...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Code Silver
- 103 statements
- 18 feature instances
- 13 referencing feature instances
| Code Silver | type |
FeatureClass | |
| Code Silver | label |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver | page |
CodeSilver | |
| Code Silver | comment |
Television writers have considerable experience at creating dramatic stories out of the lives of lawyers, surgeons, school teachers, and many other professions whose real-life work is somewhat less dramatic. But occasionally they tire of making lawsuits and surgeries exciting. That's when an armed man bursts into the law office or hospital and takes hostages from the cast.. Hostage situations like this occur in real life; the trope name comes from the real code used for "combative person with weapon" in many hospitals on America's west coast. Where the trope diverges from reality is in the motivation of the hostage taker and the way the situation is resolved. The hostage taker usually has a personal grudge against one of the characters and has carefully planned his assault. His aim may be simple revenge, or pursuit of a bizarre goal that ties into the show's setting. Despite their inexperience, the characters usually manage to negotiate with the hostage taker and resolve the situation with minimal loss of life — it's very rare for anyone other than the gunman to die in these situations, and even he usually survives. If "Code Silver" or its equivalent is used, it's a genuine Code Emergency. If one of the hostages is secretly a superhero who can't use their powers openly, they'll have to manage a Restricted Rescue Operation. If in addition the hostage takers are trying to provoke a confrontation with the very superhero they've unknowingly captured, they have Bruce Wayne Held Hostage. Chandler's Law is similar. Not related to a “silver alert”, a code used to give information to the public in some areas for a missing endangered adult. Examples |
|
| Code Silver | fetched |
2023-06-15T13:43:28Z | |
| Code Silver | parsed |
2023-06-15T13:43:28Z | |
| Code Silver | processingComment |
Dropped link to ASimplePlan: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Code Silver | processingComment |
Dropped link to CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Code Silver | processingComment |
Dropped link to RealLife: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Code Silver | processingComment |
Dropped link to RippedFromTheHeadlines: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Code Silver | processingComment |
Dropped link to StarWarsExpandedUniverse: Not an Item - CAT | |
| Code Silver | processingComment |
Dropped link to SuicideByCop: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Code Silver | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Code Silver / int_16aa3232 | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_16aa3232 | comment |
Desperate Housewives had one set in a supermarket where a disturbed woman (Laurie Metcalf) takes everyone hostage. This kicked off a trend of "distaster episodes", which happened at least once a season for the rest of the show. | |
| Code Silver / int_16aa3232 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_16aa3232 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Desperate Housewives | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_16aa3232 | |
| Code Silver / int_222c2051 | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_222c2051 | comment |
Done on Chuck, where it turned out that the situation was set up by FULCRUM agents wanting to know why so many of their agents kept dying around the Buy More area. | |
| Code Silver / int_222c2051 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_222c2051 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Chuck | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_222c2051 | |
| Code Silver / int_2275c659 | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_2275c659 | comment |
House "No Reason" subverts this, as the gunman shoots the title character and leaves, with the other characters completely ineffectual. He's never caught and we never even discover his motive. House was treating the guy's wife/girlfriend during some case before the show started. House found out that the Guy had cheated on the woman and told her, even though it was completely unrelated to her illness. After getting discharged, the woman was so distraught she killed herself. Of course, considering how rare it is for House to follow up on patients after they leave his care, it's unlikely he actually knew that; more likely was that all of this was part of the fantasy/dream/hallucination he was constructing, and therefore not real. This fits with the running theme of the episode, and the title; "No Reason". A later episode, "Last Resort", plays it straight, with a man taking House, Thirteen, and several patients hostage in order to force House to diagnose his unknown illness. After hours of stand-off and letting hostages go, they succeed in diagnosing him, and he injects himself with the cure just as the SWAT team breaks through the wall. At the end of it, it turns out the whole mess could have been avoided anyway and the hostage taker could have spared himself a decade or four in prison if he had told his previous doctors he'd been to a tropical region, namely Florida. |
|
| Code Silver / int_2275c659 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_2275c659 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| House | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_2275c659 | |
