Mortius - BLACK FRIDAY | Act 2 reactions!

I hope the editor notices the GWDLM characters in the finale when they make the YouTube edit 😂

Dave Ballinger

2025-10-21 12:18:00 +0000 UTC

Morty not noticing the TGWDLM characters showing up at the end hurt my soul.

Stephen Thomas

2025-10-19 01:59:20 +0000 UTC

I love the hat theory. That no harm actually came to hannah while she was wearing the hat. When the guys killed ethan, they completely ignore hannah, who was wearing the hat. And when Charlotte put the hat on, she managed to escape the mall at the end when everyone else stayed and burned.

Leanne Crook

2025-09-21 09:27:50 +0000 UTC

So they dive deeper into it in Nightmare Time and NPMD, but basically, Hatchetfield is kinda like a magnet for these supernatural things happening. Each show is based on a different horror troupe, TGWDLM being “body snatchers”, Black Friday being “eldritch horror”, and NPMD being “slasher” style. And each one ends in an “end of the world” kind of way? So each story is like an alternate timeline of which supernatural occurrence ends this ONE town (or, the whole world through the lens of this one town). And I find it FASCINATING. Full disclosure, I went into NPMD without having seen nightmare time, and I enjoyed it, but going back and watching after helped fill in the story a bit more, so if you watch that in your own time, I’d say it’s worth it!

Anarissa

2025-09-21 04:13:41 +0000 UTC

Look Nightmare Time is enjoyable but it is a lot of content to get through, I'd rather get NPMD sooner than wait a long time to get through NT. You will get a bit more out of NPMD if you watch it but it is definitely not necessary.

Dannielle

2025-09-09 07:05:01 +0000 UTC

First of all, I love that the only characters to break the fourth wall are Joey's Christmas Elf (Jingle I think, may be Jangle) within the world of the movie, Wilbur/Wiley when he hands an audience member his apple, and Hannah, who possesses psychic powers related to the Black and White. Very fun. Second, you may have been told this before, but Mariah Faith Casillas (Deb, Greenpeace Girl, and Zoe in TGWDLM) was originally going to play Lex before she got cast as Regina in Mean Girls, so Starkid had to recast her and got Angela, which as much as I love Mariah was kind of a godsend because Angela KILLS as Lex and her Starkid roles afterwards are also incredible. Third, I will join the crowd of opinions on Nightmare Time. Specifically, I agree with everyone suggesting specifically Watcher World, Forever and Always, Time Bastard, The Witch In The Web, Honey Queen, Abstinence Camp, and Yellow Jacket. Since you really like lore, those are the ones that have relevant themes and characters/locations/items that are referenced in NPMD, as well as explaining some of the lore of specifically the trilogy of fully produced musicals. The others are less important but still fun, and tie into each other, plus help flesh out the rest of Hatchetfield's weirdness. I'd say that regarding reactions, I'd personally love all of the above listed ones but The Witch in the Web is arguably the one that most makes sense if you wanted to lower your number of "required" reactions. It has the most densely packed lore, whereas the others contain only a few character introductions or more minor lore reveals. (Also Abstinence Camp has some of Kim Whalen's (Becky Barnes) best vocals ever imo, in a completely ridiculous song that has no business being that good btw, so I wanna see you react to that)

Dani

2025-09-09 05:08:46 +0000 UTC

you forgot Hot Chocolate Boy (whose name will not be said for potential NT/NPMD spoilers)

Dani

2025-09-09 04:54:29 +0000 UTC

i would love to see you watch nightmare time!! there are some numbers in npmd that are waayy more fun if you have context and extra lore. also two of my favorite hatchetfield characters are entirely contained in nightmare time so

Eliza Lowery

2025-09-09 00:33:11 +0000 UTC

I think you should take a brief interlude (or as a bonus) react to VHS Christmas Carol to release in December

DAE

2025-09-08 22:23:47 +0000 UTC

I'd recommend watching NT but it's a lot of content and I think would necessitate a different reaction format. I'd also recommend skipping the very first story, imo adds nothing

DAE

2025-09-08 21:35:54 +0000 UTC

So i watched Nightmare Time after i watched NPMD. i did got confused at times, and it did got more clear after NT with more story and characters. The songs are amazing. i really hope you watch it (you know together with us) im also from the Netherlands sorry for any mistakes ;)

michelle

2025-09-08 21:25:33 +0000 UTC

I love open endings, to me the final sound was the nuclear misile send in response for the one in Moscow, Wiggly is one of the smartest entities, he can't lose, he has his plan B, he was laughing about it in the Black and White, he outsmarted the president and P.E.I.P, of course he wouldn't let the puppets in hatchetfield win, he created a war and he feeds in its pain. (I just love Wiggly way too much, one of the best villains)

Lex Villagrán

2025-09-08 20:25:15 +0000 UTC

You can watch Needy Prudes without nightmare time, but if you do happen to do nightmare time, I would say, all of them are not necessary. There are some that are great but dont have any bearing on Nerdy Prudes. But there are some that introduce some charectors and themes that could be fun to know going into Nerdy Prudes. I will say, I watched Nerdy Prudes before Nightmare Time and I still loved the playand could follow along, but I did realize there were some smaller references I was missing, which promted me to go back and watch Nightmare Time. I do wish I had seen it first, but I think thats just prefrence, as like I said, you can watch and enjoy Nerdy Prudes without watching Nightmare Time

QweenQui

2025-09-08 19:21:32 +0000 UTC

I'm one of the many who have recommended you to watch nightmare time, I know it's not mandatory, but you will get much jokes and characters (and also stuff) about Nerdy Prudes. Right now I'm rewatching Nerdy Prudes and I was thinking about you, cause there's a musical número who mentions some characters you don't know yet, and I'm pretty sure you would like to get everything. We don't need reactions, we just want you to have the full picture before Nerdy Prudes

Lex Villagrán

2025-09-08 19:21:26 +0000 UTC

I'm joining a chorus of voices here, but I also reccommend Nightmare Time before NPMD. Some episodes are better than others, but I think you'll really enjoy them and they definately enrich NPMD! You broke up the trilogy before, and Ik this is still the Hatchetfield series, but it's certainly worth checking out!

