Black Mirror Season 6: 15 Easter Eggs, References & Shared Universe Connections

Black Mirror season 6 features many references and Easter eggs to previous episodes that expand its shared universe. There are many callbacks to iconic characters and events in Black Mirror‘s first two episodes alone, with several others hidden within the details of the remaining three episodes of the sixth season. With so much original content to reference, it’s not surprising that the creators of Black Mirror packed season 6 with fun Easter eggs that expand the Black Mirror universe.

Introducing the Netflix-parodied Streamberry in Black Mirror season 6, episode 1 created a new platform that connects multiple Black Mirror installments. Black Mirror season 6’s best and worst moments remain connected by thoughtfully placed Easter eggs and references to some of the most iconic Black Mirror episodes ever made. Many early Easter eggs came thanks to the Streamberry interface, but there were so many more in newspaper clippings, the musical score, and even recurring symbols.

15

Loch Henry Documentary Is Available On Streamberry

Episode 1, “Joan Is Awful”

“Joan Is Awful” opened season 6, with a woman named Joan learning that everything she does in life is being retold in a television show called Joan is Awful. This is on a streaming service called Streamberry (a spoof of Netflix) and she learned she gave up her life rights thanks to the terms and conditions. A virtual actor version of Salma Hayek plays Joan. Joan does humiliating things to sabotage the show, so Hayek sets out to destroy the quantum computers processing the show.

Since Streamberry is the service that shows the Joan is Awful show, there is a moment where the real Joan discovers this on the main screen. This also allowed several Easter eggs. A fictional documentary titled “Loch Henry: Truth Will Out” is on the Streamberry homepage. The reference is a rare moment of foreshadowing in the Black Mirror universe that hints at the next Black Mirror episode, “Loch Henry.” The documentary is a narrative device in “Loch Henry” and is a central component in driving home the episode’s message.

14

Finding Ritman On Streamberry References Bandersnatch

Episode 1, “Joan Is Awful”

Another fictional Streamberry documentary called “Finding Ritman” references Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and appears on the homepage in “Joan Is Awful.” Colin Ritman (Will Poulter) is a central character in the uniquely interactive Black Mirror: Bandersnatch installment. Set up like a choose-your-own-adventure story, the episode featured several directions the story could go with five different endings. Ritman is a game designer, while Fionn Whitehead stars as a young programmer.

The fun part is that this proves that the game from Bandersnatch exists in the same world as Joan is Awful.

The fictional documentary seems to focus on the life and career of the mysterious game designer and might dive into what could have happened to him after the events of Bandersnatch. In Bandersnatch, Colin has two possible deaths (one where he asks to be bludgeoned with a trophy and in another, he jumps from a balcony, although this was a dream sequence). The fun part is that this proves that the game from Bandersnatch exists in the same world as Joan is Awful.

13

The Callow Years On Streamberry References The National Anthem

Episode 1, “Joan Is Awful”

“The Callow Years” is also another Streamberry documentary callback to a previous Black Mirror installment, season 1, episode 1, titled “The National Anthem.” The fictional documentary seems to chronicle Michael Callow’s term as the British Prime Minister. It would certainly cover the strange and tragic events that took place in Black Mirror’s very first episode that likely marked Callow’s career for life.

In The National Anthem, the fictional Prime Minister Michael Callow (Rory Kinnear) learns that someone has kidnapped Princess Susannah, Duchess of Beaumont (Lydia Wilson). He is told she will die unless he takes part in a live sex act with a pig, broadcast on national television. As much as he tries to keep from going through with this, he eventually gives in, only for his popularity to skyrocket after the event, although he was left traumatized. One wonders if that story plays out in this fake documentary.

