Season one poster
Within Lapenko (Внутри Лапенко in Russian) is a 2019 Russian web series starring Anton Lapenko (as all main characters). It's produced by Anton Lapenko, his brothers and Aleksei Smirnov. Set in the 80's Russia, the first three seasons describe the adventures of different characters: from a local scientist and a rock band to TV channel journalists and bandits. Season 4 is the Prequel, set at an earlier time when all of the young characters were kids and teenagers.
This show provides examples of:
- Air Guitar: God plays Merchant's Dream to Shershnyaga using it, as well as Air Drums. The music is somehow playing, but it's God after all.
- The Alcoholic: Igor Katamaranov.
- Almost Kiss: In season three finale, Engineer and Zina are about to kiss when pancking Yuri interrupts them.
- Amusingly Awful Aim: Zhilin tried to shoot wheelchair-bound Grigoriy and his henchman standing in the hall about five meters ahead of him. None of his bullets reached their targets. In the same episode, Iron Sleeves and Iron Heels can't shoot each other from a small distance.
- Anachronism Stew: The show is set in the 80's, yet some product placements are clearly from modern times. Also, modern TV sets, windows and doors occasionally appear.
- And You Were There: During one of season three episodes, Engineer ends up in the city called Podbolotsk, which is full of the counterparts of main characters. In Podbolotsk, Katamaranov is a polite and sober mechanic, Zhilin is much more competent, Lyoshka and the intern are cops, Gvidon is a money forger, and Engineer's counterpart is The Voiceless mayor of the city.
- Animal Motifs: Shershnyaga's nickname means "hornet". Roza Robot has a tattoo of a hornet devoted to his friend. Cobra somehow has snake-like eyes and teeth.
- Artistic License – Medicine: Tatiana got better after she was hit by an arrow in the head, but it doesn't work like that in real life.
- Avenging the Villain: Zakhar wants to avenge Natella in season three.
- Back-Alley Doctor: Gvidon Vishnevskiy turns out to be this. He helped one man by stitching his severed leg... to a cow.
- Bad Cop/Incompetent Cop: Zhilin sees Engineer leaving the restaurant where someone killed Iron Sleeves... and thinks the culprit is Igor Katamaranov. Then he stops pursuing Katamaranov after the latter seemingly drowned in the swamp without even looking for his body.
- Bearded Baby: Tatiana's baby daughter has the same moustache as her mother, her stepfather and her actual father.
- Betty and Veronica: For Tatiana, shy and soft-spoken Yuri is Betty, while boastful Richard is Veronica.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Who would have thought that Engineer is capable of going on a killing spree if he gets angry?
- Big Bad: Grigoriy Strelnikov for season one, Natella for season two, Zakhar for season three. All three are connected to each other and involved in Sibling Triangle, but their goals are very different.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- Igor Katamaranov suddenly appears with a bottle of turpentine and a boombox underwater and saves Engineer from drowning.
- Richard enters burning Channel Nine building and saves his former rival Yuri.
- Bit Character: Vsevolod Starozubov doesn't take part in any storyline and appears only to sing his songs.
- Bizarre Beverage Use: Richard Sapogov not only drinks whiskey, but also uses it as perfume. Even his engagement ring case is in the shape of a bottle of whiskey.
- Bookends: Season one starts and season three finishes with Engineer at a railway station.
- Break the Haughty: In season three, Richard loses both his job and Tatiana. He becomes a humble English teacher at school.
- Bros Before Hoes: Eventually, Shershnyaga chooses Roza Robot over Roza Krepygina.
- But Not Too Foreign: Richard Sapogov is definitely a foreigner, but he has an English first name and a Russian last name.
- Camp Straight: Richard Sapogov.
- Canine Companion: Zhilin becomes the owner of a dog by the end of season three. The dog is so smart that it can drive.
- Cliffhanger: Season two episode one ends with Engineer seemingly drowning in the river. He gets better in the next episode.
- Cloudcuckoolander: The most obvious example out of many is Yuri. He tries to ask trees, ants and mushrooms about radioactive swamps.
- Cool Old Guy: God. He likes driving his car, fishing with Satan and listening to Crimson Phantomas. He even forgave Shershnyaga for stealing his song.
- Cool Shades: Roza Robot and all members of Iron Sleeves wear them all the time.
