What Black Mirror episodes are connected? Hidden links you probably missed

At the beginning of Black Mirror, it appeared to be an anthology. All episodes are independent and unrelated, featuring a futuristic horror story exploring the perks of technology. Nevertheless, as the series continued, viewers began reading between the lines, collecting clues that reveal underlying connections between episodes.

Here is the fun part: Once you spot the clues, you may not be able to rewatch the show in the same light again. It becomes more interesting, and you find a sense of relief and contentment knowing that the episodes are not too siloed after all.

Now, coming back to Black Mirror, it takes you on a rollercoaster ride with underlying meanings, recurrent themes, recurring technologies, and even character ratios that begin to pop up in various sequences. Although every story stands well in itself, many are interwoven, and sometimes, larger timelines weave with each other.

Now, let us examine the related Black Mirror episodes. These connections are indirect; you might have never paid attention to them, but once noticed, it is tough to watch the whole show as one bright, grotesque truth.

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What Black Mirror episodes are connected?

'White Christmas' & 'Fifteen Million Merits'

If you are a Black Mirror fan, you must be fond of the special episode, 'White Christmas.' It entails numerous clues that relate to other episodes. Let us take Season 1 episode 'Fifteen Million Merits,' for example. There is a closed system in which people in the episode can earn points, or merits, by working on the exercise bikes. They can use these merits to buy food, entertainment, and an opportunity to become a performer on a talent show called Hot Shot, aka Pop Idol, or The Voice.

White Christmas accompanies a man by the name of Joe to a virtual prison after he commits a crime. At some point, he is also watching television, and you can spot the dancers of the on-stage performance of the Hot Shot as you look at the background. This informs us that these episodes of Black Mirror, Fifteen Million Merits, and White Christmas may happen in the same world.

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The Song that connects the two episodes

The other major connection between the two, White Christmas and Fifteen Million Merits, is the use of the same song.

In Fifteen Million Merits of Black Mirror, a character, Abi, sings a song called 'Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand).' In the subsequent song titled White Christmas, a woman called Bethany sings the same song during a karaoke night.

Other episodes that also feature the same song are Crocodile and Nosedive.

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Social media in 'White Christmas' and 'Nosedive'

In "White Christmas," it is possible to observe that all people use a social media application that, in case you watched the Season 3 episode, Nosedive, in particular, reminds us strongly of it.

In another episode of Black Mirror, Nosedive, people use a particular ranking to judge their fellow human beings on a 5-star system. The ranks depend on how these individuals behave, look, or even deliver socializing skills. Everybody is crazy about maintaining a good rating in it, as it influences everything, including jobs as well as housing.

In White Christmas, a character can go online on a social media app that is almost visually identical to locate people and see their ratings. It is not the same system, of course, but obviously connected, and, perhaps, an older version of technology in the "Nosedive."

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Z-Eyes vs. The Willow Grain

A technology termed Z-Eyes is an important part of White Christmas. But what does technology have in store? These are the implants that let a person communicate in real-time about whatever they come across. It may also be used to take pictures, block users, and others. Through Eye-Link, one can see what another individual is seeing in his/her Z-Eyes.

This carries much similarity with Willow Grain in the Season 1 episode, ' Entire History of You.' In said story, humans are given an implantation of a memory chip that records all that they see and hear. They are able to relive old memories by rewinding them and watching them on a screen in a movie format or even sharing them.

One of the women in that episode refers to herself as Grainless. She had her implant removed and found out that having your Grain out is possible, but it is not common. However, in the song, a character states in White Christmas that Z-Eyes cannot be removed. That implies that this more recent technology is perhaps an enhanced, further controlling alternative to the Willow Grain.

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A Shared Timeline?

At a superficial glance, Black Mirror might appear to be an anthology, but attentive viewers will be able to detect the thin lines that connect the whole narrative. The similarities between recurring technologies and symbols, all the way to the reference to old political scandals and standard tech corporations, are intertwined.

A story can also be an episode, like Black Museum or White Christmas, but it is a piece of a considerably larger puzzle.

All these invisible connections make Black Mirror more than a series of separate stories. They are a black mirror of one continually evolving world in the sense that technology evolves, but not human behavior, which remains frighteningly familiar. The show also cautions us not just about what a single machine may achieve but also what our whole future may resemble should these systems be cumulative.

When you see these interrelations, you will find it a completely different experience by rewatching the show. It is a slow, cold development of a world that is too close to ours.