Smother is an Irish dramatic triller series that aired on RTÉ between 2021 and 2023. The show focuses on the Aherns, an affluent family from County Clare whose patriarch, Denis Ahern (Stuart Graham), has mysteriously turned up dead at the bottom of an oceanside cliff. In the aftermath, his estranged widow Val (Dervla Kirwan) learns that Denis left behind a lot of secrets, and the ties between her seemingly happy family quickly begin to fray.
Smother contains the following tropes:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Denis initially survives the fall from the cliff and begs Elaine—the woman who just moments before he had blackmailed and tried to kill—to save him.
- Asshole Victim: Over the course of the first series we learn that Denis screwed over all the other characters in some way, giving everyone a motive to kill him. The reason he died was because he was attempting to blackmail Elaine, began to strangle her when she wouldn't comply, and she threw him from the cliff in self-defence.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: During his initial appearance at Val's birthday party, Denis mostly comes across as a charming and well-meaning family man. The episodes following show him to be a very self-centred man who manipulated his children, threatened people who slighted him in any way, had no problem building houses that were deathtraps to live in, and would even resort to violence to get what he wanted.
- Domestic Abuse: Rory strikes Calum during an argument, and it's hinted that he's prone to this behavior. Subverted in that Rory's behavior is being affected by a terminal brain tumour, and he doesn't like the way he's acted any more than Calum has.
- It's All About Me: The way that Denis and Val raised the Ahern girls has caused them to grow into extremely selfish, entitled people, which Val is eventually forced to admit in the penultimate episode of Series 1.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Rory is initially short-tempered and abusive to his family, but this is really an effect of his brain tumor. He stills love them, however, and also comes clean to Elaine about his role in the fire. He ends Series 1 willingly taking the fall for Denis's death.
- The Unfavorite: Jenny feels that Denis did not love her as much as Grace and Anna, since she was his stepdaughter. This is confirmed when it turned out Denis gave her a fraction of the other sisters' inheritance in his will.
