Series / Beyond

Beyond is a TV series that premiered on Freeform in January 2017, created by Adam Nussdorf.

The series follows a young man named Holden Matthews (Burkely Duffield) who awakens from a twelve year long coma with strange new abilities that cause him to become entangled in a dangerous conspiracy.

Not to be confused with the book of the same name.

In early January 2017, Freeform announced that they had renewed the show for a second season. The entire first season is available to watch on Hulu. It was canceled after Season 2 in early 2018.

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Tropes:

• Adventures in Comaland: Holden (and other coma patients) traveled into another world called the Realm during their comas. Some didn't make it back, as it's very dangerous.
• Ambiguous Time Period: It's not clear exactly what year it is: if it's the present day, then that would mean Holden fell into his coma between 2004 and 2005. He doesn't know about Blockbuster closing, which fits with this timeline (as it closed in 2010), but he also didn't know about the Apple Store. The first Apple Store was founded in 2001, three years before he went into his coma according to that timeline. One would have thought he would have at least heard of it in those three years. Willa uses a modern smart phone, implying that it is at least close to the present day.
• Astral Projection: What happened to Holden and Charlie due to their comas, and what the machines Arthur and Frost built allow others to do. It also seems to be a separate ability Holden has generated or retained after he woke up from his coma.
• Awesome by Analysis: Charlie's coma-induced ability. She was able to stand up against a bad guy because she could tell his assistant's gun was unloaded - simply because of his stance.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Completely averted with 'Jack Churchill', as several people mention his horrible yellow jacket.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Holden agrees to guide Frost into the Realm, where he gets to see his wife again. It went as well as expected.
• Becoming the Mask: Charlie was sent in as a Honey Trap in order to entice Holden to come to Hollow Sky - however, even Miss Shoemacher can tell how much she likes the boy. This is confirmed in the season finale, when one of the first things she asks Churchill is if Holden is still alive.
• Berserk Button: Several in the series.
  • Don't lie to Willa or hold the truth back from her.
  • DO NOT threaten Charlie's little sister.
  • Nothing will stop Frost from seeing his wife again, and he will not hesitate to act out against anyone the moment he thinks that they're standing in the way of that goal.
  • Churchill is not fond of people even seeming to bother or intrude upon his family or his dog.
  • Mess with anyone Holden cares for and you may end up on the receiving end of a Falcon Punch.
• Better as Friends: Willa realizes this about her and Holden at the end of season 2. She and Holden were on the phone agreeing completely and about to part amicably, right before she gets kidnapped by the fake FBI.
• Beware the Nice Ones: The message that Hollow Sky gets after their first explosive encounter with Holden.
• Call-Forward: Holden is in his bedroom making adaptations to his light fixture, which he shows off to Luke. In a later episode, Holden and Luke are imprisoned in the bedroom Frost provided for him (Holden), and he rigs the table light to short-circuit the electric lock on the door.
• The Chosen One: Holden is actually called the Chosen One in-universe by Hidden Sky members.
• *Click* Hello: Charlie thinks that she's about to be on the receiving end of one in the season finale, courtesy of Churchill. Fortunately, he just wants a favor in exchange for letting her walk...
• Cliffhanger: Season 2 ends on this as the mysterious fake FBI kidnap Willa. As plans for a Season 3 were cancelled, it seems more than likely to remain that way.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: About what you'd expect, even when you send Elite Mooks and The Dragon after The Chosen One.
• Disappeared Dad: Invoked in universe as the reason why the Matthews family broke down after Holden's accident, as Tom's grief caused him to withdraw from both Diane and Luke. Frost also abandoned Willa as a baby.
• Dysfunctional Family: The Matthews family became this as a result of Holden's accident and coma.
• Eldritch Abomination: The beings who live in the Realm.
• Elemental Powers: Holden possesses the ability to control fire and electricity.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Churchill has a wife and daughter. His wife believes he's just a traveling salesman.
• Evil Is Petty: Seems to be another prerequisite for being involved with Hollow Sky. Special mention has to be made of Churchill taking Kevin home to see his wife.
• Exact Words: Churchill told Kevin that he was taking him home to see his wife - he never said that he was letting him go.
• Expy:
  • Jeff comes across much like Han Solo.
  • Miss Shoemacher comes off much like an upgraded version of Eve Tessmacher.
  • Churchill is basically Noah Bennett without charm or taste in clothes.
  • Holden himself is very much like Aang.
    • Hollow Sky and Renautas sure do walk a lot alike, talk a lot alike, quack a lot alike...
• Eyeless Face: The beings in the Realm are eyeless.
• Flash Step: Holden demonstrates this ability in the Realm when attacked by an Eldritch Abomination.
• A Form You Are Comfortable With: The way that the Realm's denizens appear to humans who enter. Holden's power allows him to see through their disguises.
• Good Bad Girl: Oh, this is so Charlie (even though she's working as a Honey Trap until her Heel–Face Turn).
• Good Is Not Nice: The only good persons on the show who are actually nice seem to be Willa and Tom. Bonus points to Holden, who's actually a nice person but will deliver a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown if you push his Berserk Button.
• The Greatest Story Never Told: The bulk of Holden's time in the Realm, including his and Willa's romance.
• Grief-Induced Split: Tom and Diane's marriage became angry after Holden fell comatose. Eleven years later, they finally separated. It's in the twelfth year that Holden wakes up and has to adjust to his parents no longer being together and his now-religious mother dating a pastor.
• Have We Met?: The way that Jeff and Miss Shoemacher react when come across one another indicates that each is very familiar with the other by reputation - and Miss Shoemacher seems surprised that Jeff spares her life.
• Heroes Love Dogs: Holden really loved his dog. Inverted with Churchill, who really seems to love his dog as well.
