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Cracker

 Cracker
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TVTItem
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Cracker
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Cracker
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This British Crime and Punishment Series was originally broadcast in the "Television Serial" format (also used for, e.g., Doctor Who before 1996). The main character, Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane, was a psychologist who did profiling for the Manchester police force. Of course, he usually ended up confronting the criminal and solving the crime solo (though a few times he makes the situation a whole lot worse). Aside from his grouchy, misanthropic demeanour, he was massively overweight and addicted to alcohol, tobacco and gambling. In his spare time, he also enjoyed a bit of Unresolved Sexual Tension with his sidekick, Jane "Panhandle" Penhaligon.There have been 10 stories, originally transmitted as two or three episodes each. There is considerable continuity from one story to the next (unusual in Television Serial format shows) and watching them out of sequence would be inadvisable. An 11th, stand-alone episode was aired in 2006.There was a sanitised U.S. remake in which the main character was fairly slender, drank moderate amounts of wine and lived in a spacious, airy apartment.Not to be confused with The Cracker, who is a computer criminal or the British Comic Cracker.
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2024-02-18T09:30:04Z
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2024-02-18T09:30:05Z
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Dropped link to ConvictionByContradiction: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Dropped link to Masochism: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
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Dropped link to OpenMystery: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
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Dropped link to Yandere: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Masochism
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OpenMystery
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DBTropes
 Cracker / int_1133e720
type
Fat Slob
 Cracker / int_1133e720
comment
Fat Slob: Fitz is heavily overweight, often disheveled and unkempt and fond of caustic comments. He is also alcoholic and has problems with habitual gambling. Good thing he's also the best profiler around.
 Cracker / int_1133e720
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1.0
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Cracker / int_1133e720
 Cracker / int_1181a575
type
The Unsolved Mystery
 Cracker / int_1181a575
comment
The Unsolved Mystery: Done in "One Day A Lemming Will Fly". A teacher, in custody as a suspect, confesses to the murder of a school pupil, but then when he is alone with Fitz, tells him that he didn't do the murder but feels so guilty about his treatment of the boy (not to mention all the pressure the public, the police and especially Fitz put him under to "confess", lasting nearly two whole episodes) that he said he did it anyway. The real murderer is never identified, not even any plausible suspects are put forward. Worse, Fitz wasted so much time on this teacher, and the case has acquired such a high-profile, that Bilborough decides to ignore his pleas that he got it wrong and still try and convict the man for the crime.
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Cracker / int_1181a575
 Cracker / int_1237828f
type
Anyone Can Die
 Cracker / int_1237828f
comment
Anyone Can Die: DCI Bilborough and DS James Beck.
 Cracker / int_1237828f
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Cracker / int_1237828f
 Cracker / int_12b6fe15
type
Walk and Talk
 Cracker / int_12b6fe15
comment
Walk and Talk: A notable one in "One Day A Lemming Will Fly": Fitz and Penhaligon escort Cassidy through a shopping center (later joined by Beck), all the while probing his psyche, in a four minute single take.
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Cracker / int_12b6fe15
 Cracker / int_141a6acb
type
Madness Mantra
 Cracker / int_141a6acb
comment
Madness Mantra: In To Be a Somebody, "L-I-V, E-R-P, Double-O L, Liverpool FC". For non-Brits, this is a traditional chant of supporters of the Liverpool football (soccer) team. The Big Crunch: "All flesh is grass. All flesh is grass". The Madwoman in the Attic: Fitz proposes that the murderer was hearing "Kill the bitch. Kill the bitch" repeatedly to the sound of the train. When the real murderer is shown later on a train, he's repeating various phrases ("I'm too tired. I'm too tired. I'm too tired") while staring at his intended victim.
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 Cracker / int_14db7384
type
Express Lane Limit
 Cracker / int_14db7384
comment
Express Lane Limit: "To Be a Somebody" had Fitz get into an argument with a cashier while trying to use the express. His argument was that he technically only had two items (lager and some kind of junk food): he just just had multiple examples of each item.
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Cracker / int_14db7384
 Cracker / int_18cc27ca
type
Accent Slip-Up
 Cracker / int_18cc27ca
comment
Accent Slip-Up: When Fitz gets very drunk or very emotional (or both), his educated Scottish English turns into full-on Weegie.
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Cracker / int_18cc27ca
 Cracker / int_1c6ded94
type
Wicked Cultured
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comment
Wicked Cultured: Albie in "To Be a Somebody". Part of his motive; he resents being mistaken for an inarticulate hooligan when he's smart enough to identify a Mozart piece from a few bars.
 Cracker / int_1c6ded94
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Cracker / int_1c6ded94
 Cracker / int_1fd2efc9
type
Byronic Hero
 Cracker / int_1fd2efc9
comment
Byronic Hero: Fitz. Best summed up by this conversation:
 Cracker / int_1fd2efc9
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 Cracker / int_21584c75
type
The Profiler
 Cracker / int_21584c75
comment
The Profiler: Fitz is considered to be very, very good (albeit impossible to work with), but even then he is not always right.
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Cracker / int_21584c75
 Cracker / int_24e48d72
type
Dirty Harriet
 Cracker / int_24e48d72
comment
Dirty Harriet: In "Brotherly Love", Penhaligon dresses as a prostitute hoping to lure a man believed to be murdering prostitutes. There's extra tension in the put-on because Penhaligon was still recovering from being raped by a colleague.
 Cracker / int_24e48d72
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Cracker / int_24e48d72
 Cracker / int_27be0280
type
Porn Stache
 Cracker / int_27be0280
comment
Porn Stache: DS Beck has to shave off his mustache because it's become a gay thing, and he's tired of getting teased about it.
 Cracker / int_27be0280
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Cracker / int_27be0280
 Cracker / int_297ab1b9
type
Parental Abandonment
 Cracker / int_297ab1b9
comment
Parental Abandonment: A central part of Bill Nash's Dark and Troubled Past in "Best Boys".