- Darker and Edgier: Season three is this, especially its plot twist in the finale and the mid-credits Sequel Hook.
- Death Is Cheap: A character can die, but they will come back to life if God likes them. Or if he isn't concentrated enough.
- Decision Darts: Sort of. Richard Sapogov spins the globe to choose his next holiday destination. He randomly picks Yakutsk (one of the coldest places in Russia) and decides to spin again.
- Depraved Kids' Show Host: The director of the local kids' TV channel looks even more menacing than three Big Bads of three seasons combined. And he decides to hunt Yuri down when the latter turned Channel Nine into kids' channel.
- Distaff Counterpart: Background Iron Heels are these to background Iron Sleeves: one has a gun, one has a phone, and another one has a musical instrument. All three are even played by the same actors.
- Domestic Abuse: Roza Krepygina does this with Shershnyaga and then with Cobra.
- Dramatic Drop: When Engineer shoots all members of Iron Sleeves gang, each of them is holding something (popcorn, balloons, books, playing cubes, two buckets of apples, a self-portrait) that is dramatically dropped when he is shot.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Zakhar appears in season two finale as Natella's Mook before we get to know his name and backstory.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: A female member of Iron Sleeves gang was shown in episode one, but she didn't appear again.
- Elongating Arm Gag: A rare live-action example. Engineer has somehow managed to grab the telephone from the opposite part of the room.
- Enemy Mine: Zhilin is a cop, and Iron Sleeves are a gang, yet they join forces against President Evil Natella.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Yuri and Richard are definitely into Tatiana.
- Everyone Went to School Together: Season 4 features most of the cast of the previous seasons as kids, teenagers and young adults in the same summer camp.
- Evil Chancellor: Zakhar is this to his brother Grigoriy.
- Face/Heel Double-Turn: Happens in season three. Richard Sapogov Took a Level in Kindness after losing his job and becoming a teacher while Yuri Grachevich becomes Drunk with Power, leads his channel and family to poverty and doesn't treat Tatiana well.
- The Faceless: When the face of Engineer's lady is shown in season two, we see a game of Tetris instead of it.
- Faking the Dead: Grigoriy decided to stay "dead" after season one in order to have leaders of other gangs killed at his own funeral.
- Fanservice: Who would expect Tatiana to strip in front of Yuri? And who would expect her to have an actual female body?
- Food as Bribe: Engineer bribes his colleague and friend Lyoshka to work a shift instead of him by giving him his own lunch.
- For Want Of A Nail: Engineer survived his second encounter with Iron Sleeves only because Shershnyaga decided to have a bathroom break after Roza Robot sealed the entrance to their rehearsal room.
- Freeze-Frame Introduction: Frequently used in the first episode.
- Friend Versus Lover: Crimson Phantomas storyline in season three is all about that.
- Girlfriend in Canada: Played for Drama. Engineer created "the lady" in his mind to cope with loneliness and stress. He gets so obsessed with her that he rejects a real girl because of his loyalty to an imaginary one.
- Girls with Moustaches: Tatiana, Zina and Roza Krepygina, courtesy of being played by Anton Lapenko.
- Good Costume Switch: After losing his job and becoming a teacher, Richard starts wearing a nerdy sweater instead of his Waistcoat of Style.
- Heel–Face Turn: Zhilin was originally on the side of Natella. But then he blew up her house and disrupted her plan to kill Grigoriy.
- "Here's Johnny!" Homage: Performed by Richard, who was chasing Yuri in the restaurant.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Tatiana saved Yuri and knocked Richard out using the vertical BBQ grill, which was Richard's wedding gift to her.
- Imaginary Friend: The lady is this to Engineer.
- Imaginary Love Triangle: There is such one between Engineer, his lady and Zina. But the lady doesn't really exist.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: When Yuri and Engineer are caught by Iron Sleeves, the former states he's not afraid of them and urges them to show how evil they are by shooting... not him, but Engineer.
- Improvised Weapon: Yuri turns his microphone into nunchaku during his duel with Richard.
- It's All About Me: Richard Sapogov compliments himself even at his wedding with Tatiana Vosmiglazova.
- La Résistance: Grigoriy organises one against Natella. It includes his gang, Zhilin, Crimson Phantomas, Gvidon, Yuri, Igor and Engineer.
