The American subject Phil is recruited for the show because of his strong opinions that illegal immigrants are a threat to America.
Phil is told that he is taking part in a medical experiment in the UK, which Derren Brown has helped develop.
After Phil uses the app for a while, Brown meets with him and uses psychological techniques to make his left hand feel numb.
At Brown's encouragement, and use of the Turbine app noise, Phil is able to stand at the edge of the platform, but after two attempts is still unable to jump.
Phil flies to Los Angeles and takes a cab to meet his friend, who has told him that he has a free trip to Las Vegas.
[4] Brown reported that the experience was "transformative" for Phil, with whom his contact was continuing, as "after care is an important part of [the show]".
[6] Amy Glynn of Paste discusses the idea that "reality is a collage of illusions", linking Brown's experiment with numbing Phil's hand to examples of powerful placebo effects.
[7] Angelica Florio of Bustle describes Phil's initial views as "racist" and compares them to Donald Trump's statements about Mexican immigrants during his 2016 presidential campaign.
[3] Brown said that he endeavoured to "avoid anything overtly political" in the special, personally opining that "truth and humanity lies" between left-wing and right-wing discourse.
[8] Josh Sorokach of Decider similarly objects to Brown's manipulation of Phil,[2] and Tilly Pearce of Metro describes the show as inhabiting "an emotional grey area".
[9] Sturges gives the show an overwhelmingly negative review, saying that Brown has "restyled himself as an all-powerful, egocentric sage".
Criticising Brown's "God complex", Sturges writes that his monologues make him sound like a "sanctimonious knobhead".