Noel

2025-09-08 19:04:56 +0000 UTC

Love the idea of you watching NT, but it is a loot of content to get through. Even just watching a couple would be cool for reactions, like abstinence camp and perky’s buds. Plus they’d give some character intros if you wanted them. But it isn’t necessary! I’m so excited for you to get into NPMD! Black Friday is my least favorite in the trilogy; something about a lot of the music feels like it’s going on way longer than it needs to and it bothers me, even if I could listen to Dylan Saunders sing the phone book at me. Whatever you do I’m looking forward to more Hatchetfield!

Ashley D

2025-09-08 18:06:09 +0000 UTC

I HIGHLY recommend watching Nightmare Time before NPMD. Yes, you can understand and enjoy it without, but the lore that we get in Nightmare Time really enhances the show. Not to mention that while there are only one or two songs per episode, some of my absolute favorite Starkid songs come from Nightmare Time, as does my absolute FAVORITE Hatchetfield love story.

Johanna Wilson

2025-09-08 17:40:52 +0000 UTC

I think, as far as Nightmare Time goes, if you go into NPMD without having watched it, you'll still have a good time, just with some "wait, am I supposed to know these characters?" and "wait, is this location/object/reveal meant to mean something to me?" buuut most of it I think you can just get through context clues! I didn't know Nightmare Time existed when I first watched NPMD, and while I got sorta confused with some bits, I still really enjoyed it! But rewatching it after Nightmare Time really enhanced it. If you ever do wanna watch Nightmare Time, even if just on your own time and not as a reaction, most videos have two episodes in them, and the B episodes are pretty much always the lore-relevant ones, along with the few full-length episodes, if you wanna shave down the watch time a bit!

Paradoxgavel

2025-09-08 16:34:06 +0000 UTC

“Was that worth $10 USD?” Literally yes

Danny Pirker-Fruehauf

2025-09-08 14:57:10 +0000 UTC

Really disagree, seen many YouTubers react to it and it makes great reaction content. And nerdy prudes is really enriched by its viewing.

Dave Ballinger

2025-09-08 13:41:22 +0000 UTC

‘Father’s hopeless seed’ was a reference to Not My Seed. Because Mariah (Alice) was meant to play Lex in this show

Dave Ballinger

2025-09-08 13:39:41 +0000 UTC

Just in case you missed it!! Evil Triple Denim man (played by joey richter) is Wilbur Cross, General McNamara's mentor. Or as Wiggly calls him, Uncle Wiley (as he appears in the wiggly commercial)

Purrincess✨️✨️

2025-09-08 10:05:49 +0000 UTC

I think the ending was supposed to hint at the timeliness of the Hatchetfield multivariate. I think some people showed up in their The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals costumes. Also I didn't notice on my first watch thtough but the man you called an avatar of Wiggly was likely the toy salesman Uncle Wily/former agent Wilbur Cross.

Somedude Watchintv

2025-09-08 02:15:59 +0000 UTC

As much as I want to see you react to Nightmare Time, there's a lot to get through and I'd be really interested to see your take on NPMD without knowing all the lore NT adds.

Addy0302

2025-09-08 02:12:24 +0000 UTC

I get that you don't want the youtube audience to feel less than for not financially supporting but sometimes it feels like you're overcorrecting. It's like you're saying "don't worry baby(youtube audience) she(patrons) means nothing to me, you're my one and only"

Somedude Watchintv

2025-09-08 01:12:30 +0000 UTC

Yeah they confirmed that in the cast commentary video

Caspian Lavin

2025-09-07 22:50:55 +0000 UTC

There are a ton of people saying that you should watch the Nightmare Time series, but i believe it isn't really all that necessary, as its already the length of 7 musicals, isn't the best for a reaction, and would be difficult to break into parts. You can likely understand NPMD without watching them. To fully understand the characters and lore introduced though, I recommend only watching Watcher World (SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 PART 2), Forever and Always (S1 E2 P1), Time Bastard (S1 E2 P2), Queen B (S2 E1), Abstinence Camp (S2 E2 P2), and Yellow Jacket (S2 E4) on your own if possible !!! Anyhoo, wonderful reaction I'm really enjoying watching you really enjoy the Hatchetverse : ))

KR0SH4RK1N !!

2025-09-07 22:46:51 +0000 UTC

I'm sure you've already picked what you're doing between this and NPMD, but on the off chance I can influence your decision, I highly recommend either Trail to Oregon (for lots of Jeff Blim) or Starship (for Dylan Saunders killing it). Whatever you do, I'm very excited to watch!

erin bulmer

2025-09-07 21:47:33 +0000 UTC

I was really hoping you'd notice that the people who showed up in the final song were the characters from the first show. Charlotte, Ted, the boss, Bill etc etc. I really recommend you watched Nightmare Time before you move onto Nerdy Prudes because it will give you a lot of context and lore. There will be characters who appear in Nerdy Prudes who are introduced in Nightmare Time. Nightmare Time also answers some of the questions you've had from this show that have gone unanswered in THIS show

Rebecca Carter

2025-09-07 20:56:52 +0000 UTC

Wiggly did not win, but neither did they. WWIII still happened, even if they didn’t give birth to wiggly

Ratatosk Clarke

2025-09-07 20:35:45 +0000 UTC

My favorite character in Black Friday is the nuke

Ratatosk Clarke

2025-09-07 20:33:46 +0000 UTC

Ah I remember the first time I finished Black Friday…I was also confused by the ending . Now I do understand if you can’t react to it since it’s like a 6 episode series with each ep being over an hour long. But even if it’s just on your own I highly recommend going through nightmare time before starting NPMD. It explores concepts and characters introduced in the previous hatchetfield works as well as introduce ones that are brought back in NPMD. A verifiable well of lore content and groundwork for more thorough analysis. Also it’s got some absolute bangers. In the end it’s all up to you and NPMD can still be enjoyed without it I just like proselytizing for nightmare time. GO [REDACTED]!

Emily

2025-09-07 19:57:25 +0000 UTC

Absolutely agree. Black friday is my favorite of the three, just barely edging out TGWDLM.

Ratatosk Clarke

2025-09-07 19:21:52 +0000 UTC

I don't think a sad or hopeless ending can make any story pointless if it's journey was beautiful enough to tell. "To know how it ends and still begin to sing it again, as if it might turn out this time".