• Hero of Another Story: Jeff could have very easily been the main character of this series, with his focus being that of finding and protecting Holden as they solve the mystery of Kevin's murder and Hidden Sky.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Holden is much more intelligent than his behavior would lead one to believe. Luke actually calls him on this, as Holden is able to interact easily with the instructor in a college-level psych course - and he's never even been to high school!
  • Miss Shoemacher appears to be an accomplished equestrian.
  • Jeff is a huge fan of cheesy action movies, and in movies in general; he's also got a spiritual side that allows him to help and protect Holden and his family, he's apparently a well-trained military man with serious contacts, and he seems to have skills in both cyber-warfare and surveillance.
• Hypocrite: While Frost has built up Hidden Sky as a way to prove the existence of life after death and help other people reconnect with dead relatives & loved ones, he's really doing it just to see his deceased wife Celeste again. This comes back to bite him hard. He also claims to understand the importance of family, though he'd also abandoned his daughter.
• Improbably Quick Coma Recovery: Holden recovers from his twelve-year-long coma in miracle-like fashion (it's even called "phenomenal", in-universe). This is possibly justified due to the superpowers he gains, and is likely meant to hint at the supernatural elements of them and his coma.
• Jock Dad, Nerd Son: Invoked by Luke as why he and Tom have had trouble relating, particularly after Holden's accident (as Holden and Tom shared the same interests). Luke feels that his father never reached out to him because of this.
• Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: Thanks to Holden, how Luke escapes the bedroom he was locked into.
• Megaton Punch: Combined with Elemental Punch, this seems to be Holden's main offensive ability.
• Mind over Matter: Holden has telekinesis, but doesn't really get control of it until the season finale outside the Realm.
• Missing Mom: Willa's mother died when she was still a baby.
• Mistaken for Afterlife: Everyone seems to misinterpret the Realm as an afterlife.
• The Mole: Charlie is sent by Miss Shoemacher to bring Holden in after Churchill's spectacular failures.
• My Beloved Smother: Diane. Justified because of what happened to Holden.
• Never My Fault: Frost blames Willa for Celeste's death, but it was actually his experimental attempt to revive her from a coma (which giving birth left her in, though that's not Willa's fault either) which killed her.
• Parental Abandonment: After Celeste's death, Frost had zero interest in Willa. This is why Arthur - her grandfather - ended up raising her.
• Power Floats: When Holden starts to actively use his powers in the real world, he floats.
• Power Incontinence: Holden has real problems with his abilities outside the Realm - Willa even refers to his abilities as 'consequences' of his actual abilities. He gets better control by the end of the season.
• Psychic Powers: Holden has astral projection, precognition, telekinesis and teleportation. Telekinesis is his most frequent and powerful, though none of them are in his control at the start.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Miss Shoemacher says as much regarding her involvement with Hollow Sky - she likes money.
• Redemption in the Rain: Inverted, as it's Holden's battle in the rain that begins his descent into the world of Hollow Sky.
• Refusing the Call: Holden, until the last two episodes.
• Secret-Keeper: If a character's been in more than two episodes, they're keeping a secret for someone in this show.
• Seers: Another power Holden has, which allowed him to save Willa's life in the Realm.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Probably the main arc of a Season Two, as Holden's destruction of The Bridge seems to have turned the Realm into a Fire and Brimstone Hell.
• Shout-Out: Last Action Hero is basically a one-hour love-letter to the action-film genre.
• So Long, Suckers!: Really, Luke. Don't stop for conversation when you're in the middle of an escape!
• Super-Empowering: It seems that having an accident that puts you into a coma is the trigger for powers (as in Charlie's case) - however, while Holden was hit by Jeff's truck, it was encountering whatever was in the lights in the forest that put him in the coma.
• Take That!: In "Last Action Hero", Movie buff Lydia says that franchise superhero movies only barely qualify as movies.
• Teleporters and Transporters: A power Holden seems to have - but has zero control over. It's almost as if he can teleport physically to the Realm and back again - but can only land in the forest he was in when he first went into his coma...
• 10-Minute Retirement: Miss Shoemacher has to bring Churchill back in to retrieve Holden.
• Their First Time: Holden's first time happens with Charlie in a moment of passion. It's possible he'd already had sex with Willa in the Realm, though he doesn't remember it and it's unclear whether this would "count".
• These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know: Arthur believes journeying into the Realm (in the belief it's the afterlife, which living people can visit) is a very bad idea. He appears to be right, as it's not only unclear if the Realm really is the afterlife, but there are dangerous things there which do not want people of our world visiting.
• Too Dumb to Live: Holden at least has a reason for lacking real-world experience.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Frost's rationalization for everything that he's done.
• Uptight Loves Wild: Definitely a component of Holden and Charlie's (possibly?) blossoming relationship. Hints of this also seem to spark between Lydia and Jeff during Last Action Hero.
• Vampiric Draining: The beings in the Realm appear to feed this way, as Frost ages rapidly when touched by one.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Frost's goal is to help people (including himself) make contact with their loved ones again in the afterlife. To this end he uses threats and outright violence against anyone who won't cooperate.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Holden's dog. We know that he died, but you'd think that there would be more of a mention than from Churchill.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Holden has a number of moments - chiefly his No-Holds-Barred Beatdown of Churchill, and smashing Arthur's machine.
• You Have Failed Me: A less-lethal example than usual, as Miss Shoemacher only removes Churchill from the hunt for Holden.
• Your Mind Makes It Real: This appears to be the basis of Holden's true abilities within the Realm.