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Cracker / int_297ab1b9
 Cracker / int_2c11d835
type
Kitchen Sink Drama
 Cracker / int_2c11d835
comment
Kitchen Sink Drama: The show constantly deals with everyday struggles of British working class, fear of becoming unemployed, social inequality, lack of access to education and healthcare, etc.
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Cracker / int_2c11d835
 Cracker / int_2cf282ea
type
She Is All Grown Up
 Cracker / int_2cf282ea
comment
In "The New Terror", Fitz humiliates his daughter at her wedding by telling everyone about her long list of boyfriends. This is the daughter he's seen doting on in previous episodes when she was still a little girl.
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Cracker / int_2cf282ea
 Cracker / int_2e154495
type
Shower of Angst
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comment
Shower of Angst: DS Penhaligon takes a bath after she's been raped, but makes sure to wrap her hand in plastic first to preserve evidence from when she scratched her attacker.
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 Cracker
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 Cracker / int_2fd1d68a
type
Cool-Down Hug
 Cracker / int_2fd1d68a
comment
Cooldown Hug: The tall, heavyset Fitz grabs a hysterical, furious and much smaller young man in a Bear Hug, indicating that he's prepared to headbutt the other man if he tries anything funny, and hanging onto him until he calms down.
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Cracker / int_2fd1d68a
 Cracker / int_30adeff3
type
Defective Detective
 Cracker / int_30adeff3
comment
Defective Detective: Fitz, an overweight alcoholic adulterer with a gambling addiction. For extra irony, he's a hypercompetent criminal psychologist who is capable of deducing anybody's issues in a heartbeat... including his own. He's just powerless to do anything about it. He does try, when it becomes obvious that his marriage and his relationship with his children is at stake. However, he finds he likes the way he is too much. The actual detectives aren't necessarily that psychologically well-adjusted either.
 Cracker / int_30adeff3
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Cracker / int_30adeff3
 Cracker / int_3126c34a
type
Insufferable Genius
 Cracker / int_3126c34a
comment
Insufferable Genius: Fitz is considered to be a complete bastard by his workmates at Greater Manchester Police, and has zero respect among his academic peers. But he is also very, very, very good at profiling.
 Cracker / int_3126c34a
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 Cracker
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Cracker / int_3126c34a
 Cracker / int_34dcfc96
type
Kick the Dog
 Cracker / int_34dcfc96
comment
Kick the Dog: Absolutely everyone at various points. Judith gets in an especially nasty one on Panhandle in True Romance.
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Cracker / int_34dcfc96
 Cracker / int_3a92b459
type
Please, I Will Do Anything!
 Cracker / int_3a92b459
comment
Please, I Will Do Anything!: Claire Moody pleads like this to Albie Kinsella
 Cracker / int_3a92b459
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 Cracker / int_3cf10fcf
type
*Click* Hello
 Cracker / int_3cf10fcf
comment
*Click* Hello: When Panhandle breaks into Beck's house and waits for him.
 Cracker / int_3cf10fcf
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1.0
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 Cracker
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Cracker / int_3cf10fcf
 Cracker / int_3d455888
type
Then Let Me Be Evil
 Cracker / int_3d455888
comment
Then Let Me Be Evil: Albie's stated motive in "To Be a Somebody" - "Treat people like scum and they start acting like scum!".
 Cracker / int_3d455888
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 Cracker / int_3d455888
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 Cracker
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Cracker / int_3d455888
 Cracker / int_3ec18c6f
type
Sherlock Scan
 Cracker / int_3ec18c6f
comment
Sherlock Scan: Fitz displays an emotion-based version on this trope in Cracker, able to break down somebody's deepest neuroses very quickly. He occasionally displays a more traditional version of this too. Though Fitz's greatest fear is that he was once wrong in his summation, possibly destroying a man's life and letting the murderer of a schoolchild get away.
 Cracker / int_3ec18c6f
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 Cracker
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Cracker / int_3ec18c6f
 Cracker / int_3eee0728
type
Captain Obvious
 Cracker / int_3eee0728
comment
Captain Obvious. Penhaligon storms out of her superior's office after being turned down for a promotion, and when Fitz greets her as 'Panhandle' screams "IT'S PENHALIGON YOU FAT, STUPID BASTARD!" Expert psychologist that he is, Fitz concludes that she is upset.
 Cracker / int_3eee0728
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 Cracker
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Cracker / int_3eee0728
 Cracker / int_3fac55ce
type
Old-Fashioned Copper
 Cracker / int_3fac55ce
comment
Old-Fashioned Copper: DS Beck's interrogation techniques sometimes call for fists.
 Cracker / int_3fac55ce
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 Cracker
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Cracker / int_3fac55ce
 Cracker / int_40e993f4
type
"Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization
 Cracker / int_40e993f4
comment
"Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization:
 Cracker / int_40e993f4
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Cracker / int_40e993f4
 Cracker / int_4127eb1
type
Shut Up, Hannibal!
 Cracker / int_4127eb1
comment
Shut Up, Hannibal!: Fitz loves to first play sympathetic to the criminals, and just when they start to relax explain in thorough detail why he loathes their guts. Especially notable in To Say "I Love You".
 Cracker / int_4127eb1
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 Cracker
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Cracker / int_4127eb1
 Cracker / int_452f33ea
type
Foster Kid
 Cracker / int_452f33ea
comment
Foster Kid: Bill Nash in "Best Boys".
 Cracker / int_452f33ea
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1.0
 Cracker / int_452f33ea
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 Cracker
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Cracker / int_452f33ea
 Cracker / int_466ccbb4
type
Gayngst
 Cracker / int_466ccbb4
comment
Gayngst: In "Best Boys", Stuart Grady joined the army, married, and had a child to try and cover the fact that he is gay. Given that this is a British Crime and Punishment Series, it doesn't end well.
 Cracker / int_466ccbb4
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 Cracker
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Cracker / int_466ccbb4
 Cracker / int_4781adbb
type
Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 Cracker / int_4781adbb
comment
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Fitz.
