History Theatre / BlackFriday

* IncrediblyLamePun: In a show that tones down the goofy humor somewhat from past shows, we still get a moment when Gary Goldstein, attorney-at-law, gets [[GroinAttack socked in the crotch]] by Linda Monroe and goes down shrieking "MY SUBPOENA!"

* ActionSurvivor: Hannah is not an ActionGirl, and certainly not the badass duo that Tom and Becky become over the course of the play. She nevertheless comports herself pretty well, considering that all of the adults start gunning for her due to Lex putting the Wiggly doll in her backpack, and she watched [[spoiler:Ethan die in front of her while in Toy Zone, her sister is captured]]. Hannah talks to Webby and realizes that she must keep the doll out of the wrong hands, because the doll is a liar and will make their lives "badder". 

* AlasPoorVillain: Even after [[spoiler:tricking the cultists into burning alive by setting the last Wiggly doll on fire]], the survivors of the mall look like they feel sorry for them. [[spoiler:Tom and Becky remember all too well the allure of the Wiggly promises]]. Lex's expression has mild regret that she may have gone too far to rescue Hannah.  
* AloneWithThePsycho: Hannah finds herself as the only person not captured in the mall or brainwashed. She realizes that everyone is hunting her down for the Wiggly doll in her backpack, which is a NoSell on her. The brainwashed adults calling for her, while she's hiding. Even an evil version of Ethan appears; Hannah calls him a liar because Ethan would never tell her to die when he [[spoiler:gave up his life for her]]. Even the doll itself tries to convince Hannah to tickle his belly and succumb to his brainwashing. She refuses, but realizes that she can't let it get into the cultists' hands.  If it does, then "badder" things will happen. This means the adults aren't listening.

** In real life, to prevent an actual mutually assured destruction scenario from occurring, the president needs to [[spoiler:go through a number of failsafes to approve a nuclear missile, including codes and order of command]]. Here, President Goodman merely orders his men to [[spoiler:fire a nuclear missile on the Wiggly faction to avenge General [=MacNamara=] and stop the invasion. We find out ''why'' in real life that the failsafes are there: the Wiggly god redirects the missile to Moscow, who declare war on the United States]]. 

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Lex is more of a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, but we see that she's immune to the Wiggly's talk, casually dismissing it while putting a doll in her backpack, and her primary goal is to get Hannah out of an abusive situation. She's also the OnlySaneWoman of the cast, trying to prevent the riot from starting and being polite to everyone. Then the cultists hunt down her little sister and prepare to cut her in pieces for not having a Wiggly; Lex shows up with the doll, along with an armed Tom. She at first tells them off for becoming violent over a toy and threatening a child. [[spoiler:To prove her point that the Wiggly cultists are stupid, she sets the Wiggly on fire, and tosses it for them to catch, knowing they'll burn alive for a chance to grab the toy]]. The lesson of the story? Do ''not'' threaten Hannah in Lex's present. 

* TheCavalryArrivesLate: Paul and Emma appear ''right after'' all the chaos, because Tim begged them to rescue his father. While it's unlikely if the two may have done much good against the cultists, Tom's expression speaks volumes of how glad he is to see them. 

* ContinuityCameo: The show immediately shows us Paul and Emma alive and as a couple, showing that this is an AlternateUniverse from the previous show. [[spoiler: The ending reveals that Charlotte, Ted, and Mr. Davidson from ''TGWDLM'’ were all among the survivors of the mall riots.]]

** Lex would die under interrogation if it meant that her little sister was safe from the cultists. She only breaks when finding out they're going to go after Hannah anyway on learning that the doll is in Hannah's backpack. 
** Hannah knows that her backpack is empty after Tom stole the Wiggly. She doesn't bother to volunteer information to Linda, only giving her a KubrickStare after Linda fruitlessly rummages through the pockets, even when Linda threatens to cut her into pieces. 

* DudeNotFunny: Recorded version only. The audience starts to laugh when Becky produces the syringe so as to sedate Hannah--only to cut off quickly when they realize the implications. Nervous laughter continues as a brainwashed Tom and Becky hunt for Hannah while walking into the audience. Not helping is the closeup on Hannah's face as she hides from them, of utter terror. 

* EpicFail: A brainwashed Becky tries to sedate Hannah after a brainwashed Tom manages to catch the teen and holds her. Somehow, Becky hits herself in the leg. She lampshades it before falling unconscious.  