12

Hot Shots & Botherguts! On Streamberry Reference Fifteen Million Merits

Episode 1, “Joan Is Awful”

“Hot Shots” and “Botherguts!” are both originally featured in Black Mirror season 1, episode 2, “Fifteen Million Merits.” They can be briefly seen as viewing options on Streamberry’s platform in “Joan Is Awful.” “Hot Shots” is the equivalent to America’s Got Talent in the Black Mirror universe where lower-class workers can audition to star in some type of show in order to attain a better life. Whoever wins in the competition gets to leave the impoverished lifestyle they live in for a more lavish one.

“Botherguts!” is a ridiculous slapstick comedy show that is featured throughout “Fifteen Million Merits.” Unlike “Hot Shots,” which is a huge part of the second episode storyline, “Botherguts!” is only seen for a few short seconds in “Fifteen Million Merits.” However, the show’s theme is obvious, as overweight people dressed in lower-caste yellow feast on donuts and cakes to win prizes while well-dressed people (the upper-caste) mock them.

11

Junipero Dreaming On Streamberry References San Junipero

Episode 1, “Joan Is Awful”

Another Streamberry content reference is called “Junipero Dreaming,” which, based on the imagery and title, is a clear reference to the fan-favorite Black Mirror episode “San Junipero” (season 3, episode 4). Nothing is known about what the show actually is, but it likely either documents or romanticizes the dreamlike digital world portrayed in the classic Black Mirror episode.

“San Junipero” is an episode taking place in 1987 and following a party girl (Mackenzie Davis) who sees that her life is starting to defy the laws of space and time. However, the big twist here is that San Junipero is not real, and it is a place where elderly people can upload their consciousnesses into a VR system where they can live in this idealized world forever, and this episode is one of the rare ones with a “happy” ending for the two main female leads.

10

Joan Is Awful Newspaper References Grain Technology From The Entire History Of You

Episode 1, “Joan Is Awful”

A newspaper that is briefly seen in “Joan Is Awful” features a headline that reads “Grains Going Out Of Style.” This is a reference to the Grain technology first seen in Black Mirror season 1, episode 3 “The Entire History of You.” The Grain is the brain implant that allows people to replay memories in their minds as if they were video recordings. However, as the episode shows, constantly replaying past memories only causes trauma and distrust to ruin relationships,

The headline is an intriguing update of the imaginative technology, implying that fewer people in the Black Mirror universe are interested in getting them. With the way that “The Entire History of You” ends, and with Liam’s final actions and the decision he came to, it is no wonder that the Grain implants didn’t last very long when it came to customer satisfaction.

9

Stickers On David’s Laptop In Loch Henry Reference Multiple Black Mirror Episodes

Episode 2, “Loch Henry”

Several stickers on Davis’s Laptop in Black Mirror season 6, episode 2, “Loch Henry,” refer to previous episodes. In “Loch Henry,” Davis and Pia are partners who are aspiring filmmakers and when they visit Davis’s mother in his hometown of Loch Henry, Pia learns about a serial killer from the past named Iain Adair and she and Davis decide to make a documentary about him, only to find out that the case hits very close to home for Davis and his family.

Pia and Davis use laptops for research and video editing, and this allowed for several fun Easter eggs. The blue Waldo logo references season 2, episode 3, “The Waldo Moment,” which features a televised cartoon bear named Waldo. The black Tuckersoft logo below it references the fictional game developer in Bandersnatch. The eye sticker is a reference to season 4, episode 2, “Arkangel” and the infamous White Bear logo from season 2, episode 2, can be seen below it.

8

Space Fleet From USS Callister Is On Now Showing Poster In Beyond The Sea

Episode 3, “Beyond The Sea”

Black Mirror season 6, episode 3, “Beyond the Sea,” features two astronauts in 1969 in space. However, this is an alternate world where technology exists that allows them to transfer their consciousness to replicas on Earth, where they can spend time with their families when they are not needed to work on the spaceship. However, after David’s family is killed and his replica destroyed, he is trapped on the ship. His crewmate Cliff allows him to use his replica, but when David becomes obsessed with Cliff’s wife, things grow out of control.

