Hang the DJ

Hang the DJ
Episode information
Season	4
Episode	4
Air date	December 29, 2017
Length	52:17
Writer	Charlie Brooker
Director	Tim Van Patten
Episode guide
Previous	Crocodile
Next	Metalhead

Hang the DJ is the fourth episode of season four of Black Mirror. It was written by Charlie Brooker and was released on December 29, 2017.

Short Summary

Paired up by a dating program that puts an expiration date on all relationships, Frank and Amy soon begin to question the system's logic.

Full Summary

The coach directs Frank to the hub. He walks through several crowded areas on his way.

Amy asks Coach how she'll know which one is Frank and Coach shows her his face. She finds him at the table, where he greets her awkwardly. Frank says it's his first time on the system and Amy says it is for her as well. They decide to order, but their devices inform them their menu choices are already established just as a server delivers their food. They're not sure if they're allowed to try each other's food and decide to try it. Then they decide to check their expiration date. They check their devices and learn their relationship will only last 12 hours. Their devices start counting down the time and they decide to make the most of it.

Outside, a vehicle arrives to take Amy and Frank to their next destination. They enter a numbered house. They're awkward as they approach the bed and Amy excuses herself to use the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Amy asks Coach what they're supposed to do. When that question is deemed too broad, she asks if they're just meant to have sex.

Out in the room, Frank is asking the same question. Coach says they're not meant to take any specific action, but they can if they want. When Amy emerges, Frank offers to sleep on the sofa, but Amy says that's not necessary. They can fit in the bed.

Frank and Amy talk about what life must have been like before the system, having to find your own partners and figuring out who you're meant to be with. This way is weird as well though. They lie side by side and Amy moves her hand over to grab Frank's. They fall asleep holding hands.

The next morning, Amy thanks Frank for being her first. They see that the only have 15 seconds left on their clock. They agree that they had a good time and regret choosing not to have sex. Their time runs out and they part ways, each going to a different vehicle to leave.

As Amy jogs in the park, she says she doesn't understand something so short. Coach says her reactions to even something so short help make the system better. She says she didn't even do anything so the system probably thinks she's a prude. Coach says the system doesn't make any judgments.

Frank asks how he knows Amy wasn't the match for him and Coach says his match hasn't been selected. The system gets smarter with each use and will eventually select the most compatible partner. The system has a 99.8% success rate. But he has to go through lots of relationships before the system can find his perfect match.

Amy is skipping rocks when her device beeps. She has another match.

Frank also has another match.

Amy waits for her date. Lenny sits down.

Frank meets Nicola, who has been waiting for him for a while. He apologizes, saying he was getting changed. She's already eating because she was hungry. Nicola wants them to check their expiration date right away. The system says they'll be together for a year. Nicola thinks it must be a mistake, but Coach tells her it isn't. Frank says there will be a reason as his food is delivered. He tries to make a joke, but Nicola doesn't appreciate it.

Amy and Lenny learn they'll be together for nine months.

As Amy and Lenny enter their lodgings, he says it's pretty much the same as his last one. He's had five so far. He leaves Amy to take a shower. When he returns, he tells Amy he's learned it's best to have sex right away to break the ice. He consents to everything and she does the same.

Amy and Lenny have sex.

Frank and Nicola have sex and she makes him change positions because it's not working for her.

While Amy and Lenny's encounter is pleasurable, Frank and Nicola's is mechanical, with her giving him continuous feedback, making him change several times.

Amy and Lenny settle in after they're done.

As Nicola sleeps, Frank checks his device, which still reads 365 days.

As he plays racketball, Frank clarifies with Coach that he can't leave the relationship early and that one day, the system will give him his ultimate match.

Frank and Nicola are at a pairing day celebration. Frank spots Amy with Lenny.

Edna implores everyone to have faith in the system because it delivered for her and Mike. You go through so many matches and then it delivers your ultimate match. Frank looks at Nicola and then over at Amy, who is smiling at Lenny.

Nicola sees Frank eating garlic dip and makes a disparaging comment. In response, he eats more of it. Nicole walks away and Amy comes up to say hi. Frank starts to choke on his food and Amy saves his life. They joke around with each other until Lenny comes over and Amy introduces them. Frank says they look like they make a great team. The crowd starts to applaud as Edna and Mike leave. Amy and Frank get pushed apart as they move through the crowd.

