Podcast / The AM Archives

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The AM Archives is a spin-off of The Bright Sessions, with SciFi and Thriller elements. The show follows Dr. Joan Bright as she teams up with her time travelling friend, Sam Barnes, and her ex-enemy, Owen Green in order to reform The Atypical Monitors, the secret government organization that once betrayed her.

This podcast contains examples of:

• Amicable Exes: Joan and Owen used to date, and despite the fact that there is some lingering hostility between the two (due more to Owen's continued involvement with The AM than anything else), they work well together, are seemingly friendly, and definitely show concern about each other once things go wrong.
  • Despite having broken up towards the end of The Bright Sessions, Sam and Mark are still close and appear to be on very friendly terms throughout The AM Archives.
• And I Must Scream: Alex is kept under constant sedation. The reason for this is because he is a high-level pyrokinetic whose ability is so strong that it burns him, and any time he wakes up it causes him immense physical and psychological pain. Before Dr. Sharpe found him, he himself had turned to addiction and self-medicating to keep himself unconscious.
• Antagonist in Mourning: Wadsworth appears to be genuinely distraught after learning about Owen's death.
• Anyone Can Die: After Dr. Sharpe's death, we quickly get this impression. And, later on the death of Owen, one of the show's main three characters, proves it true.
• The Atoner: Owen, and to an extent, Wadsworth, towards the end.
  • Be All My Sins Remembered: Owen again, related to his role as The Atoner. He spends much of the podcast talking about feeling guilty, right up to his dying words.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Joan and Owen spend the majority of the earlier episodes arguing and disagreeing. While Owen still clearly has feelings for Joan, he is still quick to disagree with her when their opinions contrast (they often do), and Joan, at this point, is borderline hateful towards him. This makes it hard for anyone to believe they used to date (as is pointed out by Sam). But after Owen is hurt during Helen's breakout, Joan seems to soften up to him, with one of their conversations even prompting Sam to refer to them as 'sweet'.
• Bad Boss: From what little we see of him, we can still work out that Rostova was definitely one of these.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Helen.

• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The only reason Helen doesn't immediately kill Owen is because she intends to use him to lure in Wadsworth.
• Cardboard Prison: Sidney escapes his cell easily, with Helen's help.
  • Helen doesn't have a very hard time getting away from Joan once she's convinced her to let her out.
• Chekhov's Skill: Throughout the series, Mags references struggling with her ability, but when it comes down to it, she's able to use her telekinesis to inject Alex with the serum.
• Chekhov's Volcano: Present in the form of Alex, a powerful pyrokinetic who must be kept under constant sedation, or else he'll burst into flames and create an explosion big enough to kill everyone in the building. Though he never actually explodes, the threat of this possibility later becomes a major plot point.
• Closet Key: Mags is this for Sam.
• Comfort the Dying: Joan does this for Owen.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Owen to Joan.
  Owen: I love you, Joan. I need you to be happy.
• Dysfunctional Family: Joan and Mark definitely have one.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Given that they started out the series with what appeared to be a reluctant partnership to reform The AM and with Sam admitting that she's not sure she'll ever see Owen as anything other than "Agent Green", their relationship changes drastically during Helen's breakout.
• Forgiveness Requires Death: Joan finally finds it in herself to forgive Owen... as he's bleeding out.
  Joan:I forgive you, okay? I forgive you, I forgive you-
• From Bad to Worse: The series goes from dealing with Sidney's short breakout attempt and the fallout in the first three episodes to the second half of the series following Helen's breakout, which results in the death of two characters.
• Good Is Not Nice: Dr. Sharpe is sarcastic most of the time and tends to throw insults around fairly frequently. She is also extremely dedicated to doing things ethically, however, and works constantly to try and find a solution to Alex's ability so that he can live his life normally without constant pain.
  • Oliver also fits: he tends to make jokes at inappropriate times and insult the intelligence of everyone around him, but ultimately he is the one who manages to recreate the serum and save everyone in the building.
• In-Series Nickname: Action Jackson.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Once Joan and Jackson's relationship shows signs of growing past friendship, Owen seems sad, yet ready to accept this as long as it means Joan's happiness.
• Let Them Die Happy: Thinking it will make him happy, Joan tries to tell Owen that she forgives him as he's dying.
• Love Triangle:
  • Owen, Joan, and Jackson are in one. Which, given that Jackson is atypical, can be considered a Muggle and Magical Love Triangle.
  • Sam appears to be in a one with Mags and Mark.
• Meaningful Echo: Joan's line in episode three about Sidney takes on a slightly different meaning after Helen kills both Owen and Dr. Sharpe using a scalpel.
  • Joan: He's a blunt instrument. So why is he acting like a scalpel?
  • Helen: You'd think that if you had a scalpel— like this one, right here? You'd be happy to use it!
• Obliquely Obfuscated Occupation: Lee Sandoval works with The Order. No one at The AM appears to be entirely sure what exactly that means.
• Office Romance: Sam appears to be having one with Mags and Joan appears to be having one with Jackson.
  • Joan and Owen had one pre-canon.
• Pacifism Backfire: Joan has a lot of these.
  • Letting Helen out of her cell as a show of goodwill lead to Helen's escape and subsequent killing spree.
  • Joan's attempts to reason with Helen still resulted in her being held hostage.
    • The same attempt to turn herself in and reason with Helen, which she did to protect the others, backfired when Owen ran in to save her... and ran right into Helen's trap, which resulted in his death.
• Redemption Equals Death: After spending the course of the show trying to redeem himself, Owen's final act of redemption is to run in and save Joan from Helen, resulting in his death.
  • This also counts as a Heroic Sacrifice.
• Sacrificial Lion: Dr. Sharpe.
• Say My Name: Mags makes a point of ensuring that everyone at The AM be on a first name basis.
  • Dr. Sharpe is very firmly against this, stating that she wishes to be referred to by her title.
  • In the first episode, Sam tells Owen that she doesn't think she'll ever be comfortable calling him by his first name. This changes later on during Helen's breakout, throughout the course of which the two become very close.
  • Despite making a point to refer to him only by code name to his face, Joan calls Owen by his first name almost exclusively behind his back.
    • Later on, after Owen is kidnapped by Helen, briefly tortured, concussed, and then released, Joan, noticeably worried, reverts back using his first name.
  Owen: It had an effect on you. you're calling me Owen again. Going a little soft on me?
  Joan: Yes, well, if you want me to be distantly polite to you—
  Owen: No, no, forget I said anything. I'll just have to get kidnapped more often.
• Stay with Me Until I Die: Owen requests this of Joan.
  Joan: Owen, you are bleeding out, I have to go get help!
  Owen: No... please... stay. I need you to stay, please...
• The Four Loves:
  • Storge: Joan's relationships with both Mark and Sam.
  • Eros: Owen and Joan, Joan and Jackson, Sam and Mags, Sam and Mark.
  • Philia: Pretty much the entire cast.
  • Agape: Joan to Mark, Owen to Joan.
    • Joan eventually turns herself in to Helen in order to save the others.
    • Owen sacrifices his life trying to save Joan.
• To the Pain: Helen is apparently capable of permanently messing up the frequencies in a person's brain, leaving them in a state of non-stop debilitating pain for the rest of their lives.
• Villain Episode: "Echoes" shows the backstories of both Helen and Wadsworth.
• Villainous Rescue: When Helen kidnaps Owen in order to threaten Wadsworth, Wadsworth tells her over the phone that Owen has outlived his usefulness and that she won't be lured in. However, immediately after this phone call, Wadsworth gets on a jet to The AM in order to save Owen and everyone else in the building. And though she ends up arriving too late to save Owen, she is just in time to save Joan.
• Will They or Won't They?: Throughout the course of the show there seems to be a great deal of romantic tension between Joan and Jackson. There is also a possible romantic subplot developing with Sam and Mags.
• With Due Respect:
  Owen: Jackson, there is a time and a place for action!
  Jackson: Respectfully, sir, isn’t this definitely the time and almost certainly the place?
• Working with the Ex: Joan and Owen.
• Workplace-Acquired Abilities: Oliver is a very skilled biochemist, this comes in handy later when they need someone to recreate Dr. Sharpe's ability suppressant in order to stop Helen and prevent Alex from blowing up.
  • Similarly, his alchemy is an example of Chekhov's Hobby, given that he uses it to recreate the serum.
• You Never Did That for Me Owen remarks that it's nice to see Joan opening up to someone, because she apparently never opened up to him when they were together.