Sapph1cSph1nx

2025-09-07 18:45:41 +0000 UTC

SO SO SO happy to see somebody love BF as much as - if not more than - TGWDLM. Whenever people talk about BF, they always bring up it's weaknesses or it gets compared to the nostalgic greatness of TGWDLM, or the sheer powerhouse of production that is NPMD. But I've personally never felt the weaknesses outweigh the strengths even a little. Maybe it's just my ADHD or my familiarity with the plot, but I've never found the pacing of it to be an issue because it's otherwise just so enjoyable that I don't care to dwell on anything except for how fun and meaningful it is.

Sapph1cSph1nx

2025-09-07 18:40:41 +0000 UTC

Seconded. Adore TTO and can't wait to see his reaction to it.

Sapph1cSph1nx

2025-09-07 17:58:54 +0000 UTC

Nightmare Time episodes are great, but likely not good for reaction since it's basically Zoom table-reads they did experimentally during the pandemic to fill out lore. It's fun to see the Starkids' living spaces and what costumes and wigs they improvise, but they're very inside baseball - like watching a backer's audition for short plays. I haven't seen all of them, but I think they usually only have one song in them, which is pre-produced like a music video since they weren't able to stage them live.

Hanon Ondricek

2025-09-07 17:46:10 +0000 UTC

Black Friday is much better produced for video and the songwriting is an improvement over GWDLM, and I suspect they had to do a lot of edits due to the cast being sick during the filming days, which I think is what led to NPMD being that much more awesome since they learned how to film a show with good cameras and make it sound great with planning and post-production and vocal sweetening. In contrast GWDLM kind of feels like it was an afterthought to film it last minute - they just set up several random cameras and used ambient audio recorded in the theater instead of from the sound board...which I think was one of the reasons they wanted to revive that show and make fixes and get a better pro-shot of it to bring it up to the standards of the other two.

Hanon Ondricek

2025-09-07 17:39:51 +0000 UTC

I have a love/hate relationship with Black Friday. I've tried to watch it so many times but never made it to the finale of Act One. The performances are stellar but scene to scene it's hard to know who to root for, and it's difficult to care about them because the focus is sporadic and the tone is nihilistic - especially when the act one finale involves five new characters outside of Hatchetfield in what feels like a completely different musical. The ending makes it all pointless anyway; unlike the annihilation in GWDLM which feels inevitable and correct for that story, the nuke-drop at the end of Black Friday just feels like a reverse deus ex machina to resolve a messy plot. Yay, Lex saved herself and her sister and defeated the sub-boss with a magic gun out of nowhere, but oh well. Much of this is wonderful if you know Starkid and Hatchetfield lore (and due to the parallel-universe nature of the stories, nothing is supposed to matter and the series is meant to be an epic about encounters with the LIB) but If you look at this musical as someone seeing a show out of context it is weirdly frustrating. GWDLM and NPMD feel much more self-contained for a casual viewer and are, IMHO, better-structured and satisfying shows. That said, the opening of act two makes me understand why this is many people's favorite and I agree with Mortius that the sequence of "Santa's Going to High School" as a movie juxtaposed with Tom and Becky's song and Kim Whalen throwing down the most riveting acting performance and vocals along with Dylan is an extreme highlight. I just wish Black Friday could fire on all cylinders as consistently as that throughout.

Hanon Ondricek

2025-09-07 17:08:42 +0000 UTC

I was wondering if he'd notice Charlotte in her blue kitty sweatshirt. I heard a minor spoiler about the GWDLM revival: Two of the chorus townspeople that show up in "La Dee Dah Day" are Max Jagerman and Ruth Fleming in their recognizable costumes.

Hanon Ondricek

2025-09-07 16:56:12 +0000 UTC

I adore Becky. She reminds me so much of Beverly from IT, but is entirely her own person.

Kory Misun

2025-09-07 09:33:37 +0000 UTC

The only reason Tim was in the car is that he was played by Hannah's actor and they couldn't ha e both on stage at the same time.

Corvacks

2025-09-07 09:17:18 +0000 UTC

vhs christmas carol(s) is really amazing, its so tightly written. Like, genuinely, best christmas carol adaptation since muppets.

AnglingForChoices

2025-09-07 08:38:16 +0000 UTC

Genuinely don't know how some people consider TGWDLM to be better than Black Friday. In my opinion, each show is drastically better than the previous. It's really impressive how they stepped up after each one.

Bretton B

2025-09-07 08:34:01 +0000 UTC

"What if tomorrow comes" is Hannah seeing all the different timelines that are happening in alternate realities. With the fourth wall break (Hannah seeing us) we can hypothesize that our reality is also one of many in the Hatchetfield world. The Black and White is a place outside all reality; it is the one constant. There has been an event that split the timelines; there haven't always been different timelines.There is a fourth Hatchetfield musical already written, it will feature my favorite Nightmare Time characters who you don't know yet. It's not in production yet, they're letting it sit for a bit to avoid Hatchetfield fatigue.

TiaMattia2

2025-09-07 08:04:32 +0000 UTC

This has been great, thank you! I know there are many people in the comments telling you to watch nightmare time before npmd but there's really no need to do that. Npmd works by itself just fine and you can watch nightmare time later for more lore if you want. I really hope you're doing vhs christmas carols at some point, it's my favourite starkid show! :)

scarlett

2025-09-07 07:59:38 +0000 UTC

Can’t wait for NPMD, such a good show!!!

Tiffany T

2025-09-07 07:12:54 +0000 UTC

About the ending... Did you notice characters from The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals in the background? About Nerdy Prudes Must Die and Nightmare Time... Nightmare Time is not mandatory for understanding and enjoying NPMD. However, Nightmare Time is absolutely mandatory if you want a better understanding of the three musicals. Some of the stories are more dense with lore than the musicals. Some episodes have music videos, but Nightmare Time itself is not a musical.

