Series / En daarmee basta!

From left to right, starting from the top: Joost, Ruben and Isa (top row); Bert, Patsy, Kathy and Stijn (bottom row). Not in the picture: Laura.

En daarmee basta! is a Flemish youth sitcom that ran from 2005 until 2008 and a Spiritual Successor of W817. The series centers around Joost Vandenbroeck, a fourth-wall-breaking teenager who sees his life turned upside down, when his father, Bert, returns home from a ski trip with a new girlfriend, Patsy, and her teenage daughter, Isa.

Joost, an energetic (yet unremarkable) 16-year-old, lives in a quiet, little town together with his bumbling father Bert and his lazy (and boorish) older brother Ruben. When Bert leaves with his school class on their yearly ski trip, Joost invites his best friends Stijn (a supernerd) and Kathy (a tomboyish hockey fanatic) over for the week, with the begrudging consent of Ruben, who they call "de Pinda".^note "the Peanut" Their week-long party ends early, when Bert returns home with his new girlfriend Patsy, a neurotic go-getter, who works as a show host for a local TV network, and her snooty City Mouse daughter, Isa. This turns out to be the first of many changes in Joost's life, as Patsy and Isa move in shortly after (with Isa claiming Joost's room to boot, forcing him to share a room with Ruben). As the series progresses, both Joost and his family members discover that forming a blended family isn't as easy as moving some boxes. Most of the early episode, therefore, focus on the struggles of living together with new relatives, as well as on the integration of Patsy and Isa into small-town life (which is particularly difficult for Isa). Joost, furthermore, develops a crush on his new stepsister, which is eventually reciprocated (after a long period of warming up to him).

Later seasons see Patsy and Isa move to the Netherlands, after Patsy gets an amazing job offer from a (larger) Dutch network. However, her new job (and her new boss) turn out to be a bit too demanding (and sexually perverted, in the case of her boss), causing them to return to Belgium. Isa, however, started dating another guy in the Netherlands, much to Joost's anger, and the two split up shortly after. Kathy is also revealed to be a bisexual and eventually gets into a relationship with Laura, a tomboyish mechanic. When Kathy subsequently leaves the gang to follow a hockey training camp in Canada, Laura becomes her substitute in the group. In the meantime, Ruben gets a girlfriend and tries to move out of the house, only to end up in the garden shed instead. He eventually gets together with Laura, who falls for his charms, despite being introduced as Kathy's girlfriend. The final episodes of the series revolve around the wedding of Bert and Patsy, who want to formalize their union, after all they've been through. Joost, furthermore, reveals the existence of the fourth wall to the rest of the cast in the series' final, which properly ends the show.

The series shared several traits with its predecessor, W817, including some of the character archetypes. However, whereas W817 took quite a bit of inspiration from Friends, En daarmee basta! showed more of a resemblance to That '70s Show (without the references to drug use, obviously). While the series was quite succesful in its own right, spanning 105 episodes over the course of four seasons, it never reached the popularity W817 had gained. It was succeeded by Click-ID. The series can still be watched online, on the Youtube channel of Ketnet.

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This series contains examples of:

• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: After Isa and Patsy leave for Amsterdam, it doesn't take long for Isa to fall in love with someone else, despite having a relationship with Joost. Joost, on the other hand, ends up kissing Kathy. They end up breaking up over this after Patsy and Isa return to Belgium.
• Agony of the Feet: One season two episode has Ruben painfully injure one of his big toes to the point that his toe nail has to be pulled to prevent further infection. As this is a sitcom, it's more played for comedy than anything else, but it still looked pretty gnarly. The toe eventually does get better in the end.
• A Hero to His Hometown: Patsy, who is a show host for a local TV channel, falls under this trope. She tries to make her way up the ladder as a result.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: Ruben makes one when he meets Patsy for the first time.
  Ruben: I'm in love... with your work on TV.
• Berserk Button:
  • Whatever you do, don't put sugar in Patsy's coffee.
  • Anything concerning Ronny is this for Bert.