 Cracker / int_4781adbb
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 Cracker
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Cracker / int_4781adbb
 Cracker / int_47987a11
type
Crime Reconstruction
 Cracker / int_47987a11
comment
Crime Reconstruction: In "Men Should Weep".
 Cracker / int_47987a11
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 Cracker
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Cracker / int_47987a11
 Cracker / int_47fea76b
type
Butt-Monkey
 Cracker / int_47fea76b
comment
Butt-Monkey: DC Skelton. Because of his newbie status, he is often talked down to, yelled at, given menial tasks and has blame for other cops' screw-ups shifted on him. He reacts correspondingly.
 Cracker / int_47fea76b
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Cracker / int_47fea76b
 Cracker / int_4cacfcc3
type
Honey Trap
 Cracker / int_4cacfcc3
comment
Honey Trap: Tina from "To Say I Love You" and Janice from "True Romance" both use this trope to ensnare their victims.
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 Cracker
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Cracker / int_4cacfcc3
 Cracker / int_4d044580
type
Motive Rant
 Cracker / int_4d044580
comment
Motive Rant: Several of the killers get in one of these.
 Cracker / int_4d044580
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Cracker / int_4d044580
 Cracker / int_4eaa9b84
type
Author Tract
 Cracker / int_4eaa9b84
comment
Author Tract: There's some political elements, like the deranged, homeless Falklands veteran, and much Margaret Thatcher-bashing, read with a certain easy authenticity by "Red Robbie" Coltrane. Fitz's occasional invective against religion comes off this way, too.
 Cracker / int_4eaa9b84
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 Cracker
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 Cracker / int_4f4372e9
type
Early-Installment Weirdness
 Cracker / int_4f4372e9
comment
Early-Installment Weirdness: The first serial is a straightforward whodunnit story; the first two have little focus on the character interactions and social commentary that became the show's hallmark. Besides Fitz, the cast are fairly one-dimensional, and the plots pretty conventional. One Day a Lemming Will Fly marked the show's point of departure.
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Cracker / int_4f4372e9
 Cracker / int_4f62bde6
type
Kavorka Man
 Cracker / int_4f62bde6
comment
Kavorka Man: Fitz. Justified Trope - he is physically unattractive, but incredibly charismatic and witty. The sect leader/headmaster in The Big Crunch. It turns out that his cult is based on women and girls who are attracted to him.
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Cracker / int_4f62bde6
 Cracker / int_50b9b3d0
type
Crazy Jealous Guy
 Cracker / int_50b9b3d0
comment
Crazy Jealous Guy: Sean Kerrigan over his girlfriend Tina in "To Say I Love You".
 Cracker / int_50b9b3d0
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Cracker / int_50b9b3d0
 Cracker / int_561dab6b
type
Mistaken for Gay
 Cracker / int_561dab6b
comment
Mistaken for Gay: Played for laughs with Fitz and Beck in Brotherly Love. Depending on one's POV, One Day a Lemming Will Fly could be an episode-length exploration.
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Cracker / int_561dab6b
 Cracker / int_571833a
type
Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?
 Cracker / int_571833a
comment
Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: Played seriously in "True Romance" where Janice's spree is motivated by the fact that she was the only one of her family not molested by her father (because, as Fitz points out at the end, her father realised she was likely to tell someone about it, whereas her sisters wouldn't out of shame).
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Cracker / int_571833a
 Cracker / int_586949a8
type
Genius Slob
 Cracker / int_586949a8
comment
Genius Slob: Fitz
 Cracker / int_586949a8
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Cracker / int_586949a8
 Cracker / int_5ce2c9c6
type
Suddenly Shouting
 Cracker / int_5ce2c9c6
comment
Suddenly Shouting: A different take on this trope appears in "Men Should Weep". Fitz is complaining about his son's layabout ways.
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Cracker / int_5ce2c9c6
 Cracker / int_5f5720d8
type
Shocking Voice Identity Reveal
 Cracker / int_5f5720d8
comment
Shocking Voice Identity Reveal: Averted in "Men Should Weep". A woman who was blindfolded and raped is later picked up at her house by a taxi driver who's actually the rapist. She recognises his voice, but thinks it's just a traumatic response causing her to see her rapist in every man she meets.
 Cracker / int_5f5720d8
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 Cracker / int_60d73edb
type
Drink-Based Characterization
 Cracker / int_60d73edb
comment
Drink-Based Characterization: Fitz will have a Scotch and dry (a whisky and dry ginger ale). Make it a double if someone else is paying.
 Cracker / int_60d73edb
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Cracker / int_60d73edb
 Cracker / int_639aa0cd
type
Did You Just Have Sex?
 Cracker / int_639aa0cd
comment
Did You Just Have Sex?. Penhaligon and Fitz enter the station and everyone somehow knows they've finally done it. Eventually Beck breaks the tension by asking "Who was on top?"
 Cracker / int_639aa0cd
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Cracker / int_639aa0cd
 Cracker / int_65c49e05
type
The Villain Knows Where You Live
 Cracker / int_65c49e05
comment
The Villain Knows Where You Live: In "Men Should Weep", a rapist is assaulting the wives of people he has a grudge against. He threatens a government bureaucrat with this trope, later raping and murdering his wife. When a detective calls in the address to headquarters in the grieving man's presence, he suddenly remembers the threat.
 Cracker / int_65c49e05
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Cracker / int_65c49e05
 Cracker / int_6682d6e4
type
Dying Moment of Awesome
 Cracker / int_6682d6e4
comment
Dying Moment of Awesome: Bilborough, having been fatally stabbed, gives a precise and detailed description of assailant. Beck gets a confession from the killer...by handcuffing himself to the killer and leaping off a ten storey block of flats with him.
 Cracker / int_6682d6e4
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Cracker / int_6682d6e4
 Cracker / int_69ebf1d7
type
 Cracker / int_69ebf1d7
comment
"Bang!" Flag Gun: In an amusing insert to an episode, Fitz is "being fired" in a test to see how a real manager would fire an employee. Fitz gets so distraught, in character, that he pretends to commit suicide with one of these guns.