| Code Silver / int_22e860f4 | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_22e860f4 | comment |
Psych: "Gus Walks Into A Bank." | |
| Code Silver / int_22e860f4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_22e860f4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Psych | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_22e860f4 | |
| Code Silver / int_230d4f1e | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_230d4f1e | comment |
Executed quite well in an episode of Shark. | |
| Code Silver / int_230d4f1e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_230d4f1e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Shark | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_230d4f1e | |
| Code Silver / int_2feff3ce | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_2feff3ce | comment |
In Grey's Anatomy, a man has a rocket from a homemade bazooka in him that the characters had to remove. It also subverts the spirit of the trope as a bomb disposal expert is on hand the whole time. He blows up carrying the rocket away from everyone else. In the Season 6 two-part finale, the husband of a woman they couldn't save (as she signed a DNR) comes back a few episodes later to invade the hospital and shoots a bunch of people. Much of Season 7 is devoted to the ramifications of this event, though it's really an excuse to kill off a few Scrappies. |
|
| Code Silver / int_2feff3ce | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_2feff3ce | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Grey's Anatomy | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_2feff3ce | |
| Code Silver / int_58a0656b | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_58a0656b | comment |
The remake of the heist in PAYDAY 2 retcons out most of the allusions to Left 4 Dead to make it an actual canonical heist, in which Bain is given a contract to get blood samples in return for a mystical book (and a payout). As with the above, the hospital is completely destroyed (by PMC Murkywater, not the military), and the music is remixed, aptly named "Code Silver 2018". | |
| Code Silver / int_58a0656b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_58a0656b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| PAYDAY 2 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_58a0656b | |
| Code Silver / int_6f734712 | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_6f734712 | comment |
Done in Smallville where someone bursts into the hospital with a kryptonite-powered bomb strapped to his chest, demanding that his brother receives a liver transplant. | |
| Code Silver / int_6f734712 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_6f734712 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Smallville | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_6f734712 | |
| Code Silver / int_73b1d3f | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_73b1d3f | comment |
Chicago Hope: A patient's brother demands a donor heart at gunpoint. | |
| Code Silver / int_73b1d3f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_73b1d3f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Chicago Hope | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_73b1d3f | |
| Code Silver / int_87eb55b9 | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_87eb55b9 | comment |
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?: The plot was already going to hell in a handbasket at a steady, and extremely dreary, pace throughout the whole novel; but the moment it hit the point of no return is when a shootout happens on the dance floor, killing two people, forcing the dance contest to be shut down, and finally driving Gloria's depression to the breaking point, making her decide to blow her brains out (and when she can't find it in herself to do it, to ask Robert to do it for her). | |
| Code Silver / int_87eb55b9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_87eb55b9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| They Shoot Horses, Don't They? | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_87eb55b9 | |
| Code Silver / int_8d81bc90 | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_8d81bc90 | comment |
M*A*S*H has done this at least three times: The first when a distraught soldier (played by a pre-Three's Company John Ritter) holds Frank Burns hostage to prevent being sent back to the front, the second when a soldier holds the doctors hostage demanding that his buddy is treated ahead of everybody else (and this is in an episode where Hawkeye is threatened by a crazed Turkish soldier who wants to return to the front because his buddies were still up there); and the last saw Winchester held hostage by a soldier demanding a helicopter so that he could return to Toledo (and, because this was his ultimate destination, Klinger bravely volunteered to switch places with Winchester...). It almost makes you wonder where the hell the unit's MPs are, since none ever come by to defuse the situation... Well, MP's did appear once in the early first-season episode "Dear Dad", but even then Father Mulcahy politely asked the MP's to wait there as he went off and handled the issue (Klinger threatened to frag Burns with a grenade), there was one later episode that showed that the head MP over the area was extremely corrupt and took bribes from Rosie to ignore her bar (and the rest of the post). They also showed up to foil some of Klinger's attempts at desertion in "Officer of the Day" and other episodes. |
|
