The “USS Callister” episode isn’t the only “Black Mirror” entry getting a sequel in Season 7 – Will Poulter’s character also marks a return in the episode “Playthings.”
Poulter played Colin Ritman in the “Black Mirror” interactive special “Bandersnatch” that released as a standalone film in 2018. His return in the Season 7 episode “Playthings” has many fans scrambling to remember just what happened to his character in the meta-episode and how he could be incorporated in this latest entry.
Below, refresh yourself on Poulter’s oddball character before diving into his Season 7 return.
Who Is Colin Ritman?
Colin Ritman was a big-time 1980s video game designer. He made his games for a company called Tuckersoft and at the start of “Bandersnatch” had become obsessed with a choose-your-own-adventure game going by the same name as the episode.
Colin enlists the help of Tuckersoft programming Stefan to help make his game. Although the interactive choices viewers make are seen through Stefan’s eyes, it’s Colin who sits at the center of “Bandersnatch.”
The genius developer grows paranoid after becoming obsessed with his research into alternate realities, branching timelines, and wormholes – each decision not being something definitive but rather one that creates a whole new reality. As the pressures of launching the game begin to way down on him, Colin unspools more and more.
What Happens to Colin?
Well, a lot of things CAN happen to Colin. The nature of the choose-your-own-adventure concept meant that Colin’s fate was a bit up to the viewer. During a bad drug trip Colin can throw himself out a window and when Stefan wakes up and learns it was a dream Colin is still missing.
This is a part of the ripple effect the designer mentions to the programmer where choices and consequences in one world can ripple into other dimensions. There are other choices that lead viewers to have Stefan kill Colin after killing his own father. It’s hard to say which Colin in “Playthings” experienced what in “Bandersnatch” because of the nature of the multiple realities and the felt ripples.
What is known is that work on the game led to Colin having a break of some kind and spending years recuperating from that reputation. Though it seems he’s back in Season 7 with a new game idea – what could go wrong?
“Black Mirror” Season 7 is now streaming on Netflix.
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