 Cracker / int_69ebf1d7
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Cracker / int_69ebf1d7
 Cracker / int_6bd689ca
type
Meaningful Echo
 Cracker / int_6bd689ca
comment
Meaningful Echo: Bilborough and Beck both say: "This is evidence. This is a dying man's statement".
 Cracker / int_6bd689ca
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1.0
 Cracker / int_6bd689ca
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_6bd689ca
 Cracker / int_6d332aea
type
Driven to Suicide
 Cracker / int_6d332aea
comment
Driven to Suicide: "One Day A Lemming Will Fly": The prime suspect seemingly tries to kill himself due to anguish over the victim's death (though Fitz implies that it was actually a cry for help). "Brotherly Love": DS Jimmy Beck. He throws himself off a tall building after being overwhelmed by self-loathing from DCI Bilborough's death and his rape of DS Penhaligon. Dean Saunders in The Big Crunch.
 Cracker / int_6d332aea
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1.0
 Cracker / int_6d332aea
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_6d332aea
 Cracker / int_71bc0919
type
Burn Baby Burn
 Cracker / int_71bc0919
comment
Burn Baby Burn: Jane Penhaligon burns her clothes after she's been raped, causing Fitz (who's unaware of the reason) to quip that burning a bra is "a bit too Sixties".
 Cracker / int_71bc0919
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_71bc0919
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_71bc0919
 Cracker / int_7301ae04
type
Serial Killer
 Cracker / int_7301ae04
comment
In "The Mad Woman In The Attic" part 2: a man, claiming to be a priest, calls the police from a railway station payphone claiming to be able to confirm a man suffering from amnesia after seemingly jumping off a train is the Serial Killer "Sweeny", as he told him he murdered a woman and dumped her body in a river in confession. The police are able to track the phone call to the platform but by then the caller has departed on the train. Searching the river the do find another body. As Fitz quickly figures the caller is in fact Sweeny, who is trying to remove the one witness to his crime.
 Cracker / int_7301ae04
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_7301ae04
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_7301ae04
 Cracker / int_733ca2f8
type
Noble Bigot with a Badge
 Cracker / int_733ca2f8
comment
Noble Bigot with a Badge: DS Jimmy Beck. Becomes significantly less noble as the series continues. But he manages to go out with a bit of it back. Sort of. Though even in the early days he is shown bullying and victimizing suspects some of whom are later shown to be innocent.
 Cracker / int_733ca2f8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_733ca2f8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_733ca2f8
 Cracker / int_7426582d
type
Token Minority
 Cracker / int_7426582d
comment
Token Minority: DC Skelton initially comes off this way; his early appearances are brief, often overtly highlighting his race (Men Should Weep, most obviously). He transcends this in Season Three, where he's given a more prominent role.
 Cracker / int_7426582d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_7426582d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_7426582d
 Cracker / int_744e3311
type
Police Brutality
 Cracker / int_744e3311
comment
Police Brutality: Jimmy Beck is guilty of this on multiple occasions.
 Cracker / int_744e3311
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_744e3311
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_744e3311
 Cracker / int_79c8657c
type
Finger Framing
 Cracker / int_79c8657c
comment
Finger Framing: Dean Saunders in The Big Crunch does this a lot; he's somewhat autistic and fixated on movies. Someone else comments on it at a church service that included the quote "We see the world through a glass, darkly": "You don't see the the world through a glass, darkly. You see it through your fingers". Most other characters either make fun of him for it, or push his hands away, but there's a scene where Fitz sits down opposite him and copies him, which helps him get through to the lad.
 Cracker / int_79c8657c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_79c8657c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_79c8657c
 Cracker / int_7d89315b
type
"The Reason You Suck" Speech
 Cracker / int_7d89315b
comment
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Fitz frequently makes these to the murderers.
 Cracker / int_7d89315b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_7d89315b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_7d89315b
 Cracker / int_7e84a642
type
Serial Rapist
 Cracker / int_7e84a642
comment
Floyd Malcolm the Serial Rapist of "Men Should Weep" uses this to contact Fitz. First calling him on his radio show to try to get him to confirm his decision that he should just kill his next victim to avoid the police identifying him (and so he can pass the blame onto him), and then later at his home to confirm he took "his advice."
 Cracker / int_7e84a642
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_7e84a642
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_7e84a642
 Cracker / int_7efd2e30
type
Expository Hairstyle Change
 Cracker / int_7efd2e30
comment
Expository Hairstyle Change: Penhaligon's most distinctive feature is her curly red hair. In early episodes she has a bit of a fringe and keeps the rest of it tied back fairly loosely, sometimes with chunky scrunchies. On her first day back at work after being raped in Men Should Weep, she has it all scraped back in a tight plait. By True Romance, she's started wearing her hair in a ponytail again, but with the fringe since grown out, giving her a more mature look than she had at the beginning.
 Cracker / int_7efd2e30
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_7efd2e30
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_7efd2e30
 Cracker / int_807ceed9
type
Outlaw Couple
 Cracker / int_807ceed9
comment
Outlaw Couple: In "To Say I Love You", Sean and Tina committed crimes together. Tina compared them to Bonnie and Clyde.
 Cracker / int_807ceed9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_807ceed9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_807ceed9
 Cracker / int_80b5924
type
Left Hanging
 Cracker / int_80b5924
comment
Left Hanging: In "One Day A Lemming Will Fly", Fitz actually spends the entire episode pursuing the wrong man for the murder of a child. The episode's entire resolution hinges on the fact that the child's killer will never be known — at least, unless he strikes again... Probably deliberate to show that, no matter how brilliant Fitz is, he can still be dead wrong.
 Cracker / int_80b5924
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_80b5924
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_80b5924
 Cracker / int_83a903f6
type
Stepford Smiler
 Cracker / int_83a903f6
comment
Stepford Smiler: Norma Trant in "The Big Crunch", who is totally in denial about her husband's abuse of his community and professional roles: cheating on her with schoolgirls and parishioners, and murder.
