History Series / TheEvent

* {{Cliffhanger}}: Assuming the series isn't renewed for a second season, then it ends on one hell of a cliffhanger - [[spoiler: Simon reveals that his people [[AncientAstronauts used to live on Earth before humanity]], a terminally-ill Leila is revealed to be pregnant, Martinez's wife is revealed to be an alien, and, oh yeah, Sophia has the alien's homeworld ''teleported into Earth's orbit'']]. At least they knew how to end the season/series with a bang.

* HalfHumanHybrid: It turns out some of the aliens that went to ground had kids. [[spoiler:These are the girls being kidnapped, including Leilah and Samantha.]]

* PlotHole: Viewers were led to believe that the flashbacks which had been part of the regular narrative would explain, eventually, how Sean got from the cruise ship Leyla was abducted from to the plane in the pilot, which implied there had been nine days between those two scenes. Since the later episodes dropped that technique, it was left hanging.

* GenreSavvy: '''''James Dempsey'''''. Let's see, he understands that Martinez will be a good President, but further predicts both his and Sophia's shifts to WellIntentionedExtremist. Even better, he ''successfully identifies Sean as'' ''TheHero'', lures Sean in by putting his partner in [[UnresolvedSexualTension UST]] in a {{deathtrap}}, and then offers him anything he needs to save the world. [[spoiler:When Sean [[{{Determinator}} refuses to forget about chasing Dempsey]], Dempsey kills himself so Sean will move on to [[BiggerBad the true threat]]]].

* OnlyPointTwoPercentDifferent: Inverted. The people from the Inostranka crash have 2% different DNA from humans, and the president interprets this fact to mean that they're just like humans. His advisor informs him that they have less in common with humans than apes do. This is used as an argument that they don't deserve human rights, an idea which the president doesn't approve of.

''The Event'' is a drama/science fiction TV series by executive producer Evan Katz (''Series/TwentyFour''). Told in anachronic order, the series tells the stories of several seemingly unrelated people whose lives intertwine as circumstances propel them toward some mysterious future happening known only as "the Event". The show premiered in the United States in 2010 on Creator/{{NBC}}, and stars Jason Ritter, Creator/BlairUnderwood and Laura Innes.

* ReverseMole: Simon Lee is really an alien. At first he's a straight example of this trope with Sophia's group having good intentions, [[spoiler:but after things go bad they become [[KnightTemplar Knight Templars]] and he ends up deserting them]].

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The secret prison conversation below is disturbingly similar to [[TheWarOnTerror a certain compound for holding dangerous individuals that would frighten the public]]. Eerily played up further by references to Cuba in the conversation.

''The Event'' is a drama/science fiction TV series by executive producer Evan Katz (''Series/TwentyFour''). Told in anachronic order, the series tells the stories of several seemingly unrelated people whose lives intertwine as circumstances propel them toward some mysterious future happening known only as "the Event". The show premiered in the United States in 2010 on Creator/{{NBC}}, and stars Jason Ritter, Blair Underwood and Laura Innes.

* ETGaveUsWiFi: [[spoiler:Thomas' involvement]] allegedly helped to push ahead the development of the atomic bomb by several decades.

** The US Government built a secret prison to detain the aliens until they gave the whole story, but the aliens themselves are no paragons of morality either, especially Thomas' faction which has apparently decided to go the AlienInvasion route. Meanwhile there are powerful people behind the government that apparently want to augment their lifespans by studying the very long-lived aliens and keep it all in the shadows, killing anyone that opposes them. The only really "good" characters are Simon, Leila, and Sean, while the only truly evil character is Dempsey, and he is pretty [[AffablyEvil affable]]... [[spoiler:and as it turns out, even Dempsey only did all the evil things he did to stop the alien threat, or so he says. (Along with extending his lifespan using DNA from kidnapped HalfHumanHybrids)]].

* HotScoop: Madeline Jackson.

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler: Sophia ([[SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains Type III]]) after her FaceHeelTurn]].

* AnachronicOrder: Not only does the series continually switch among the main characters to tell the story from their perspectives, but it often shows events in reverse order before making its way back to the present.
** Particularly funny as the time shifts are often seemingly done at complete random. Probably the worst is a flashback to Sean and Leila's first meeting being plopped into the middle of an exciting chase through a hospital.
** Averted completely since the mid-season break. The storytelling is now completely linear.

