Search for Sandvich (Web Video)

Search for Sandvich (as titled in John Patrick Lowrie's tweets), also known as TF2WTSFTS and nicknamed The Sandvich Saga by fans, is a series of Web Videos by Robin Atkin Downes and John Patrick Lowrie beginning in September 2022. These comedic videos feature Lowrie (Sniper), Downes (Medic), Gary Schwartz (Demoman/Heavy), Ellen McLain (Administrator), Dennis Bateman (Spy/Pyro), and Nolan North (Merasmus) reprising their roles from Team Fortress 2, acting in-character as they search for a sandwich in various locales. When Medic gets separated from the rest of the group, they start searching for him as well. It's clearly an excuse for the actors to get together and have fun, and the audience has just as much fun with them.

Most videos are posted on Twitter on Robin Atkin Downes and John Patrick Lowrie's respective accounts. A few can also be found on YouTube, again posted by Robin Atkin Downes and John Patrick Lowrie. All videos are listed below in release order:

Search for Sandvich installments

Search for Sandvich contains examples of:

Actor Allusion: In her first appearance, MW is found giggling hysterically in Twin Peaks. This references her actress, Liz McCarthy, playing the Giggling Secretary in Twin Peaks.
Adaptational Comic Relief: While the Administrator is typically portrayed as the Only Sane Man in Team Fortress 2, she's a Cloud Cuckoolander in these videos who keeps spewing random dialogue that's rarely relevant to the situation.
Adapted Out: Scout, Soldier and Engineer don't appear in any of these videos. Soldier being absent is expected due to Rick May passing away in 2020. Meanwhile, Nathan Vetterlein had gone on hiatus when the series was being made and Grant Goodeve is notorious for being a Reclusive Artist.
Ascended Extra: MW, the creepy giggling woman from the background of "the Plot Thickens!", returns in subsequent videos with actual dialogue and a much larger role in the story.
Big "NO!": Pyro, over the downed MW, in "Battle of the Bread Part 1". She gets better, Then it happens again. Including the recovery.
Canon Foreigner: Unlike the other major characters, MW doesn't originate from Team Fortress 2.
Clown Car: The Spy, Demoman, Administrator, MW, Pyro, Demoman (again), Heavy, and Sniper all pile into a single 2008 Toyota Corolla, fitting a surprisingly large number of people in a car of that size. Before Sniper and Heavy get in, the rest already look uncomfortably cramped.
Comically Missing the Point: In a Shout-Out to Airplane!, the response to Medic's question "What is this place?" is "It's a small room in a large building, but that's not important right now." rather than a straight answer about their location.
Cover Version: "Song for a Sandvich" is the cast's rendition of ABBA's "Mamma Mia" with the lyrics adjusted to reference sandviches.
Early-Installment Weirdness: The first two videos just have the actors dressed in casual clothing. Later videos have them dressed up like their respective characters.
Excuse Plot: The comically thin plot of searching for a sandwich (and later, the Medic) is clearly just an excuse for the actors to get together and have some fun playing their characters again.
Eyepatch of Power: Whenever Schwartz switches from Heavy to Demoman, he visually indicates it by putting on an eyepatch.
Food Fight: The Battle of the Breads— sliced, wrapped loaves, and toast.
Fun with Acronyms:
- It's revealed that C.R.U.S.T. is actually an acronym meaning Colossal Repository of Unused Stratagems.
- MW works for the League of Urgently Needed Cohorts, Harangues, and Metrically-Enhanced Algorithmic Tacticians. In other words, L.U.N.C.H.M.E.A.T.
Instantly Proven Wrong: Right after the Sniper declares that he's by himself in the Stanley Hotel, the Administrator chimes in.
Sniper: Well, it looks like it's just me. On my own. One man. Alone.
Administrator: Don't die all at once.
Sniper: Well, except her of course.
Insult of Endearment: The Sniper calls his viewers and fellow mercs "wankers", but it's treated as an Affectionate Nickname rather than an insult.
Library Episode: "C.R.U.S.T." centers around the mercs visiting the Seattle Public Library (although the mercs refer to it as an evil building in disguise) while searching for information on the Medic and sandwich's whereabouts. "Medic Escapes" likewise has the Medic searching a library for The King of Average by Gary Schwartz, and a young girl scolds him for being too loud in the quiet section.
Meadow Run: Well, not in a meadow, but Heavy and Medic do this in "Medic Goes To Boston!". Awwwww.
New Powers as the Plot Demands: Despite never having this power before, the Medic suddenly demonstrates the ancient ability of the mind-meld to communicate with the rest of the mercs from afar.