 Cracker / int_83a903f6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_83a903f6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_83a903f6
 Cracker / int_83b44e80
type
Straight Gay
 Cracker / int_83b44e80
comment
Straight Gay: Stuart Grady in "Best Boys".
 Cracker / int_83b44e80
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_83b44e80
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_83b44e80
 Cracker / int_8af7b342
type
Sibling Yin-Yang
 Cracker / int_8af7b342
comment
Sibling Yin-Yang: Danny Fitzgerald, Fitz's estranged brother. Fitz is an eccentric genius with Epicurean lifestyle and nation-wide fame. Danny is a simple down-to-Earth worker and labour activist who had never left their home town and had been looking after their mother for the rest of her life.
 Cracker / int_8af7b342
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_8af7b342
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_8af7b342
 Cracker / int_8b68d9a7
type
Stalker with a Crush
 Cracker / int_8b68d9a7
comment
Stalker with a Crush: In "True Romance", Fitz becomes the target of a secret admirer who is willing to kill – and keep killing – to get his attention, understanding and love.
 Cracker / int_8b68d9a7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_8b68d9a7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_8b68d9a7
 Cracker / int_8e20979
type
Wham Episode
 Cracker / int_8e20979
comment
Wham Episode: "To Be a Somebody" (Bilborough dies) and "Men Should Weep" (Penhagilion is raped by Beck, who commits suicide).
 Cracker / int_8e20979
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_8e20979
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_8e20979
 Cracker / int_8ed5c6e4
type
Asshole Victim
 Cracker / int_8ed5c6e4
comment
Asshole Victim: Several including a loan shark, a homophobe and a ruthless journalist
 Cracker / int_8ed5c6e4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_8ed5c6e4
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_8ed5c6e4
 Cracker / int_8f4380d1
type
Deadly Nosebleed
 Cracker / int_8f4380d1
comment
Deadly Nosebleed: In "To Say I Love You", Tina lures a loan shark into an alley so Sean can murder him, by sneaking up behind and cracking his skull with a brick. The impact is shown by his face going slack and a droplet of blood from his nose, before he collapses.
 Cracker / int_8f4380d1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_8f4380d1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_8f4380d1
 Cracker / int_9421aa41
type
Flipping the Table
 Cracker / int_9421aa41
comment
Flipping the Table: Fitz loses all his money gambling, so he asks the manager of the casino to do him the favour of banning him. He refuses. So Fitz walks over to some Asian gamblers and flips over their table, to their fury. The manager gives a deadpan, "You're banned".
 Cracker / int_9421aa41
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_9421aa41
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_9421aa41
 Cracker / int_94c1e2f7
type
Grave-Marking Scene
 Cracker / int_94c1e2f7
comment
Grave-Marking Scene: Averted in "A New Terror" where the soon-to-be-killer-of-the-week tries to visit his brother's grave (killed as a soldier in Northern Island), only to find the cemetery closed at that particular time due to government budget cuts.
 Cracker / int_94c1e2f7
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Cracker / int_94c1e2f7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_94c1e2f7
 Cracker / int_984ef9ef
type
"Not So Different" Remark
 Cracker / int_984ef9ef
comment
"Not So Different" Remark: Alluded to in To Be A Somebody in the interrogation scene with Fitz and Albie. Unusually for this trope, Fitz is the one who points it out and Albie denies it. A rare case of the hero giving this point to the unwilling villain when it's usually the other way round. Though Fitz is only a hero in a narrow sense.
 Cracker / int_984ef9ef
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_984ef9ef
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_984ef9ef
 Cracker / int_99010fab
type
Maternity Crisis
 Cracker / int_99010fab
comment
Maternity Crisis: Completely averted. Judith goes into labour just as she's about to be charged with speeding, which is convenient. She then gets a police escort to the hospital.
 Cracker / int_99010fab
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Cracker / int_99010fab
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_99010fab
 Cracker / int_99b2613a
type
Oop North
 Cracker / int_99b2613a
comment
Oop North: Depending on your point of view it's either played straight (if you're a northerner) or averted (if you're a southerner and you think The North is terrible). Generally Manchester is shown to be pretty much as it is (or was at the time anyway). There's a mix of inner city deprivation with middle class banality. The rich and poor rub up against each other with the general kind of friction you might expect.
 Cracker / int_99b2613a
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Cracker / int_99b2613a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_99b2613a
 Cracker / int_99e4958e
type
Wall Bang Her
 Cracker / int_99e4958e
comment
Wall Bang Her: In "To Say I Love You", Fitz realizes the killers of a loan shark have done this when he finds long hair on the wall near the body. He then has a couple of amused detectives recreate the event.
 Cracker / int_99e4958e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_99e4958e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_99e4958e
 Cracker / int_a10775b7
type
Mean Boss
 Cracker / int_a10775b7
comment
Mean Boss: The Chief Super. Doesn't like Bilborough, Wise or Fitz and frequently insults them (admittedly, not always without reason). Wise at least doesn't take it lying down.
 Cracker / int_a10775b7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_a10775b7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_a10775b7
 Cracker / int_a33ff511
type
Indirect Kiss
 Cracker / int_a33ff511
comment
Indirect Kiss: Fitz is briefing the detectives, one of whom makes an ignorant comment in his area of expertise. Fitz immediately jumps down the man's throat for this; but a few seconds before that same detective had passed a drink to Fitz's love interest DS Penhaligon, who drank from the bottle without wiping it first — just the kind of minor detail Fitz would notice.
 Cracker / int_a33ff511
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_a33ff511
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_a33ff511
 Cracker / int_a3eea2ea
type
Cop Killer
 Cracker / int_a3eea2ea
comment
Cop Killer: In "To Say I Love You", Sean and Tina murder DS Giggs. In "To Be a Somebody", DCI Bilborough is stabbed to death by Albie Kinsella.