Amy lies awake as Lenny sleeps. Lenny wakes up and they have sex. After they're done, Lenny takes a sip from his glass and makes a noise. Amy asks him about it and says it bothers her. He says he'll try not to do it anymore.

Frank and Nicole have five months left on their time. He lies awake while she sleeps.

Amy chafes when Lenny makes the noise again. She checks the time and sees she has two months left with him.

With seven weeks left, Amy and Lenny are reading in bed silently.

With three weeks left, Amy and Lenny ride together in complete silence.

As the final seconds count down for Amy and Lenny, he says it's been great and it's a shame it must end. They hug goodbye and part ways.

Amy is swimming when she gets matched with another partner.

Amy meets Norman. They'll have 36 hours together.

At the house, Norman and Amy have sex. When their time is done, they shake hands and part.

Amy is matched next with Butch and they also get 36 hours. They also have sex and then part ways when their time is done.

She gets a third 36 hour match in a row with a silver fox.

Amy gets another match, but isn't happy.

Frank and Nicola wait for their final seconds to be counted down. When the clock runs out, Nicola leaves without saying goodbye.

Frank tells Coach he learned how to live with someone he hates and asks if that's useful for the system. Coach says everything happens for a reason. Frank is surprised to get another match so soon.

Frank waits for his date. It's Amy. They're excited to see each other. Coach confirms that they've been matched again. Amy doesn't want to check their expiration date because she's sick of it after a series of short flings. Knowing they're short flings makes her feel disconnected. She actually had an out of body experience with the last one. Frank says when it's long-term, it's just as bad. It's like you're a prisoner, counting the hours. They decide not to check their time.

Frank and Amy decide to have sex, since they don't know how much time they have left and might only have ten minutes. As they lean in to kiss, Amy says one of them should get undressed first because it'll be funny. He wants it to be her, but she insists that he do it. He undresses as she teases him. After a moment, he stops undressing and kisses her. They start to undress each other and fall onto the bed.

Frank and Amy lie awake, holding hands.

Amy wonders what if the system is actually a lie and they just go along with it because they're always being told how smart it is. Frank reminds her of its success rate and she says they can't know if they're actually perfect matches. The system might just be wearing them down so they accept it when they're told the next match is the perfect one and settle. Then they have to live the rest of their lives that way. Frank finds that bleak. Frank's theory is that the system is as smart as they say it is. Their devices suck up every bit of knowledge about them. He wonders if the system can use that to have "thoughts" of its own and they're actually in a simulation. They wouldn't know. Amy pinches him to check, but he says that might be part of the programming.

Frank watches Amy sleep until she wakes up. While she's busy, he pulls out his device.

Amy and Frank take a bath together and play in the bubbles. Frank watches Amy as she leaves the bath and eyes his device in his nearby pants pocket.

Frank watches Amy sleep. He rolls over and grabs his device. He gets up and tells Coach he needs to know his expiration date with Amy. The display asks him for his thumb print and says both partners must do it at the same time. He says he won't do it because he said he wouldn't, but then he does it and sees that they have five years left. After a moment, it starts recalibrating and goes down to three years. Coach explains that since he looked and Amy didn't, it destabilized their expiration date. It goes down again to eighteen months and then two months. He asks Coach to put it back, but that's not possible even if Amy looks at it. Now they have just three week, then five days, then it stabilizes at twenty hours and starts counting down.

Amy gets up and finds Frank. She asks if he's okay and he says he's fine.

Amy skips rocks on the pond and notices each one skips exactly four times. She asks Frank if he ever has one go more than four or less. When he doesn't answer, she asks him what he's thinking about. He says it's nothing. He throws a rock and it skips four times.

Frank checks his device again. Amy, having noticed his changed mood, asks him what's wrong. He finally admits that he looked at their expiration date. She's angry because he promised he wouldn't. She still doesn't want to know. He tells her it's almost over and she asks what he means. He says they have about an hour left. She asks why he didn't tell her before and he says he didn't want to spoil the day. He also admits that him looking at it shortened their time together. She asks why he had to look at it. He says he was hoping they could overcome it somehow because he likes her, like really likes her. He's upset that she's more angry about him looking than about their time being almost up. She says that's because they agreed not to look. Frank wants to ignore the system and just keep going on. They'll jump the wall. Amy says there's nothing out there and he's ruined this. A security guard with a taser approaches as Amy walks away, telling Frank not to follow her.

