What You Can Learn About Netflix's Storytelling Experiments

Two shows on Netflix present two unique storytelling methods. The crime heist drama Kaleidoscope allows viewers to watch the episodes in any order to let the story unfold as they choose. There is a finale episode that must be watched last, but otherwise, the choice is up to you. The documentary dramatization of the rise of Spotify called The Playlist takes a different storytelling approach, using its six episodes to tell the fictionalized story from the perspective of a different key player, including episodes for the founder, the lawyer, the music industry exec, the artist and the coder.

Together, these two offer an interesting perspective on how stories can unfold in non-linear ways and how the control for the way the story goes can be handed back to the watcher in subtle or not subtle ways. I’m not sure if it’s better. It does feel different. In the case of The Playlist, just considering the idea that a founding story of a company could have six very different perspectives to the same story was a surprisingly insightful takeaway. It felt like another layer to an already layered story.