked by a string of horrific murders. Decades later, the former holiday destination has never recovered.” This one gets extra meta after you watch the second episode.
“Sea of Tranquility”
Next up on the second row is “Sea of Tranquility,” a running in-universe reference dating back to the very first episode of “Black Mirror.”
“Sea of Tranquility” is a fictional HBO sci-fi/fantasy series first introduced in “The National Anthem” when a special effects artist who won an Emmy for “Sea of Tranquility” is hired in an attempt to fake a video of the prime minister fulfilling the beastly ransom demands of a kidnapper. The fictional series got a callback in the Season 3 episode “Nosedive,” when Bryce Dallas Howard’s Lacie hitches a ride with some cosplayers on their way to a convention dedicated to the show. In the Season 5 episode “Smithereens,” there’s a much more subtle reference where #SeaofTranquilityReboot can be seen on a screen in the Smithereen lobby. Finally, there’s a shoutout during a news segment in “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too” when they announce that the series is getting a reboot.
That brings us up to Season 6, where we get another reference on the Streamberry home screen and, thanks to the plot synopsis, we also get our most detailed description of the fictional series yet: “HBO’s seminal sci-fi Western returns for a climactic tenth series. Follow our intrepid crew as they manifest destiny far beyond safety of the inner worlds.”
“Finding Ritman”
This is one of the most immediately recognizable callbacks of the bunch thanks to Will Poulter’s shock of bleach-blonde hair in the thumbnail. The title, “Finding Ritman,” is a reference to his “Bandersnatch” character Colin Ritman, a famous game designer who plays a pivotal, almost omnipotent role in the events of the choose-your-own-adventure style film.
There’s no telling what “Finding Ritman” would be about other than the man himself and this is one Streamberry offering most “Black Mirror” fans would be eager to watch, given that we don’t really know what happens to him — he might be dead, alive or in custody, it entirely depends on the choices you make in “Bandersnatch.”
“Hot Shot”
Another very familiar callback, though not as easy to spot since the thumbnail is partially obscured off-screen, “Hot Spot” is the central reality series at the crux of the Season 1 episode “15 Million Merits.” A reality talent competition in the vein of “X-Factor” and “American Idol,” where desperate citizens can compete for the chance for fame, no matter the cost.
“Rowdy and Peanut”
This one’s a bit of a curveball since it doesn’t directly connect to “Black Mirror.” The animated title “Rowdy and Peanut” is a reference to another Charlie Brooker project on Netflix: the 2022 family-friendly interactive film “Cat Burglar,” which features characters named Rowdy and Peanut. The Streamberry synopsis describes it as “The whacky adventures of Rowdy — a Wiley cat burglar — and Peanut the guard dog. Nostalgic, family-friendly fun.”
“The Callow Years”
Another Season 1 reference, “The Callow Years” calls back to the very first episode of “Black Mirror,” “The National Anthem.” Starring Rory Kinnear (“Men”) as Prime Minister Michael Callow, who is forced to lay with a pig (in the biblical sense) on national TV in order to prevent the murder of a beloved member of the royal family. This one also comes with a synopsis, which promises “A fascinating six-part documentary exploration of the prime ministership of Michael Callow — including never-before-seen archival footage from some of his most controversial public moments.”
“Botherguts”
Next up we clearly see the title “Botherguts,” which is another callback to the mandatory programming in “15 Million Merits.” While not as central to the plot as “Hot Shot,” “Botherguts” represented a piece of the world-building in the episode where the physically fit ride stationary cycles in exchange for merits, while the overweight live as second-class citizens; wearing yellow jumpsuits, appearing as shotgun fodder in videogames, working as janitors — and appearing on “Botherguts,” a reprehensible but evidently popular show where the overweight are mocked and harassed for entertainment.
“On a Roll”
To the right of “Bothgerguts,” we can clearly see Miley Cyrus’ “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too” character Ashley O. and enough of the text to make out the title is “On a Roll” — the same title as the song Cyrus sang for the episode. A riff on the 1989 Nine Inch Nails song “Head Like a Hole,” “On a Roll” got its own music video in the real world, though it’s unclear if the Streamberry title is a video, a doc or something else entirely.
“Junipero Dreaming”
Finally, we arrive at “Junipero Dreaming,” a reference to the beloved Season 3 episode “San Junipero,” which starred Mackenzie Davis (“Station Eleven”) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“Loki”) as two women who bond and fall in love in the idyllic beach town of San Junipero — which turns out to be a simulated reality where the elderly can store their consciousness… up to and after their death.
