Kaleidoscope is a bold anthology series from Netflix that presents its eight episodes in a semi-randomized different order to each person who watches. The first season of the show is a heist story starring Giancarlo Esposito, Paz Vega, Tati Gabrielle, Rufus Sewell, Rosaline Elbay, and Peter Mark Kendall. While the series is structured to be viewed in a somewhat random structure, the order in which Netflix presents them to you is not completely random. The theory is that each person will have a different experience and come away from the series with different interpretations of it depending on how they watch the show. (It’s not entirely successful.) Here, we will explain the episode structure of Kaleidoscope on Netflix, including how it is and is not random, and provide a “best” order in which to watch the episodes, whether chronologically or for strongest narrative experience.
How Kaleidoscope Episode Structure Works
Kaleidoscope is broken up into eight episodes, each named after a color that you might find in a kaleidoscope: “Yellow,” “Green,” “Blue,” “Violet,” “Orange,” “Red,” “Pink,” and “White” (plus a short video called “Black” explaining the concept that everyone watches first). Netflix automatically serves each account a different order of the show, but they are not completely different and the shuffling only occurs between a few episodes. As mentioned, everyone begins with “Black” and concludes with “White,” the episode that contains the actual heist.
In-between those two, the series doesn’t actually shuffle everything together; it’s actually broken up even more. You will start the show with either “Green” or “Yellow,” the pair being swapped at random. These two episodes are structured to introduce the audience to characters. Then comes “Blue,” “Violet,” or “Orange,” all three of which are swapped around with each other but not with any other episodes. These episodes most fill in backstory and build the heist. Finally, before viewing “White,” you’ll get to watch “Red” and “Pink” in one order or the other, but again, these don’t swap with all the others. These two episodes take place after the heist and show the fallout of everything.
The Best Order to Watch Kaleidoscope on Netflix
So what is the “right” or “best” order to watch all the episodes of Kaleidoscope on Netflix? There may not be one, and the order presented to you should technically work. However, if you’re looking to experience the show in a specific order, there are two ways to go about it. The first is the most obvious: chronologically. Here’s how to watch Kaleidoscope in chronological order:
- “Violet: 24 Years Before the Heist”
- “Green: 7 Years Before the Heist”
- “Yellow: 6 Weeks Before The Heist”
- “Orange: 3 Weeks Before the Heist”
- “Blue: 5 Days Before the Heist”
- “White: The Heist”
- “Red: The Morning After the Heist”
- “Pink: 6 Months After”
The series, however, really wasn’t built to be watched in this order, as “White” is meant as the big finale where all is revealed. “Violet” also doesn’t play well as an introduction, functioning more as a flashback. As such, there’s a better narrative way to view the series that builds the show’s tension and unravels its mysteries in a thrilling way:
- “Yellow: 6 Weeks Before The Heist”
- “Green: 7 Years Before the Heist”
- “Orange: 3 Weeks Before the Heist”
- “Blue: 5 Days Before the Heist”
- “Violet: 24 Years Before the Heist”
- “Red: The Morning After the Heist”
- “Pink: 6 Months After”
- “White: The Heist”
There is, always, a third option of just going entirely random and selecting an episode at will while blindfolded, but that could get very confusing.
These options provide the best order to watch the eight episodes of Kaleidoscope on Netflix.
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