Sunayama

2025-09-07 06:07:15 +0000 UTC

I really recommend you watch Nightmare Time before Nerdy Prudes Must Die, even if you don't react to it on camera. You miss out on a lot of characterization and lore if you don't. At the very least I would say Watcher World, Forever and Always, Time Bastard, The Witch In The Web, Honey Queen, Abstinence Camp, and Yellow Jacket. Those are the more essential ones. They're all worth watching though. The first episode is a little rough cuz it was live but the rest of them are better and season 2 is better than 1.

kayla ling

2025-09-07 04:26:44 +0000 UTC

so no nightmare time? throws phone breaks skateboard but seriously, as much as i wanna see your reaction (esp to nmt ep#2) you may want to consider watching them on your own for the additional lore

Mikayla Welker

2025-09-07 04:23:16 +0000 UTC

Becky's monologue and Take Me Back legitimately cemented the reason why Black Friday is my favorite out of the Hatchetfield trilogy, I'm so glad someone freaked out as much as I did because of the acting and the vocals. I loved Becky's monologue so much that I used it for a teaching demo I did for a Playwriting class. I played the scene out as an example of writing masterful dialogue and tension. To this day, it's so chilling!

atria

2025-09-07 03:13:56 +0000 UTC

OM-Gosh! I never thought about that! It seemed strange that Becky would inject herself instead of Hannah in such a huge miss there, but I never thought of the hat protecting Hannah!

White Tiger

2025-09-07 02:54:59 +0000 UTC

ALSO STARSHIP MENTION RAAAAAHHHHH

Chris

2025-09-07 02:50:20 +0000 UTC

So I was thinking more about it while in the shower. In talking about this with you guys on here, and thinking on it myself, If the ending is indicative of Hatchetfield being stuck in a time loop, what if it's not just a loop of Black Friday, but a loop of the events of The Man who Didn't Like Musicals, Nightmare Time AND Nerdy Prudes Must Die?! The entire Hatchetfield series?! That would explain how we have Paul, Emma, Mr. Davidson, Todd and all the rest looking down at themselves! It's not just their outfits that have changed, they have been restored to life yet again! Back to the beginning of The Man who Didn't Like Musicals, since that was the start of it, which also asks the question, did the meteor also somehow cause the time loop?! That also explains how we have Paul and Emma alive in the beginning of Black Friday AND together. Black Friday is from a sequence of events that resulted in both Paul and Emma surviving the events of The Man who Didn't Like Musicals and not becoming infected. Hannah's song "What if Tomorrow Comes" is about literally the title of the song, what IF, THIS TIME, they get out of the time loop? Then, they all die, as they're about to be nuked. "Tomorrow will come Tomorrow won't come Will tomorrow come today? And turn the light off. " And right before the bomb is dropped: "What if Tomorrow........." :o

White Tiger

2025-09-07 02:47:32 +0000 UTC

A comment I found on Youtube! On Team Starkid's official posting of the Musical. @GCWeber 5 years ago Headcanon: Santa Claus is Goin' to High School was written by the alternate timeline version of Professor Hidgens. 15K Reply 85 replies I could totally see that.

White Tiger

2025-09-07 02:45:05 +0000 UTC

Hi, first time commenter here! I’m glad you’ve been enjoying the Hatchetfield series! As some people have mentioned, there are two (sort of) web series that came out before Nerdy Prudes: Nightmare Time 1 and Nightmare Time 2. They aren’t necessary to watch before NPMD, but they may be enjoyable to watch in your own time :) The final episode of NMT2 is genuinely phenomenal. It has a performance from Angela that leaves me wowed every single time I watch it. Lauren and Joey killed it as well. I can’t recommend it enough!

Lance Bass on the Circle (Ella W)

2025-09-07 02:39:46 +0000 UTC

about the magic hat: ethan dies after giving it to her, becky injects herself instead of hannah, then when linda gives it to charlotte, shes the only wiggly cultist to make it out of the fire… and in what if tomorrow comes you can spot ted, charlotte, and a character from NPMD all together holding hands. you also see bill and mr. davidson i believe but those im unsure

Violet Casella

2025-09-07 02:38:42 +0000 UTC

2:02:30 part of this is bc there's no workshop period for Starkid shows. So sometimes when there's weird pacing is usually bc there was no workshop period where they removed or added things

Chris

2025-09-07 02:37:13 +0000 UTC

i thought that too!!! she brings up jane in the previous conversation so i was like, yeah shes poking at that wound lol

Violet Casella

2025-09-07 02:36:12 +0000 UTC

What If Tomorrow Comes is my favorite song out of the whole musical. It's so ominous and haunting. At first, I didn't understand. It took many rewatches to realize that Hannah can see the future, but the fact that she wasn't sure if there would be a tomorrow at all says a lot. If we see what happened to the world, how WWIII broke out, I saw the blackout ending as the nuke falling on them as a retaliation strike...I typed this right when you read that haha. NPMD is my favorite out of them so I am excited for you to get to it! I am super curious to see what you do for the next show...

logicaldreamer

2025-09-07 02:35:24 +0000 UTC

after NPMD I personally would love to see The Trail To Oregon for a next StarKid musical, it's my favorite of all of theirs.

Slydude71

2025-09-07 02:34:12 +0000 UTC

Also, I always thought when Tom says “and now, she’s doing the same” the ‘she’ was now Lex. (I could very well be wrong, but that was my interpretation 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Mikayla Prushik

2025-09-07 02:20:11 +0000 UTC

I feel like I take the ending two diff ways. Spoilers for anyone reading comments before they watch haha bad habit! Well. I think it ends with them all being killed. No matter how you spin it. But the What If Tomorrow song I feel can be taken two ways. One is an internal look from Hannah’s POV and her inner monologue without her struggle to communicate. We see how she sees the ppl around her. How she visualizes her world. She knows something bad is coming but can’t express it. And then it comes. And the other way is an almost meta look at the concept of what IS “tomorrow” if everyone is dead? Time is a construct. Tomorrow is a construct. Does “tomorrow” become today if the world ends right then? LOVE this musical. It’s my fav of all of theirs. So glad you liked it. Weirdly stoked to watch ur reaction over again haha. I like these long videos

Broody Gaming

2025-09-07 02:17:37 +0000 UTC

Okay, but Ethan died immediately after giving away the magic hat. And there was no real reason for Becky to miss when she tried to drug Hannah.

Ashley Evers

2025-09-07 02:14:01 +0000 UTC

What other show are you watching, if you don't mind me asking.? Another Starkid show or something else? If you can't/don't want to answer that's fine! I recommend Cinderella's Castle though! Also, you may want to watch a few eps of nightmare time before you watch NPMD. To me, the best one to watch is 'The Witch and The Web' because it has really good lore. (Added bonuses: focus on Hannah, Tells you more about Webby.) First series as a Patreon YAYYY!