• Bested at Bowling: Joost and his friends get bested at bowling by Ruben and his team of "High Rollers", who are surprisingly good at it. This is particularly scathing for Joost, who considered Ruben and his friends losers for forming a bowling team with (campy) matching outfits.
• Blind Without 'Em: Stijn can't see anything without his glasses. Ironically, he can't see properly with them either, as he noticed when he started wearing lenses.
• Book Dumb: Ruben fits this trope perfectly, as he has sent three subsequent years as a trade engineering freshman, without passing a single one of his exams.
  Ruben [In response to Stijn's surprise at one of his clever plans]: What else would you expect from a college student.
  Joost: That he would pass an exam every once in a while...
• Bowling for Ratings: In the episode where Patsy returns from Japan, the gang goes bowling, only to discover that Ruben is part of a bowling team called "The High Rollers". This, of course, ends with the two teams challenging eachother to a bowling match, which is easily won by Ruben's team.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Isa fits this trope, as she thinks life revolves around her and whines about how her life is ruined, now that she's living in the middle of nowhere. She does get less self-centered as the series progresses.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Joost does this at least once every episode, to hold a monologue to the viewer.
• Broken Record: When Joost receives an origami kit from Patsy as a gift and subsequently tries his hand at it, Ruben continuously calls him a loser for enjoying origami. He only stops after Bert calls him out on it.
• Bros Before Hoes: When Lies is introduced, Joost, Stijn and Ruben compete with eachother to become her boyfriend. At one point, Joost and Stijn decide that their friendship is more important than a girl and swear not to chase her anymore. This lasts for exactly one minute, after which Joost gives in and starts flirting with Lies (who just entered) again.
  Stijn: No more than one minute ago, we swore to eachother that no girl would break up our friendship.
  Joost: Well... times change, Stijn!
• Brother–Sister Incest: Joost and Isa eventually get into a relationship, despite technically being siblings. It does help that they're stepsibling, though.
• Bumbling Dad: Joost's father Bert fits into this category, as he's usually too absent minded to be very strict for his kids. This is most clearly visible with Ruben, who would have been kicked out of the house by most other fathers already.
• But Not Too Bi: Happens to both Kathy and Laura throughout the series. Kathy was essentially straight, until she discovered that she liked girls and became a lesbian. Laura went the opposite direction, starting off in a lesbian relation with Kathy, before becoming attracted to Ruben.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: When Ruben becomes Patsy's manager for the episode, we get this exchange between the both of them about the outfit Patsy should wear to a charity ball.
  Patsy: What should I wear to this event?!
  Ruben: Something that shows a lot of cleavage...
  [Patsy looks at Ruben in disbelief]
  Ruben: Hey, you gotta stall out the goods if you have them!
• Celebrity Crush: In the first few episodes, Ruben has a crush on Patsy after seeing her on TV. Too bad that she's in love with his father.
• Celebrity Is Overrated: This is one of the reasons why Patsy quits her job in the Netherlands in season 2.
• City Mouse: Isa is this and mentions how much she hates the country side quite a bit throughout the series. Hence, her "fish out of the water" demeanor becomes a considerable source of humor throughout the first season. She eventually does become used to life outside the big city eventually.
• Closet Key: Lies turns out to be this for Kathy, who was attracted to boys until she met her. Kathy even turns her away initially because she's reluctant to be gay (as she believes it would make her odd).
• Collector of the Strange: Bert collects airplane models and garden gnomes, much to the displeasure of Patsy.
• Companion Cube:
  • Bert has his favorite garden gnome, Filibert, with whom he has conversations on a regular basis.
  • Ruben has a bowling ball called Bella, which he calls "baby".
• Crash-Into Hello: Happens between Isa and her Dutch boyfriend Bas, after Isa and Patsy move to Amsterdam.
• Crush Filter: When Stijn switches back from lenses to glasses, as they're too high def, he states that he doesn't mind seeing Isa and Laura a bit more blurry, as he can fill in most of their features in his head. We then get to see Isa and Laura through Stijn's eyes, which shows them as hot nurses
• Delayed "Oh, Crap!": Joost has one after Isa finds an old love letter of his.
  Joost [after Isa reads the love letter out loud]: She can do whatever she wants, I'm not going to let it get to me.
