History Series / MrInbetween

* BoyfriendBlockingDad: ''Very'' much justified when it comes to Brittany and her first boyfriend, Adrian. As if the blatant disrespect Adrian demonstrates the first time he comes around Ray's isn't bad enough, Ray soon discovers that [[spoiler:Adrian is dealing ecstasy to the local schoolkids and had even given some to ''Brittany'', which sends Ray into full-blown PapaWolf mode, threatening to straight-up ''[[WouldHurtAChild kill Adrian]]'' if he doesn't stop seeing Brittany immediately. He also goes after the supplier for good measure, just to make sure that the problem won't rear it's ugly head for other kids at Brittany's school.]]

* AffluentAscetic: Ray actually makes a very decent living in his criminal endeavours, easily earning thousands of dollars for every small job he undertakes, and ''hundreds'' of thousands for murders in particular. Despite this, he lives quite simply in a very ordinary suburban home, has a very plain and average dress style, and doesn't indulge in any bad habits like some of the more monied-up associates he has, such as Freddy. The only real sign shown that he has money at all is that he drives a BMW, and may occasionally reveal some expensive tactical gear he has on hand like night vision goggles.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Gary in the first season is pretty well acquainted with the criminal environment Ray is involved with, and [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass will casually talk of violence, theft and cutting up bodies for disposal, sometimes even getting violent himself]]. Once Dave is better asserted as Ray's criminal partner, Gary becomes more about the mundane civilian side of things as his marriage falls apart and he gets involved in the porn industry.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Gary may be a total doofus most of the time, but he is surprisingly capable of doing what is necessary. When it comes to having Ray's back, the guy ''delivers''. The most notable example of this is when [[spoiler:Maddy]] is kidnapped by child sex traffickers. While Ray's rampaging through the city on a fruitless search for answers, Gary not only succeeds in finding out who took [[spoiler:her]], he manages to track the traffickers down, get into their home under the pretense of doing a drug buy, takes them all hostage, rescues [[spoiler:Maddy]], locks the traffickers in their own dungeon, and lets Ray know exactly where to find them. Even better, he manages to do all this over the course of ''one afternoon.''

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Gary sets up his own porn company, offering his services to make private sex tapes for couples looking to spice up their love life. He assumes that his business will revolve around (presumably attractive) heterosexual couples, and is blind-sided after arriving at the home of his first clients, who turn out to be a gay couple instead. To his credit, after a moment of processing the situation, Gary just gets on with it and does the job he's being paid for.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Ray does a lot of bad things, but he prefers dealing with people who are obviously bad guys themselves. Whenever his job intersects with innocent people [[BerserkButton he is not happy about things]]. After beating up some assholes who harassed him with his daughter he was sent to anger management group therapy and took umbrage that he has to share his feelings and listen to a group that would beat their wives, girlfriends and children.
* EyeScream: Ray nearly has his eye gouged out during his fight with the biker sent to kill him, and we can even see the dislodged eyeball ''hanging from the socket'' for a moment before Ray pushes it back into place. The injury results in his briefly adopting an EyepatchOfPower afterwards.
* FaceOfAThug: Ray has a pretty hard appearance, he tends to be intimidating by virtue of most interactions [[TranquilFury coming across as barely contained rage]]. He approached a parent of Brittany's classmate who was bullying her, which only lead to them calling the police on him despite Ray trying to be as casual and friendly as he could.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Rafael seems like a reasonably personable guy when he's first introduced, joking with Ray and Freddy, and being keen to bring Ray on board to help his fledgling drug empire due to Ray's skills and reliability. However, the more Ray works with him, the more that it becomes clear that Rafael is really a cold-blooded, unhinged prick, [[spoiler:with his actions during the drug run - ruthlessly killing the elderly couple who stopped to help the crashed Ray and Zoe, and then all but admitting that he also killed Zoe rather than taking her to the hospital like he promised - leading to Ray deciding that he wants out for good. It culminates in Rafael setting a trap to kill Ray in the series finale, turning Freddy against Ray in order to do so.]] Out of all of the despicable characters Ray deals with over the course of the series, he turns out to be one of the worst.

* HairTriggerTemper: Deconstructed. Ray is generally a pretty relaxed and easygoing guy but has a habit of running into people [[AssholeVictim who are general pieces of shit]] who [[MuggingTheMonster decide to antagonize him]]. He tries to approach things civilly but when the tension rises he has no qualms about getting violent, without further context it seems like he snaps for no reason. [[spoiler: This catches up to him when Allys' brother was being obnoxious and Ray throws him through a glass door. Ally later reveals she was physically abused by her last boyfriend and while [[WifeBeaterBeater Ray promises he would never harm her]] she can't [[NotSoDifferentRemark separate the similarities between them]]]].

* KilledOffscreen: This happens to [[spoiler:the three child traffickers]], and is implied to happen to a few other characters as well, most notably [[spoiler:Dennis Miller and Zoe.]]