No Name Given: MW's initials presumably stand for "Mysterious Woman" since no one knows her name.
Non Sequitur: The Administrator's dialogue typically has absolutely nothing to do with the conversation at hand.
Oh, Crap!: In "Out to Sea!", the mercs react with horror when they discover that MW left the remains of an eaten sandwich on her plate.
Parody Product Placement:
- In "Medic Escapes" and "Gratuitous Product Placement or One Sweet Ride", it's a major plot point that the mercs need The King of Average by Gary Schwartz (and may need to order it online), but everyone (except Medic) has a copy of Dancing with Eternity by John Patrick Lowrie instead. The latter video ends with the mercs getting inside a 2008 Toyota Corolla, which Spy emphasizes as being "one sweet ride". Given the title of the latter video, this product placement is certainly Played for Laughs.
- "The Tower of No Refunds" has the mercs finding and referring to a 2001 Cuisinart toaster in full, with Spy calling it "one sweet apparatus" the same way.
Partially-Concealed-Label Gag: The Medic watches the Sniper's video of Twin Peaks. However, the Medic pauses the video on a frame where the town's name is partially off-camera, and he deduces that they must be in a place called "Twin Pea".
Picky Eater: According to "The search goes on, mate!", the Medic apparently refuses to eat any food that isn't German, leading the Sniper to find him almost starved to death since they couldn't find a wiener schnitzel.
Sherlock Can Read: In "C.R.U.S.T.", the Spy points out something that could be an escalator, and the Sniper incredulously asks how he can tell. The word "escalator" is clearly visible on the escalator.
Shoehorned Acronym: The Colossal Repository of Unused Stratagems, or C.R.U.S.T., only works as an acronym because it includes the first two letters of the final word. It's lampshaded by the Spy.
Spy: I suppose if you're using the initial "st" of "stratagems" as the final "st" of "crust"... I mean, it's not a true acronym, but...
Shout-Out:
- As an Actor Allusion to the Giggling Secretary from Twin Peaks, MW is first seen giggling loudly while the mercs are in Twin Peaks.
- In "Out to Sea!", while the Spy is on the boat, he stands at the bow and puts his arms out like the famous scene from Titanic.
Stealth Hi/Bye:
- The Administrator has a tendency to pop in and out of the scene with little warning.
- While in the Stanley Hotel, the Sniper believes his teammates were right behind him. But when he turns around, to his surprise, they're not there anymore. He believes they've mysteriously vanished due to the Stanley Hotel's infamous reputation.
Suspiciously Specific Denial: When MW is asked by the Sniper who she is, she responds by curtly insisting that she wasn't laughing at him, even though he never accused her of that.
MW: I was not laughing at you, I was laughing at my book!
Through the Eyes of Madness: The Medic's videos occasionally have inanimate objects (like rocks and grass) suddenly start speaking in a low demonic voice. However, we're seeing things from the perspective of Medic (who's already a Mad Scientist with a tenuous grasp on his sanity), and it's later revealed that the Medic was hallucinating from a drug... assuming, of course, this revelation isn't just another hallucination!
The Voice: Merasmus has yet to appear in person, but his voice is heard in "The Search Continues!"
Welcome to Corneria: In an example that's certainly Played for Laughs, the Administrator is unable to come up with new dialogue and just regurgitates random lines of dialogue from Team Fortress 2 regardless of whether they're relevant in context.
Administrator: Prepare to capture all control points!
Sniper: Well, that was helpful.
Who's on First?: "The Tower of No Refunds" begins with Medic contacting the others:
Medic: Heavy is Spy, Pyro is Demo, and Sniper is Heavy!
Sniper: Heavy? I might've put on a couple of pounds but—
Spy: No no no, he is calling you Heavy.
Sniper: That's what I said!
Who Wants to Live Forever?: MW's rallying cry in "Battle of the Breads Part 1".
Your Princess Is in Another Castle!:
- In "the Plot Thickens!", the mercs find a bakery with sandwiches... but they've lost the Medic, so they leave the bakery without a sandwich so they can start looking for the Medic too.
- In "the Medic?", it seems that the Sniper and Administrator have finally found the Medic stuck in quicksand. But while the Administrator starts counting down until the mission starts, the Medic has mysteriously vanished again by the time the Sniper turns back around.

Web Video / Search for Sandvich

Search for Sandvich contains examples of:

Alternative Title(s): The Sandvich Saga

Previous

Index

Next

Web Video / Search for Sandvich

Edit Locked

Search for Sandvich contains examples of:

Alternative Title(s): The Sandvich Saga

Previous

Index

Next