YMMV / Jeremiah

• Adaptational Displacement: Many would be more familiar with the series than the comic despite its loose adaptation.
• Alternate Character Interpretation: Has its own page.
• Base-Breaking Character: One man Cargo Cult aspiring superhero Captain Iron from "Man of Iron, Woman Under Glass". Some fans view him as a brilliantly complex, endearing, and tragic character who affectionately homages comic books and provides a believable look into how some kids who went through something like the Big Death would suffer from Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality and are unequipped to act on their fantasies. Others view him as a ridiculous and underwhelming source of Padding who inadvertently mocks real comic fans with every line of dialogue he utters.
• Best Known for the Fanservice: The series has lots of sex and nude scenes, but after the first five episodes they aren't in every episode, or even every other episode, and are largely absent from season 2. You wouldn't know that from the way some (often disapproving) fans talk, though.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: In "The Touch", Markus has a strange dream while suffering from an unspecified disease, where a Magical Native American gives him a cryptic prophecy that has little to no significance later on. That scene, and arguably the rest of his subplot in the episode, seem to be pure Padding.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Has its own page.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • What does Claire find after sailing to Europe in "To Sail Beyond the Stars"?
  • Why are there no children in the Valhalla Sector in the season two premier? And if they are there, out of sight, what happens to them after Meghan wipes out the adults there?
  • Practically every episode introduces someone who feels like they could have an entire prequel series about their Back Story. How a lot of the communities shown in the show, despotic and peaceful alike (such as Theo and her township, the Crescent Shadows, Gregory's circus, Michael's cult, Cord Geary's fairgrounds-dwelling group from "The Red Kiss", the town where Eddie plies his Knowledge Broker trade, the increasingly tyrannical New Hope, Michelle's hideaway, Samuel and his neighbors in Camden, Edgar and his library patrons in Denver, and even the relatively well-equipped Thunder Mountain), made it through the initial years after the death of adults is interesting to imagine. There are also a lot of blanks to fill in about how the leaders of so many settlements (like Millhaven and the village from New Hope fell under the Valhalla Sector's influence. Going beyond that, everyone in the show, whether part of a community or not, has had fifteen years of Teenage Wasteland struggles, and even major characters like Jeremiah, Kurdy, Smith, Sims, Lee Chen, and Erin (who started out surviving with her twin sister) only have a fraction of their past lives described.
  • How did Conspiracy Theorist Wylie learn the truth about the Valhalla Sector and their past and present atrocities?
  • Did Mount Weather (which is referenced in passing, albeit not by name, in the season one finale) survive the Big Death unscathed, or were the adults inside killed like at Thunder Mountain? If they did survive, what kind of society they have is open to speculation, since they apparently never try to help or rival Raven Rock and the Valhalla Sector.
• Fanon Discontinuity: While the subsequent episodes are far from disliked, some fans think the show should have ended with the final battle against the Valhalla Sector and that "Letters from the Other Side Part 2" was a Tough Act to Follow and would have been a good series finale.
• He's Just Hiding:
  • While Mysterious Protector Ezekiel is never seen after being shot in the season 1 finale, some fans hope he survived his wounds.
  • Meaghan committing suicide by jumping off a cliff into a river can still make it possible to wonder if the fall was really enough to kill her when there was water waiting below.
• Moe:
  • Meaghan has a soft gaze, good sense of humor, and tired, emotionally tested visage that keeps undergoing more and more pressure in a heartbreaking way that makes her deeply sympathetic.
  • Mr. Smith's childlike awkwardness, determination to help people, and Resigned to the Call nature about his visions all win him a lot of adoration from plenty of fans.
  • John/Captain Iron from "Man of Iron, Woman Under Glass". Like his basic character or not, his eager-to-please, mentally-scarred Wide-Eyed Idealist characterization can be very affecting.
  • The pregnant girl from To Sail Beyond the Stars who is about to give birth while alone, homeless, and in a post-apocalyptic world where there are no support systems or people who explain how this works has a strong air of sweetness and vulnerability, although she does ultimately show a smart and snarky side as well.
  • In "Red Kiss" The group of kids who think Jeremiah and Kurdy are angels are very huggable, with the way they are Wise Beyond Their Years in some ways and precocious in others.
  • Kent from "The Question" is the living embodiment of every The Heart cliche you could expect to find in a Boot Camp Episode story, but his actor is very earnest about it and gives him some pretty touching moments.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Michael from "And the Ground, Sown with Salt" is a ruthless, murderous piece of work from his first scene, but he is an enemy of the far worse Valhalla Sector, and his girlfriend says he was once a better person who may not understand what he is doing anymore. However, once Michael uses the arsenal of a military base to destroy a town of 200 people, revels in the destruction, and then plans to kill his girlfriend for getting pregnant without permission, his villainy is fully cemented.
  • Throughout season 1, it is possible to take a Well-Intentioned Extremist view of the Valhalla Sector as they kill whole towns that may have resurgences of the Big Death and make people terminally ill by testing vaccines. Even the hints that they caused the original outbreak that killed most adults are mitigated by how the lab leak was an accident. Then, the season 1 finale reveals that the new Big Death outbreaks (which now kill adults and kids alike) are their deliberate doing and the Valhalla Sector wants to weaponize the Big Death to subjugate the outside world they have already put through so much suffering. They are only trying to find a cure to the Big Death to protect themselves and their collaborators.
  • Despite his brutal war crimes, Army of Daniel General Ripper Simms retains a small amount of sympathy throughout season 2 due to having a Dark and Troubled Past and believing that he is on a Mission from God. However, his last and best chance for redemption vanishes after he learns that the Shadow Dictator he has devoted himself to and views as a Messianic Archetype is an Invented Individual. He is actually happy with this revelation, saying it means he can take over the army and half-seriously comparing himself to the devil.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Has its own page.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Ezekiel and Mr. Smith had the potential to be good Foils. Ezekiel initially seems like a prophetic, biblical figure but is really a normal man whose mysterious nature is explained by how the job he has requires secrecy (and for him to protect Jeremiah) and how he read the Bible during the Big Death. Mr. Smith spends part of his first scene looking like a normal soldier but quickly shows signs of being a genuine prophet and possible Angel Unaware. They are on the same side and both have interesting Mysterious Protector moments and penchants for secrecy, but they never do interact and Ezekiel is written out of the show right before Mr. Smith debuts.
• Too Good to Last: Many people praise the strong acting, generally good writing, and cool setting and world-building of the show (a former Teenage Wasteland trying to move onto something better) and lament how it only aired two seasons out of the five originally planned. While fans appreciate how the show ends on a resolved and optimistic note, they often think the story could have kept on going for a ways longer.
• Vanilla Protagonist: Knight Errant Jeremiah's Rage Against the Heavens bitterness, search for his missing father, and desire for revenge against his enemies are compelling enough, but can feel repetitive and less affecting and nuanced than Markus working to build The Alliance, Kurdy doing a lot of the same badass feats as Jeremiah while getting a lot more soul-searching and Character Development, Mr. Smith being a potential Angel Unaware, to say nothing of Large Ham Wasteland Warlord Theo, mysterious Double Agent Lee Chen, and all the Hero of Another Story one-shot characters who show up in practically every episode. If nothing else, some fans question if Jeremiah really carries the show enough to warrant having his name be the title.
• The Woobie: Just about everyone in the world, even non-Valhalla Sector villains, given how they had to grow up in a world without any adults and fend for themselves after they saw their loved ones die. Markus can feel especially pitiable, given The Chains of Commanding he has to deal with, the flashback where he watches his parents die, and how the woman he loves dies in season 2.

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