 Cracker / int_a3eea2ea
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_a3eea2ea
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_a3eea2ea
 Cracker / int_a70223
type
Karma Houdini
 Cracker / int_a70223
comment
Karma Houdini: The killer in One Day A Lemming Wil Fly and possibly Kenneth Trant in The Big Crunch. David Harvey was on his way to being this in Brotherly Love. But Jimmy Beck had other ideas.
 Cracker / int_a70223
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_a70223
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_a70223
 Cracker / int_a7ddc88e
type
The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes
 Cracker / int_a7ddc88e
comment
The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: Fitz is a brilliant psychologist, and very poor at navigating his own mess of a family life.
 Cracker / int_a7ddc88e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_a7ddc88e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_a7ddc88e
 Cracker / int_abc55125
type
Character Filibuster
 Cracker / int_abc55125
comment
Character Filibuster: Fitz, forced by the court to attend Gamblers Anonymous, gives a self-justifying rant as the reason he is a compulsive gambler:
 Cracker / int_abc55125
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_abc55125
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_abc55125
 Cracker / int_ad17a1ac
type
Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse
 Cracker / int_ad17a1ac
comment
Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Most of the murderers are very damaged and shown some sympathy by Fitz but he also makes it clear to them that they are still responsible for their crimes.
 Cracker / int_ad17a1ac
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_ad17a1ac
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_ad17a1ac
 Cracker / int_ae3d6438
type
Deadpan Snarker
 Cracker / int_ae3d6438
comment
Deadpan Snarker: Fitz and Wise most frequently. Penhaligon too, on occasion.
 Cracker / int_ae3d6438
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_ae3d6438
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_ae3d6438
 Cracker / int_afab5e94
type
Reunion Show
 Cracker / int_afab5e94
comment
Reunion Show: The 2006 special "A New Terror", though only a few members of the original cast returned.
 Cracker / int_afab5e94
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_afab5e94
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_afab5e94
 Cracker / int_b097493c
type
Madonna-Whore Complex
 Cracker / int_b097493c
comment
Madonna-Whore Complex: David Harvey in Brotherly Love provides an extreme example. In "The New Terror", Fitz humiliates his daughter at her wedding by telling everyone about her long list of boyfriends. This is the daughter he's seen doting on in previous episodes when she was still a little girl.
 Cracker / int_b097493c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_b097493c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_b097493c
 Cracker / int_b11ac9f5
type
Abusive Parents
 Cracker / int_b11ac9f5
comment
Abusive Parents: Several of the criminals are victims of these.
 Cracker / int_b11ac9f5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_b11ac9f5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_b11ac9f5
 Cracker / int_b707726f
type
Hypocritical Humor
 Cracker / int_b707726f
comment
Hypocritical Humor: '"One Day A Lemming Will Fly" has a pompous coroner who upbraids Bilborough for supposed lack of professionalism... while dressed as Napoleon for a society ball. Neither Bilborough nor his colleagues are impressed:
 Cracker / int_b707726f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_b707726f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_b707726f
 Cracker / int_b9b348b
type
Television Serial
 Cracker / int_b9b348b
comment
Television Serial
 Cracker / int_b9b348b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_b9b348b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_b9b348b
 Cracker / int_bc74ef27
type
Berserk Button
 Cracker / int_bc74ef27
comment
Berserk Button: Bilborough and his family, as tragically evinced in To Be a Somebody, but children in general seem a sore point. In "One Day a Lemming Will Fly", even Beck thinks Bilborough goes too far browbeating a witness who didn't come forward sooner.
 Cracker / int_bc74ef27
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_bc74ef27
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_bc74ef27
 Cracker / int_beb9a361
type
Anti-Hero
 Cracker / int_beb9a361
comment
Anti-Hero: Fitz and Beck could also count at first
 Cracker / int_beb9a361
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_beb9a361
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_beb9a361
 Cracker / int_bf74d357
type
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife
 Cracker / int_bf74d357
comment
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: A double dose of it with both Judith and Penhaligon. Lampshaded by Judith, who points out in one episode that men think she's available, given the state of their marriage, and Fitz' looks. Panhandle does have certain 'father' issues which may explain it though. Even Fitz admits that he's probably a father substitute.
 Cracker / int_bf74d357
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_bf74d357
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_bf74d357
 Cracker / int_bf9c6b5e
type
Faith–Heel Turn
 Cracker / int_bf9c6b5e
comment
Faith–Heel Turn: "The Big Crunch". Fitz believes the leader of the Christian sect lost his faith and became angry at the meaninglessness of the universe.
 Cracker / int_bf9c6b5e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_bf9c6b5e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_bf9c6b5e
 Cracker / int_c0961831
type
Interrupted Suicide
 Cracker / int_c0961831
comment
Interrupted Suicide: Subverted in a highly emotional scene in "Men Should Weep" when Panhandle talks to Jimmy Beck when he's on the roof. Given that he raped her, the whole confrontation is rather shocking. He goes through with it.
 Cracker / int_c0961831
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Cracker / int_c0961831
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_c0961831
 Cracker / int_c19bdbe1
type
Good Cop/Bad Cop
 Cracker / int_c19bdbe1
comment
Good Cop/Bad Cop: Played with and straight, depending on the circumstances. Fitz often performs both roles himself.
 Cracker / int_c19bdbe1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_c19bdbe1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_c19bdbe1
 Cracker / int_c55269ac
type
Dumbass No More
 Cracker / int_c55269ac
comment
Dumbass No More: Mark, Fitz's son gets much smarter and more responsible during his Character Development in the latter half of the series. He's still a Book Dumb underachiver, but he is far from an utterly useless stoner he used to be in earlier episodes.
 Cracker / int_c55269ac
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_c55269ac
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_c55269ac
 Cracker / int_c8ba12ee
type
Interplay of Sex and Violence
 Cracker / int_c8ba12ee
comment
Interplay of Sex and Violence
 Cracker / int_c8ba12ee
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_c8ba12ee
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_c8ba12ee
 Cracker / int_c92a65bd
type
Bitter Wedding Speech
 Cracker / int_c92a65bd
comment
Bitter Wedding Speech: In "The New Terror", Fitz humiliates his daughter at her wedding by listing her previous boyfriends. This is the daughter he's seen doting on in previous episodes when she was still a little girl.
