History Series / TheDeuce

* BookEnds: In the series premiere we first see Frankie when he meets up with a guy outside a movie theater, places a bet with the guy and then insults the guy's shirt. In the series finale, the final 1985 scene has Vincent meet the same guy in the same location. They talk about Frankie and then Vincent insults the guy's shirt.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Due to focusing on pornography, masturbation is frequently discussed and portrayed.

* TheBigRottenApple: The general sleaziness of 1971 Time Square is captured in detail. The city and its eventual transformation from the trope to the gentrified New York City of modern day is a key part of the narrative. [[spoiler:The final scene, serving as a DistantFinale, has Vincent walking through modern-day Times Square and contrasting it with the Times Square of his heyday]].

-->Leon: THey walked into the arms of time.

* YouHaveToHaveJews: Jewish Creator of Show David Simon includes several identifiably Jewish characters
** Harvey Wasserman, porn director who speaks Yiddish and is seen ordering Kishke
** Marty Hodas, King of Peep Shows and Chief profiteer of coins throughout The Deuce
** Gene Goldman, Ed Koch mayoral official whose mission is reform 42nd Street. It is also noteworthy that’s mayor Koch is Jewish though he doesn’t appear on The Show.

In 1971, UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity's 42nd Street, nicknamed the "Deuce", was the cultural center of American grindhouse theaters, which spawned an entire subculture. Much like Simon's other dramas, the show has no one protagonist and follows various characters as they try to navigate the crime and grime of TheBigRottenApple. The characters given the most focus are Vincent (Creator/JamesFranco) and Frankie Martino ([[ActingForTwo James Franco]]), twin brothers and frontmen for UsefulNotes/TheMafia in Times Square; Eileen "Candy" Merrell (Creator/MaggieGyllenhaal), a sex worker who is interested in making money in porn; and Larry Brown (Gbenga Akinnagbe), an intimidating but conflicted pimp.

** Each season marks the end of and era in the history of the 42nd Street era and the sex industry. In season one pornography comes out from the underground and the prostitutes and pimps of The Deuce start switching over to the now-legal industry. Season two shows the evolution of pornography into massive business and the end of the old pimp system. Season three shows how AIDS shook up the sex industry and ended the previous carefree era.

* TalkingToTheDead: The final scenes of the series finale consist of an elderly [[spoiler: Vincent]] walking through the Deuce area in 2019 and seeing the ghosts of the other characters, some of them dead for almost fifty years and some who have just recently died. He exchanges greetings with some and has brief conversations with others like [[spoiler:Eileene, Bobby and Franky]].

* LoonyFan: Laurie does a live strip show and afterwards signs autographs for her fans. Predictably, some of the fans are a bit creepy. Later she is sitting in a diner and is recognized by a fan who sits in her booth without permission, causing her to flee the building. She even starts having delusions of fans stalking her.

* AteHisGun: [[spoiler:After being forced to turn a trick to provide for herself, Laurie suddenly commits suicide by shooting herself in the head]].
[[spoiler:Officer Flanagan commits suicide, distraught by having accidentally murdered his mistress Anita in an argument]].

* HiddenDepths: Some of the African-American characters (Darlene, Rodney, Black Frankie) are surprisingly curious about knowledge, despite living in a crime-ridden environment like The Deuce, and making a living as pimps, prostitutes or tough guys. Rodney in particular wants to develop as an actor, and not just be a piece of meat in the adult film industry.