  Stijn: How long has she been in your room, anyways?
  Joost: I dunno, 15 minutes...
  Stijn: That's quite a find for 15 minutes, though... Aren't you afraid she'll find more?
  Kathy: Haven't you heard, Joost doesn't care what she finds! As if he's hiding nudy magazines or other embarrassing stuff there.
  Joost [Suddenly realizing that he hid a compromising picture of Kathy and him]: Oh, no! Oh, crap! Oh, Geez!
  Stijn: Must be some kind of emergency...
• Denied Food as Punishment: Patsy denies Ruben and Bert their dinner, after they beat up Bert's bully behind the local church.
  Ruben: But we're having chicken and chips with apple sauce today!
  Patsy: Too bad, you should've thought about that earlier!
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: A somewhat non-standard example of this happens when Stijn, without his glasses, mistakes Bert for the new cleaning lady.
  Joost [to Ruben]: I gotta hand it to you, Pinda, you definitely picked the right cleaning lady!
  Stijn [seeing blurry without his glasses]: Yeah, she's gorgeous in those blue jeans...
  Joost: Stijn, that's Bert.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Joost and Ruben have given eachother these, as a symbol of spite. Joost (and his friends) call Ruben "de Pinda",^note "the Peanut" because of his peanut sized brain. Ruben, in turn, calls Joost "Larve"^note "Larva", as he sees him as a miserable little worm. They eventually decide to drop the nicknames, when they bury the hatched in one of the episodes.
• Erotic Dream:
  • Kathy has one of Joost in the pilot episode, as an indicator that she's in love with him. They decide to just stay friends eventually.
  • Both Stijn and Joost have one of Lies shortly after she's introduced. While we don't get to see their dreams through an Imagine Spot, we do hear how far they got during a discussion afterwards.
  Joost: I only got to first base with her...
  Stijn: Ha, I got to second! I win!
• Every Japanese Sword is a Katana: Played straight and then subverted in the episode where Patsy returns on Japan. During that episode, Patsy gives Ruben a Japanese sword, which he mistakes for a katana. Later on in the episode, Bert sets the record straight and identifies it as a Wakizashi.
• Facial Scruff: Bert suffers from this, after Patsy leaves for Japan. It even gets so bad that Joost and Ruben (jokingly) mistake him for a hobo. It gets better when he has to shave his beard, after gum gets stuck in it, and ends up with a manly mustache instead.
  Ruben: Joost, is it still Christmas?
  Joost: No...
  Ruben: Then why did we invite a homeless person to have breakfast with us?
  Joost: He must have been sleeping in the basement without our knowledge.
  Bert: Are you making fun of me again?
  Joost: Wait, that voice... Is that you, father?
  Ruben: Nah, I still think he's a hobo.
  Bert: Cut it out already!
  Bert: Now that Patsy is away from home, I'm finally free to grow this magnificent sign of masculinity!
  Joost: Masculinity?! Monstrosity, you mean!
  Ruben: Yeah, and we're not the only ones who are suffering!
  Joost: Or are you telling me that your students enjoy getting class from someone who both looks and smells like a hobo!
  Ruben: Yeah, dad, you really need a shower...
• Fence Painting:
  • In the pilot episode, Ruben cons Joost and his friends into cleaning the whole house by "taking charge". When they confront him about it, he merely states that delegating is hard work.
  • Heidi, the new cleaning lady, does this Ruben and Joost, first through seduction and subsequently through blackmail. When she's found out by Bert, he commends her for getting the boys to clean up after themselves.
• Fiery Redhead: Kathy is definitely this, as she's hotheaded, loud-mouthed and always in for a fight.
  Kathy [Whenever someone irks her]: Wanna fight?!
• Fourth-Wall Observer: Joost, who's apparently the only one who can see the viewer (that is, until the series final).
• Friendly Tickle Torture: Ruben, Patsy and Bert engage in some, after Patsy apologizes for chewing out Ruben.
• Friends Turned Romantic Rivals: Joost and Stijn (and by extension Ruben) become this when they fall in love with Lies. This is before they become aware that Lies is gay (and in love with Kathy).
