Netflix series are becoming increasingly ambitious, and Eric Garcia and Ridley Scott’s new anthology show, Kaleidoscope, is no exception. The drama series is loosely based on real-life events: where $70 billion in bonds went missing in New York during Hurricane Sandy.
The series is set to drop on the streaming service on January 1, 2o23, and counts Giancarlo Esposito, Rufus Sewell, and Paz Vega amongst its leading cast members. The eight-episodes span between 24 years before the heist and six months after, but what sets apart Kaleidoscope apart from other shows is that the episodes don’t follow a linear storytelling pattern.
Although all viewings are meant to end with the finale episode White: The Heist, it is up to the viewer as to which order they want to watch the other episodes. They can start with the episode entitled Yellow, or the one entitled Green, before then being able to pick which order they want to watch episodes Blue, Violet, or Orange before choosing between whether to watch Red or Pink next.
As explained by Deadline, “all viewers will eventually see all episodes, but the order in which they watch the episodes will affect their viewpoint on the story, the characters, and the questions and answers at the heart of the heist.”
The official synopsis for the TV series shared by Netflix adds: “every episode reveals a piece of an elaborate puzzle of corruption, greed, vengeance, scheming, loyalties and betrayals. How did the crew of thieves plan it? Who gets away with it? Who can be trusted?”
This isn’t the first time Netflix has experimented with non-linear, interactive viewing experiences. Bandersnatch, which is considered one of the best Black Mirror episodes ever made, was released in 2018. Inspired by the style of the ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ book Bandersnatch, viewers had to make certain decisions throughout the episode which influenced the story’s direction and ending.
If you prefer your TV more straight-forward, have a look at our list of the best sci-fi series.