History Recap / BlackMirrorHangTheDJ

[[Recap/BlackMirrorUSSCallister USS Callister]] | [[Recap/BlackMirrorArkangel [=ArkAngel=] ]] | [[Recap/BlackMirrorCrocodile Crocodile]] | '''Hang the DJ''' | [[Recap/BlackMirrorMetalhead Metalhead]] | [[Recap/BlackMirrorBlackMuseum Black Museum]]-]]]]]

[[Recap/BlackMirrorUSSCallister USS Callister]] | [[Recap/BlackMirrorArkangel Arkangel]] | [[Recap/BlackMirrorCrocodile Crocodile]] | '''Hang the DJ''' | [[Recap/BlackMirrorMetalhead Metalhead]] | [[Recap/BlackMirrorBlackMuseum Black Museum]]-]]]]]

[[Recap/BlackMirrorUSSCallister USS Callister]] | [[Recap/BlackMirrorArkAngel ArkAngel]] | [[Recap/BlackMirrorCrocodile Crocodile]] | '''Hang the DJ''' | [[Recap/BlackMirrorMetalhead Metalhead]] | [[Recap/BlackMirrorBlackMuseum Black Museum]]-]]]]]

* BittersweetEnding: Frank and Amy succeed in escaping... but it turns out they're only one pair of simulated Franks and Amys (out of a thousand) inside a dating app that's calculating the ''real'' Frank and Amy's romantic compatibility. Fortunately, judging by the results, the real Frank and Amy will be very happy together.

[[WMG:[[center:[-'''Series/BlackMirror Series Four'''\\

[[center:[-'''Series/BlackMirror Series Four'''-]]]
[[center:[-[[Recap/BlackMirrorUSSCallister USS Callister]]-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorArkAngel ArkAngel]]-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorCrocodile Crocodile]]-] -- [-'''Hang the DJ'''-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorMetalhead Metalhead]]-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorBlackMuseum Black Museum]]-]]]

* BreatherEpisode: Similar to ''San Junipero'', this is a relatively idealistic love story in between two cynical episodes. Though it does dip into slight horror at the end as Frank and Amy rebel against the System, the ending is still unambiguously happy, as (the real) Frank and Amy meet each other at a party. And much like ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorSanJunipero San Junipero]]'' before it, it's sandwiched between two especially bleak and violent episodes.

* BreatherEpisode: Similar to ''San Junipero'', this is a relatively idealistic love story in between two cynical episodes. Though it does dip into slight horror at the end as Frank and Amy rebel against the System, the ending is still unambiguously happy, as (the real) Frank and Amy meet each other at a party.

[[center:[-'''BlackMirror/SeriesFour'''-]]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The System forces the participants to go through a range of relationships of seemingly arbitrary and sometimes even unhealthy length -- and [[AdultFear where even the tiniest mistake can end the relationship prematurely]] -- for ''years'', all for the sake of finding one's ideally compatible match, and it is implied that many people never meet their perfect match and in the end just get exhausted and settle for the person they're with. This is, of course, one long metaphor for what ''actual'' relationships are like, to some.

* BittersweetEnding: Frank and Amy succeed in escaping... but it turns out they're only one pair of simulated Franks and Amys (out of a thousand) inside a dating app that's calculating the ''real'' Frank and Amy's romantic compatibility. It's implied the real Frank and Amy get together, but [[WhatMeasureIsANonhuman what happens to all of the simulated Franks and Amys]] [[DreamApocalypse after the calculation is complete and they all just vanish?]]

* BreatherEpisode: Similar to ''San Junipero'', this is a relatively idealistic love story in between two cynical episodes.

* DoYouWantToCopulate: Amy's second match is upfront with his intentions when they arrive at the cottage.

* GoodAllAlong: see BenevolentAI above.
* IdealizedSex: Painstakingly averted. As they are put through The System's matchmaking, Frank and Amy are paired up with several different partners, and even though there is no chemistry between them and their partner whatsoever, they try having sex with them in spite of this, the results are extremely awkward and clumsy, and downright uncomfortable to watch.

* LudicrousPrecision: The 99.8% compatibility rating turns out to be a completely {{justified}} trope.

* EndingByAscending: [[spoiler:In the climax, the protagonists finally escape the mysterious compound they've been trapped in by climbing a long, long ladder up the exterior wall.]]

* FanDisservice: In spite of the [[TeenageWasteland universally young]] and good-looking inhabitants of The System, almost all of the sex scenes are about as arousing as week-old porridge. Nicola in particular shoots straight for the IKEAErotica award.

* IdealizedSex: Painstakingly averted. As they are put through The System's matchmaking, Frank and Amy are paired up with several different partners, and even though there is no chemistry between them and their partner whatsoever, and when they try having sex despite of this, the results are extremely awkward and clumsy, and downright uncomfortable to watch.

