The True Story That Inspired Netflix's Kaleidoscope

Kelsie Gibson
·4 min read
Kaleidoscope. (L to R) Paz Vega as Ava Mercer, Giancarlo Esposito as Leo Pap, Peter Mark Kendall as Stan Loomis in episode “White” of Kaleidoscope.
Kaleidoscope. (L to R) Paz Vega as Ava Mercer, Giancarlo Esposito as Leo Pap, Peter Mark Kendall as Stan Loomis in episode “White” of Kaleidoscope.

Courtesy of Netflix

Netflix's heist drama Kaleidoscope is filled with twists, but perhaps the biggest of all is that it's inspired by a real-life event.

The series — which stars Giancarlo Esposito, Paz Vega, Rufus Sewell, Tati Gabrielle, Peter Mark Kendall, Rosaline Elbay, Jai Courtney, Niousha Noor, Jordan Mendoza, Soojeong Son and Hemky Madera — follows a group of thieves who attempt an epic heist worth $7 billion.

Captivating audiences with its unique format, the show "takes a non-linear approach to storytelling" by encouraging people to watch the eight episodes in different orders.

Spanning from 24 years before the heist occurred to 6 months after, the show allows audiences to fill in the gaps of the mystery as they watch.

So, how exactly did creator Eric Garcia come up with the idea for the show? Though the actual heist and characters are fictional, a real-life event in N.Y.C. during Hurricane Sandy was the inspiration for the show's central plot.

Read ahead to learn more about the true story behind the show.

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What is the true story behind Kaleidoscope?

Kaleidoscope. (L to R) Bubba Weiler as Toby, Niousha Noor as Nazan Abassi in episode “White” of Kaleidoscope.
Kaleidoscope. (L to R) Bubba Weiler as Toby, Niousha Noor as Nazan Abassi in episode “White” of Kaleidoscope.

David Scott Holloway/Netflix

Per Netflix, the series is "loosely inspired by the real-life story where seventy billion dollars in bonds went missing in downtown Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy in 2012." Though damage to the bonds was primarily attributed to flooding at the time, Kaleidoscope creator Garcia took the concept a bit further for his show.

"It's loosely based on something that might have happened," Garcia told Tudum about his inspiration behind the show. "After Hurricane Sandy, 70 billion dollars worth of bonds got flooded in the basement of the DTCC, which is a large clearing effort that's owned by a bunch of the big banks. To my mind, I was like, 'Well, that's a perfect coverup for a heist!'"

Like the series, the real-life event largely centered around bearer bonds, which "were phased out in the 1980s" as they were unregistered and kept no records of the owner, making them "easily used by money launderers and tax evaders," per The Wall Street Journal.

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What happened during the real-life event?

Kaleidoscope. (L to R) Paz Vega as Ava Mercer, Giancarlo Esposito as Leo Pap, Jai Courtney as Bob Goodwin, Peter Mark Kendall as Stan Loomis in episode “White” of Kaleidoscope.
Kaleidoscope. (L to R) Paz Vega as Ava Mercer, Giancarlo Esposito as Leo Pap, Jai Courtney as Bob Goodwin, Peter Mark Kendall as Stan Loomis in episode “White” of Kaleidoscope.

Courtesy of Netflix

According to the New York Post, in 2012, Hurricane Sandy flooded a 10,000-square-foot underground vault at 55 Water St., "soaking 1.3 million bond and stock certificates — including bearer bonds that function like cash."

The publication reported that some of the notes were "drenched in diesel- and sewage-tinged water," though many sources wouldn't discuss the actual damage.

"It's nobody's business," a contractor said at the time. "The public doesn't need to know what's in that vault. It's between them and their customers."

How much money was in the vault?

Kaleidoscope. (L to R) Giancarlo Esposito as Leo Pap, Tati Gabrielle as Hannah Kim in episode “Yellow” of Kaleidoscope.
Kaleidoscope. (L to R) Giancarlo Esposito as Leo Pap, Tati Gabrielle as Hannah Kim in episode “Yellow” of Kaleidoscope.

Courtesy of Netflix

At the time, the New York Post dubbed the event the "biggest mystery on Wall Street" as the actual value of the notes remained relatively unknown, except to the "innermost circle of Wall Street bankers."

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. also wouldn't confirm what was in the vaults and who owned what, but a source told the New York Post that "$70 billion in bearer bonds were in jeopardy."

According to the New York Post, DTCC records showed that in 1990 two-thirds of the 32 million notes in the vault were bearer bonds. By late 2003, the vault was said to have held up to 5.4 million bearer bonds.

What happened to the bearer bonds in the vault?

Kaleidoscope. (L to R) Niousha Noor as Nazan Abassi, Bubba Weiler as Toby in episode “Pink” of Kaleidoscope.
Kaleidoscope. (L to R) Niousha Noor as Nazan Abassi, Bubba Weiler as Toby in episode “Pink” of Kaleidoscope.

Clifton Prescod/Netflix

It's still unclear what exactly happened to the bearer bonds in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. At the time, a worker on site told the New York Post that there were three vaults and "they were all under water," adding that "billions of dollars' worth [were] soaked."

At the time, experts told the publication that the bonds might only be salvageable by freeze-drying them in a cold vacuum chamber. "As the air pressure in the chamber is reduced, and heat is increased, moisture in the documents would evaporate," the source added.