• Geek Physiques: Stijn, who looks (and acts) as a stereotypical nerd. Furthermore, he's aware of the way he's seen in universe and feels no need to change his looks to seem cool.
• Get Out!: This is Joost's response to Laura calling him and Isa an "old married couple".
  Laura [after Joost and Isa bicker about house rules they themselves set]: Yeez, just like an old married couple...
  Joost: Get out!
• Going Commando: Ruben starts doing this at one point in the second season. He even calls it his "Free Willy action".
• Go to Your Room!:
  • Bert orders Joost to go to his room in the pilot, after catching him making a mess of the living room (Joost was trying to frame Ruben for it)
  • Patsy does this to Bert and Ruben, when both of them get in a fight (and beat up) the guy who's been bullying Bert. She even denies them dinner.
• Gum In Hair: Bert ends up with gum in his beard, after he grows one out. This causes him to shave it of entirely, save for an (apparently sexy) Porn Stache.
• Head-Turning Beauty:
  • Heidi, the family's new cleaner, is an excellent example of this, as all of the guys (minus Bert) drool over her the moment she arrives.
  • Bert becomes this after he grows a Porn Stache, as even Isa and Laura fall head over heels for him.
    Isa: I'm finally starting to see why my mom is attracted to him...
    Joost: All because of a stupid mustache?!
    Laura: Yeah... And what a mustache it is, hubba hubbba!
• Hollywood Tone-Deaf: When Patsy runs for a position in the local council, Ruben is in charge of making (and singing) her campaign song. The results falls squarely within this trope.
  Ruben [Out of key]: We love the Patsy, we do! We love the Patsy, we do!
  Bert [to Patsy, while holding his hands to his ears]: It still needs some work...
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Happens to Stijn and Joost in season four, after they find out that they're only friends with eachother (and the rest of the gang). They end up befriending a pizza delivery guy, who turns out to be (somewhat) psycho.
• I Never Said It Was Poison: In the episode where Patsy returns from Japan, she meets Heidi, the new cleaner, and sets up several tests in order to determine if she's up to snuff. One of these tests was the money test, where Patsy dispersed cash around the house to see if Heidi would steal it. The money disappears and Heidi is, obviously, the first to get accused (and fired), until Ruben gives himself away through this trope.
  Bert: I know it's tough, but we can't have thieves working in our house, so we had to fire Heidi.
  Ruben: Yeah, it's a shame that she took 28.74 € from the cabinets.
  Patsy: How did you know that?
  Ruben: Just a guess... Cash is most often taken by house cleaners.
  Patsy: No, I meant: How did you know that she took 28.74 € on the penny?
  Ruben [nervously]: Just a guess?
• Jaw Drop: Ruben does this, when he hears that he has to share a room with Joost in the second episode of season one.
• Lazy Bum: Ruben, who likes to do as little work as possible (both around the house and for school).
• Loners Are Freaks: Matthijs, the pizza delivery guy Joost and Stijn befriend in season four, turns out to be an excellent example of this, as he has no friends, has a Hair-Trigger Temper and he eats (living) spiders (for some unknown reason). The latter two are main reason he has no friends, obviously.
• Love Dodecahedron: Where to start with this one: Joost initially has a crush on Kathy, but eventually switches to Isa, who reciprocates it. Kathy starts off with a crush on Joost, which eventually fizzles out, and finally ends up with Laura. Stijn has a crush on Kathy, which falls flat for obvious reasons, while Ruben initially has a crush on Patsy, his father's new girlfriend, before getting into a relationship with Laura. Between the cast, there are few characters who haven't shared a romantic partner at one point.
• Love Letter: Isa finds an embarrassing one written by Joost in the second episode of season one. The letter turns out to be for Kathy.
• Mad Scientist: After Stijn (and most of the class) end up in detention because of a prank Joost pulled on his math teacher, Stijn imagines himself becoming this due to the blemish detention has left on his permanent record.
• Manly Facial Hair: In one episode, Bert grows a scruffy beard, which he begrudgingly trades in for a Porn Stache after getting gum in it. Ironically, the porn stache is seen as the prime example of this trope by most women and not the scruffy beard.