In a brief scene, a movie listing poster is visible in the background featuring “Space Fleet” showing in theaters. “Space Fleet” is the fictional Star Trek-inspired show introduced in season 4, episode 1, “USS Callister,” “Space Fleet” was the television show that Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) was obsessed with and based his space virtual reality game on. It is a great Easter egg considering both involve space travel.

7

Bloody White Bear Symbol In Beyond The Sea

Episode 3, “Beyond The Sea”

During the brutal scene in “Beyond the Sea” in which David witnesses his family being murdered, a quick shot shows one of the cultists wiping the walls in blood. It appears that the cultist was making the infamous White Bear symbol with the blood from David’s family. This would make sense due to the cultists’ disdain of advanced technology, and it could imply that they were trying to place the blame for the murders on the dystopian associations connected to the White Bear symbol.

This was an interesting Easter egg as it was more than just throwing in something from a previous episode for fans. This could be a way to show why David’s family and his replica were murdered. With the astronaut using technology to spend time with his family, the killers could have targeted them for this exact reason, and with David’s later actions, it would show why the cult was so dangerous, guilty of murders outside of even the ones they personally committed.

6

“Anyone Who Knows What Love Is” By Irma Thomas Recurring Song

Episode 1, “Joan Is Awful”

One song that originally appeared in “Fifteen Million Merits” continues to reappear throughout several Black Mirror episodes. “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is” by Irma Thomas has become a sort-of theme song across the Black Mirror universe, appearing in “White Christmas,” “Men Against Fire,” “Crocodile,” “Rachel, Jack And Ashley Too,” and most recently “Joan Is Awful.” The song played when Joan was meeting Mac at the restaurant in the season six episode. “Anyone Who Knows What Love Is” has quite a history.

A young Randy Newman (a 22-time Oscar nominee for Best Original Score) co-wrote the song. When discussing why he chose to include it in Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker said, “It was originally selected for [‘Fifteen Million Merits’] because it was, it has the sound of a timeless haunting classic, yet wouldn’t be familiar to most viewers” (via The Wrap). Annabel Jones added, “If we can bring it back in and it adds to the overall sense of the universe or connection between some of the things that we’re talking about, then that’s great.“

5

Sea Of Tranquility Star Justin Camley Appears In Mazey Day

Episode 4, “Mazey Day”

“Mazey Day” is not so much a story of the fear of technology and is more of a basic horror story instead. In this, a paparazzi photographer named Bo takes a photo of a male celebrity having an affair with a man, leading to his death by suicide. Bo quits and leaves the business until an offer comes to get a phot of an actress named Mazey Day after she quits acting. What she finds is that Mazey has become a werewolf, and Bo is in for the fight of her life.

The star of a fictional series called “Sea of Tranquility,” often referenced in the Black Mirror universe, is seen in season 6, episode 4, “Mazey Day.” The star’s name is Justin Camley, who Bo (Zazie Beetz) takes pictures of as he’s caught in a vulnerable situation, leading to his death by suicide. “Sea of Tranquility” is also featured as original content on Streamberry’s streaming platform in “Joan Is Awful.”

4

Quagmire Club In Mazey Day References San Junipero

Episode 4, “Mazey Day”

The Quagmire club that is briefly shown in Black Mirror season 6 episode “Mazey Day” is a reference to a club that the main characters in “San Junipero” frequented. There is no apparent connection between the two clubs other than the name that they share. Of course, the clubs (and most of the locations) in “San Junipero” are in the VR world where people send their consciousness to live in a happy place while their real lives are often in a state of pain and despair.

The Quagmire Club in “Mazey Day” is not only a real place, but it is nothing like the club from the 80s world of “San Junipero.” However, this could prove that the episodes like this one use Easter eggs to reveal more depth to the show’s overall universe, as it is possible that the VR world used for the elderly uses real-life locations – or at least their names – to add depth to the VR world of the people utilizing them.

