History Recap / BlackMirrorSanJunipero

* ElSpanishO: San Junipero. The English version of the saint's name is Juniper like the tree. Adding the O gives it a more Southern touch.

It's TheEighties in the groovy American beach resort town San Junipero. Shy nerdy girl Yorkie meets quirky party girl Kelly, and both their lives are changed forever. There is much, ''much'' more to the town than meets the eye, however.

* EternalSexualFreedom: Subverted. Kelly assures Yorkie that nobody will judge her for her homosexuality, which would seem anachronistic for a story ostensibly set in TheEighties. This is actually one of the first clues that San Junipero is not a real 1980s beach town but rather an idealized simulation of one.

** Likewise, there are subtle hints throughout the first half that this isn't actually taking place in TheEighties. The most blatant example is probably when Kelly assures Yorkie that society has progressed enough that homophobia wouldn't be an issue for them; conceivably it could have been a reference to some progress being made in select parts of Reagan's America, but in general terms that was emphatically ''not'' the case.

** Just in general, the period setting of the episode is laid on so heavy-handedly that even Yorkie calls out its artificiality ("Everyone dresses like in a movie"). The opening scene certainly isn't subtle in establishing that the year is [[TheEighties 1987]], flat out stating it twice in a matter of seconds. That may be a hint that it's actually a simulation of 1987; it may be for the characters' benefit, a way of assuring them that they are in the year they intended.

** For her second visit to meet Kelly, Yorkie tries changing from her regular getup into stereotypical [[TheEighties '80s]] costumes from ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' and Robert Palmer's ''Addicted to Love'' music video.

* TotallyRadical: Only in TheEighties could someone say "bodacious" with a straight face. Justified in that the space exists specifically as a nostalgic throwback, and people are deliberately trying to recreate their memories of the era.

* OddCouple: Brash Kelly and nerdy Yorkie become this, SaltAndPepper, TomboyAndGirlyGirl and RedOniBlueOni all rolled into one.

* AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle: The right way to say Junipero can vary throughout California and Spanish speaking countries. The way it's pronounced in the episode is not any kind of correct though.

* ManicPixieDreamgirl: The episode plays with this trope. At first it seems like this is going to be a story about the zesty Kelly pulling the timid Yorkie out of her comfort zone. Then it turns out that Kelly is scared to death of actual intimacy and it's up to Yorkie to push her to feel something real again. Kelly teaches Yorkie to have fun, Yorkie teaches Kelly to truly live again.

* FreezeFrameBonus: In the intro sequence of San Junipero, if you freeze it or are attentive you can [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/392e3a4b5f99b63992b8e55a18c2dc76/tumblr_ofpk4dxUhQ1urifxdo2_1280.jpg see the town has]] a movie theater called "Bijou" that's currently playing ''Film/TheLostBoys''. The film is about a gang of vampires who are supposedly like children trapped eternally in adult bodies (taking the name from ''Literature/PeterPan''), which connects with the episode, and Bijou is famously known as relating to gay pornography (several films, theaters, and a production company).

* SpiritualAntithesis:
** San Junipero got one in the episode "Real Life" of ''Series/PhilipKDicksElectricDreams'', it's almost like an heartbreaking inversion of San Junipero. In it, [[spoiler:a lesbian policewoman in a happy relationship gets trapped in a virtual world where she is a straight male widower grieving for his dead wife, all because her subconscious thinks she does not deserve to be happy.]]
** "San Junipero" serves as the spiritual antithesis of ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone1959 The Twilight Zone]]'' episode [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E28ANicePlaceToVisit "A Nice Place To Visit"]], where an afterlife where you can party all day and night for eternity and instantly have anything you want magically materialize was portrayed as a ''[[IronicHell horrifying]]'' fate.

** When Kelly and Yorkie first meet, Kelly lies that Yorkie is an old friend who has six months left to live in order to get rid of Wes. Wes accepts this without questioning it despite the fact that it would be considered a ''very'' dubious excuse in real life. His willingness to take the claim at face value is a lot easier to understand after you learn that ''everyone'' in San Junipero is either trying out a digital afterlife because they're in poor health or are already dead and are there permanently. Also, it turns out Kelly has around three months left, and Yorkie plans to be euthanized in a few weeks.

** One of the people Kelly talks to at Tucker's is a fit young man in his early 20's talking about his arthritis and knee replacement.

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

[[center:[-'''Series/BlackMirror Series Three'''-]]]
[[center:[-[[Recap/BlackMirrorNosedive Nosedive]]-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorPlaytest Playtest]]-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorShutUpAndDance Shut Up and Dance]]-] -- [-'''San Junipero'''-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorMenAgainstFire Men Against Fire]]-] -- [-[[Recap/BlackMirrorHatedInTheNation Hated in the Nation]]-]]]