* ApocalypseHow: The aliens' home sun is apparently starting to go supernova. Depending on how strong it is, this could place it somewhere between a Class 5 and a Class X-2.
** And Sophia's plan is now to [[spoiler: perform a Class 3a on humanity, in order to make room for her people-who came from Earth originally anyway]].

* BatmanGambit: Vicky and Carter pull one off in Episode 4 to fake Vicky's death and get Leila to call Sean.
** In Episode 13, Sophia informs Martinez that Thomas is planning to teleport fuel rods out of a nuclear power plant, which would cause a meltdown. Martinez orders the rods removed from the plant, [[spoiler: which is what Thomas wanted, so that his people could steal the rods from the less heavily-guarded convoy]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Sophia finds out that Isabel tried to have Thomas assassinate her. [[spoiler:She then forces Isabel to maim herself in response.]]

* BigBad: Dempsey.
** Also Thomas and now [[spoiler: Sophia following Thomas's HeroicSacrifice (yeah, villains can have heroic sacrifices as well) ]]

* BilingualBonus: Inostranka, the place in Alaska where HumanAliens are detained, means "alien" or "foreigner" in Russian.
** Even better, it means a "female foreigner", clearly hinting at Sophia.

* CIAEvilFBIGood: Subverted in agent Simon Lee (played by Ian Anthony Dale), who seems genuinely interested in saving lives and is implied to be the person who leaked the files about the secret prison to President Martinez, although he is an alien and TheMole. Possibly played straight with Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Blake Sterling who kept the information from the President, though it's hard to gauge his motives without knowing who the prisoners are and why they're being held.
** Thus far [[spoiler: Blake seems to be in the dark as everyone else regarding why the aliens are here, thus his stated motive to keep them until they talk]].

** Played straight with [[spoiler: Vicky, who was a CIA agent once, until her boss framed her to cover his mistakes, which cost her a job and almost ended her life. She then went freelance as a hired killer.]]

* ColdBloodedTorture: [[spoiler: Thomas]] attempts to do this to [[spoiler: Sterling]]
** Also [[spoiler:Sean to a traitorous contact]].

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The secret prison conversation below is disturbingly similar to [[TheWarOnTerror a certain compound for holding dangerous individuals that would frighten the public]].
** Eerily played up further by references to Cuba in the conversation.
* TheDragon: Sterling was this at first for Martinez, but now, it seems as if he's become a failing MoralityChain for the President. As of episode 16, Senator Catherine Lewis has become this for Martinez (and seems poised to become a DragonInChief - as it looks as if she might end up becoming Martinez' new Vice-President).
** How? The Vice-President's not dead yet.
*** Oh, maybe because [[spoiler: the Vice-President tried poisoning Martinez?]]

* EnemyMine: [[spoiler: Sean and Vicky working together to defeat Dempsey]]
** [[spoiler: Sophia and Thomas put aside their differences to protect their people from the government]].

-->'''Vicky:''' Why are you so interested in Walker?
-->'''Dempsey:''' Because every time I put an obstacle in his path, he destroys it.

* GenreShift: The show appears to be a conspiracy thriller (albeit one in AnachronicOrder) until the very end when it shifts to science fiction when the kamikaze plane disappears into a big ol' ball of spacetime. On the other hand, the title itself is a pretty big hint. After all, you don't refer to things you understand (like terrorist threats or natural disasters) as "the Event."
** The initial promos for the show even stated this explicitly.

* GrayAndGrayMorality: The US Government built a secret prison to detain the aliens until they gave the whole story, but the aliens themselves are no paragons of morality either, especially Thomas' faction which has apparently decided to go the AlienInvasion route. Meanwhile there are powerful people behind the government that apparently want to augment their lifespans by studying the very long-lived aliens and keep it all in the shadows, killing anyone that opposes them. The only really "good" characters are Simon, Leila, and Sean, while the only truly evil character is Dempsey, and he is pretty [[AffablyEvil affable]]... [[spoiler: and as it turns out, even Dempsey only did all the evil things he did to stop the alien threat, or so he says. (Along with extending his lifespan using DNA from kidnapped HalfHumanHybrids)]].
** Later, [[spoiler: The formerly peaceful Sophia destroys the Washington Monument, killing scores of people and injuring hundreds more, to protect her people from a government raid. Then, President Martinez has an absolutely stone-cold look on his face as he orders Apache helicopters in to kill dozens of the aliens in retaliation for the attacks.]]
*** [[spoiler: They both get [[WhatTheHellHero called out on their actions by their own people]], further muddying the issue of who the "good guys" are in this]].

