History Series / Brimstone

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Subverted: the escaped souls are often evil, and one would expect them to be, but, in fact at least a few were shown to have been genuinely good people who made horrific decisions, or in at least one case, were doing what they believed to be the best (i.e. human sacrifice), only to then be judged by another religion's values, after dying. Two of the thirteen episodes ([[spoiler: ''Redemption'' and ''Faces'']]) use less violent special effects when Zeke "sends them back," leaving open the possibility that they were allowed into heaven this time.

* TheHunter

* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Oddly, Zeke himself is shown to suffer from this the most as he learns things such as looking information up on the internet as an alternative to the library. Others who have been in Hell for hundreds or thousands of years seem to have no trouble adjusting to their surroundings.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Subverted: the escaped souls are often evil, and one would expect them to be, but, in fact at least a few were shown to have been genuinely good people who made horrific decisions, or in at least one case, were doing what they believed to be the best (i.e. human sacrifice), only to then be judged by another religion's values, after dying. One was even so genuinely contrite and seeking redemption [[spoiler: that he was taken to heaven instead of sent back to hell upon his recapture]].

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: As recently as 2008, a representative of Warner Home Video commented on the series.
->''"Despite the wonderful work of Peter Horton and John Glover, there are no plans at this time to release Brimstone."''

* AllCrimesAreEqual: A repeating plot element, at least on the supernatural side: you sin, you go to Hell. ''[[ThereIsNoHigherCourt Period]]''. No mitigating circumstances considered. A couple of the 113 - not to mention Zeke himself - are actually quite sympathetic, basically decent people who made one big error in judgement... but that doesn't save them from eternal torment. This is revealed to be the cause of the entire plot - it doesn't even matter if you follow a different religion; if your people were [[MightMakesRight conquered by Abrahamics, then you're judged as one]]. [[spoiler:Ashur Badaktu AKA Detective Ash was a high priestess of a pagan religion which Abrahamics ''exterminated to the last man'', meaning there was no one left to carry on her beliefs and condemning her to Hell by default. You cannot ''imagine'' how pissed off she is.]]

A kind of satanic version of ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}''. Detective Ezekiel Stone was damned to Hell in 1983 for killing, in cold blood, the man who raped his wife after he got OffOnATechnicality. Fifteen years later, 113 of the most vicious damned souls in Hell escaped to Earth. Satan, furious at having been "beaten", sent Stone back to Earth to track them down and kill them, returning them to Hell. If he succeeds, he gets the greatest reward of all; a second life on Earth, and thus a second chance at Heaven.

* DevilsJobOffer: Ezekiel Stone, a tough-as-nails cop who went to Hell for the cold-blooded killing of the man who had raped his wife, is allowed to return to Earth to hunt down 113 damned souls who've escaped from Hell...

* DealWithTheDevil: See above.

* LikeABadassOutOfHell: The 113 are Type One, Zeke is Type Two.

* ThePunishment: The longer a soul spends in Hell, the more Hell becomes a part of them; the more Hell becomes a part of them, the more unholy power they're unable to unleash when they break free.

* AllCrimesAreEqual: A repeating plot element, at least on the supernatural side: [[AllCrimesAreEqual you sin, you go to Hell]]. ''[[ThereIsNoHigherCourt Period]]''. No mitigating circumstances considered. A couple of the 113 - not to mention Zeke himself - are actually quite sympathetic, basically decent people who made one big error in judgement... but that doesn't save them from eternal torment. This is revealed to be the cause of the entire plot - it doesn't even matter if you follow a different religion; if your people were [[MightMakesRight conquered by Abrahamics, then you're judged as one]]. [[spoiler:Ashur Badaktu AKA Detective Ash was a high priestess of a pagan religion which Abrahamics ''exterminated to the last man'', meaning there was no one left to carry on her beliefs and condemning her to Hell by default. You cannot ''imagine'' how pissed off she is.]]

* FoeRomanceSubtext: Between Zeke and [[spoiler: Ash]]. It started off as mutual attraction, until she got his shirt off and saw her name tattooed on his chest. She still seems to have some interest in him, however.

* [[spoiler:ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: Pulled in the last episode.]]

* LawfulStupid: A repeating plot element, at least on the supernatural side: [[AllCrimesAreEqual you sin, you go to Hell]]. ''[[ThereIsNoHigherCourt Period]]''. No mitigating circumstances considered. A couple of the 113 - not to mention Zeke himself - are actually quite sympathetic, basically decent people who made one big error in judgement... but that doesn't save them from eternal torment. The big Stupid Law that kicks the plot in motion is that it doesn't even matter if you follow a different religion; if your people were conquered by Abrahamics, then you're judged as one. [[spoiler:Ashur Badaktu AKA Detective Ash was a high priestess of a pagan religion which Abrahamics ''exterminated to the last man'', meaning there was no one left to carry on her beliefs and condemning her to Hell by default. You cannot ''imagine'' how pissed off she is.]]

* SatanIsGood: The Devil isn't necessarily evil. In fact, he's in charge of punishing evildoers, hence his need to get the 113 escapees back to hell. He is, however, an unrepentant {{Jerkass}}. [[note]]His need to get the souls back is ''entirely'' motivated by self-interest: if Ash succeeds in her ultimate goal of wiping out Abrahamism, he'll disappear with it.[/note]]

* SatanIsGood: The Devil isn't necessarily evil. In fact, he's in charge of punishing evildoers, hence his need to get the 113 escapees back to hell. He is, however, an unrepentant {{Jerkass}}. [[note]] His need to get the souls back may also be partially motivated by self-interest. It's implied that he's accountable to God and will suffer if he allows the souls to run free.[[/note]]

* ActingForTwo: At one point an angel appears to Ezekiel but he looks exactly like Creator/JohnGlover's Satan. This is [[HandWave Hand Waved]] by saying the first Angel you see is how you perceive Angels. [[UnreliableNarrator Though there is no way to know for sure.]]

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: It's {{FOX}}, after all.

* ActingForTwo: At one point an angel appears to Ezekiel but he looks exactly like JohnGlover's Satan. This is [[HandWave Hand Waved]] by saying the first Angel you see is how you perceive Angels. [[UnreliableNarrator Though there is no way to know for sure.]]

The show starts off in [[BigApplesauce New York]] but starting with as early as the second episode, takes places in Los Angeles perhaps due to the fact that a resurrected hero cop going around his old haunt, [[AccidentalPun sort to speak]], might attract unwanted attention.

* AchillesHeel: The damned souls are mostly invulnerable, Stone included; the only way to kill them is to destroy/remove their eyes. Eyes being the "windows to the soul", of course

* EvilIsPetty: Whenever Satan drops by, he will engage in some petty prank of anonymous evil. Such as ticketing a legally parked car. loosening a salt shaker. or tying shoelaces together.

* GoForTheEye: The eyes of the fugitives from Hell are their only weak spot (because eyes are the windows to the soul), thus Zeke has to shoot their eyes to send them back. Interestingly enough, he's also immune to everything except the eyes.

* FriendOnTheForce: Detective Kane in the pilot. But then from the second episode onwards the series takes place on the West Coast.

* MistakenForPaedophile

* SinisterMinister: In [[spoiler: the pilot episode]]. Which doubles as a PedophilePriest.