As a child, you were probably familiar with the idea of a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book. You read a story, and as a way to interact with the plot, the reader gets to decide the which choices get made. Even as an adult, there are novels that employ this sort of interactive storytelling. Now, Netflix is adopting the model for a TV episode and it’s using one of its most popular series, “Black Mirror,” to test it out.
According to Bloomberg, Netflix will have an interactive, Choose-Your-Own episode of “Black Mirror,” when the series returns in December for its fifth season. Details are scarce, but the choices given to viewers are expected to be fairly complex. And given that we’re talking about “Black Mirror,” the moral implications of the choices made could be incredible. Even without a level of interactivity, the sci-fi anthology series is beloved for its social commentary and deeply impactful messages. Basically, we can fully expect the writers of the series to destroy us on an emotional level with this sort of new storytelling method.
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Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time that Netflix has used this format. In the realm of children’s animated series, the streaming service has already used the interactive storytelling method. In “Puss in Book,” the viewer makes a big decision about who the main character faces off against during the opening minutes of the episode.
“Black Mirror” won’t be the only series to use a Choose-Your-Own storytelling gimmick. Bloomberg hints that two more live-action series will use the interactivity in an episode, but doesn’t mention which series that might be.
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Obviously, the big benefit for Netflix is the rewatchability that this type of storytelling lends itself to. We all know that after that episode of “Black Mirror” is over, nearly everyone will go back to the beginning and make alternative choices to see what happens. However, this complicating plot structure leads to a more complicated development process, as well. So ultimately, we’ll have to see if it’s worth it for live-action, big-budget series.
Either way, expect a very special episode of “Black Mirror” this December.