- Ladykiller in Love: A very extreme variation. Cobra, who was a womanizer in the past, becomes Roza Krepygina's slave, both literally and metaphorically.
- Large Ham: Yuri, but only when he is recording The Mystery of the Hole.
- Latex Perfection: Zina's disguise as Lyoshka is so perfect that she looks exactly like him.
- Laughably Evil: Richard Sapogov due to his manners and English accent.
- Left the Background Music On: One of the members of Iron Sleeves always has a synthesizer with him. He plays a sad tune every time they enter the scene and gets interrupted by his boss soon after that. His Distaff Counterpart from Iron Heels plays the saxophone.
- Leitmotif: Engineer, Yuri, Richard and Drop Dead or Die host have them.
- Light Is Not Good: Grigoriy Strelnikov wears a white coat, but he is the boss of Iron Sleeves.
- Limited Wardrobe: None of the characters have more than three outfits. Played for Laughs with Richard Sapogov. In order to dress up for the meeting with president Natella Strelnikova, he takes off his Waistcoat of Style and puts on its exact copy.
- Love Triangle: Tatiana, Yuri and Richard. Also Engineer, his lady and Zina, with a certain twist...
- Mad Libs Catchphrase:Grigoriy Strelnikov: As Americans say, [first part of the quote], [weak second part of the quote].
- The Mafiya: Since the show takes place in Russia, all gangs qualify.
- Male Gaze: Parodied. Tatiana's buxom naked body in her Fanservice scene is played by an unknown female model, but let's not forget that she is played by a male actor in all other scenes.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Since Tatiana got pregnant not long after she broke up with Richard, it was unknown whether Yuri or Richard was the father. Season three finale shows that the father is Richard.
- Marked Bullet: The bullet that Zakhar tried to shoot Grigoriy with has "For Natella" on it.
- Mass Hypnosis: The reason why Natella became the president.
- Mid-Battle Tea Break: When Richard beats Yuri down during their duel, the latter loses his glasses. Richard puts them back on him, Yuri thanks Richard, and they continue fighting.
- Misplaced Retribution: Killing eight Iron Sleeves and crippling their boss for a stolen lottery ticket is too much. Especially when they had nothing to do with stealing the ticket.
- Missed the Bus: Engineer missed the first train in episode one due to talking with the cameraman. His trip on the second one didn't last long for a different reason.
- Mr. Exposition: News Host serves as this. He describes things not happening on-screen.
- Murder by Mistake: Richard throws a skewer into Yuri, but the skewer gets into Natella. Subverted, as the person who was dressed as Natella survived that.
- Musical Exposition: In season 4, when Engineer says he doesn't know the rules of Zarnitsa (an outdoor game similar to Outpost), Katamaranov takes his guitar and sings a song that explains the rules.
- Never Gets Drunk: Richard Sapogov is very often seen with a glass of whiskey, but his behaviour doesn't change no matter how much he drinks.
- No Name Given: Engineer, Taxi Driver and Drop Dead or Die host.
- Not Me This Time: Grigoriy claims he hasn't stolen Engineer's lottery ticket. It turns out he's right. Too bad for the eight Iron Sleeves killed by Engineer...
- Not Quite Dead: Natella wasn't killed by Richard because it was Drop Dead or Die host disguised as her. And even he didn't drop dead or die.
- Opposing Sports Team: The rival university's basketball team and their leaders are exact copies of Engineer and his team. They are played by the same actors wearing black clothes, and Lyoshka's counterpart even has black hair.
- Our Presidents Are Different: Natella is President Evil, Jerkass and Minority. Grigoriy is President Target, Iron and Minority (until recovery).
- Pair the Spares: Played With. After Crimson Phantomas reuintes and takes back its name, Roza Krepygina and Cobra start dating.
- Pals with Jesus: Both members of Crimson Phantomas died, made friends with God and came back to life.
- Photo Montage: The credits of season 4 finale include kindergarten photos of all main characters with their names. The only ones whose names aren't shown are Engineer and the lady.
- Poirot Speak: Richard speaks Russian using quite a few English words.
- Porn Stache: Due to being played by the same actor, all seasons 1-3 main characters have it. Yes, even women. Natella is the only exception. Subverted in season 4, with plenty of clean-shaven characters in it.
- Portal Picture: Gvidon's paintings, Absolute Entrance and Absolute Exit, serve as these.
