Black Mirror Season 4 Episode 4 Recap – Hang the DJ

A guy is walking somewhere. He talks to a device he calls coach and asks her where he will go. It orders him to proceed to the hub. Amy is in the hub. She also asks the coach how she will know who she is meeting. The device shows her date — Frank. They see and greet each other. Frank tells her he is nervous because it‘s his first time using the system. Amy tells him it’s also her first time. They click right away. They talk about what to order, but the waiter delivers their food. Amy tells Frank her food is great and asks if he wants to taste it. Frank gets slightly embarrassed, so he looks around before taking a bite of Amy’s food. They check their expiration date — 12 hours. They agree it‘s too short. The clock starts ticking, so Frank tells Amy they must eat quickly.

They are both picked up by a car that drives them to some place together. They are dropped in front of the house, numbered 473. They enter and check the house. The inside is good, and the bed is big. They still feel shy with each other. Amy goes into the bathroom and asks the system what they must do. Frank does the same. The system tells them it is up to them if they want to have sex or not. Amy and Frank lie on the bed and talk about the system. Amy thinks the system makes relationships simpler. Amy’s hand moves closer to Frank’s, and they hold each other‘s hand. The following day, they say goodbye to each other. They tell each other they had a great time. They let go of each other’s hands and go into separate cars.

Amy and Frank talk to the system. Their complaints are the same. The system tells them it‘s part of life. Frank says he feels Amy is the perfect match. The system tells him that Frank’s ultimate compatible partner has not been selected yet. It explains that their past dates are used to find their ultimate compatible partner. The system gathers data and information to help them find the perfect pair for them.

Amy and Frank both get in different relationship matches. Frank meets Nicola, her new date. He is late, so Nicola is already eating. They check their expiration date. It shows they will be together for a year. Nicola asks the system if there‘s a mistake, but it tells them there’s no mistake. Frank tells her there must be a reason. 

Amy and Lenny also check their expiration date. They will be together for nine months. After their dinner, they are also brought to a house. Amy asks him how many relationships he already has, and he answers five. Lenny tells her he will take a shower. After taking a shower, he suggests having sex immediately to break the ice. It can also determine their compatibility with each other. Amy thinks the same.

Frank and Nicola are having sex. Nicola is a bit demanding. Frank thinks he can’t stay that long with Nicola. He talks to the system and confirms that he can’t just get away from Nicola. Frank and Nicola attend an event. Frank looks around the venue and sees Amy happy with Lenny.

Amy also sees Frank at the event, so she approaches him. She sees the girl who just left and asks Frank if she‘s her new relationship. Frank says yes. Lenny sees Amy and Frank happily talking, so he approaches them. Amy introduces them to each other. Amy wants to know if she can feel what she felt when she held Frank‘s hand. She holds Lenny’s hand. Lenny wakes up, and he goes down on her. Lenny sighs loudly which turns Amy off. She tells it to him, but Lenny is unaware he makes such noise. Lenny tells her he will try not to do it again if it bothers her.

Their time with each other gets shorter until their relationship ends. Amy gets another relationship request right away. They check their expiration date — 36 hours. They have sex, then end the relationship. She gets another one with 36 hours expiration date. The cycle continues with Amy’s relationship life, but she is no longer happy about it.

Frank and Nicola’s relationship also end. Frank is about to say something to Nicola, but Nicola just stops him and leaves. Frank gets ready for his new relationship. Amy shows up, and when she sees Frank, she immediately laughs after knowing they will be in a relationship again. Frank gets his device to check their expiration date, but Amy stops him and asks him if it‘s okay not to check their expiration date. Amy tells him she‘s sick of it with all of her insensible past relationships. Frank agrees not to check it.

Inside their room, they joke around their expiration date because there might not be much time left for them. Amy starts flirting with Frank, and they finally have sex. The following day, they share their theories about how the relationship in the system works. Frank is getting anxious about how long he still has left with Amy. That night, he talks to the coach. He tells the coach he needs to know how much time he has with Amy. The device shows “TAP TO REVEAL.” Frank hesitates but still checks it — five years. He smiles after seeing the expiration date, but suddenly, the device recalibrates, down to just three years. The device repeatedly recalibrates, so Frank starts to panic. He asks the coach what is happening. The device tells him one-sided observation destabilized their expiration date. Frank wants to stop it, but the device tells him the shortening of their expiration date will stop after it recalibrates. It ends at 20 hours. Frank made a huge mistake.

The next morning, Amy and Frank go out. Amy confronts Frank and asks him what‘s going on. Frank confesses what he did. Amy gets upset. She asks Frank why he looked at it when they shook on it. Frank tells her he likes her. He genuinely wants her. And he thought they could overcome the system. Frank apologizes to Amy. Frank is also upset with himself and with the system. Amy gets into different but meaningless relationships. Frank gets into one, but all he can think about is Amy.

The device tells Amy her ultimate pair has been selected, and her pairing day is tomorrow. She asks if they can give information about her ultimate pair, but they tell her it‘s not allowed. They also tell her that before the pairing day, they will give Amy a chance to bid farewell to a person she chooses. She immediately chooses Frank. She tells the coach to count from one to four and throws the device into the swimming pool.

Amy and Frank meet at the same place. They confess they want each other and realize that the whole system is playing with them. They decide to run away together. They climb the high ladder to get to the other side. As they go up,  everything turns into a dimension where they see the number of simulations tested before they get to 99.8% results. Everything that happened was in an app. In the real world, while the song Hang the DJ plays, the real Amy and Frank finally meet.

Our Thoughts

Should we really entrust our feelings and choices to a system that finds an appropriate partner for us? Does it really help in weeding out all the unnecessary heartaches that come with the usual way of getting in and being in a relationship? Or is it an indirect violation of your freedom to choose? Human emotion is subjective, so it is difficult to contain in numbers. Yes, these days, finding someone you can connect with is tough. But does that justify surrendering your right to choose who you want to be with? Again, technology has its pros and cons. As humans who should be more intelligent on both ends of the spectrum, we should be aware of when to use technology to help our lives and when to go traditional.