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: Hannah says things won't get better, only "Badder" when Ethan reassures her that they're leaving soon. She repeats "badder" it a few minutes later when [[spoiler:the rioters start beating up Ethan. [[FridgeHorror Hannah saw Ethan's death, and no way to prevent it]]]]. 

* ForgottenFallenFriend: Subverted by Hannah after [[spoiler: she watches Ethan die. The poor girl ends up in a TroubledFetalPosition while hiding and crying, having foreseen his death but obviously wishing that it hadn't happened. She whimpers and asks where Lex is, that she wants her big sister. When Ethan seems to appear, Hannah directly addresses that she saw her sister's boyfriend die; she realizes it's an impostor when this Ethan encourages Hannah to give into despair, when the real Ethan was an optimist to the bitter end. This gives her the strength to confront the Wiggly doll and declare she won't give into despair, or let it corrupt the other adults to do "badder" things]].   

** The rioting crowd catches up to Ethan and Hannah at the movie theater. When Ethan asks a guy if he's okay, he gets punched in the face and the stomach as Hannah cringes. [[spoiler:Realizing he's dead, Ethan shouts at Hannah to run and hide, while he holds them off. Sadly, it's a CurbStompBattle that ends with Ethan dead on the floor. To top it all off, the men had attacked him, thinking he had been carrying a Wiggly]]. 

* HonorBeforeReason: A heroic case. Hannah could just leave behind the Wiggly doll for the cultists and save her own skin while trapped in the mall. Once they have the doll, they'll focus on fighting each other and she can figure out how to save her sister from Linda and the others. Instead, she refuses to hand over the doll to any of the adults, saying that Wiggly is a liar. Unfortunately, it makes her a target.  

** Two men accost Ethan, who asks them with concern if they're okay. They respond by punching him in the face and beating him up. Ethan realizes they aren't reasonable and shouts at Hannah to run. [[spoiler:The two comment on the waste of effort on finding out Ethan doesn't have a Wiggly. We find out they kill him for real when Becky tries to tend for him]]. 

* OutOfFocus: Jaime Lyn Beatty and Corey Dorris both got hit with this in this show. Jaime -- who couldn't commit as much time to rehearsal due to [[RealLifeWritesThePlot her wedding in 2019]] and her work on her one-woman show -- doesn't have any solos this time, only singing and dancing in ensemble numbers, and the main character she plays, Sherman Young, is mostly comic relief. Corey is the reverse -- he plays a character key to the plot, Frank Pricely the owner of Toy Zone, who has a ''very'' memorable song he sings lead on, "Our Doors Are Open", but doesn't have ''any'' ensemble parts [[spoiler: until the very end of the show with the whole cast coming together on "What If Tomorrow Comes?", where he plays a background townie who previously appeared in TGWDLM]], playing the only non-dancing-and-singing character in "Deck the Halls (Of Northville High)", Principal Humbugger, and never showing up as one of the Sniggles. (May be some FridgeBrilliance here with Linda's line to Frank, "I've met God. He had nothing nice to say about you" -- Frank never hears Wiggly's voice at any point and all the actors who play Sniggles play characters who did, [[EpilepticTrees take that for what you will]].)

* RayOfHopeEnding: In this universe at least, [[spoiler:it seems that a nuclear apocalypse will cause the world to end. The cast stares at the sky and waits for the end. But...Hannah foresees that ''maybe'' there will be memories of tomorrow, and perhaps there is a way for humanity to survive though she cannot see clearly. Tom points out that Wiggly can only manifest on Black Friday, and it's three minutes to midnight, so he believes that whatever happens, his family and friends will face tomorrow after the nightmare of today. General [=MacNamara=] also revealed that multiple universes with Hatchetfield variations exist, and told Lex that if she and Hannah learned to control their powers, they may be able to save the multiverse]]. 

** The President once General [=MacNamara=] snaps him out of the Wiggly doll brainwashing. He accepts the general's explanation about what is happening with little hesitation, mainly asking questions about the logic. Despite pointing out that he's never gone into an EldritchLocation, President Goodman nevertheless ventures into the Black and White-- with a protective suit -- to negotiate with the Wiggly gods and ask them to leave Earth alone. 

* SkewedPriorities: And they end up [[spoiler:killing him]]; Frank when seeing a riot break out in his toy store, cares more about getting the lone Wiggly back than about the fact that everyone is becoming violent. While one may justify it as he's trying to keep his business afloat, Lex realizes the danger ahead of time. 

** The riot breaking out over the Wiggly toy in Frank's store. "Feast or Famine" comes in in a minor key as even Tom and Becky succumb to the desire to grab the toy.