Simsl0ver101

2025-09-07 02:09:35 +0000 UTC

Exactly. Not only does Cross refer to John with familiarity, but he also calls him 'John.' It feels like they've been foiling each other's plans for years.

Kory Misun

2025-09-07 02:07:28 +0000 UTC

What If Tomorrow comes is honestly a great, purposefully disquieting closing. It leaves a lot of questions and not a lot of answers, and a lot of hints to a wider universe that the audience hasn't seen before this point. I'm pretty certain that's the reason a lot of us want you to watch Nightmare Time, because in a lot of ways it feels like an answer to a lot of the questions the song raises.

Holly Zandstra

2025-09-07 02:00:13 +0000 UTC

Your opinion on Black Friday sounding rough is exactly why I like this MUCH better than the cast recording. Also, as an older sister, Black Friday gets me every time (specifically “Did I need her more than she needed me”) even though there is less of an age difference between me and my sister than Lex and Hannah (plus my parents don’t suck 😂)

Mikayla Prushik

2025-09-07 01:58:38 +0000 UTC

In case you did not catch it Hannah's premonition start as early as the every first song. "Cross" is a referring to Wilber Cross. The same Wilber that became Uncle Willie after stepping into the Black and White. "Bad blood" is referring the Ethan's future death outside the cineplex. You can hear her yell bad blood when Ethan is attacked/killed by the shoppers.

Pumpkin Pumpkin

2025-09-07 01:57:59 +0000 UTC

My personal theory on the last song is that she is having a prenomition of the bombs. She sings "Tomorrow will come Tomorrow won't come Will tomorrow come today? And turn the light off" and "What if tomorrow comes to break the dawn And take the night away What if tomorrow- What if tomorrow comes to break the dawn And there's no one to stay" I simply thought this was her seeing a danger coming tomorrow that will cause their deaths, thus breaking the dawn and there's no one to stay that will remain alive. I hope this comment make sense.

Pumpkin Pumpkin

2025-09-07 01:56:28 +0000 UTC

Something that we both missed in our first watch throughs (it took me the third one to realize this) is that Joey Richter’s villain character is Wilbur Cross, General McNamara’s old mentor who went crazy by going into the Black and White. He’s the same person as Uncle Wiley, and he even says he used to be a colonel. He was a colonel in PEIP. Thought you would find that interesting. 😊

Andrew Levin

2025-09-07 01:54:38 +0000 UTC

So excited to see NPMD!!

Cassie

2025-09-07 01:35:47 +0000 UTC

Glad you liked it! Pretty sure the uneasy feeling at the end of not really knowing how to deal with it is intentional. I was hoping you would get it when you figured out it sounded like a plane since Paul had just reminded the audience that Moscow blew up and it might be WWIII. As someone who lives in a place where commercial planes are flying overhead constantly, my mind instantly went to a fighter jet since it sounded too fast and close to the ground to be a regular plane. I like the time loop theory and someone else mentioned that the Prologue song has the ticking motif too, which I never noticed. I will contradict everyone here by saying you don't need to watch Nightmare Time to understand NPMD. I didn't watch them because I wasn't a fan of the zoom format and I still got 90% of the stuff in NPMD. In 1 song they do a bunch of references and 2 or 3 of them are Nightmare Time characters, but it's perfectly understandable and fun without knowing them first. The 3 (sort of) main characters show up in Nightmare Time first, but their characterization is different in NPMD and they're reestablished in the stage show so it doesn't matter if you didn't see them in Nightmare Time first. The only one that I would suggest (if you have time) is The Witch in the Web since that gives pretty much all the background stuff needed for understanding the Black and White. Others give you more context of the wacky things going on in Hatchetfield because of (thing explained in NPMD) but since you're busy with school stuff and play stuff and other reactions, they really aren't essential if you don't have time

Allison Watts

2025-09-07 00:52:29 +0000 UTC

Can't believe its over already, your reactions really resparked my love for this musical! Ive seen loads of theories for the ending. The way I see it is there's all these different realities, so by leaving it vague, it gives us as an audience the space to decided what we think that noise was/happened at the end. Also can't wait to see NPMD! That was my first intro to Starkid I've rewarched it like 20 times by now😅

LeoTheDungeonNerd

2025-09-07 00:52:11 +0000 UTC

(This might sound mean but bare with me) Something I love that took me a while to notice, is "What Tim Wants" from Act 1 is a bit of a weaker song musically and lyrically, which parallels Tom's vulnerability to Wiggly and his misunderstanding of what Tim Actually wants. Then in Act 2, "If I Fail You" is an incredible song that's more complex and frankly has better lyricism that shows Tom's character growth through the show. Or maybe I'm reading too much into my opinions of those songs 😅.

Makayla

2025-09-07 00:44:51 +0000 UTC

I pray that you get to Starkid's VHS Christmas Carol at some point, When You Want To. I need McNamara's pep talks every day. Just sit and listen to Dylan's song with me. <3 Mortius missed the 'slim,' but yeah it was amazing. I believe this is the first song that implicates that Jane wasn't perfect either, that she'd get a rise out of Tom once they were drunk and emotionally hurt him. PS, how the holy eff did Linda find out or come to the conclusion that Becky can't have children? Won't is a possibility, but can't? Eat poo Linda, you're the worst beautiful woman ever. Fun fact, Charlotte from Guy is the one who gets Hannah's hat, and makes it to the end of the musical this time. Thanks for the magic hat, Ethan. The subtitle during Wiggly is incorrect, it's supposed to be 'JAM!' which is why everyone has a spontaneous dance break. It's great how the lights flash red and green: for Christmas, but also for greed and wrath which has led to all the riots and killing. Jon and Lauren only had a moment to quick-change for the last time, so major kudos to them. Especially to Lauren, who went from Linda to Emma at breakneck speed. I also love that Hannah's learned from McNamara from the Beyond about the importance of wearing a watch. I'm not surprised that Ted and Paul didn't hug, but Ted definitely patted his shoulder as a final goodbye. Then, Ted spends the last few seconds holding Charlotte. And WAIT, he's holding Pete's hand too! Personally I'd be holding Bill's hand but that's just personal preference. The thought that breaks my heart the most is that during the Final Few Moments, Tim, who only wanted his dad to be safe, is sitting in the car waiting for his family to come back. He's just all by himself in the car, scared and watching everything burn down! He doesn't even get to see his father again in their last moments, and that's cosmically unfair to me. Anyone remember the PEIP member saying that they needed to prepare for a counterstrike?

