Gather ‘round, all Black Mirror enthusiasts! I think I’ve found something that makes the universe way more connected than viewers originally thought. As fans have been proven time and time again, Black Mirror has shown itself to be way more intertwined as more seasons are released. The latest is the significance of “Juniper” throughout Season 7.
From hidden symbols in promotional posters to reappearing characters fans thought they saw the last of, storylines from past Black Mirror seasons have been hinted at in subtle ways. If there’s anything viewers learned from the past six seasons, it’s that not everything is as expected. Spoiler alert: Spoilers for Black Mirror Season 7 follow.
The theory on center stage is the prominence of “Juniper” and “Saint Juniper” through seasons past and present. That may sound familiar to you, and that’s probably because your mind goes to the Season 3 episode, “San Junipero.” But things may go way deeper than that. But first, why? As viewers may have figured out by now, everything that Charlie Booker writes for the season is intentional.
Back in 2018, Reddit user @frogdwarf presented an explanation of the relevance of Saint Juniper that was hard to look past. “Saint Juniper was one of Francis Of Assisi’s posse and his most notable deed was the Legend of the Pig’s Feet. Feel free to check it out, but essentially Juniper got talking to this dying dude who’s last wish was to have some pig’s feet,” he wrote in a post. “Juniper goes off and maims a pig for its trotters, giving it to the ailing peon. The farmer was understandably pissed off, but Juniper just didn’t understand why. He’d done a nice thing, why was the farmer angry?” Essentially, the user goes on to connect this tale to the functional basis of a robot and how if you instruct it to do something — in this case, fetch a pig’s foot — it will do it no matter what.
In that same Reddit thread, another user pointed to the idea that the Juniper in question could be Saint Junipero Serra, who’s known as the Apostle of California and is often associated with Silicon Valley.
What’s most interesting is the persistent reference to St. Juniper’s hospital throughout the show. As Season 4 Episode 6 — “Black Museum” — revealed to viewers, St. Juniper’s Hospital is a place where people without insurance could get experimental medical procedures done in place of paying for treatment. What’s even more interesting is that TCKR, the company that made the experiencer disk and other technologies featured in Black Mirror, is behind these experimental treatments taking place at St. Juniper’s Hospital. It’s safe to say they’re the masterminds behind this specific hospital wing.
We see a lot of references to this hospital outside of “Black Museum” as well, making its importance hard to ignore. In Bandersnatch, the hospital that is featured is St. Juniper’s Hospital, and we even see it in “USS Callister: Into Infinity” in Season 7 when the outside world Nanette is put into a coma and being held there. Watching this season also made me wonder if “Common People” took place in St. Juniper’s Hospital, too — though not explicitly mentioned, it aligns with the goals that TCKR set into place with their experimental treatments. Afterall, we saw Amanda’s husband signing her up for an experimental procedure whilst she is in her coma. The hospital room surroundings also look oddly familiar to Nanette’s room, making me wonder if Amanda was also taken to St. Juniper’s Hospital.
The overwhelming number of theories surrounding the Black Mirror universe continue to evolve everyday, and I’m so here for it. This theory holds a special place in my heart and I will be telling everyone I know about it.