In a kaleidoscopic lens, colors and shapes can be viewed through different reflections. “Kaleidoscope” lives up to its title as the episodes can be watched in any order. The perception of the story changes depending on the order you choose, but the series displays one full concept. 

Each episode has enough of a storyline to stand alone but also connects perfectly with any of the other episodes. This makes the watch-in-any-order feature work.

“Kaleidoscope” shows the inner workings of a heist. Ray Vernon and his fellow criminals plan to hit it big and steal $7 billion worth of bonds. 

Six criminals, each essential to the heist, must put their differences aside and work together to bypass security and outsmart the feds. But this heist wasn’t planned overnight—it took 24 years to lead up to the night Vernon broke into Roger Salas’ vault.

The series follows parts of Vernon’s life, starting with him as a family man. Each episode is set in a different time period. Displaying 24 years in eight episodes can be difficult, but it worked well with being able to watch the series in any order.

Some may say that having the option to choose your own watching order for the series could mess up the flow of the plot or the information being given.

“Kaleidoscope” avoids this by separating the different aspects of each episode but having all main and side storylines lean on one focal point. Viewers can follow the plot easily, but they can choose how they see pieces fall together. 

Netflix released a list of recommended episode orders if you weren’t sure how to watch the series. This is the order I watched the episodes in: “Orange,” “Green,” “Violet,” “Red,” “Yellow,” “Blue,” “White” and “Pink.”

I chose to watch “Kaleidoscope” as a detective story. But if you don’t want to try and figure out the ending for yourself and are looking for an easy-to-watch show, I recommend watching it in chronological order.

Netflix missed a few opportunities to further side plots, but overall they created a unique viewing experience that takes a different spin on the typical heist narrative.