Kory Misun

2025-09-07 00:44:49 +0000 UTC

I agree with most of the comments here - Hatchetfield is very lore heavy which in my opinion makes it extremely re-watchable. I loved it as it was coming out and I think the shows are great as stand-alones but gaining the context of the universe from Nightmare Time really explained a lot of things that I think feel a little random in the first two shows. I also don't know if this was ever explained but the shows were actually written in reverse to when they were released with NPMD actually being written first and (I believe) TGWDLM actually being written last. The Lang's had a lot of Hatchetfield lore in their heads when they wrote the first two musicals. They are really in depth story-tellers and love world building and side character deep-dives NIghtmare Time isn't necessary for Nerdy Prudes, I actually didn't watch NMT until after NPMD was released, but if you want that context and don't feel like it would be good channel content, maybe have Kaylie (sorry if that's not how you spell your name!) or someone give you a summary of the important parts from it. Or just watch it on your own! They have songs but they aren't quite as musical as your usual content so I'm not sure. Anyways! sorry this is so long, I love your reactions very much and I also love these shows so I like to info dump lol

Alexandra

2025-09-07 00:44:24 +0000 UTC

"???" Is the right reaction to the ending of this musical. Im pretty sure they never confirmed what this sound is but retaliation is the most common assumption. assumption. Also I had no idea the last song was a reference to another song (we dont really celebrate Christmas where im from, so I never heard much of the songs) Ive watched a lot of reactions to this musical and no one mentioned it (from those I've watched) so thanks for that! I loved your reaction to this musical and all of Starkid so far. Excited to see which musical will be next and your reaction to NPMD. I think you'll love it. (I hope you'll watch Nightmare Time at some point to get all the lore, because it goes deep. But you dont have to.)

Etsie_99

2025-09-07 00:32:42 +0000 UTC

Hehe I've been waiting for his reaction to the rest of it!

White Tiger

2025-09-07 00:29:19 +0000 UTC

Hannah looking at the camera is 100% intentional

Robin

2025-09-07 00:26:17 +0000 UTC

I also think Lex's song while being choked to death by Sherman is so tragic. It really had an effect on me when she has to go BACK into Sherman's arms to be choked and KILLED after that song. It was almost like she'd escaped for a time there but nope! :( Fortunately it's one of our favourite characters to the rescue! :D

White Tiger

2025-09-07 00:22:38 +0000 UTC

Yeah I was surprised he didn't notice the costume changes. I thought for sure he might notice Mr. Davidson or Todd!

White Tiger

2025-09-07 00:15:57 +0000 UTC

Oh Wow! I never made that connection about the show starting with a big bang. Yeah, it totally could be intended to be a time loop......... Dang.

White Tiger

2025-09-07 00:15:14 +0000 UTC

One of the things I notice, presumedly a big point, is that everyone's outfits are changed to their "Guy who didn't like musicals" outfits, and they all look down at themselves, like that's something that happened that they themselves did not do or expect. I have no idea what to make of that though.

White Tiger

2025-09-07 00:09:27 +0000 UTC

I'm sure people have brought this up already but after BF and covid happened StarKid did a series of script reading as a sort of web series called Nightmare Time, to flesh different characters and expanding the lore. Some of the stuff first brought up in NMT and is then referenced in NPMD. While the show is understandable without the knowledge from NMT it'll help and prevent you from asking "Hey why is the audience screaming for no reason?" If you don't have time to watch them all the ones with key lore for NPMD are S1 Ep1 part 2 Watcher World, S1 Ep2 part 1&2 Forever and Always & Time Bastard, S1 Ep3 part 2 The Witch in the Web, S2 Ep1 Honey Queen, S2 Ep2 part 2 Abstinence Camp, and kinda S2 Ep4 Yellow Jacket.

Abby

2025-09-06 23:59:28 +0000 UTC

I do highly recommend watching Nightmare Time so you understand a lot of the context and lore gearing up for Nerdy Prudes Must Die. I’m probably going to watch some myself after this. Love the lore analysis as always!

Cerulean

2025-09-06 23:59:18 +0000 UTC

@1:50:18: Oh hey Mortius, didn't know you worked at the cineplex! Can I get two tickets to Santa Claus is Going to High School?

Gabriel the Sorcerer

2025-09-06 23:53:40 +0000 UTC

Okay so, to add to what was written in the spoiled paragraph, the last song is basically everyone coming out of Wiggly’s mind control and reuniting with each other, including people who we have not seen in this show yet but exist in the Hatchetfield universe, like Ted, Charlotte and Bill from TGWDLM. These are people singing a song of hope of a tomorrow that will hopefully come in a few minutes, after the hell they lived today, but also deeply rooted in insecurities of “what if tomorrow doesn’t come”. It might also be foreshadowing of the fact that tomorrow will not actually come cause they are getting nuked, hence the reason why it’s Hannah singing it. MY TWO CENTS eheh

Mars (Martina)

2025-09-06 23:52:39 +0000 UTC

I’m so glad you loved this show, even if the ending seemed to throw you off a bit (which is so valid lol) Two things I wanted to point out! One, in Wiggle, if you pay close attention to the part where they’re repeating “when Wiggly comes”, you can hear the melody of Carol of the Bells! Two, near the ending there are several cameos from TGWDLM! I don’t know if you didn’t see them or you just didn’t say anything because you were so invested (again, valid), but Charlotte, Ted, Bill, Mr. Davidson, the Homeless Guy (I know it’s rude to call him that but there’s a reason I can’t say his name. Hint hint Nightmare Time, Time Bastard!!) You can even catch a glimpse of a certain pocket-sized squirrel if you look close enough :) Can’t wait to see your reaction to Nerdy Prudes Must Die and maaaaaybe Nightmare Time if it fits into your schedule? I promise it’s worth it! Either way, thanks for the banger video! I forgot how much I loved Black Friday.

Lindsey

2025-09-06 23:49:54 +0000 UTC

While the ending isn't crystal clear I still like the show and the song "What if Tomorrow?" is just so pretty in a hauntingly beautiful way.

Abby

2025-09-06 23:46:26 +0000 UTC

I’m gonna being the remount to OAR!!

