History YMMV / BlackMirrorSanJunipero

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is San Junipero really a paradise, or is it a CrapsaccharineWorld that will feel boring, shallow, empty, and unsatisfying if not maddening long before eternity is up?

* FriendlyFandoms: Very quickly the episode got one with ''Series/The100'', thanks to [[spoiler:its subversion of the BuryYourGays trope]]. "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" was already being used as the title for quite a few Clarke/Lexa fics in the few days after the episode's release.
* HarsherInHindsight: With the release of ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorBlackMuseum Black Museum]]'', knowing how the technology in ''San Junipero'' came about makes the episode a little darker (since the same company, TCKR, that runs San Junipero used to employ the Main/BigBad of ''Black Museum'', all the horrific trials he put people through being progressive steps to San Junipero). It's like Brooker planned for the painful pay-off and thought it would be even better to let everyone be happy for a year first.

** Often regarded as the best ''Black Mirror'' episode, naturally there are a couple of people who find it overrated or aren’t impressed, especially since it isn’t as [[TrueArtIsAngsty dark or complex]] as the rest of the show. See TastesLikeDiabetes. Others enjoy the episode itself but are disappointed that it's effectively been hailed as the "best" the series has to offer in favor of other, equally-memorable episodes mainly for defecting from the unique conceit that drew many such fans to the series in the first place (refusing to give the audience a happy, comfortable ending).

* SpiritualAntithesis: San Junipero got a Spiritual Antithesis 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 ''horrifying'' fate.

* WheelchairWoobie: [[spoiler:Yorkie has been one for over 40 years with the reveal that after being rejected by her family for coming out as a lesbian, she got into a car accident that put her into a coma.]]

* WheelchairWoobie: [[spoiler:Yorkie has been one for over 40 years with the reveal that after being rejected by her family for coming out as a lesbian, she got into a car accident that put her into a coma.]]

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: It's too happy, we don't know if we should be wallowing in despair over the euthanasia storyline, the second love storyline, the "upload to the cloud" storyline and the [[spoiler:character has literally been locked in unable to do anything for 40+ years]] storyline because it's damn happy! That's just mean!

* EarWorm: '''"OOH, BABY, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT'S WORTH?"'''

* HypeBacklash: Often regarded as the best ''Black Mirror'' episode, naturally there are a couple of people who find it overrated or aren’t impressed, especially since it isn’t as [[TrueArtIsAngsty dark or complex]] as the rest of the show.

* UnfortunateImplication: [[https://kaylarosenzines.com/2016/12/06/black-mirrors-san-junipero-is-an-ableist-dystopia-in-disguise/ We're meant to see our characters dying as an unambiguously good and happy thing, because being together and in San Junipero is presented as being infinitely better than them living their real lives.]] This trope seemed to get lost on some fans however, who boast about how "unambiguously happy" the ending is.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: The episode itself is this for the entire series. After story after story about mankind using technology to its detriment, we get a love story where technology is used to effectively live forever.
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" by Belinda Carlisle is used in the ending, putting a neat bow on the most optimistic episode of the show so far.

* EsotericHappyEnding: Although often cited as the one ''Black Mirror'' episode with an undeniably happy ending (prior to ''Hang the DJ'' and ''Black Museum''), none of Kelly's criticisms of San Junipero - namely, that it's a shallow facsimile of existence rather than the real deal - are ever properly rebutted, and San Junipero itself could cease to exist at any moment if its hosting company ever decided to pull the plug.
** There's also the fact that our heroines are both dead by the end of it, one of them from assisted suicide; euthanasia is a ''very'' controversial topic in many societies and the implication that it's a good thing and the key to our heroines finding love and happiness can easily leave a bad taste for some people (especially people who were drawn in by the premise of it being a super-cheerful lesbian romance).

** Then there's the score by Creator/ClintMansell (already well known to fans of Creator/DarrenAronofsky as the composer of his films), which received considerable praise -- enough to be issued digitally and on vinyl, a first for any ''Black Mirror'' episode.

* SpiritualAntithesis: San Junipero got a Spiritual Antithesis in the episode "Real Life" of ''Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams'', 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.]]

** There's also the fact that our heroines are both dead by the end of it, one of them from assisted suicide; euthanasia is a ''very'' controversial topic in many societies and the implication that it's a good thing and the key to our heroines finding love and happiness can easily leave a bad taste for some people (especially people who were drawn in by the premise of it being a super-cheerful lesbian romance that "plays with" the BuryYourGays trope).

* FriendlyFandoms: Already the episode has one with ''Series/The100'', thanks to [[spoiler:its subversion of the BuryYourGays trope]]. "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" has been used as the title for quite a few Clarke/Lexa fics in the few days the episode's been out.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: It might be believed that the reason for it being LighterAndSofter than the overall series is so that nobody got accused of homophobia. However, it's quite clear that the purpose of it is to deconstruct the negative gay tropes, which basically requires it to have a positive outlook. Might be an aversion, as San Junipero was originally written as a heterosexual romance, but was changed as a part of the twist that San Junipero [[spoiler:is a simulation, or at least not set in 1987]].

* HarsherInHindsight: With the release of ''[[Recap/BlackMirrorBlackMuseum Black Museum]]'', knowing how the technology in ''San Junipero'' came about makes the episode a little darker, especially since the same company, TCKR, that runs San Junipero used to employ the Main/BigBad of ''Black Museum''

* EsotericHappyEnding: Although often cited as the one ''Black Mirror'' episode with an undeniably happy ending (prior to [[YourMileageMayVary arguably]] ''Hang the DJ'' and ''Black Museum''), none of Kelly's criticisms of San Junipero - namely, that it's a shallow facsimile of existence rather than the real deal - are ever properly rebutted, and San Junipero itself could cease to exist at any moment if its hosting company ever decided to pull the plug.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: It might be believed that the reason for it being LighterAndSofter than the overall series is so that nobody got accused of homophobia. However, it's quite clear that the purpose of it is to deconstruct the negative gay tropes, which basically requires it to have a positive outlook.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: It might be believed that the reason for it being LighterAndSofter than the overall series is so that nobody got accused of homophobia. However, it's quite clear that the purpose is to deconstruct the negative gay tropes, which basically requires it to have a positive outlook.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: It's too happy, we don't know whether be wallowing in despair over the euthanasia storyline, the second love storyline, the "upload to the cloud" storyline and the [[spoiler:character has literally been locked in unable to do anything for 40+ years]] storyline because it's damn happy! That's just mean!

** Then there's the score by Creator/ClintMansell (already well known to fans of Creator/DarrenAronofsky as the composer of his films), which received considerable praise -- enough to be issued digitally and on vinyl, a first for any .