Movies

There are 40,000 ways to watch “Kaleidoscope” on Netflix. A complete guide

January 8, 2023

There’s a lot that’s familiar about Netflix’s new Kaleidoscope limited series. It’s a story of a heist, and as such it comes with a lot of beats you might expect: old grudges, team building, small missions preparing for the big one. But there’s one key way Kaleidoscope differs from similar shows you may have seen. You can watch the episodes in any order.

The series dropped on January 1 and is currently the #1 TV show on Netflix. Without giving too much away, Giancarlo Esposito plays Ray Vernon (aka Leo Pap), the ringleader of a group that prepares a multi-billion dollar job while settling an old score. Each episode tells a part of the story, focusing on Vernon’s motives, or the planning of the heist, or what happens next. The segments arrive in whatever random order Netflix decides to deliver to you (except for the actual heist serving as the final episode).

This isn’t the first time Netflix has experimented with non-linear storytelling. In 2018, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch offered to choose your own adventure on a movie about a computer programmer. The following year, viewers were able to make decisions for the adventurer Bear Gryll in You vs. Wild.

Kaleidoscope episodes are named for different colors, no doubt a nod to the show’s name, but also a way to easily track the order you’re watching and compare it with your friends. You don’t have to watch as Netflix suggests. Here’s what you need to know about how to watch Kaleidoscope.

And if you’ve been through it and need help figuring out what happened, here is the ending explained.

Should I choose an order?

Not necessarily. If you tap play on the show, you’ll see a quick preview of how it works, then jump straight into the episodes. They can come in any order except for White, who is the heist himself, and is structured to be the series finale. That said, if you want to choose an order for yourself, you can.

How can I watch it chronologically?

In the spirit of the series, I’m going to skimp on the episode descriptions so as not to spoil anything. If you decide to watch Kaleidoscope chronologically, the episode order is as follows, starting with a young Vernon 24 years before the heist:

Violet (24 years before the robbery).
Green (7 years before).
Yellow (6 weeks before).
Orange (3 weeks before).
Blue (5 days before).
White (the robbery).
Red (the next morning).
Rose (6 months later).

However, if you decide to go this route, know that all the big twists in the finale will happen in Episode White.

Are there other ways to watch?

If everyone did the math correctly, seven episodes, with no repeats, that can be watched in any order should yield over 5,000 options (there are even more options if you don’t watch White last ). How many of these watch orders you want to try is between you and your schedule.

Netflix tweeted out some order suggestions, if you’re interested in watching Kaleidoscope as a Quentin Tarantino movie — ostensibly a reference to non-linear Tarantino movies like Pulp Fiction — (Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Purple, Pink, White, Red) or like a classic crime novel (Orange, Green, Purple, Red, Yellow, Blue, White, Pink).

You could go rogue and follow the colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink). Or, you can start with the big heist right off the bat, if you’re feeling particularly rebellious.

What are viewers suggesting on social media?

Unsurprisingly, a lot of people talk about which episode order they chose and which order is best.

My #Kaleidoscope watch order!

Red
Purple
Green
Blue
Yellow
Orange
Pink
White (not watched yet)

Absolutely in love with #kaleidoscopenetflix such a phenomenal twist on storytelling. Each episode is really a piece of the puzzle rather than a specific sequence.

— ames (@screaminglip) January 4, 2023

How did you you look at it, anyone writing this article?

How nice of you to ask. My order, as dictated by Netflix, was:

Green.
Yellow.
Purple.
Orange.
Blue.
Red.
Pink.
White.

Funnily enough, my best friend’s Netflix account gave her that exact command. For me, this approach got off to a good start, but having Orange and Blue, then Red and Pink meant two sets of episodes in chronological order, with relatively small time jumps in between. In this section, I could feel my attention dwindling somewhat. Watching this show in chronological order feels like missing the point. If I could go back and watch in a different order, I’d bring up the red (but leave the pink where it is) and flip the yellow and green, because I think the yellow would be the strongest episode for begin.

So like that :