| Code Silver / int_8d81bc90 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_8d81bc90 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| M*A*S*H | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_8d81bc90 | |
| Code Silver / int_8dfbdff2 | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_8dfbdff2 | comment |
Law & Order: The police half of this show expect armed confrontations, but the lawyers often have to deal with them too, sometimes inside the courtroom. An example is needed because these get complex: SVU has a young White Supremacist take out the defendant and judge in open court before being shot by his long-time co-whatever, actually an undercover federal agent. The agent was played by Marcia Gay Harden, and the role netted her an Emmy nomination. | |
| Code Silver / int_8dfbdff2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_8dfbdff2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Law & Order | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_8dfbdff2 | |
| Code Silver / int_bfa1d565 | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_bfa1d565 | comment |
Boston Legal: Four times, including a employee who demanded a partnership at knifepoint. At this rate, the violence shouldn't be quite so unexpected. At least one of these hostage situations was solved by Denny Crane shooting the dude doing the hostage taking...by grabbing one of his numerous guns he keeps in his office and telling a lesser associate to open the door when he says pull. |
|
| Code Silver / int_bfa1d565 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_bfa1d565 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Boston Legal | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_bfa1d565 | |
| Code Silver / int_c9fecd11 | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_c9fecd11 | comment |
This happened at least once on The Bill - a criminal ended up in Sunhill Police Station with a pistol. The scene was incredibly tense and dangerous, because, this being Britain, none of the policemen had guns themselves. | |
| Code Silver / int_c9fecd11 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_c9fecd11 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Bill | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_c9fecd11 | |
| Code Silver / int_d4fdfff4 | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_d4fdfff4 | comment |
ER: Several times, but partially justified by the hospital's dangerous inner-city location. Occasionally veers into the hopelessly ridiculous, though. The tank attack springs to mind. Even more ridiculous is that that was Ripped from the Headlines. That's right, some lunatic stole a tank and rampaged through suburbia (no hospitals were harmed). |
|
| Code Silver / int_d4fdfff4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_d4fdfff4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| ER | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_d4fdfff4 | |
| Code Silver / int_f4e799ee | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_f4e799ee | comment |
The Burn Notice episode "Bad Breaks" has an interesting variant: A spy and an NSA agent are having a covert meeting at a bank, when bank robbers show up. Those poor bank robbers... | |
| Code Silver / int_f4e799ee | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_f4e799ee | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Burn Notice | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_f4e799ee | |
| Code Silver / int_fd8ef85e | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_fd8ef85e | comment |
The non-canon No Mercy heist in PAYDAY: The Heist. The PAYDAY Crew take the ICU of Mercy Hospital hostage in order to steal blood samples from a patient with a unique disease. It ends in a SWAT assault and the military blowing up the top floors of the hospital. The heist's soundtrack is even named "Code Silver". The remake of the heist in PAYDAY 2 retcons out most of the allusions to Left 4 Dead to make it an actual canonical heist, in which Bain is given a contract to get blood samples in return for a mystical book (and a payout). As with the above, the hospital is completely destroyed (by PMC Murkywater, not the military), and the music is remixed, aptly named "Code Silver 2018". |
|
| Code Silver / int_fd8ef85e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_fd8ef85e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Left 4 Dead (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_fd8ef85e | |
| Code Silver / int_ff7b68ba | type |
Code Silver | |
| Code Silver / int_ff7b68ba | comment |
Done constantly on Night Court. | |
| Code Silver / int_ff7b68ba | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Code Silver / int_ff7b68ba | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Night Court | hasFeature |
Code Silver / int_ff7b68ba |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
| Code Silver | processingCategory2 |
Medical Drama | |
| Code Silver | processingCategory2 |
Plots | |
| They Shoot Horses, Don't They? / int_3504feff | type |
Code Silver | |
| Drrt | seeAlso |
Code Silver | |
| Beverly Hills, 90210 / int_3504feff | type |
Code Silver | |
| Chicago Hope / int_3504feff | type |
Code Silver | |
| Chuck / int_3504feff | type |
Code Silver | |
| ER / int_3504feff | type |
Code Silver | |
| House / int_3504feff | type |
Code Silver | |
| One Tree Hill / int_3504feff | type |
Code Silver | |
| Skymed / int_3504feff | type |
Code Silver | |
| Untold Stories of the E.R. / int_3504feff | type |
Code Silver | |
| Trauma Center (Atlus) (Video Game) / int_3504feff | type |
Code Silver |
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.