MovieChat Forums > Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018) Discussion > The Phone #? (Spoilers**)

The Phone #? (Spoilers**)

posted 6 years ago by ChipDouglas (1607)
10 replies | jump to latest

When given the choice to enter a phone number what was the correct choice?

I chose 20511

When hearing the quotes back they say "Two" "Oh" "Five" "One" "For" "For" "One"

I negated the two "for's" since they were the only non-numbers in the sequence. The full quote at the end goes: "One for all and all for one."

Does that make the correct number 20514? Given that that is the order they came in or...
is it 20541. Because when given the choice to type them in Stephan repeats "for one."

Is it an unintentional flaw in the episode or I'm just understanding it wrong?

[–] MrFilmJunkie (898) 6 years ago

i think it was 20541.

[–] PenSeven (14) 6 years ago

I did exactly the same as you 20511, I thought the repeated 1’s were correct, but as Mr Film Junkie said it’s actually 20541.
As soon as I wrote it in I thought was the word “for” actually supposed to be the number four, and yes it was. I will try it again on another viewing and see how it changes the end.

[–] JimStahl (22) 6 years ago

There's a scene where Colin asks Stefan what he listens to when he codes. Stefan's answer fails to impress, so Colin tells him to "Get a pen" to write down some bands. He's really telling US to get a pen; there's a puzzle ahead. During his rant about government conspiracies and the falsity of reality, he tells Stefan "It's a code. If you listen carefully, you can hear the numbers." And here's where we hear them:

Dr. Haynes asks Stefan "To?"
Dr. Haynes says to Stefan "Oh."
Dr. Haynes says to Stefan "You were only five years old, Stefan. Five."
Dr. Haynes says "One for all and all . . .", prompting Stefan to finish the adage, "for one."

Dr. Haynes tells Stefan "Call me. You know the number." Actually, he doesn't. We do, because Colin led us to it.

[–] ChipDouglas (1607) 6 years ago

Did you even read my comment?

[–] JimStahl (22) 6 years ago

"When given the choice to enter a phone number what was the correct choice?" 20541 is the only number revealed. The 4 isn't repeated because the rule at play is: the numbers to the code aren't found in sentences, they're the only words in their sentences. So when Dr. Haynes says "One for," those numbers are meaningless. There's no flaw. It's why I elaborated on the following:

Dr. Haynes asks Stefan "TO?"
Dr. Haynes says to Stefan "OH."
Dr. Haynes says to Stefan "You were only five years old, Stefan. FIVE."
Dr. Haynes says "One for all and all . . .", prompting Stefan to finish the adage, "FOR ONE."

[–] ChipDouglas (1607) 6 years ago

That formula makes sense. Thank you for explaining.

"the numbers to the code aren't found in sentences, they're the only words in their sentences"

Why is it made that way though? I don't get where the rule comes from

[–] JimStahl (22) 6 years ago

The phone number ending is a reward . . .

In the scene where Colin asks Stefan what he listens to when he codes, Stefan answers "jazz". Colin disapproves, so he tells Stefan to "Get a pen" to write down some bands. He's really telling US to get a pen - there's a puzzle ahead. During his rant about government conspiracies and the falsity of reality, he tells Stefan "It's a code. If you listen carefully, you can hear the numbers." That's where the rule comes from. Colin wants us to listen for numbers and write them down with that pen he told us to get. Like Colin, we were being manipulated by Pax, and rewarded for playing along. And because it's Black Mirror, Stefan had to suffer for our entertainment. Ultimately, we have another warning about how we use technology.

[–] ChipDouglas (1607) 6 years ago

Yeah I get all that. What I'm asking about is where is it suggested that only one word sentences are the correct numbers and numbers in sentences with more than words don't matter.

[–] JimStahl (22) 6 years ago

I think it's just the writers being clever, saying "Ooh, how about we hide the code in plain sight. The characters will literally say them. I mean, who will catch that? Fucking nerds, that's who!" "Ooh, and just the numbers too, like the doctor will say 'Oh' but she's really saying zero!" "Yes! Write that! We're so fucking smart!"

Maybe the writing team is Pax. They know we won't figure out the rule the first time through. We play their game and fail because we didn't know the rule, AND THEN WE PLAY AGAIN. Think about how stupid we are to them. And the Netflix algorithm gets a little bit better. My guess is the whole show is a social experiment.

[–] ChipDouglas (1607) 6 years ago

Haha. Perfect explanation, man. I'm glad we were able to work this out