History YMMV / BlackFriday

** [[spoiler: The climax of the show reveals that Charlotte has become one of Linda's cultists, and the denouement over "What If Tomorrow Comes?" has more shocking reveals that Ted, Mr. Davidson, [[AndZoidberg and the Hot Chocolate Boy]] are all survivors of the riots, and even has a ShipTease with Charlotte and Ted embracing each other. There's a huge applause line when Emma announces that Prof. Hidgens also exists in this timeline and, once again, suggests his CrazySurvivalist bunker as a place for the survivors to hole up.]]

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Lex sings that she wants to be an actress, to "sell people hope" in "CaliforM.I.A.". This musical would become Angela Giarratana's StarMakingRole after she and her sister serve as the HopeBringer for the survivors of Black Friday.

** The line where Paul says to Emma, "Your brother-in-law's a bit of a Scrooge, isn't he?", after the release of ''WebVideo/AVHSChristmasCarol''. Also applies to Corey Dorris playing Fred in that show after he played "Principal Humbugger" in this one.

** On a behind-the-scenes level, it might surprise people to learn that ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'' is the ''newest'' of the planned "Hatchetfield trilogy" of musicals -- ''Black Friday'' was an idea they had before TGWDLM, and ''Nerdy Prudes Must Die!'' an earlier idea than that, it's just that ''The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals'' was a broadly funny concept for a musical that seemed like a good way to introduce people to the Hatchetfield shared universe.

** [[spoiler: The climax of the show reveals that Charlotte has become one of Linda's cultists, and the denouement over "What If Tomorrow Comes?" has more shocking reveals that Bill, Ted, Mr. Davidson, [[AndZoidberg and the Hot Chocolate Boy]] are all survivors of the riots, and even has a ShipTease with Charlotte and Ted embracing each other. There's a huge applause line when Emma announces that Prof. Hidgens also exists in this timeline and, once again, suggests his CrazySurvivalist bunker as a place for the survivors to hole up.]]

* AcceptableTargets: Of the crazed shoppers, there is Sherman Young, a balding, overweight, glasses-wearing toy collector, who has been waiting for over a week for Black Friday just to order ''all'' 850 dolls for himself before anyone else can get them. Even before the madness, Lex notes that he bought all the Franchise/MyLittlePony dolls the store had, leaving none for any of the kids they are for.

** Hannah definitely has an AmbiguousDisorder, and heavily coded as autistic. Does her behavior stem from the fact that she's psychic, or is it incidental? [[spoiler:The fact that Lex also has psychic powers, albeit ones that manifest differently than Hannah's, imply Hannah's disorder (be it autism or something else) and her connection to the Black and White are independent factors, and one didn't cause the other.]]

** The fanbase seems to agree that Hannah is autistic, and much of her [[AmbiguousDisorder behavior]] would've been present whether she was a MadOracle or not.

** Lex is a cynical jerk with a chip on her shoulder but it's clear that life hasn't been easy for her. Having an abusive alcoholic mother (with her father nowhere in sight) has forced her to act as the family breadwinner and parental figure for her [[AmbiguousDisorder disabled]] sister and she dropped out of school. Over the course of the show, her boyfriend is killed and her sister is tormented by Wiggly. She's also forced to watch as her boss get his throat slit.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: A few people have pointed out that the tune of the bridge ("I will destroy everything") of "Adore Me" is very similar to the chorus of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwaFADxmoeo Splattack!]]" from ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}''. Given the reference to ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' elsewhere in the show, this could be intentional.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: A few people have pointed out that the tune of the bridge ("I will destroy everything") of "Adore Me" is very similar to the chorus of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwaFADxmoeo Splattack!]]" from ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}''. Given the reference to ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' elsewhere in the show, this could be intentional.

** Lex is a cynical jerk with a chip on her shoulder but it's clear that life hasn't been easy for her. Having an abusive alcoholic mother (with her father nowhere in sight) has forced her to act as the family breadwinner and parental figure for her emotionally stunted sister and she dropped out of school. Over the course of the show, her boyfriend is killed and her sister is tormented by Wiggly. She's also forced to watch as her boss get his throat slit.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Despite its divisive reception, the show's soundtrack has, overall, been very well received, with particular praise going to "Black Friday", "Take Me Back", "[=CaliforM.I.A=]", "If I Fail You", "Feast or Famine", "Our Doors Are Open", "Made in America", and "What if Tomorrow Comes?". Special mention should go to "What If Tomorrow Comes?", the first track completed for this show which was considered good enough to put on the trailer in its scratch track version. It's complex, artistic and experimental in a way few Starkid tracks have been before, and many are calling it the masterpiece of Creator/JeffBlim's composing career.

