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| “ | If this was entertainment, surely you'd make it more interesting, inject a little action, isn't that right? I mean, wouldn't you want a little more action if you were watching this on telly? | „ |
| ~ Dr. Haynes, in the "Netflix" ending. |
Dr. R Haynes is Stefan Butler's current psychiatrist, and one of the main antagonists in the 2018 Netflix interactive movie Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.
Working at the St Juniper Medical Center, she is currently treating Stefan for what appears to be an anxiety disorder of some kind, and in most paths of the film, she serves as an adviser and confidant to the protagonist as he attempts to finish his work. However, in some possible plotlines, Haynes is secretly part of a government conspiracy to manipulate her patient - though given that parallel realities exist in this story, how much of these plotlines are prompted by mental illness and how many take place in a alternate universes remains an open question.
She was played by Alice Lowe.
History[]
Doctor And Patient[]
Dr Haynes' life remains largely unexplored, and the only possible examination of her life outside of psychiatry seemingly occurs only in a nightmare - or a vision of another dimension, as the case may be. What is known is that she has been Stefan Butler's therapist for some time prior to the events of the film, and is familiar enough with him to understand most of the details of his private life.
Stefan has been suffering from an unnamed disorder for many years by the start of the film, resulting in prolonged social withdrawal and anxiety severe enough to require medication in order to effectively manage. Apparently prompted by the death of his mother in a train crash when Stefan was about five years old, his limited confidence and poor relationship with his father Peter has needed Haynes to keep in regular contact with him - though Peter Butler will occasionally insist on making additional visits if Stefan ever feels stressed.
Just prior to the start of the game, Stefan has been working on a demo of a game based on Jerome F. Davies' legendary choose-your-own-adventure novel, Bandersnatch, and is hoping to share it with the booming software company Tuckersoft - most prominently guru programmer Colin Ritman. In turn, Dr Haynes hopes that this will inspire Stefan to become more confident.
Possible Outcomes[]
On his next visit, Stefan reports that the executives at Tuckersoft were impressed by the demo, but he ultimately chose to develop the game on his own without company assistance. However, he also notes a distinct feeling that his decision wasn't his own. Apparently concerned, Haynes offers to discuss his mother's death with him again, reasoning that the upcoming anniversary of the train crash might be weighing heavily on Stefan's mind - allowing the viewer to learn the details of Stefan's past. Regardless of whether the viewer chooses to discuss the matter, Haynes will continue to provide prescriptions and reminders to call whenever necessary.
As work on Bandersnatch continues, Stefan grows increasingly stressed at his inability to get the game to function properly, eventually prompting an emergency visit to Haynes at Peter's behest. Here, Stefan confesses to feeling powerless and gripped by the belief that someone else may be controlling his life; suggesting that this may be a precursor to a much more problematic condition, Haynes ups the dosage of his usual medication and once again remind Stefan to call wherever possible. However, if Stefan actually takes the new drugs, Bandersnatch will not be completed on time and the movie will return him to a point where he could have discarded the medication instead.
From here, Haynes is directly involved in four of the possible endings, two of which feature her as a villain.
In the P.A.C. ending, Stefan awakens in the middle of the night and decides to investigate his father's mysterious safe while it's currently unattended. Faced by a coded lock, he can call upon his memories of Colin Ritman's diatribe on the true nature of Pac-Man, and enter PAC into the keypad - which opens the safe: inside are hundreds of documents, drug samples and videotapes revealing that Stefan has secretly been monitored and controlled throughout his entire life as part of a Program and Control study conducted on behalf of the government; even the death of his mother has been faked, having been arranged by Peter in order to induce traumas that would make him easier to manipulate. Here, Haynes is fully complicit, having been keeping Stefan monitored and drugged to keep him from escaping control. Though this scene at first appears to be just a nightmare, but the next day provides the viewer an opportunity to communicate with Stefan and confirm that the P.A.C. exists; driven mad with stress and paranoia, Stefan murders his father with an ashtray, before going on to send a threatening phone call to Dr Haynes' office. Haynes isn't there, having taken the day off to attend her sister's wedding, but her secretary hears the call and notifies the police. Stefan is arrested moments after burying his father in the back garden, and the unfinished game is released to a critical rating of two and a half stars out of five.
In the Netflix ending, the view once again has an opportunity to communicate with Stefan via his computer, but this time reveal that the entire Bandersnatch experience is just an interactive movie on Netflix. Left completely bamboozled by the experience, Stefan confesses everything to his father and is quickly taken to Dr Haynes' office. Confused by the notion that reality is nothing more than someone else's entertainment, Haynes' suggests that the hypothetical viewers would rather be watching something more action-packed, whereupon Stefan throws a cup of coffee into Haynes' face - and the entire narrative gives way to a fight scene in which Haynes suddenly becomes an action-movie villain and attacks Stefan with dual-wielded batons. Though she is ultimately defeated, Stefan is dragged away by his similarly-empowered father.
In the History Repeats ending, Stefan once again murders his father, this time with the player's prompting, before going on to chop up his body, daub lambda-like glyphs on the surrounding walls in blood, and mount the severed head on a nearby shelf. Soon after, Stefan reports back to Haynes, claiming that Peter has left for the south of France; meanwhile, the game has been completed to his satisfaction and is ready for distribution. Not knowing any different, Haynes congratulates him. However, a few months later, a cache of severed limbs leads police right back to Stefan, resulting in his arrest. According to newspaper articles from around this time, Haynes' office could not be reached for comment.
Finally, in the Train ending, Stefan is somehow able to send himself back through time to the day his mother died; having resolved the conflict that led to her leaving the house alone, he ultimately decides to go with her on the train, knowingly accepting death by doing so. Soon after, the scene cuts back to the present, where Haynes and Peter are crying over Stefan's body: apparently, he lost consciousness and died right in the middle of the film's first therapy session, though whether this was all a dying dream, the side-effects of mental time travel or two parallel realities interacting with each other is not known.
Trivia[]
- Dr Haynes shares a name with another villain from the Black Mirror franchise, namely Rolo Haynes of the season four episode "Black Museum." Similarly, Dr Haynes is employed at the St Juniper Medical Center, while Rolo was employed as a recruiter by medical researchers at St Juniper's hospital.
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 Villains
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Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Black Mirror: Bandersnatch | ||