• Minor Injury Overreaction: After Bert gets gum in his beard, Ruben tries to get a strap from a bicycle helmet unstuck from the gum. Bert's reaction to Ruben's attempt is to scream for mercy, even when Ruben isn't pulling on the bicycle helmet.
  Ruben: Okay, I'm gonna apply a bit more force this time!
  Bert [screaming in pain]: Oh please, have mercy!
  Ruben: Dad, I haven't even started yet...
• Mistaken for Gay: After Kathy and Stijn find out that Isa cheated on Joost, Stijn breaks the news to him, but not before giving him a long, intense hug. This is witnessed by Ruben, who quickly scarpers away in discomfort. Later on in the episode, he even mentions the potential of a romantic fling between Stijn and Joost in an Imagine Spot.
• My God, You Are Serious!: Joost, Stijn and Ruben have this reaction upon hearing that Lies is a lesbian.
  Ruben [to Isa]: Next thing you're gonna tell me that she's gay.
  [Ruben, Joost and Stijn all laugh at the idea, but stop when they see Isa's stoic gaze. Ruben, subsequently, stares on in utter amazement.]
• My New Gift Is Lame: When Patsy returns from Japan, she brings back gifts for Joost, Isa and Ruben. While Isa and Ruben get a kimono and a wakizashi respectively, Joost has to make do with an origami kit, with which he is (quite visibly) disappointed.
• Nerd Glasses: Stijn wears them as part of his nerd attire, obviously.
• Not Now, Kiddo: Bert does this to Patsy, when Joost is holding Isa in a choke hold (she was going to expose his secrets).
  Patsy: Bert, do something!
  Bert: Not now, honey... I'm admiring Joost's choke hold. Did you know that it was invented by Hatake-Chin?
• Not What It Looks Like: This is Joost's reaction, when his dad comes home while he's making a mess to get back at Ruben.
• No, You: Kathy does this to Isa, when she confront Kathy with the fact that she has dyslexia and should ask for help from the school.
  Isa [to Kathy]: You should get help.
  Kathy [in return]: No, you should get help!
• ...Or So I Heard: This exchange between Stijn and Kathy about Joost's secret love interest.
  Stijn: Perhaps it's Katrijn Deruyter! She has dark hair, soft skin and smells like roses, lavender and jasmin...
  Kathy: How do you know that?
  Stijn [flustered]: That's beside the point, don't change the subject!
• Perp Sweating: Ruben does this to Bert, after Patsy's dayplanner and phone go missing, as he thinks Bert would have the most to gain from preventing Pasty to return to her former job as a TV-show host. He even paints a picture of the future (via Imagine Spot), where Patsy becomes a couch potato, Isa gets involved with bikers and Joost starts a homosexual relationship with Stijn (with both of them depicted as Camp Gay). This is more than plenty to scare Bert into convincing Patsy to return to her former job.
• Pimp Duds: Ruben starts wearing these to pick up chicks, after he injures his toe and has to walk with a cane. When his dad comments that he doesn't need the cane anymore after his toe has healed up again, Ruben's response is the following:
  Ruben: Chicks dig the cane, dad... Chicks dig the cane.
• Place Worse Than Death: This was Isa's reaction to moving to moving in with Joost and his family in the middle of nowhere. She spends most of the first season complaining about the lack of excitement in the small she lives in, as well as longing to spend time with her city friends.
• Porn Stache: Bert ends up with one of these, after he's forced to shave of his beard. Oddly, most women seem to find it sexy, resulting in Ruben, Joost and Stijn getting fake version of these as well.
• Proud to Be a Geek: Joost and Stijn are so proud of being Star Wars fans, that they consider it the epitome of being cool and hip.
  Joost [discussing with Stijn what they're looking for in a friend]: So... What is our target audience?
  Stijn: I'd say someone who's fly! You know... cool and hip!
  Joost: I agree! So, how are we going to lure them?
  Stijn: I know! We organize an event. Something that's as cool and hip as they are!
  Joost: Right! A theme night... But what will be the theme?
  [Beat]
  Both [simultaneous]: Star Wars!
