‘Cause she’s a mastermind.
In true Taylor Swift fashion, the newly released music video for “Patient Zero” featured plenty of Easter eggs that Swifties dissected after it premiered at the MTV Video Music Awards 2026.
The video, which Swift directed and starred in, also stars Dakota Fanning and Colin Farrell.
Keep reading for all of the Easter eggs Page Six found hiding in the music video.
Table for two
During one intense scene, Johnson and Farrell get into a heated argument while standing on opposite sides of a refectory table — which resembled Swift’s Eras Tour performance of “Tolerate It.”
During the “Evermore” portion of her record-breaking show, the singer stands at one end of a table and sings to one of her dancers, who portrays a distant partner and is believed to be her most recent ex-boyfriend, Joe Alwyn.
She also crawls across the table, singing directly to her indifferent lover, and dramatically acting out the song’s emotional pain.
Swift’s “Lover” music video also features the same table. However, the song details much happier times in her relationship with Alwyn, including the domestic bliss Swift experienced after moving in together.
Gala dress
Fans were quick to notice that the gown Swift and Johnson wore in the “Patient Zero” music video resembled the one the singer wore at the BAFTAs 2019 afterparty, which she attended with Alwyn.
At the time, the actor’s film “The Favourite” had dominated that year’s ceremony.
He, notably, walked the carpet alone, with Swift joining him after the ceremony. Swift also skipped the Grammys to be by his side in London for it — something that hasn’t sat well with many fans.
Red wine
In another scene from the music video, Farrell and Johnson are at a gala, where everyone sips Champagne. Johnson, however, is drinking red wine — a constant in Swift’s songs.
In her 2014 song “Clean,” Swift sings, “You’re like a wine-stained dress I can’t wear anymore.” The spilled red wine portrays a deep hurt that leaves a permanent mark, much like trying to clean red wine out of fabric.
Her 2022 track “Maroon” also features similar lyrics, where red wine serves as a powerful metaphor for a permanent, staining memory and the messy, lingering impact of a relationship.
A red wine bottle is also seen in the “All Too Well” short film, causing fans to link the beverage to turbulent dynamics, messy breakups and chaotic emotions.
Fight over drinking
During the gala scene featured in the “Patient Zero” music video, Johnson collapses when she finally sees the ghost of Farrell’s former wife.
After the couple leaves the event, Farrell’s character snaps at his wife for making a scene, accusing her of drinking too much and embarrassing him on purpose.
For many fans, the argument resembles songs where Swift talks about drinking in unhappy relationships.
In her 2024 song “Fortnight,” which is a melancholic reflection on a forbidden love affair that left emotional scars, she labels herself a “functioning alcoholic.”
Additionally, in her song “Florida!!!,” which is widely speculated to be about Alwyn, Swift laments, “I got drunk and I dared it to wash me away / Barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine.”
Aston Martin
In another fascinating Easter egg, the car seen after Farrell and Johnson fight over her drinking resembles the same one featured in her “Delicate” music video.
Her 2018 hit, notably, is about the early days of her relationship with Alwyn.
“The fact that we have a video of her happily dancing at the start of the relationship, and now we’re watching her lying dead on that same car because of that relationship…CINEMA,” one fan wrote via X.
Tombstone date
In the final scene of the music video, it is revealed that Farrell had murdered Swift’s character — and she was a ghost trying to warn his new wife of his toxic ways all along.
The point is really driven home when a tombstone featuring Swift’s wedding photo with Farrell is seen with the dates “1986 – 2022.”
Many fans took it as a jab at Alwyn, whom Swift dated from 2016 to 2023.
Although their breakup made headlines in April 2023, the singer has alluded in her music that their relationship had deteriorated by 2022.
Graveyard
Swift has used graveyards in several of her music videos to symbolize the death of past eras, public personas or relationships. They also serve as the sites of rebirth and cultural callbacks.
Similarly to “Patient Zero,” she opens the “Look What You Made Me Do” video in a graveyard. However, in her “reputation” track, she rises from a grave marked “Here Lies Taylor Swift’s Reputation,” directly addressing the 2016 media backlash.
In that same music video, she calls out her ex Calvin Harris with a headstone that reads, “Nils Sjöberg.” This is the pseudonym she used to co-write his “This Is What You Came For” song.
On Sept. 22, Swift announced the release of her new single, “Patient Zero,” along with three new songs, in the deluxe version of “The Life of a Showgirl.”
For weeks, she had been dropping hints about her new releases, including during her surprise cameo at the Emmys in a pre-recorded skit with the cast of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
After its release, Swift gave insight into the inspiration behind “Patient Zero.”
“I was hanging out with a bunch of friends, and one of my friends told us that she had been reached out to by the new girlfriend of an ex of hers, asking for guidance on if she had had the same experiences with this guy,” she dished to Capital FM on Friday.
“Everyone in our group just immediately started saying like, ‘Oh, I’ve been through that too’, and telling the stories of when this kind of reach out had happened for them.”
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