* BreatherEpisode: Similar to ''San Junipero'', this is a relatively idealistic love story in between two cynical one episodes.

* AlmostKiss: Subverted. After their chaste first date, Amy and Frank are clearly about to kiss for the first time... but then the timer runs out on their time together and they both walk away.

* BiTheWay: One of Amy's meaningless trysts is with another woman.

* BreatherEpisode: Similar to ''San Junipero'', this is a more idealistic episode in between two cynical ones.

** "The System" boasts that it's able to find "the perfect match" with 99.8% probability. It turns out this number comes from when couples within a simulation The System is running say ScrewDestiny and stop obeying their instructions. After running 1000 simulations, Frank and Amy break away 998 times out of 1000. This generates the percentage, and we see the real Frank and Amy about to meet at the end.

* BecauseDestinySaysSo: Everyone within The System seems to believe it will ultimately deliver them unto their OneTrueLove.
* BenevolentAI: "The System", and the society seemingly built around it have all the hallmarks of a weird A.I dictatorship, until the very end where it's revealed it's running a massive simulation to see which couples defy and escape it. The more a certain couple does it from different simulated backgrounds, the higher their compatibility.

* NonIndicativeName: The title "Hang the DJ" [[TitledAfterTheSong refers to the song]] "Panic" by Music/TheSmiths that plays at the end of the episode, and has no apparent bearing to the plot. However, there is a kind of symbolic meaning, in that the expression "Hang the DJ" implies rebellion against "The System" that is orchestrating their love lives.

* IdealizedSex: Painstakingly averted. As they are put through The System's matchmaking, Frank and Amy are paired up with several different partners, and even though there is no chemistry between them and their partner whatsoever, and when they try having sex despite of this, the results are extremely awkward and clumsy, and downright unconformable to watch.

* DatingServiceDisaster: This episode, in general, is all about looking at online dating services and dating in the digital age in general. This is actually [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by The System in a way that tests Frank and Amy's compatibility and willingness to be together by pairing them off in bad relationships and shallow flings before they decide their feelings for each other are more important than following the rules.

* InMysteriousWays: "The System" operates in ways nobody using it can see and has only vague descriptions of what it's trying to do and "everything happens for a reason" to say when people question it. But in the end, the data IS indeed useful for those out in the real world using the app.

* LighterAndSofter: Beyond the tension that comes simply from knowing what show you're watching and waiting for the other shoe to drop, this really is just a story about a benevolent computer program that only wants to make people's lives easier.

* TheManIsStickingItToTheMan: A very clever example of it. A dating app that uses people's will to rebel against an unjust system as a statistic to determine their romantic compatibility. At the end of the day, people are still using a computer system to help them find each other. However, the execution of this idea is [[TropesAreTools still pretty heartwarming]].

* DatingServiceDisaster: This episode in general is all about looking at online dating services and dating in the digital age in general. This is actually [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by The System in a way that tests Frank and Amy's compatibility and willingness to be together by pairing them off in bad relationships and shallow flings before they decide their feelings for each other are more important than following the rules.

* DoYouWantToCopulate: Amy's second match is up front with his intentions when they arrive at the cottage.

* InMysteriousWays: "The System" operates in ways nobody using it can see, and has only vague descriptions of what it's trying to do and "everything happens for a reason" to say when people question it. But at the end, the data IS indeed useful for those out in the real world using the app.

* TheManIsStickingItToTheMan: A very clever example of it. A dating app that uses people's will to rebel against an unjust system as a statistic to determine their romantic compatibility. In the end of the day, people are still using a computer system to help them find each other. However, the execution of this idea is [[TropesAreTools still pretty heartwarming]].

* MetaFiction: The story itself seems to be about the negatives of a technological dictatorship, enforced in the episode by how the real dating app and the society that created it views obedience and a computer-generated "The One" to be a horrible idea, the kind of narrative usually only intended to be inferred from the show. The episode subverts the dystopia when the series usually plays it straight InUniverse. However, the dating app is effectively doing the same thing as The System, and clearly nobody is bothered that they're exploiting digital versions of themselves, so it's [[DoubleSubverted not that much different]].

* OntologicalMystery: Frank and Amy start off in some sort of community project blocked off by walls, and in their conversations they reveal that they have no memories outside of living there. Nobody else in the community gets development or insights into their lives, either. TheReveal finds that there ''are'' no memories to discover, as none of them exist for any purpose outside simulating a relationship between the two leads.

* SecretTestOfCharacter: Well, secret test of compatibility. The point of the System is not to actually match people up within it. The point is to see if two people like each other enough that they'll notice all the flaws in the System, decide it's wrong to [[StarCrossedLovers keep them apart]], and leave together.