- Product Placement: The show is full of them. Taxi Driver can be called Product Placement Character: every time he appears, he either recommends his client(s) a certain real-life product or gets into a situation that requires using one.
- Rage Breaking Point: Happened to Engineer after he lost his lottery ticket and realised that Iron Sleeves had stolen it. At least that's his interpretation of events.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Engineer's skiing suit has prominent pink details.
- Robosexual: Yuri calls Alice (a voice assistant) his potential wife.
- Same Clothes, Different Year: In season 4 trailer, some characters of previous seasons are younger and don't have facial hair, but they still wear the same clothes as in the 80's.
- Save the Villain: When both Engineer and Grigoriy Strelnikov end up underwater after a long car chase, the former saves the latter from drowning. Unlike most cases of this trope, it leads to them becoming friends.
- The Scream: Roza Krepygina sees that Shershnyaga has escaped her flat. The scene ends with her looking at the camera and screaming.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Natella's mindset in season 2. It helped her become the president.
- Sequel Hook: In the mid-credits scene of season three finale, Zakhar gets put into prison. His cellmate is former politician Mark Bagdasarov. When they meet each other, they start laughing. The scene ends with a close-up of one of Mark's tattoos, saying "Пора устроить нормальную войну" ("It's time to wage a decent war"). Subverted by season 4 being a prequel.
- Sexophone: Natella is a former prostitute. When she shows up with her gang, her henchwoman plays the same saxophone tune.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: An unnamed character (played by stand-up comedian Aleksei Shcherbakov) from season three finale is dressed in a nice beige suit.
- Show Within a Show: Has quite a few of them. The most notable ones are The Mystery of the Hole and Drop Dead or Die.
- Sibling Triangle: Brothers Grigoriy and Zakhar are both in love with Natella.
- Significant Name Overlap: Roza Robot and Roza Krepygina (though the former's name must be a nickname). Each of them wants to have Shershnyaga's full attention.
- Skewed Priorities: Richard forgave Yuri for stealing his girlfriend, but when the latter spilt coffee on his fashionable suit, it became personal.
- Sliding Scale of Beauty: In-universe, Tatiana, Richard and Cobra are considered World Class Beauty. Roza Robot, judging by lack of attention from Cobra's groupies and Cobra's comments about his greyish hair, is Flawed Average.
- Smarmy Host: Richard Sapogov.
- Soap Within a Show: Tears of September, but only its opening and one scene were shown.
- Sparing the Aces: Roza Robot comes back to life and avoids torment in hell because he is a great guitarist, and also because Satan wanted him to teach his son how to play the guitar.
- Stacked Characters Poster: For all seasons.
- Starving Artist: Yuri in season three, after he decided to ban all commercials on Channel Nine and broadcast only The Mystery of the Hole. Tatiana is not amused.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Since women can't join the basketball team, Zina disguises herself as Lyoshka.
- Talk to the Fist: Cobra brags to the real Crimson Phantomas about how he will take everything from them. Roza Robot is scared, but Shershnyaga? He punches Cobra in the face.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Cobra is taller than other characters, has long dark hair and looks cool enough to have fangirls.
- That Came Out Wrong: Yuri thanked Richard for saving his life in a very strange way.Yuri: I used to think you are a selfish idiot. Turns out you are not selfish.
- Those Two Guys: Roza Robot and Shershnyaga almost always stick together.
- Throwing Off the Disability: President Grigoriy Strelnikov started walking again after seeing his son in danger.
- Took a Level in Badass: Yuri went from being a Distressed Dude in seasons one and two to defeating Richard in a duel in season three.
- Unexplained Recovery: Drop Dead or Die will continue no matter where its host ends up and what condition he is in.
- The Unintelligible: Tatiana's speech. At least until the accident with the arrow.
- The Un-Reveal: The lady, shown in season two finale (and surprisingly not played by Anton Lapenko), is actually not Engineer's lady.
- Vanity License Plate: The plate of Iron Sleeves' car has letters "ОПГ", which is an abbreviation meaning "organised crime group". The letters on the plate of God's car are "БОГ", which means "God". Engineer's car has "ИНЖ", the first three letters of "Engineer".
- White Void Room: The show's interpretation of Heaven.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Engineer, judging by his monologues.
- Wowing Cthulhu: God and Satan are big fans of Crimson Phantomas.