3

Yorkie’s Coffee Shop In Mazey Day References San Junipero Protagonist

Episode 4, “Mazey Day”

Another “San Junipero” reference in “Mazey Day” is the name of the coffee shop Bo works at. Yorkie is the name of the protagonist in “San Junipero.” Played by Mackenzie Davis, Yorkie was one of the two main characters in “San Junipero,” who meets Kelly, a party girl in San Junipero who only wants to have a good time. However, in real-life, Kelly is a quadraplegic in the real world and is dying. However, when she meets Yorkie, the two realize they have a chance for external love.

The episode is effectively name-dropping Yorkie and doesn’t connect to the plot or themes of Black Mirror‘s “San Junipero” in any other way. While the coffee shop had little to do with Yorkie, it was a place that Bo went to work when she wanted to escape the life that she had before, so that is a slightly plausible reason for the Easter egg in this situation.

Episode 6. “Demon 79”

In Black Mirror season 6, episode 5, “Demon 79,” a sales assistant at a department store named Nida is an outcast who many people in her town believe doesn’t belong there for racial reasons. There is also a politician running for office on a platform of “cleaning” up the city by removing people like Nida. This leads to her finding a demon named Gaap who tells her that she has to kill three people or an apocalypse will begin. The episode blurs the line between Nida’s fantasy and reality.

In this episode, Nida also has visions of an apocalyptic world that features metallic robotic dogs first seen in season 4, episode 5, “Metalhead.” The dogs act as dystopian hunters that are programmed to kill their targets. The robotic dogs are also referenced briefly in “Loch Henry.” While Nida escapes this dimension with Gaap when the apocalypse begins outside at midnight, it seems that her visions might indicate that the robot dogs are going to be part of this future as well.

1

White Bear Symbol Appears On Talisman In Demon 79

Episode 6. “Demon 79”

The White Bear symbol appears again in Black Mirror season 6 on the talisman that Needa uses in “Demon 79” to summon a demon named Gaap. The White Bear logo has been referenced the most throughout the Black Mirror universe, having appeared in three Black Mirror season 6 episodes alone, as well as a poster for another season 6 episode, “Beyond the Sea.” It also previously appeared in the interactive Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch.

The biggest theory behind the White Bear logo is that the symbol is a representation of a person having their life controlled and dictated by unknown outside sources. In the case of “Demon 79,” Nida has her life controlled by the racists in her town and by the demon Gaap. It signifies torment, pain, revenge, and sadism, all of which play out in this episode. It is the most sinister Easter egg in the Black Mirror universe that will surely be seen again in future installments.

Do Other Black Mirror Seasons Have Easter Eggs?

Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker has emphasized that adding Easter eggs to episodes is important to him. “There are many, many realities and universes, so I guess this probably opens up one of them,” Brooker explained about the interactive episode Bandersnatch (via THR). “With the Easter eggs and with the wide mythology surrounding the show, it’s useful for us to think of it that it’s a nice nod for superfans who notice that Tuckersoft becomes TCKR. It can function like that.“

In Bandersnatch, Stefan’s psychiatrist’s hospital is called Saint Juniper. The news clippings and scrolls of breaking news feature stories relating to the Space Fleet from “USS Callister,” Prime Minister Michael Callow, the dating program for “Hang the DJ,” the talent show of “Fifteen Million Merits,” the memory recall device in “Crocodile,” and the pollinator drones from “Hated in the Nation.” This is similar to the Streamberry homepage in “Joan is Awful.” Brooker also said (via Den of Geek):

“If you don’t think any of (these episodes) are canon, just imagine it’s an episode on Streamberry…Now if people ask me ‘is it a shared universe?’ I’ll say ‘yeah, of Streamberry shows.'”

There are also other smaller Easter eggs. The news channel UKN appears in several episodes. Fence’s Pizza is in both “USS Callister” and “Crocodile.” In the fourth season episode “Black Museum,” a traveler finds a museum that has rare criminal artifacts, and it includes artifacts and visuals from almost every previous episode. Many fans feel this is a shared universe, and even if it is just based on Streamberry, Black Mirror Easter eggs present fans with endless fun.