Did you spot all these sneaky easter eggs in Black Mirror season three?
Could all of Charlie Brooker’s dystopian tales be set in the same Universe?
Shut up and Dance
What episode is this?
The one where 19-year-old Kenny stumbles headlong into an online blackmail scheme, and he’s quickly forced into an uneasy alliance with shifty Hector (Jerome Flynn, Bronn from Game of Thrones).
What Easter Eggs are there here?
There are a fair few callbacks jam-packed into this almighty depressing episode:
To White Bear (series two) and The National Anthem (series one)
In the unforgiving ending of Shut Up and Dance when all the blackmail victims find out their secrets have been leaked despite their efforts, the CEO who’s sent out “racist emails” opens up a news article.
Alongside it are two recommended stories. One says PM Michael Callow is getting a divorce (he’s not had much luck since having sex with a pig on TV in The National Anthem, has he?), and the other is for the “Victoria Skillane trial latest". Victoria Skillane is the woman forced to relive the same day indefinitely in White Bear.
To "Fifteen Million Merits" (Series One)
In the same screenshot as the previous two Easter Eggs comes this teeny tiny reference to another episode. Above the ‘racist email’ story is a tweet stating "Talent show 15 Million Merits launches next week".
Yes, the talent contest in series one is actually called ‘Hot Shots’, but, hey, we’re still counting this.
To White Christmas (Christmas special)
Another one from the CEO’s sidebar of shame: there’s an advert stating “ONE SMART COOKIE? Click to witness the kitchen tech of tomorrow". In White Christmas, Cookies are able to replicate somebody’s consciousness. And the ‘kitchen tech’? That’s a reference to the kitchen that main character Joe is trapped in throughout the episode. Very dark.
To The Waldo Moment (Series Two)
You can see Kenny has a sticker of Waldo – the annoying CGI blue blob that takes over the world – on his laptop. In other words, Kenny’s just the sort of guy who would vote for Waldo. Make of that of what you wish.
Shut Up and Dance
Authors
Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.