 Cracker / int_c92a65bd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_c92a65bd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_c92a65bd
 Cracker / int_cda501da
type
Killed Off for Real
 Cracker / int_cda501da
comment
Killed Off for Real: Bilborough and Beck.
 Cracker / int_cda501da
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_cda501da
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_cda501da
 Cracker / int_cdb1c635
type
Side Bet
 Cracker / int_cdb1c635
comment
Side Bet: Fitz does this all the time, given that he's a gambling addict.
 Cracker / int_cdb1c635
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_cdb1c635
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_cdb1c635
 Cracker / int_d02a7d70
type
Divine Race Lift
 Cracker / int_d02a7d70
comment
Divine Race Lift: Fitz is present during a natural childbirth. As the delivering mother is (obviously) in pain, he leans in and asks "Still think God is a woman?" (Of course, he is an archetypal Jerkass...).
 Cracker / int_d02a7d70
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_d02a7d70
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_d02a7d70
 Cracker / int_d1862907
type
Forensic Drama
 Cracker / int_d1862907
comment
Forensic Drama
 Cracker / int_d1862907
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cracker / int_d1862907
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_d1862907
 Cracker / int_d2102da0
type
Bad People Abuse Animals
 Cracker / int_d2102da0
comment
Bad People Abuse Animals: Subverted with Albie, and lampshaded by Fitz:
 Cracker / int_d2102da0
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Cracker / int_d2102da0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Cracker
hasFeature
Cracker / int_d2102da0
 Cracker / int_d23bc73b
type
Anonymous Public Phone Call
 Cracker / int_d23bc73b
comment
Anonymous Public Phone Call: In "The Mad Woman In The Attic" part 2: a man, claiming to be a priest, calls the police from a railway station payphone claiming to be able to confirm a man suffering from amnesia after seemingly jumping off a train is the Serial Killer "Sweeny", as he told him he murdered a woman and dumped her body in a river in confession. The police are able to track the phone call to the platform but by then the caller has departed on the train. Searching the river the do find another body. As Fitz quickly figures the caller is in fact Sweeny, who is trying to remove the one witness to his crime. Subverted in "To Say I Love You". Whilst on the run from the police Sean attempts to do this by using a payphone to contact the police about arresting his girlfriend and partner, however, his speech impediment means he's unable to even start the sentence, and failing to do so makes him so angry he just storms off. Floyd Malcolm the Serial Rapist of "Men Should Weep" uses this to contact Fitz. First calling him on his radio show to try to get him to confirm his decision that he should just kill his next victim to avoid the police identifying him (and so he can pass the blame onto him), and then later at his home to confirm he took "his advice." Janice, Fitz’s Stalker with a Crush from "True Romance", uses one of the university’s phone boxes to contact his radio show after it’s announced he's been taken off the investigation into the men she's been murdering to get his attention. The police manage to track the call, but despite Fitz's efforts to keep her on the line, they just miss her. Later, after Janice kidnaps Fitz's son Mark, they pre-emptively try to avert this by having officers watching all the public phones in the area, only for her to instead use her landline, knowing they would track it, so she can meet Fitz face to face.
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Rabid Cop
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comment
Rabid Cop: Jimmy Beck, once causing his superior officer to say "I don't know what you did to him, but you scared the hell out of me".
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Cracker / int_d6519b1b
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Kick the Morality Pet
 Cracker / int_d86fcde6
comment
Kick the Morality Pet: Fitz, not infrequently. Considering how hard he kicks, it's kind of an issue.
 Cracker / int_d86fcde6
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1.0
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Cracker / int_d86fcde6
 Cracker / int_db015585
type
False Confession
 Cracker / int_db015585
comment
False Confession: Cassidy in One Day A Lemming Will Fly Dean is bullied into giving one in The Big Crunch. He hangs himself in his cell after Fitz explains to him that he's confessed to murder.
 Cracker / int_db015585
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1.0
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Cracker / int_db015585
 Cracker / int_db9940c4
type
Famed In-Story
 Cracker / int_db9940c4
comment
Famed In-Story: Fitz has his own radio show, and it is known publicly that he helps the police with murder investigations. In one episode the Chief Super tells Fitz they mainly keep him around for good publicity.
 Cracker / int_db9940c4
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Cracker / int_db9940c4
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type
Armoured Closet Gay
 Cracker / int_dc2912f
comment
Armoured Closet Gay: In "Best Boys", Stuart Grady joined the army, married, and had a child to try and cover the fact that he is gay. Then he meets Bill Nash...
 Cracker / int_dc2912f
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Cracker / int_dc2912f
 Cracker / int_deecc9eb
type
Awful Wedded Life
 Cracker / int_deecc9eb
comment
Awful Wedded Life: Abounds, given the genre. Fitz and Judith are the most obvious example. Also, the Franklins from "Best Boys", so much so that DCI Wise initially thinks Mr Franklin is the murderer. Speaking of which, Wise's own marriage is not exactly a bed of roses, though he seems to be happier than his wife. Averted by Bilborough, who is Happily Married.
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Cracker / int_deecc9eb
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Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex
 Cracker / int_dffd6a64
comment
Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: A darker version of this trope in "To Say I Love You". Sean and Tina murder a Loan Shark to avoid paying him, then have passionate sex (Fitz lampshades this trope when analyzing the crime for the police). The woman enjoys it so much, she encourages her boyfriend to go on a killing spree.
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Cracker / int_dffd6a64
 Cracker / int_e154ff08
type
Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique
 Cracker / int_e154ff08
comment
Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Averted. DCI Bilborough specifically tells a suspect (in the murder of a fellow detective) that no-one is going to touch her in case it jeopardises her being sent to prison. DS Beck is bawled out by DCI Wise when he beats a suspect.
