History Series / Salvation

* PresidentEvil: Vice President (later President) Monroe Bennett seems hell-bent on wiping out Russia and China no matter the cost. His NumberTwo poisons President Mackenzie in order to invoke the 25th Amendment and put Bennett in power. Fortunately, Mackenzie survives and manages to stage a counter-coup. Bennett manages to flee and, in Season 2, subverts a number of generals and their men into "taking back the White House". However, he does at least try the legal route by petitioning the Supreme Court to determine who is the legal president. Not that he has any intention of

* PresidentEvil: Vice President (later President) Bennett seems hell-bent on wiping out Russia and China no matter the cost. His NumberTwo poisons President Mackenzie in order to invoke the 25th Amendment and put Bennett in power. Fortunately, Mackenzie survives and manages to stage a counter-coup.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: It seems the Russians no longer have need of Professor Croft's services after he fails to make a working EM Drive based on the stolen prototype. [[spoiler: They don't end up killing him though, and he later becomesbone of the scientist RE/SYST holds captive]].

* TheArk: [[spoiler:Tanz has built a bomb shelter/launch pad for a spacecraft meant to take survivors and some of the greatest cultural treasures to Mars in the event of a global catastrophe. He assign's Liam's girlfriend to select the viable candidates. He doesn't plan on joining them, as he has the gene for Huntington's, and it would be irresponsible to allow it to spread in the surviving humankind]].

* AteHisGun: The government traces a hack to [[spoiler:Lazlo, Tanz's chief of security and best friend]], finding him dead, apparently having shot himself with his own gun. [[spoiler:Tanz, of course, doesn't believe it. The true culprit is Professor Croft, who injected Lazlo with a tranquilizer and then staged the "suicide"]].
* BaitAndSwitchGunshot: [[spoiler:Harris is about to be shot by Claire for "treason", even though she's the traitor. There's a close-up of her gun, then a gunshot... and she falls. The camera focuses on Grace, who's standing behind Harris with a gun]].
* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler:Professor Malcolm Croft to Liam, who turns out to be working for the Russians all this time. Liam is forced to shoot Croft in self-defense, although Croft is shown to have survived]].
* CliffHanger: Season 1 ends in one, with [[spoiler:Liam leaving the Ark to help Tanz solve the problem with Samson's iron core. Meanwhile, Russia (or RE/SYST hacking into Russia) has launched three [=ICBMs=] at the United States with President Mackenzie about to retaliate]].
* ColonyDrop: An asteroid code-named Samson is threatening to end all human life on Earth in under 190 days (at the start of the show). Also, it's revealed that [[spoiler:the Chelyabinsk meteor in 2013 was a deliberate use of this trope by the US government to drop a rock on a joint Russian-Chinese research base, code-named Project Atlas]].

* TheCracker: The hacker group RE/SYST initially seems to be just a bunch of college protesters with computer skills, seeking to expose the truth. Then they start getting into the territory of [[spoiler:destroying two aircraft carriers and (possibly) launching [=ICBMs=]]].
* TheEndingChangesEverything: After two seasons of doing everything possible to stop the asteroid from hitting Earth, the final scene of season 2 has [[spoiler: the asteroid ''avoiding'' a laser blast and everyone realizing it's a ''ship''.]]

* EverythingIsOnline: An extreme example. The hacker group RE/SYST appears to be able to [[spoiler:blow up two aircraft carriers just by hacking them]].
* EvilUncle: [[Creator/JohnNoble Nicholas Tanz]], Darius's paternal uncle has a score to settle with him [[spoiler:after Darius breaks into Nicholas's home in England and steals a meteorite sample]]. It turns out that [[spoiler:Nicholas was in love with Darius's mother and resented her for choosing his brother instead]]. They manage to patch up their differences, though.
* Fiction500: Tanz Industries, which appears to be on the cutting edge of technology. They even release smartphone operating systems ([=TanzOS=]). On the other hand, Tanz is eventually hauled before the board of directors, who want to know what he's spending company money on. [[spoiler:His uncle]] nearly succeeds in booting him out of the driver seat.

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:RE/SYST appears to fall here in the season 1 finale, trying (and apparently succeeding) to start a nuclear war between Russia and the United States]].

* KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade: Anyone who finds out about Project Atlas finds themselves dead in short order. [[spoiler:Amanda is eventually shot and set on fire, when she finds out about the asteroid. She manages to send her story to Grace before succumbing to wounds]].

* MakeTheBearAngryAgain: Russia ''seems'' like it's back it its old tricks with hostile posturing and threatening to destroy any rocket launched from Florida. [[spoiler:Then it's revealed that the US has previously already dropped an asteroid on Russia (the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor), so their fears of another such attack are justified. Especially since certain members of the US government are indeed planning exactly that]].