Mortius

2025-09-06 23:45:06 +0000 UTC

OOOOOOOOOH I love the alt realities theory

Mortius

2025-09-06 23:43:45 +0000 UTC

Here's my theory: The last song was Hannah using her power to see the other realities. "Tomorrow will come" in some realities, but won't in others. Also, I believe that the sound, and the thing they all looked up at, in the end, was a retaliation - a nuke, courtesy of Russia. Edit: Never mind, I typed this before he read the ending explanation!

KarmaGlitch

2025-09-06 23:43:20 +0000 UTC

Yes, this! Like you said it’s not required those episodes answer a lot of questions, establish some really cool lore, and there will be throwbacks to them in NPMD that will really pay off!

Lindsey

2025-09-06 23:41:24 +0000 UTC

I really hope you'll check out some of Starry (the musical) songs (if not the full album) for more Dylan Saunders singing - he really works so well as Van Gogh, and the lyricism by Matt Dahan (pianist in Hatchetfield series) is so beautiful

universefulloflove

2025-09-06 23:39:49 +0000 UTC

I totally get why you wanna pause the Starkid series, just warning you that when the remount of TGWDLM comes online in like December/early 2026 your comments will be full of questions if you'll react to it :D

Paula Höll

2025-09-06 23:37:16 +0000 UTC

how i interpret the ending is that like, lining it up with the guy who didn't like musicals, the endings are incomplete and tragic. paul gets zombie-fied and the ending number is emma begging for help and breaking the fourth wall to do so, in this show it's an entire number about the uncertainty of tomorrow and the tragedy that they make it to midnight but midnight is the end of all things. i love solid and complete/fulfilling endings but i also love that starkid isn't afraid to shy away from ambiguous/unclear/borderline unsatisfying endings as well, they don't do it all the time but when they do it really leaves you sitting there like "oh damn. oh wow." and that's an introspective place that i love lingering in afterwards. also, SO excited for you to watch NPMD! out of all the hatchetfield stuff NPMD is my absolutely favorite and for a solid three months after it was released the only thing i listened to was the soundtrack lmao

ariona leilani

2025-09-06 23:29:36 +0000 UTC

Mortius: "I didn't think about that! " Me in my head: "You didn't think about the implications! " :D

White Tiger

2025-09-06 23:27:58 +0000 UTC

My personal hypothesis (I don't think it was ever officially confirmed or disputed) is that Black Friday is a time loop. The two clues that got me to think this are both in the last song "What if Tomorrow Comes". 1) As you also got the similar feeling the lyrics "Tomorrow will come Tomorrow won't come Tomorrow come today" sounds like the time may tick back to the beginning of the day. 2) It is more noticeable if you listen to the album on repeat, but the first song (Prologue - start of the musical) starts the same way "What if Tomorrow Comes" ends. With a ticking clock and the same melody in both before there is a loud "bang" in the prologue and Uncle Willy starts his commercial. 3) Small spoiler to Nightmare Times ------ SPOILER ----- We know that that sort of phenomenon is possible in the Hatchetfield Universe.

Roman 'Arathir' Mikala

2025-09-06 23:26:47 +0000 UTC

yeah both tgwdlm and black friday end with you thinking the good guys sort of won only to pull the rug at the last second

whisp-error

2025-09-06 23:22:24 +0000 UTC

The fact that most of the cast was sick during this recording and still put out a great performance. WOW.

Loupetron

2025-09-06 23:21:07 +0000 UTC

You might wanna rewatch that ending song again, because if you pay attention to the costumes, you might see some very familiar faces from elsewhere in Hatchetfield :)

Michelle Stewart

2025-09-06 23:19:05 +0000 UTC

Btw before you watch NPMD, you might want to watch some of the Nightmare Times. You don't have to watch all of them but Watcher World, Forever and Always, Time Bastard, Honey Queen, Yellow Jacket and Abstinence Camp would all add some context, though it absolutely isn't necessary

Tommy

2025-09-06 23:08:42 +0000 UTC

Why do I have to be at work right now😫😫😫

EepLeep

2025-09-06 22:30:11 +0000 UTC

all in one lets goooo

Temmiehoi

2025-09-06 22:27:16 +0000 UTC

So excited to see what you think of the rest of Act 2!!!! I've never clicked on a video so fast lol!

Dani Hatch

2025-09-06 22:26:15 +0000 UTC

I'm so excited, I love this so much!! Act 2 has some of my favourite parts within Black Friday. Maybe even the Hatchetfield Universe

willow boughton

2025-09-06 22:26:12 +0000 UTC

BLACK FRIDAY | Act 2 reactions!

Comments

I hope the editor notices the GWDLM characters in the finale when they make the YouTube edit 😂

Morty not noticing the TGWDLM characters showing up at the end hurt my soul.

I love the hat theory. That no harm actually came to hannah while she was wearing the hat. When the guys killed ethan, they completely ignore hannah, who was wearing the hat. And when Charlotte put the hat on, she managed to escape the mall at the end when everyone else stayed and burned.

Look Nightmare Time is enjoyable but it is a lot of content to get through, I'd rather get NPMD sooner than wait a long time to get through NT. You will get a bit more out of NPMD if you watch it but it is definitely not necessary.

you forgot Hot Chocolate Boy (whose name will not be said for potential NT/NPMD spoilers)

i would love to see you watch nightmare time!! there are some numbers in npmd that are waayy more fun if you have context and extra lore. also two of my favorite hatchetfield characters are entirely contained in nightmare time so

I think you should take a brief interlude (or as a bonus) react to VHS Christmas Carol to release in December

I'd recommend watching NT but it's a lot of content and I think would necessitate a different reaction format. I'd also recommend skipping the very first story, imo adds nothing

So i watched Nightmare Time after i watched NPMD. i did got confused at times, and it did got more clear after NT with more story and characters. The songs are amazing. i really hope you watch it (you know together with us) im also from the Netherlands sorry for any mistakes ;)

“Was that worth $10 USD?” Literally yes

Really disagree, seen many YouTubers react to it and it makes great reaction content. And nerdy prudes is really enriched by its viewing.