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Cracker / int_e154ff08
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Hannibal Lecture
 Cracker / int_e1fa333c
comment
Hannibal Lecture: The various psychos that Fitz is called in to deal with have a tendency to try this on him. Given how Fitz is a first-rate professional psychologist and they usually aren't, he often ends up doing it right back to them, usually more successfully.
 Cracker / int_e1fa333c
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Cracker / int_e1fa333c
 Cracker / int_e3b0cd87
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Morality Pet
 Cracker / int_e3b0cd87
comment
Morality Pet: Beck attempts to assuage his guilt over Bilborough's death by looking after his widow and son. In Brotherly Love though, he's rather cruelly let down.
 Cracker / int_e3b0cd87
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Cracker / int_e3b0cd87
 Cracker / int_e5411cdf
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Cult
 Cracker / int_e5411cdf
comment
Cult: The Villain of the Week in "The Big Crunch" is a leader of a fringe pseudo-Christian cult. Keeping with the general realism of the series, they are much more silly-looking and boring than your average Religion of Evil in a TV show. They are still depraved fanatics.
 Cracker / int_e5411cdf
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Cracker / int_e5411cdf
 Cracker / int_e733b2cf
type
JerkAssWoobie
 Cracker / int_e733b2cf
comment
Jerk Ass Woobie: Most of the murderers, some of the Asshole Victims, Jimmy Beck and, arguably, Fitz himself.
 Cracker / int_e733b2cf
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Cracker / int_e733b2cf
 Cracker / int_e8ab9808
type
Kinky Cuffs
 Cracker / int_e8ab9808
comment
Kinky Cuffs: DCI Wise walks in on Fitz feeling up DS Jane Penhaligon's legs while she's wearing her own handcuffs. When they realise the boss is watching, they jump up and Jane makes a clumsy attempt to slip them off her wrists unobtrusively.
 Cracker / int_e8ab9808
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Cracker / int_e8ab9808
 Cracker / int_e92841f
type
Talking the Monster to Death
 Cracker / int_e92841f
comment
Talking the Monster to Death: Well, maybe not "To Death", but there's no better way to describe what it is Fitz does to the suspects. Almost done literally to DS Beck at one point.
 Cracker / int_e92841f
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1.0
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Cracker / int_e92841f
 Cracker / int_ecbf37ff
type
Disposable Sex Worker
 Cracker / int_ecbf37ff
comment
Disposable Sex Worker: "Brotherly Love" features a serial killer (or killers) targeting prostitutes. On the one hand, the investigating police turn their full resources on the case; but they also misidentify the killer(s) throughout the episode.
 Cracker / int_ecbf37ff
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Cracker / int_ecbf37ff
 Cracker / int_f197c220
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Burger Fool
 Cracker / int_f197c220
comment
Burger Fool: In the last two episodes, Mark is shown working in an Austrian-themed fast-food chain.
 Cracker / int_f197c220
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Cracker / int_f197c220
 Cracker / int_f23c26ab
type
Food Slap
 Cracker / int_f23c26ab
comment
Food Slap: Fitz finally convinces Penhaligon to go out with him, only to take her to the same restaurant his estranged wife has taken her date in order to show her up. While the two are arguing, Penhaligon can be heard asking the waiter for a jug of water, which she calmly pours over Fitz's head before walking out.
 Cracker / int_f23c26ab
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Cracker / int_f23c26ab
 Cracker / int_f6698528
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Vigilante Execution
 Cracker / int_f6698528
comment
Vigilante Execution: In the ending of "Brotherly Love" Jimmy Beck forces David Harvey under a gun point to go to a building's roof, handcuffs him to himself and jumps down.
 Cracker / int_f6698528
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Cracker / int_f6698528
 Cracker / int_f85354eb
type
Attempted Rape
 Cracker / int_f85354eb
comment
Attempted Rape: Floyd Malcolm attempts to rape Judith.
 Cracker / int_f85354eb
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 Cracker / int_f85354eb
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Cracker / int_f85354eb
 Cracker / int_f96f188c
type
Drives Like Crazy
 Cracker / int_f96f188c
comment
Drives Like Crazy: Whenever Fitz pulls one of his Jerkass stunts on Panhandle, she likes to get back at him by driving extremely fast, while enjoying the expression on Fitz's face instead of looking at the road. Also, Judith: "I like doing 60!"
 Cracker / int_f96f188c
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Cracker / int_f96f188c
 Cracker / int_fed93e1b
type
Dark and Troubled Past
 Cracker / int_fed93e1b
comment
Dark and Troubled Past: All the guilty suspects have one of these. Actually, most of the innocent ones do too, and so do the police officers. Fitz' speciality is finding out about them.
 Cracker / int_fed93e1b
featureApplicability
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 Cracker / int_fed93e1b
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Cracker / int_fed93e1b
 Cracker / int_ff7f34c5
type
Pet the Dog
 Cracker / int_ff7f34c5
comment
Pet the Dog: Subverted in an episode when a serial killer reveals to Fitz that he was going to drown a litter of kittens but decided not to because 'they hadn't done him any harm'. Fitz points out that none of the killer's victims had done him any harm either and that rather than making him sympathetic, the villain was just exhibiting 'sickening sentimentality'.
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Cracker / int_ff7f34c5
 Cracker / int_ffad4e9f
type
Shown Their Work
 Cracker / int_ffad4e9f
comment
Shown Their Work: The show had some of the most genuinely realistic portrayals of murders and how they happen, at least in the first part of the story, such as why a man might kill a shopkeeper or a prostitute. The handling of the police characters and their relationships also earned high praise from real officers as being pretty much spot-on, though later stories started to mess the detectives up maybe a bit too much. In general though, believable characterisation was this series strongest point. The real life bases of the series are covered in the book Cracker: The Truth Behind the Fiction (ISBN-10: 0752209744).
 Cracker / int_ffad4e9f
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Cracker

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Cracker
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Actor Leaves, Character Dies / int_579bfce0
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Anonymous Public Phone Call / int_579bfce0
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Aren't You Going to Ravish Me? / int_579bfce0
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