History FreudianExcuse / LiveActionTv

* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': "[[Recap/SherlockS04E03TheFinalProblem The Final Problem]]" gives some [[TheReveal revelations]] on Sherlock and Mycroft's childhood that explains a ''lot'' about Sherlock's personality. [[spoiler: As it turns out, they actually had a sister named Eurus, who [[EnfantTerrible was...]][[CreepyChild troubled]]. Sherlock also wasn't as [[FriendlessBackground friendless]] as we thought, because he had a best friend named Victor Trevor. Eurus caused Victor to go missing out of jealousy and refused to tell anyone where he was ([[AdultFear turns out she trapped him in a well and left him to die]]) beyond a confusing riddle that no one could solve, despite Sherlock trying endlessly. After Eurus was committed, and later had her death faked, a heavily traumatized Sherlock dealt with it by [[RepressedMemories writing both his sister and his best friend out of his memory entirely]], forgetting either existed]]. It's implied this is the reason for both Sherlock's unwillingness to get close to people at the start of the series, and his pathological need to solve the unsolvable.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'': Jeff's commitment issues, aloofness and jerkassery can be traced back to his drunken and abusive father, his parents' divorce and an instance of childhood bullying so bad that young Jeff peed his pants and had to change schools as a result.

* ''Series/ICarly'': Sam Puckett, despite not being the AlphaBitch (she's more like TheDragon for Carly, who could with some AlternateCharacterInterpretation be seen as the AlphaBitch at her school), has several of these: Her mother is horribly ignorant and a terrible parent who pays little attention to her. Her father ran away and never came back. Her family as a whole are hardened criminals.
** Subverted. Her twin sister Mealanie had the exact same upbringing, and yet, is the complete opposite in personality, being very nice. If Mealanie turned out this way, there is no reason Sam could not have. As a result, her being mean is entirely her own fault and not a result of her upbringing.

** This was lampshaded in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E12Helpless Helpless]]" when a psychotic vampire captured and tortured Buffy's mother and complained to her about his mother "stealing his self respect", before adding "I have mother issues. I'm aware of that."
** [[DarkMagicalGirl Faith]] is said to be who Buffy would be if she was never loved. Faith turns evil and works for the BigBad because he's the first parental figure she had that actually loved her. Aside from her first Watcher, who was brutally murdered in front of her.
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E17LiesMyParentsToldMe Lies My Parents Told Me]]", Spike's mother tried to rape him [[ItMakesSenseInContext after he murdered her]]. There's also the idea of how utterly disgusted he is with Angelus, a large part of the reason for their hatred seems to stem from attempts to make Spike just as bad as he is.

** Cavil. The genocide of the colonies was brought about because he thought his parents loved humans (and his artistic brother Daniel) more than him, and resented that they designed him with human qualities instead of making him a perfect machine. However, he decides to go so overboard with this that he just comes across as a whiny brat who uses the excuse as a shallow pretext for his own murderous urges instead. In probably his most despicable act, he knowingly raped his Cylon mother, yet ''still'' has the gall to blame her for his own actions when she offers her sadistic son a chance at redemption. And unlike, say, Kara, there's no indication that he suffered any actual psychological or physical abuse from his parents.

** Angel's father wasn't a bad man, not abusive, just stern. The two had a difficult relationship, and he was the last of the family that Angelus killed on being turned. Darla told Angelus that now he'd never be able to beat his father. ''Angelus'' does not have a Freudian Excuse. He is a particularly vile vampire who takes the darkest, most screwed up interpretations of the being that was once Liam and magnifies them. Liam might have hated his father, but they were still family. Angelus' first act as a vampire was to kill his family. There is no excuse.

** Cavil. The genocide of the colonies was brought about because he thought his parents loved humans more than him, and resented that they designed him with human qualities instead of making him a perfect machine. However, he decides to go so overboard with this that he just comes across as a whiny brat who uses the excuse as a shallow pretext for his own murderous urges instead. In probably his most despicable act, he knowingly raped his Cylon mother, yet ''still'' has the gall to blame her for his own actions when she offers her sadistic son a chance at redemption. And unlike, say, Kara, there's no indication that he suffered any actual psychological or physical abuse from his parents.

** Cavil. The genocide of the colonies was brought about because he thought his parents loved humans more than him. However, he decides to go so overboard with this that he just comes across as a whiny brat who uses the excuse as a shallow pretext for his own murderous urges instead. In probably his most despicable act, he knowingly raped his Cylon mother, yet ''still'' has the gall to blame her for his own actions when she offers her sadistic son a chance at redemption.