‘Father’s hopeless seed’ was a reference to Not My Seed. Because Mariah (Alice) was meant to play Lex in this show

Just in case you missed it!! Evil Triple Denim man (played by joey richter) is Wilbur Cross, General McNamara's mentor. Or as Wiggly calls him, Uncle Wiley (as he appears in the wiggly commercial)

As much as I want to see you react to Nightmare Time, there's a lot to get through and I'd be really interested to see your take on NPMD without knowing all the lore NT adds.

I get that you don't want the youtube audience to feel less than for not financially supporting but sometimes it feels like you're overcorrecting. It's like you're saying "don't worry baby(youtube audience) she(patrons) means nothing to me, you're my one and only"

Yeah they confirmed that in the cast commentary video

I'm sure you've already picked what you're doing between this and NPMD, but on the off chance I can influence your decision, I highly recommend either Trail to Oregon (for lots of Jeff Blim) or Starship (for Dylan Saunders killing it). Whatever you do, I'm very excited to watch!

Wiggly did not win, but neither did they. WWIII still happened, even if they didn’t give birth to wiggly

My favorite character in Black Friday is the nuke

Absolutely agree. Black friday is my favorite of the three, just barely edging out TGWDLM.

I don't think a sad or hopeless ending can make any story pointless if it's journey was beautiful enough to tell. "To know how it ends and still begin to sing it again, as if it might turn out this time".

Seconded. Adore TTO and can't wait to see his reaction to it.

I was wondering if he'd notice Charlotte in her blue kitty sweatshirt. I heard a minor spoiler about the GWDLM revival: Two of the chorus townspeople that show up in "La Dee Dah Day" are Max Jagerman and Ruth Fleming in their recognizable costumes.

I adore Becky. She reminds me so much of Beverly from IT, but is entirely her own person.

The only reason Tim was in the car is that he was played by Hannah's actor and they couldn't ha e both on stage at the same time.

vhs christmas carol(s) is really amazing, its so tightly written. Like, genuinely, best christmas carol adaptation since muppets.

Genuinely don't know how some people consider TGWDLM to be better than Black Friday. In my opinion, each show is drastically better than the previous. It's really impressive how they stepped up after each one.

Can’t wait for NPMD, such a good show!!!

so no nightmare time? *throws phone* *breaks skateboard* but seriously, as much as i wanna see your reaction (esp to nmt ep#2) you may want to consider watching them on your own for the additional lore

OM-Gosh! I never thought about that! It seemed strange that Becky would inject herself instead of Hannah in such a huge miss there, but I never thought of the hat protecting Hannah!

ALSO STARSHIP MENTION RAAAAAHHHHH

A comment I found on Youtube! On Team Starkid's official posting of the Musical. @GCWeber 5 years ago Headcanon: Santa Claus is Goin' to High School was written by the alternate timeline version of Professor Hidgens. 15K Reply 85 replies I could totally see that.

2:02:30 part of this is bc there's no workshop period for Starkid shows. So sometimes when there's weird pacing is usually bc there was no workshop period where they removed or added things

i thought that too!!! she brings up jane in the previous conversation so i was like, yeah shes poking at that wound lol

after NPMD I personally would love to see The Trail To Oregon for a next StarKid musical, it's my favorite of all of theirs.

Also, I always thought when Tom says “and now, she’s doing the same” the ‘she’ was now Lex. (I could very well be wrong, but that was my interpretation 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Okay, but Ethan died *immediately* after giving away the magic hat. And there was no real reason for Becky to miss when she tried to drug Hannah.

Exactly. Not only does Cross refer to John with familiarity, but he also calls him 'John.' It feels like they've been foiling each other's plans for years.

So excited to see NPMD!!

Hehe I've been waiting for his reaction to the rest of it!

Hannah looking at the camera is 100% intentional

Yeah I was surprised he didn't notice the costume changes. I thought for sure he might notice Mr. Davidson or Todd!

Oh Wow! I never made that connection about the show starting with a big bang. Yeah, it totally could be intended to be a time loop......... Dang.

I do highly recommend watching Nightmare Time so you understand a lot of the context and lore gearing up for Nerdy Prudes Must Die. I’m probably going to watch some myself after this. Love the lore analysis as always!

@1:50:18: Oh hey Mortius, didn't know you worked at the cineplex! Can I get two tickets to Santa Claus is Going to High School?

While the ending isn't crystal clear I still like the show and the song "What if Tomorrow?" is just so pretty in a hauntingly beautiful way.

I’m gonna being the remount to OAR!!

OOOOOOOOOH I love the alt realities theory

Yes, this! Like you said it’s not *required* those episodes answer a lot of questions, establish some really cool lore, and there will be throwbacks to them in NPMD that will really pay off!

I really hope you'll check out some of Starry (the musical) songs (if not the full album) for more Dylan Saunders singing - he really works so well as Van Gogh, and the lyricism by Matt Dahan (pianist in Hatchetfield series) is so beautiful

I totally get why you wanna pause the Starkid series, just warning you that when the remount of TGWDLM comes online in like December/early 2026 your comments will be full of questions if you'll react to it :D

Mortius: "I didn't think about that! " Me in my head: "You didn't think about the implications! " :D

yeah both tgwdlm and black friday end with you thinking the good guys sort of won only to pull the rug at the last second

The fact that most of the cast was sick during this recording and still put out a great performance. WOW.

You might wanna rewatch that ending song again, because if you pay attention to the costumes, you might see some very familiar faces from elsewhere in Hatchetfield :)

Btw before you watch NPMD, you might want to watch some of the Nightmare Times. You don't have to watch all of them but Watcher World, Forever and Always, Time Bastard, Honey Queen, Yellow Jacket and Abstinence Camp would all add some context, though it absolutely isn't necessary

Why do I have to be at work right now😫😫😫

all in one lets goooo

So excited to see what you think of the rest of Act 2!!!! I've never clicked on a video so fast lol!

I'm so excited, I love this so much!! Act 2 has some of my favourite parts within Black Friday. Maybe even the Hatchetfield Universe

More Creators

so no nightmare time? throws phone breaks skateboard but seriously, as much as i wanna see your reaction (esp to nmt ep#2) you may want to consider watching them on your own for the additional lore

Okay, but Ethan died immediately after giving away the magic hat. And there was no real reason for Becky to miss when she tried to drug Hannah.

Yes, this! Like you said it’s not required those episodes answer a lot of questions, establish some really cool lore, and there will be throwbacks to them in NPMD that will really pay off!