• Sarcasm Mode: When Joost and his friends confront Ruben about how he's not helping to clean the house, Ruben states that he's in charge and, therefore, leaves the dirty work to his underlings. Joost then responds by stating that they'll go on strike, only to elicit this reaction from Ruben.
  Ruben [Sarcastically]: Oh no! What am I to do now... that all the mess has been cleaned up already!
• Secret Handshake: Joost and Stijn have one where they touch index finger (similar to E.T.), while making a "bzzt" noise.
• Shameful Strip: Ruben threatens to do this to Stijn after Isa's departure, if he doesn't manage to make Joost leave Isa's room. Stijn's response comically missed the point.
  Ruben: Get Joost out of that room, or we'll make a trip to the market...
  Ruben: And in your case, you'd be naked.
  Stijn: The farmer's market or the flea market?
  Ruben [flabbergasted]: Does that matter for some reason?!
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Joost is very specific about this in the series pilot.
  Joost: There she is, my girl Kathy.
  Joost [to the viewer]: Not girl as in girlfriend, though!
  Joost: No, she's one of my best friends, who happens to be a girl, nothing more...
• Shout-Out: When Stijn considers laser eye surgery, he has a nightmare where Darth Vader gives him the surgery, complete with Isa and Laura dressing up as princess Leia and Padmé.
• Showdown at High Noon: Joost and Stijn have one of these with water guns, when they're fighting over a girl. It ends in a draw, with both of them soaked in red-colored water.
• Sibling Rivalry: This definitely occurs between Joost and Ruben, as they like to taunt and bully eachother. They even have a scoreboard ranking how many pranks each of them pulled on the other.
  Stijn [to Joost]: Doesn't a hose in his underpants count for extra points?
  Joost: Nope, only a face full of smelly feet...
  Kathy: No wonder you're losing to him!
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Ronny, a teacher at Bert's school, seems to be this for Bert, in addition to being a bully to him. The two have a rather hateful attitude towards one another and Ronny never misses an opportunity to make fun of Bert. Ronny is also The Ghost, as we never see him, despite getting mentioned often.
• Stalker Shrine: Joost builds one for Isa after she moves away to Amsterdam. Stijn, who came to reconcile after an argument between them both, is justifiably worried about it (and Joost).
  Stijn: You really need to leave this room now and get some fresh air...
• Stealing from the Hotel: Patsy did this in Japan to obtain a kimono for Isa.
  Bert [after witnessing Ruben chopping a watermelon to pieces with a wakizashi]: First thing tomorrow, we're getting rid of that murder weapon!
  Ruben: Dad! Do you know how much such a sword would have cost?!
  Patsy: Never mind about that, I got it for free as a parting gift.
  Isa: But you did go shopping for my kimono, right?
  Patsy: To be fair, I stole it from the hotel I stayed at.
• Stereotypical Nerd: Stijn fits this trope perfectly, as he's the brightest, scrawniest and most unpopular character of the group. Stijn himself has long since accepted that the world sees him as a nerd and does nothing to change his standing.
• Swapped Roles: When Patsy leaves for Japan, Joost and Isa end up taking the role of adults within the household (as Bert is too busy digging for archeological finds in the backyard). They even start calling eachother "Ma" and "Pa" and end up bickering like an old married couple, while the remainder of the gang took a level in childishness (if needed).
• Tomboy: Kathy definitely falls under this trope, as she hates girly stuff and is into hockey. Furthermore, she's manlier than Joost and Stijn combined. Laura also falls into this category, as she's a true gearhead.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Kathy and Isa form this kind of pairing, with Kathy as the tomboy and Isa as the girly girl.
• Troll: Ruben often acts as this throughout the first seasons, as he like to torment and bully Joost and his friends in unusual ways (as well as the usual ways, by the way).
• Valley Girl: Isa is a smart version of this, but this nevertheless, as she's from the city and can't quit talking about her life there (and her friends).
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Joost and Ruben are this, despite their animosity towards one another. They become increasingly friendly as the series progresses.
• The Klutz: Ruben shows shades of this, when he helps Patsy unpacking her belongings.
  Ruben [after breaking a statuette and a vase]: anyone in for some coffee?
  Patsy: Don't break the pot!