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When the Black Mirror special episode “Bandersnatch” premiered in 2018 on Netflix, it represented a bold experiment in narrative storytelling, plunging viewers into a dramatic, twisty choose-your-own-adventure experience they could interact with via their browsers. Unfortunately, “Bandersnatch” and the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt interactive special, “Kimmy vs. the Reverend,” will both be leaving Netflix this month.
As What’s On Netflix reports, “Bandersnatch” and “Kimmy vs. the Reverend” were the two remaining interactive specials on the service. 19 were removed in December 2024, including specials like Stretch Armstrong: The Breakout, Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not to Steal, and Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Hidden Adventure — notably, all kid-friendly titles. Another two that survived the original purge — Ranveer vs. Wild with Bear Grylls and You vs. Wild — were subsequently deleted in January.
The move comes as Netflix gears up for a redesign across all its platforms, but still represents a loss for fans of these respective shows. “Bandersnatch’s” use of interactivity was a powerful compliment to Black Mirror’s ongoing fascination with the impact of technology on modern society — it also set up characters and a fictional game company that remain embedded in the Black Mirror universe (as seen in the Season 7 episode “Plaything”).
Meanwhile, “Kimmy vs. the Reverend” not only found a way to bring the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt brand to the choose-your-own-adventure model, but featured some big emotional catharsis for Kimmy (Ellie Kemper), depending on what ending you got. Present in all the storylines was Daniel Radcliffe as Prince Frederick, a new love interest for Kimmy.
Both specials go offline on May 12th, if you want to check them out before it’s too late. Also take a look at where “Bandersnatch” falls on our ranking of every Black Mirror episode ever — there are definitely Black Mirror episodes we would miss less.
English (US) · 