* SugarWiki/AndTheFandomRejoiced: ''Black Friday'''s run-up to production has been marked by multiple announcements seemingly designed to get fans as excited as possible:
** That there'd be another musical the very next year after ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'', after the long hiatuses before and after the production of ''Theatre/{{Firebringer}}'', accompanying the Starkid 10th Anniversary celebration.
** That the new musical would be set in the same continuity as the wildly popular ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'' and begin a new "Hatchetfield series", the first ongoing continuity for Creator/TeamStarkid since the ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'' trilogy.
** That fan favorites Robert Manion and Mariah Rose Faith would be co-leads and love interests, and that they'd have at least one duet.
** That Curt Mega -- as in Agent Curt Mega of ''Theatre/SpiesAreForever'' -- would be joining the cast along with his wife Kim Whalen.
** And that Dylan Saunders would be making his long-awaited return to Starkid, having not been in a show since ''Theatre/{{Twisted}}'' (and since he became an Equity member and therefore far more expensive).
** There's also the fact that Corey Dorris, who only got to sing two lines as a solo in the previous show, gets a song to himself in this one by popular demand.

* WhatAnIdiot: The musical implements this on purpose, to show how the Wiggly doll is influencing irrational behavior. Case in point, while about twenty people are waiting in line to buy a Wiggly, Sherman Young tries to buy the whole stock. This nearly causes a riot as Sherman and Linda argue for their rights to get as many dolls as they want, while people in the back argue they've been standing in line for hours. Tensions grow, especially when a bidding war starts and one man points out that the dolls are supposed to be $49.95.\\
'''You'd Expect''': For Frank Pricely, who's manning the cash register, to realize that this situation is getting out of control and to call mall security if he can't control the crowd. Retail riots aren't new, sadly enough, in American culture. Black Friday by itself is known for leading to serious customer or retail employee injuries.\\
 '''Instead''': Frank approves of the bidding war, leaving Lex as the OnlySaneWoman to try and remind people to stay in line and be polite. He insists that he makes the policies, and anyone who doesn't like it can leave.\\
'''Predictably''': The same man that wanted the doll at the given price panics and gets the idea to pull the Wiggly doll on display off the counter. This starts a riot as the crowd starts to swarm him to grab the Wiggly doll, while Lex and Frank try to get it back. Eventually, [[spoiler:the mob grabs Frank and sacrifices him]].
** In the case of a brainwashed Becky and Tom, they start hunting down Hannah, who has the last Tickle-Me-Wiggly in the store. At first, she tries to reason with them, telling them that the toy is a liar. When they won't listen, she hides in the playroom while Becky takes out a syringe to sedate her. While Hannah could simply toss the doll to them to save herself, she realizes that if she does then they'll be deceived further and refuses. Eventually, Tom hears her knocking over a box and manages to grab her after she runs through the abandoned mall areas.\\
'''You'd Expect''': They would simply take the doll before running off. This is in fact what Tom does at the end of the confrontation.\\
'''Instead''': When Tom holds Hannah, Becky tries sedating Hannah even though by this point they have the doll.\\
''The Result''': By virtue of EpicFail and Hannah struggling-- plus maybe the lucky hat that Ethan gave her -- Becky stabs herself. She lampshades it before passing out and pinning Hannah while Tom grabs the toy and runs for the exist. In the case of NiceJobFixingItVillain, the sedative is enough to bring Becky to her senses when she rouses, and [[spoiler:Lex talks down Tom knowing that she has logic on her side and he's a good person. Becky then grabs a fallen gun that the general gave to Lex and that she gave to Tom, firing on Linda. Lex uses the opportunity and the doll to burn the other cultists alive by settling the Wiggly on fire, much to its horror]].

* TheWoobie: '''Hannah'''. Even before all the chaos starts, she's a disabled (probably autistic) girl who's stuck with an abusive mother, and things just get even worse for her as the musical goes on. Most exemplified in the "Not Ethan" scene, [[AloneWithThePsycho where she's alone and facing Wiggly.]]
* WinTheCrowd: ''Black Friday'''s run-up to production has been marked by multiple announcements seemingly designed to get fans as excited as possible:
** That there'd be another musical the very next year after ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'', after the long hiatuses before and after the production of ''Theatre/{{Firebringer}}'', accompanying the Starkid 10th Anniversary celebration.
** That the new musical would be set in the same continuity as the wildly popular ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'' and begin a new "Hatchetfield series", the first ongoing continuity for Creator/TeamStarkid since the ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'' trilogy.
** That fan favorites Robert Manion and Mariah Rose Faith would be co-leads and love interests, and that they'd have at least one duet.
** That Curt Mega -- as in Agent Curt Mega of ''Theatre/SpiesAreForever'' -- would be joining the cast along with his wife Kim Whalen.
** And that Dylan Saunders would be making his long-awaited return to Starkid, having not been in a show since ''Theatre/{{Twisted}}'' (and since he became an Equity member and therefore far more expensive).
** There's also the fact that Corey Dorris, who only got to sing two lines as a solo in the previous show, gets a song to himself in this one by popular demand.