* IdiotBall: When you consider that HIV (from SIV in apes), [=H5N1=] (bird flu), [=H1N1=] (swine flu) all managed to cross species into humans and have proven lethal... why on earth would Sophia test a "kill all humans" virus, on a ''hybrid''?! The chances that it'd mutate to be lethal to ''her'' species is now 1 in 2?!
** [[spoiler: Really, Sophia? You honestly think that teleporting another planet into orbit near Earth is a ''good'' idea? So the precipitating earthquakes that have been felt worldwide wasn't a clue that such a thing would cause massive tectonic instability? Nor the fact that this will cause large tidal waves that will devastate coastal regions? Remember, this is the very planet you apparently want to ''colonise'', why are you ''breaking'' it?!]]

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Used by Sean on Henri to find out where James Dempsey is. Also threatened against Dr. Lu from Simon to get the password for a computer with information they need.
** Somewhat unusually for this trope, Sean is clearly disgusted with himself for doing it.
* JigsawPuzzlePlot: Absolutely shamelessly; see AnachronicOrder, above.
** Somewhat less of an issue since the {{Retool}}.

* OhCrap: Jarvis has a moment bordering on VillainousBreakdown in the season finale during his [[spoiler: EngineeredPublicConfession]].
** The Finale has an epic one. [[spoiler: You think that Sophia's people are coming in ships through the portal... wrong. They instead bring their entire PLANET into orbit to be a second moon around Earth.]]

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Maya]] has killed a fellow prisoner to keep Sophia's secrets and gave her own life to save [[spoiler: Sterling]]
** Also, [[spoiler: Thomas.]]

* {{Retool}}: The series was taken off the air between late November 2010 and early March 2011, notably missing February sweeps. When it returned, the flashbacks (which advertising for the show presumably assumed would be a draw due to comparisons with ''Series/{{Lost}}'') were gone, and the storytelling was now completely linear.
** Quite possibly done because they knew the show's plummeting ratings would guarantee the show's cancellation after season one, and so things were streamlined to WrapItUp and give the show's remaining fans a suitable GrandFinale.

* TakingTheBullet:[[spoiler:Maya]] for [[spoiler: Sterling]]
** And [[spoiler:Thomas]] for [[spoiler:Sophia]]. Although this time it was [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill the rocket]]
* TitleDrop: In an exchange between CIA agent Simon Lee and Sophia Maguire during the pilot episode.
--> '''Lee''': "''We may have a problem. He thinks he can buy his freedom back. Trade it for information...''"\\
'''Maguire''': "''What kind of information?''"\\
'''Lee''': "''He's going to tell them[[DramaticPause ... about The Event]].''"

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The question of whether Simon survived a building collapse is abruptly answered by the next episode preview immediately following the scene.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: This show really loves this trope.

** And now Sophia herself has become one.

** And the Vice President both as first Dempsey's then Sophia's pawn thinks he is acting for the best interests of his country.

-->'''Dempsey''': "''It's just that I have a feeling that this Mr. Walker and I will cross paths again... soon.''"

* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: President Elias Martinez (played by Blair Underwood) is President Minority; he's Afro-Cuban, referenced by Sterling the DNI while he tries to dissuade the President from his decision to release the prisoners from their secret prison. Also seems to be a President Personable.

* TheSingularity: Near the end of the season/series finale, Simon reveals to Sean that "the event" is an evolution into a higher form for his people, but something that humanity won't survive.
* TomatoSurprise: [[spoiler: Leila discovers that she and her sister]] are [[HalfHumanHybrid half-alien.]]

* [[AlienSky Aliens In My Sky]]: [[spoiler: Sophia's people bring their entire planet into orbit with Earth.]]

* [[BigBadWannabe Big Bad Wannabes]]: [[spoiler: Thomas and Isabel]] find out that neither of them has quite what it takes to usurp Sophia.