* OhCrap: Many such moments, but one that stands out is when [[spoiler:Samson is struck by another, smaller asteroid (a billion to one chance)... and ''nothing happens''. Liam and Tanz realize that the asteroid isn't porous like they'd assumed. It must have a solid iron core, which means the government's ShootTheBullet approach not only won't work, but will destroy the [=EM=] drive and end any hope of saving human civilization]].
* OldFlame: Tanz and Grace visit Lazlo's cabin [[spoiler:after his death]], where they meet Lazlo's sister Tess, who was Tanz's first love before they split. She has a husband and kids now, but Tanz is still haunted by "what might have been", especially since he was the one who ended the relationship. Grace immediately realizes that he still has a thing for Tess, given that his company's AI is named TESS. Later on, [[spoiler:Tess shows up at a Tanz Industries board meeting, having inherited the 10% of shares Tanz has generously gifted to his best friend]]. Also, Claire is this for Harris, although it's clear he has no feelings for her anymore.
* PresidentEvil: Vice President ([[spoiler:later President]]) Bennett seems hell-bent on wiping out Russia and China no matter the cost. [[spoiler:His NumberTwo poisons President Mackenzie in order to invoke the 25th Amendment and put Bennett in power. Fortunately, Mackenzie survives and manages to stage a counter-coup]].
* ReactionlessDrive: Tanz's solution is to build the previously-thought-impossible EM Drive, which is a constant low-thrust rocket engine that requires no fuel (and violates Newtonian physics). This will allow him to send a "gravity tractor" to the asteroid, which will fly near the rock and nudge it out of the way by a few degrees in order to miss the planet. [[spoiler:The key turns out to be a unique crystal that doesn't naturally exist on Earth but has been found in a few meteor craters]].
* ShootTheBullet: This is the government's original plan, although it's rejected by scientists, as it is likely to turn a single large rock into hundreds of smaller rocks still headed for Earth. Basically, turning a cannonball into a shotgun blast. [[spoiler:PresidentEvil plans to do it anyway in order to have the smaller asteroids devastate the Eastern Hemisphere, ending the perceived threat of Russia and China for good. However, the discovery that the asteroid probably has an iron core means that hitting it would never work]].
* TitleDrop: [[spoiler:If the [=EM=] drive fails to redirect the asteroid, Tanz has a plan B: an ark ship named ''Salvation'']].

* WorldWarThree: One is looming on the horizon, [[spoiler:and (Vice) President Bennett seems hellbent on destroying Russia and China (along with most of the Eastern Hemisphere)]]. Season 1 ends with [[spoiler:Russia (or RE/SYST hacking Russia) launching three ballistic missiles at the US, with President Mackenzie about to order a retaliatory strike]].
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: It seems the Russians no longer have need of [[spoiler:Professor Croft]]'s services after [[spoiler:he fails to make a working EM Drive based on the stolen prototype]].

Currently, the original 13-episode run has been completed. No word yet on whether there will be further seasons.

** Speaking of the carrier, the USS ''Pike'' has a [[https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/9QaehQ3qRy5u-0o0QEspw9GWzCC__gClQWSYIe21z65F53L3MbsuSOmHL9A12K_uS8pVO84iL2rLrh5G56gBZ0PFrRm1_MxO9uNXh7-nIPThiSQsP5Pf3C0OJrVC0xRRTVrqwx2UEA=w919-h623-no motley collection]] of aircraft, all of which [[JustPlaneWrong do not belong on an American carrier]]. The only American craft are a US Coast Guard chopper and US Air Force F-22s and A-10s, which can't land on carriers. Neither can the Eurofighter or non-navalized Russian [=MiG=]-29s. Also present is a French Army Caracal helicopter.

** Speaking of the carrier, the USS ''Pike'' has a [[https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/9QaehQ3qRy5u-0o0QEspw9GWzCC__gClQWSYIe21z65F53L3MbsuSOmHL9A12K_uS8pVO84iL2rLrh5G56gBZ0PFrRm1_MxO9uNXh7-nIPThiSQsP5Pf3C0OJrVC0xRRTVrqwx2UEA=w919-h623-no motley collection]] of aircraft, all of which [[JustPlaneWrong do not belong on an American carrier]]. The only American craft are a US Coast Guard chopper and US Air Force F-22s and A-10s, which can't land on carriers. Neither can the Eurofighter or non-navalized Russian MiG-29s. Also present is a French Army Caracal helicopter.

* AteHisGun: The government traces a hack to [[spoiler:Lazlo, Tanz's chief of security and best friend]], finding him dead, apparently having shot himself with his own gun. [[spoiler:Tanz, of course, doesn't believe it. The true culprit is Professor Croft, who injected Lazlo with a tranquilizer and then staged the "suicide"]].

* AteHisGun: The government traces a hack to [[spoiler:Lazlo, Tanz's chief of security and best friend]], finding him dead, apparently having shot himself with his own gun. [[spoiler:Tanz, of course, doesn't believe it. The true culprit is Professor Croft, who injects Lazlo with a tranquilizer and then stages the "suicide"]].

* OhCrap: Many such moments, but one that stands out is when [[spoiler:Samson is struck by another, smaller asteroid (a billion to one chance)... and ''nothing happens''. Liam and Tanz realize that the asteroid isn't porous like they'd assumed. It must have a solid iron core, which means the ShootTheBullet approach won't work]].

* OldFlame: Tanz and Grace visit Lazlo's cabin [[spoiler:after his death]], where they meet Lazlo's sister Tess, who was Tanz's first love before they split. She has a husband and kids now, but Tanz is still haunted by "what might have been", especially since he was the one who ended the relationship. Grace immediately realizes that he still has a thing for Tess, given that his company's AI is named TESS. Later on, [[spoiler:Tess shows up at a Tanz Industries board meeting, having inherited the 10% of shares Tanz has generously gifted to his best friend]].

[[quoteright:180:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/salvation_intertitle.jpg]]

* Fiction500: Tanz Industries, which appears to be on the cutting edge of technology. They even release smartphone operating systems ([=TanzOS=]).

* EnhancedInterrogationTechnique: When the government starts suspecting Tanz of treason, he's imprisoned and tortured for information. He manages to resist for several hours. Fortunately, Grace manages to get him set free before drugs come into play.

* BrokenBase: [[spoiler:Professor Malcolm Croft to Liam, who turns out to be working for the Russians all this time. Liam is forced to shoot Croft in self-defense, although Croft is shown to have survived]].