** Sherman's monologue about what he intends to do with the 850 Wigglys.

* BiggerIsBetter: ''Theatre/BlackFriday'' is a major contrast to the almost [[{{Minimalism}} minimalistic]] ''Theatre/TheGuyWhoDidntLikeMusicals'', and is a throwback to the big casts, long running time (a half hour longer than TGWDLM), and ambitious ideas of shows like ''Theatre/{{Starship}}'' and ''Theatre/{{Firebringer}}'', as you can probably tell by the [[TropeOverdosed size of these trope pages]].

* {{Anvilicious}}: Did you know that Nick and Matt Lang think CapitalismIsBad, and that ConspicuousConsumption, [[FlashInThePanFad mob psychology]] and entitled fandom are worse? Almost certainly, if you know anything about them, and if you didn't the whole basic premise of this show would've told you. But the plot of the show goes ''ham'' on making sure you have no doubt about the writers' politics, escalating from the relatively obvious TrendAesop making fun of the RetailRiot trope to directly having the Devil in human form [[AuthorFilibuster give a speech]] about how the thoughtless consumption that drives free-market capitalism will inevitably destroy both the human spirit and the world. This isn't really a problem for most of the fandom, who are on the same side of the issues as they are, but some fans (including the minority who don't consider themselves political progressives) have been taken aback by the vehemence. (But see SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped, and OlderThanTheyThink.)

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped:
** Nick Lang has been very open about how badly emotionally affected he and his friends in Team Starkid were by Donald Trump's election in 2016 (an event that, at least at the time, was Creator/JoeWalker's motivation for quitting acting altogether). He's also openly talked about being a lot older now than in 2009 when ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'' went viral, and questioning whether it's the right thing to do to keep making money off the Starkid fandom without changing or growing. (He's revealed he came close to retiring the Starkid brand entirely after ''Theatre/AVeryPotterSeniorYear'' before making ''Theatre/{{Twisted}}''.) All of that is a pretty good reason for starting to try to make art with a more serious and personal message rather than just throwing in an {{Aesop}} among the jokes. Whatever you may think of the politics in ''Black Friday'', it's undeniably a deeply sincere reflection on America from writers who thought they knew their own country trying to understand how it went so wrong.
** The musical has a running theme that recognizing things are bad, or "badder" in Hannah's words, is not the same as crossing the DespairEventHorizon. You can remain realistic about your situation, yet still cling to hope and fight back against evil forces trying to bring you down. Ethan spends most of his screentime reassuring Hannah and Lex that things may not look good now but they will get better, despite having no evidence that life in California will be possible on 7000 dollars, or any inkling of the disaster about to befall his little family. Hannah as TheCassandra keeps warning him that things will get "badder" and hates being proven right when [[spoiler:Ethan dies protecting her from rioters, screaming at his adopted kid sister to run]]. Yet she notes that [[spoiler:Ethan's optimism is what gave her hope]], and the Wiggly toys telling her to despair are liars. This gives her the strength to resist them. In fact, Hannah says ScrewDestiny, she's not going to resign herself to what she sees in her visions because she has Ethan's lucky hat, and the certainty that the Wiggly dolls are fallible because why would they be telling a little girl to give up and tickle their bellies? In the end, she says that [[spoiler:she sees that there ''may'' be a tomorrow as the survivors gather three minutes to midnight, waiting for either the end of the world, or the chance to watch the sunrise. Tom says that no matter what happens, he's going to face tomorrow with his friends and family, and the others follow suit]].
** General [=McNamara=] thinks that if President Goodman talks to the Wiggly god, that maybe the Wiggly will be convinced to leave the Earth alone, or at least assess if the nuclear option is the only one. He says that President Goodman lives up to his name and was chosen by the people because they believed he could rule the country fairly. President Goodman shows all instances of a BadassNormal and ReasonableAuthorityFigure by stepping into the Black and White to conduct negotiations to the best of his ability. Before he can make any headway, the Wiggly god gives an EvilLaugh and then a CharacterFilibuster about how it doesn't matter what humanity says, the Wiggly wants them gone to be reborn on Earth and usher in an age of chaos. Then the Sniggles and Wiggly god try eating President Goodman alive; the general has to [[spoiler;pull a HeroicSacrifice to save him and urge the President to protect the world in turn]]. One could argue that the whole scene is a TakeThat about reasoning with people who want you dead, and don't care about the human cost of life, like those that deny federal aid to areas suffering a natural disaster. To emphasize that this was a bad idea, [[spoiler: ''Lex'' ends up striking a decisive blow against the Wiggly dolls when the General's form gives her a gun and activates her powers to summon objects from the Black and White. Her solution is ShamingTheMob; when that doesn't work, she threatens to burn the doll unless the cultists release her sister, and then burns it anyway once Hannah is safe because they attacked her family and show no sign of reason, leaving the cultists to fight over the flaming Wiggly doll and die]].

* JerkassWoobie: We ''immediately'' soften our opinion of Tom, despite his massively {{Jerkass}} EstablishingCharacterMoment, when we get a peek into his psyche with the song "What Tim Wants" and realize just how fucked up with self-loathing and despair he's been inside since Jane died, and how his self-imposed isolation has only made it worse and worse.