Coach tells a crying Frank that everything happens for a reason and the system will assess his reaction and adjust accordingly. He says he wants to scale the wall and jump into the wilderness. Coach reminds him that that's against the rules. If he fails to comply, he'll be banished. Coach also reminds him that he has to vacate his living space when the time expires.

Amy is matched with David, but seems disinterested.

Frank walks alone.

Amy holds David's hand as he sleeps.

Frank and Amy both move through their lives. Amy goes through several more matches.

Frank says if he hadn't looked, he would have had years with Amy. Patty is going down on him and asks if they can have sex now because her jaw aches. He says yes. While they have sex, they keep talking about his relationship with Amy. Patty points out that he never apologized to Amy. He asks if it's okay for him to think about Amy while they have sex. Patty says yes, if she can think about her lost love.

Amy skips rocks. Still, each one goes exactly four jumps.

Amy swims. As she dries off, Coach informs her that her ultimate match has been found and tomorrow is her pairing day. She'll be coupled with her ultimate match and they'll leave together forever. Amy asks if Coach is allowed to tell her anything about them. Coach only says that it's not someone Amy knows already. But prior to her pairing day, she'll get a short farewell period to say goodbye to one person of her choosing. Data shows that it helps to provide closure. Amy chooses Frank. Coach says they'll meet at their usual booth at 7:30 PM. Amy asks Coach to count to four and throws her device at the pool, where it skips four times before sinking under the water.

Amy meets up with Frank and kisses him. He asks how long they have. He checks his device to see they have only 90 seconds. He tells her that the system has set his pairing day for tomorrow, like hers. He doesn't want whoever he's about to be paired with. He wants Amy. She wants him, too. Coach reminds them that failure to comply will result in banishment. She asks if he remembers where he was before he came there and he realizes he can't. It's a test. She asks him to remember the first night they were together and how he felt. He says he was safe, happy, and comfortable. If felt like something locked into place, like they'd met before. She understands the feeling because she also felt it. She thinks the world has been trying to keep them apart as some kind of test. If they rebel together, that's how they pass it. They have to go over the wall no matter what is out there. Their time runs out, but they ignore it. Everyone watches as they get up to leave together. A security guard with a taser tries to stop them, but Amy just touches her hand to the taser. Everything and everyone around them freezes. She takes Frank's hand and they walk out past everyone.

They go outside and climb the wall. As they climb, the world around them starts to pixelate.

Frank and Amy are in a room together. The number 998 hovers over them. Around them are many versions of themselves, each with a number over their heads. They watch as the other versions float up. Above them, a number counts up the completed simulations. Out of a total 1000 simulations, they rebelled 998 times.

Amy is at a club when she sees Frank on her screen. The app on her phone says he's a 99.8% match. Across the bar, Frank has Amy on his screen and sees the same thing. They look up and see each other. They smile and Amy starts to walk toward him.

Cast

• Georgina Campbell as Amy
• Joe Cole as Frank
• Gina Bramhill as Coach
• George Blagden as Lenny
• Gwyneth Keyworth as Nicola
• Jessie Cave as Edna
• Luke Manning as Mike
• Tim Prichett as Norman
• Alex Tamaro as Butch
• Che Watson as Silverfox
• Bruce Chong as David
• Anna Dobrucki as Patty

Notes and Trivia

Production

Co-creator Annabel Jones disclosed the following information about the episode: "Hang The DJ doesn't look contemporary but some of the observations and scenes that it tackles are, pertinent to the contemporary dating scene. It involves a lot of comedic moments. There's quite a lot of sex in it – not a huge amount, but come on, who's complaining? It's funny, it feels real, and has that 'Nosedive' feel – a very alternative reality visual to it. You don't know where you are or what world it is, but very quickly that becomes background – you're just there with the characters, you're seeing what they're experiencing. I think there is a lot of comedic wry observations in the protagonist's story that people will enjoy. It's beautifully acted by Georgina Campbell and Joe Cole. People will enjoy this one with a little smile."

Gallery

Episode Stills

Trailer