* NotQuiteDead: A hilarious example involving Gary's brother-in-law Vasili. [[spoiler:Gary shoots Vasili in the head after the latter tries to rob him, and enlists Ray to dispose of the body while Gary distracts his wife (Vasili's sister). Ray goes to cut up the body with a machete in order to dispose of it, only for Vasili to wake up screaming when Ray lands the first machete blow on his arm. Ray's "fuck me!" face when this happens is absolutely ''priceless''.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Ray generally handles his underworld job and everything that comes with it with consummate cool, rarely becoming unflappable in a situation. This is why, when [[spoiler:Dirk's daughter Maddy is kidnapped while on a playdate with Brittany]], it's terrifying to see Ray go absolutely ''ballistic'' in trying to find her, and even Freddy realizes how volatile the situation has become when Ray [[spoiler:barges into the home of Davros's family in the mistaken belief that Davros's brother is involved, pulls a shotgun, and threatens to ''kill their grandmother'' while trying to get information, seriously damaging his relationship with Freddy (who's married to Davros' sister) in the process.]] It's the most out-of-control we've seen him, which just drives home how much of a BerserkButton [[spoiler:child endangerment]] is for Ray.

* PetTheDog: Ray prefers to see himself as dealing with the scum of the world, even if he is working for scum himself. When he learns that a man he killed for stealing money was actually a mistake, he is notably very angry with Freddy after finding out the truth. He later makes an anonymous drop of cash in a brown bag to the widow, claiming it was a failsafe stash from her husband, before disappearing.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: Ray was training at a boxing gym and was asked to assist in a session of kids. While doing light sparring with a 12 year old girl he compliments her skill, and she explains she's spent several years beforehand in Brazilian Jujitsu. Ray invites her to try a move on him and [[UnderestimatingBadassery she quickly sweeps a leg, takes his back and chokes him out]].

* AbusiveParents: Rays' father was physically abusive to him and his brother, and they want nothing to do with him in the present day. His father does end up at his doorstep, suffering from some sort of mental illness and after a few weeks Ray finds a home for him to stay. They find some reconciliation when his father confesses that [[ShellShockedVeteran something broke inside from his time in Vietnam]], lamenting that he wished Ray knew him before the war.

* AgeGapRomance: Slightly downplayed, but Ray has a brief fling with a young college student named Zoe, when the two are both recruited to do a drug run for Rafael. [[spoiler:It doesn't end well for either of them, especially Zoe.]]

* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler: Ray has retired from running various criminal side-jobs and started up a modest job as a taxi driver. Two sketchy acting guys are pushing him to take them further into the woods and he decides to stop and ask them to get out. They start mocking him with the subtext this was about to get violent. The series ends on Ray giving his [[PsychoticSmirk trademark lopsided smile]]]].
* AmbiguousSituation: The POV of the show stays fairly tight on Ray, and his attitude of not asking any questions means the backstory surrounding any number of encounters he has are left half-explained. The audience is usually given just enough to infer what happened and what the motivations are but unless Ray is told exactly what is happening he is left in the dark same as the audience.

* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: In one episode, Ray's daughter, Brittany, deals with bullying. After an attempt to explain and resolve the problem to said bully's mother doesn't work, and said mother sends her brother, who's a cop, to intimidate Ray, Ray decides to send in Samantha, a girl who trains at Old Bob's gym, to threaten said bully into backing off of Brittany.

* BerserkButton: Ray has a few small ones, namely blatant disrespect and insulting his family or loved ones, but threaten or harm a child around him, and Ray will go out of his way to ''destroy you'' and not give a damn about the consequences. This is almost certainly a result of his own hellish, brutal upbringing.

* DiabolusExMachina: Ray accompanies a young college student named Zoe in a standard drug run. [[spoiler: A kangaroo jumps in front of them on a long stretch of road, making them crash]].

* {{Dramedy}}: Scenes of criminal actions are interspaced with CringeComedy with friends and family, where Ray can be surprisingly a BumblingDad at times.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Ray does a lot of bad things, but he prefers dealing with people who are obviously bad guys themselves. Whenever his job intersects with innocent people [[BerserkButton he is not happy about things]]. After beating up some assholes who harassed him with his daughter he was sent to anger management group therapy, and took umbrage that he has to share his feelings and listen to a group that would beat their wives, girlfriends and children.

* FaceOfAThug: Ray has a pretty hard appearance, he tends to be intimidating by virtue of most interactions [[TranquilFury coming across as barely contained rage]]. He approached a parent of Brittany's classmate who was bullying her, which only lead to them calling the police on him despite trying to be as casual and friendly as he could.

* HairTriggerTemper: Deconstructed. Ray is generally a pretty relaxed and easygoing guy but has a habit of running into people [[AssholeVictim who are general pieces of shit]] who [[MuggingTheMonster decide to antagonize him]]. He tries to approach things civilly but when the tension rises he has no qualms about getting violent, without further context it seems like he snaps for no reason. [[spoiler: This catches up to him when Allys' brother was being obnoxious and Ray throws him through a glass door. Ally later reveals she was physically abused by her last boyfriend, while [[WifeBeaterBeater Ray promises he would never harm her]] she can't [[NotSoDifferentRemark separate the similarities between them]]]].