* [[DieHardOnAnX Die Hard On Inostranka]]: [[spoiler: Sterling]] in episode 12.

* [[OurPresidentsAreDifferent President Minority]]: President Elias Martinez (played by Blair Underwood) is Afro-Cuban, referenced by Sterling the DNI while he tries to dissuade the President from his decision to release the prisoners from their secret prison. Also seems to be a President Personable.

* OmniscientDatabase: Sean is able to access any information on Earth in record time, no matter who holds it, no matter how secret, no matter how protected, with his Macbook Pro and a flawless, extremely fast wireless Internet connection that apparently works from anywhere, including ''Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles''.

* OmniscientDatabase: Sean is able to access any information on Earth in record time, no matter who holds it, no matter how secret, no matter how protected, with his Macbook Pro and a flawless, extremely fast wireless Internet connection that apparently works from anywhere, including PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles.

* PlayingAgainstType: Anyone who has seen Zeljko Ivanek (Blake Sterling) in anything else immediately identifies him as the villain...except he's actually a ReasonableAuthorityFigure.

* TookALevelInJerkass: The President, in response to constantly getting jerked around by Sophia and Thomas and losing control of the situation, is becoming increasingly short-fused. He was willing to risk a nuclear meltdown if it meant catching Thomas, and isn't even considering diplomatic options anymore. By contrast, Sterling seems to be mellowing out, and is more willing to consider working with Sophia.
** Actually, what's happening is more of a constant effort to BreakTheCutie (or BullyingTheDragon, if you remember that [[WhatAnIdiot the people involved are messing with the U.S. President)]], leading into a [[JustifiedTrope quite acceptable case]] of BewareTheNiceOnes.
* TooSoon:
** Jetliner SuicideAttack as a weapon in the United States complete with screaming passengers. Obviously NBC's is hoping that nine years was enough for this to just be a credible dramatic threat and not stomach-turning to most of the audience.
** The old warehouse collapsing in 1x6.
** The episode "Turnabout", in which the threat of a nuclear incident in Southern California is a major plot point, aired a few days after the massive Sendai earthquake in Japan that led to major incidents at several nuclear reactors. In a moment before the President gets updated on the situation, we see him in a meeting with a foreign dignitary... from Japan.

* WhatTheHellHero: Simon Lee to Sophia after [[spoiler: she destroyed the Washington Monument]]
** And similarly, Sterling to President Martinez after [[spoiler: blowing up two buses full of Sophia's people]].
* XMeetsY: It's been advertised as ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'' meets ''Series/{{Lost}}'' and been referenced as ''TheXFiles'' meets ''TheWestWing''.

* DyingLikeAnimals: [[spoiler: Thomas and most of Sophia's people]] in episode 15.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath:[[spoiler:Maya]] has killed a fellow prisoner to keep Sophia's secrets and gave her own life to save [[spoiler: Sterling]]

* ReverseMole: Simon Lee is really an alien. At first he's a straight example of this trope with Sophia's group having good intentions, [[spoiler:but after things go bad they become KnightTemplars and he ends up deserting them]].

** Also Thomas and now [[spoiler: Sophia following Thomas's HeroicSacrifice (yeah villains can have heroic sacrifices as well) ]]

None of these incidents are "The Event".[[note]]Nor are they [[LuckyCharmsTitle "The EV3NT".[[/note]]

* MagicalDatabase: Sean is able to access any information on Earth in record time, no matter who holds it, no matter how secret, no matter how protected, with his Macbook Pro and a flawless, extremely fast wireless Internet connection that apparently works from anywhere, including PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles.

None of these incidents are "The Event".[[hottip:*:Nor are they [[LuckyCharmsTitle "The EV3NT".]]

''The Event'' is a drama/science fiction TV series by executive producer Evan Katz (''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]''). Told in anachronic order, the series tells the stories of several seemingly unrelated people whose lives intertwine as circumstances propel them toward some mysterious future happening known only as "the Event". The show premiered in the United States in 2010 on Creator/{{NBC}}, and stars Jason Ritter, Blair Underwood and Laura Innes.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Event_2267.jpg]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[BreakingTheFourthWall This guy staring at you]] [[MemeticMutation is definitely not The Event.]]]]