* JerkassHasAPoint: Ray is a fairly thoughtful guy and rarely does anything on blind instinct. When people question some of his violent behavior or brutal point of view, he is able to rationalize it in a way that is hard to deny even though it [[HardTruthAesop goes against what is considered appropriate for a civilized society]]. After Ally is unnerved from a road rage incident Ray explains that he reacted the way he did because otherwise it would have prolonged into a 2v1 fight that would have placed her in danger too. In anger management group therapy Ray describes assholes of the world behaving the way they do because they think there are no consequences, after getting their ass kicked by him it will make them think twice about doing it again.

* LivingADoubleLife: Ray always tells people he works in "security" when they ask about his job, and most of the show he is technically a security guard and bouncer for Freddy's strip club. But this hides Ray's actual life dealing with all manner of criminal activities, even performing hit jobs, and his more mundane suburban life provides a significant contrast to unusual things he has to deal with. Unusually, though, is that there is little overlap between those two worlds. There are very few moments that threaten to expose this part of his life to his family.

* NervesOfSteel: Ray is very calm under pressure, even when his life is at stake. This nonchalant demeanor helps him immensely in his line of work; nobody expects him to react as violently as he does until it is too late. This largely applies to the various jobs he picks up on the side, when ItsPersonal he is notably much more agitated.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Ray generally handles his underworld job and everything that comes with it with consummate cool, rarely becoming unflappable in a situation. This is why, when [[spoiler:Dirk's daughter Maddy is kidnapped while on a playdate with Brittany]], it's terrifying to see Ray go absolutely ''ballistic'' in trying to find her, and even Freddy realizes how volatile the situation has become when Ray [[spoiler:barges into the home of Davros's family in the mistaken belief that Davros's brother is involved, pulls a shotgun, and threatens to ''kill their grandmother'' while trying to get information, seriously damaging his relationship with Freddy in the process.]] It's the most out-of-control we've seen him, which just drives home how much of a BerserkButton [[spoiler:child endangerment]] is for Ray.

* PetTheDog: Ray prefers to see himself as dealing with the scum of the world, even if he is working for scum himself. He learns that a man he killed for stealing money was actually a mistake, he is notably very angry with Freddy when told. He later makes an anonymous drop of cash in a brown bag to the widow, claiming it was a failsafe stash from her husband, before disappearing.

* PunchClockVillain: Ray himself. He is good at what he does but prefers the flexibility of choosing what job comes his way. [[EvenEvilHasStandards He turns down jobs because the people don't sit right with him]] and doesn't like it when innocents get involved, [[PayEvilUntoEvil preferring to feel he is taking care of even worse people]].

* SliceOfLife: Much of the show leans on the contrast between Rays' normal life and the violent world he is a part of. He will swing between hit jobs and taking his daughter to a birthday party and interacting with the other parents. In turn many of the episodes start to run the credits with ''nothing'' resolved, focused more on the mood than actually wrapping up any plotlines.

* TakingTheHeat: Ray hilariously agrees to do this for Gary after Tatiana finds Gary's porn DVD, and Gary tells her it's Ray's, resulting in a disgusted Tatiana calling Ray a pig and a pervert, made all the more hilarious with Ray somewhat meekly agreeing with her, even after finding out that the porn is ''urine-themed''.

* TitleDrop: Late in the series Freddy runs into problems with owing money to a mafia leader and Ray meets with him to ask for an extension on Freddys loan. As Ray leaves the mafia leader comments to his bodyguard that Ray was known as "[[RedBaron The Magician]]," a name the show had avoided but was the title of the original film.

%% * BaldOfEvil: Ray, depending on what he's up to in any given moment.

* BeingEvilSucks: Ray had few reservations about his lifestyle until the third season, which progressively showed him getting disillusioned over what he does and how it impacts the people around him. He admits to a friend who runs a boxing gym that he is OnlyInItForTheMoney, but a combination of [[spoiler: disposing of the body of a young woman who overdosed (who resembles Brittany), Brittany finding his gun and firing it in the house by accident, seeing Rafael kill an elderly couple to LeaveNoWitnesses, being told second-hand that Zoe died from her injuries in the car accident and an attempt on his life that ended up killing Dave]] that he is forced to reconsider his lifestyle.

* NervesOfSteel: Ray is very calm under pressure, even when his life is at stake. This nonchalance demeanor helps him immensely in his line of work, nobody expects him to react as violently as he does until it is too late. This largely applies to the various jobs he picks up on the side, when ItsPersonal he is notably much more agitated.

''Mr Inbetween'' is an American-funded Australian DramaticHalfHour BlackComedy that aired on Fox Showcase (in Australia) and [[Creator/FXNetworks FX]] in America. It is created and written by Scott Ryan and directed by Nash Edgerton, based on Ryan's 2005 independent film ''The Magician''.