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': Both Rumplestiltskin and Regina have ''huge'' Freudian Excuses. Rumpelstiltskin's low self esteem stems from being branded a coward and [[spoiler:having his wife abandon him and his son]], and his taking children from parents stems from him losing his own son after he couldn't give up his power. Regina's mother, [[EvilMatriarch Cora]], was abusive, using magic to control her, she also [[AndShowItToYou killed Regina's boyfriend in front of her]], and forced her to marry the king. As a result, Regina became obsessed revenge against Snow White [[spoiler:(who told Cora about Regina and Daniel, thinking it was for the best).]]

*** [[spoiler: Rumpel's birth mother chooses power over love.]]

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct alphabetical order.

** It is revealed in season 4 that Leo Fitz had an emotionally, and [[ImpliedTrope potentially physically]], abusive father that abandoned him when Fitz was 10. It certainly gives new insight into his visceral reactions to the [[HarsherInHindsight various betrayals]] throughout the series, particularly that of [[spoiler:Grant Ward]] and [[spoiler:Dr. Radcliffe]]. In the Framework, the trope is played straight where Fitz is shown to be a [[MadScientist cold-hearted, sadistic doctor]] having been raised by his father instead of his mother. He even compares himself to [[spoiler:Ward]] when he comes back to himself after [[spoiler:escaping the Framework]].

** In season 1, the team deals with a telekinetic girl who was molested by her father. Neither crazy nor evil, she does have issues.

** Valerie is given a succession of increasingly horrifying Freudian Excuses. First, [[spoiler: her father committed suicide]]. Then, it is revealed that [[spoiler: she was the one who found him in a pool of blood]]. Later, [[spoiler: we learn that her father had been raping her since she was 11 years old]]. And for the grand finale, [[spoiler: she was the one who murdered him]].

-->'''Blackadder:''' One thing, Ludwig, just before you go — were you ever bullied at school?\\

'''Ludwig:''' Nonsense, no — at my school, having dirty hair and spots was a sign of maturity.\\

* In ''Series/{{Brookside}}'', the Simpsons go to family therapy after discovering that their (fully blood-related siblings) children are in an incestuous relationship. The therapist ''tries'' to find something from their childhood that would explain it, but the trope is subverted - there really ''isn't'' anything. When the therapist refuses to admit defeat and keeps probing, the father becomes dangerously enraged and smashes up the place, thinking he's being accused of having molested his own children.

* ''Series/{{Cracker}}'': Sticking with the serial killers and criminal profilers - it's regularly used and (occasionally) subverted in this show (and I guess probably its US remake as Fitz - I gather 'cracker' has another meaning on that side of the Atlantic...). It's a show about what makes people do terrible things, so it regularly delved into Freudian Excuse territory.

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': Scorpius was revealed to have been engineered and brutally raised by the Scarrans, spawning an intense hatred of that species for his treatment as well as for the rape and death of his Sebacean mother. For this reason, he's prepared to do anything he can to take revenge — including the acts committed against John Crichton. However, when Scorpius actually brings up these details close to the end of the third season, he does so not to make Crichton pity him, but to try and convince him that the Scarrans must be stopped before any more innocent people suffer — and given their actions [[MoralEventHorizon in the fourth season]], he's not exactly incorrect.
* ''Series/TheFBI'': In "The Monster", a SerialKiller who strangles women with their own hair was raised by an incredibly strict grandmother who home-schooled him and grew his hair to shoulder length curls--like Gainsborough's ''Blue Boy''--which got him mercilessly bullied by the other boys in the neighbourhood.

** Santana Lopez spends the whole of season one as the "beta bitch" to Quinn Fabray, and it isn't until season 2 we find out the reason she's so hostile in because she's afraid of someone finding out about her sexuality. In season 3, it is revealed that she had a abusive childhood in a rough part of town, in which her grandmother attempted to sell her, called her "garbage face" so often she forgot her real name and has at least once threatened to beat her with a chair. This is played for laughs, though.

** David Karofsky bullies Kurt so badly in season two, because [[spoiler: he's gay too and is afraid of his family finding out]] After his HeelFaceTurn, he admits this doesn't justify his behaviour, and is deeply remorseful.

* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': Ari Haswari tells Gibbs his is that his father impregnated his mother, raised him badly, and killed his mother just so he could have a [[TheMole mole]] in Hamas. [[spoiler: He gets shot straight after, by his own sister, in what ends up being her Freudian Excuse for having severe trust issues - which really isn't so much an excuse as a valid reason.]]
** Gibbs might be displaying this himself--his penchant for redheads might stem from the fact that his mother was one.

** Subverted by Arnold Rimmer; he has numerous elements in his back-story that ''could'' be used to excuse his actions as an adult - his [[TheUnFavorite mother and father despised him]], his brothers and schoolmates relentlessly bullied him to the point of homicidal sadism, no one liked and encouraged him and he eventually died a horrible death as a useless, unfulfilled failure - but whilst these elements are sometimes used to promote sympathy for him, they are never used to justify his snide, cowardly and hypocritical actions or utter stupidity and incompetence, much as he would like them to. Despite his [[{{Wangst}} constant whining about the subject]], no one excuses him because of it, and in fact it's clear to everyone around him that he himself merely uses his past as an excuse not to deal with his failings, even those that can't be brushed away so easily.

-->'''Alan:''' That's easy for you to say though, isn't it? Yeah? You get the glory, you get the girl, everyone loves you. Then when the King comes back, you'll have lands, property, a wife - everything. What will I have? You're always in the sun, Robin and I'm always in the shade.\\

** For that matter, [[spoiler:Logan's father--a murderer himself--claims that it was ''his'' father's abuse which made him who he is]].

** The show also has a LampshadeHanging. In the first-season episode "Drinking the Kool-Aid," a boy joins a cult, and his rich parents ask Mr. Mars why he'd go when he was provided for. Mr. Mars says that it's often rich kids who leave, and the boy's father sighs (paraphrasing): "Yes, I know what you're thinking. Spoiled rich kid, no material need denied, no spiritual need fulfilled. That's not us."

** Spoofed in the episode "Fool Me Once, Shame on You, Fool Me Twice...":

** David Karofsky bullies Kurt so badly in season two, because [[spoiler: he's gay too and is afraid of his family finding out]] Some fans argue this doesn't justify his behavior. After his HeelFaceTurn, he agrees, and is deeply remorseful.

* ''{{Series/Cracker}}'': Sticking with the serial killers and criminal profilers - it's regularly used and (occasionally) subverted in this show (and I guess probably its US remake as Fitz - I gather 'cracker' has another meaning on that side of the Atlantic...). It's a show about what makes people do terrible things, so it regularly delved into Freudian Excuse territory.

--->'''Jimmy''': Why did you do it? Come on. Every killer's got a [[MonsterSobStory sob story]]. You know, I hear that an unhappy childhood, that's...that's pretty popular.

** Quinn Fabray was bullied badly before coming to [=McKinley=] High, which is elaborated on in "Born this way" as a Freudian Excuse for her cruelty. Of course, every season the writers think up a new Freudian excuse for her to be the way she is (most notably in "Ballard", "Preggers", "Born This Way", "I Kissed a Girl" and "Big Brother")
** David Karosky bullies Kurt so badly in season two, because [[spoiler: he's gay too and is afraid of his family finding out]] Some fans argue this doesn't justify his behavior. After his HeelFaceTurn, he agrees, and is deeply remorseful.

** Further subverted in Back To Earth: when confronted with The Creator, his reaction is not to blame him for his own character flaws, but to be ''pissed'' at the crappy childhood and life he's had.

** Losing his Freudian Excuse actually appears to be one of Rimmer's greatest fears, as demonstrated in ''Back to Reality'', in which he believes his lack of success can be blamed on his negligent parents, only to discover that Lister (believed to be his half-brother at this point) shared his upbringing -- implied to be much better here -- and became a rich, successful and famous member of the government. The realization that, in this reality, he no longer had this crutch to fall back upon was enough to drive him to attempted suicide. Which is strange because his brothers already also shared his horrible upbringing and they went on to be successful (at least until a deleted scene in season 6 implied they all had mental breakdowns in the middle of missions resulting in large body counts).

** In the episode "Inquisitor", Rimmer successfully uses this FreudianExcuse [[spoiler:to justify his pathetic and worthless life and avoid being completely erased from history. "Yes, I admit I'm nothing. But from what I started with, nothing is up."]]

** Played for laughs in the episode "Holoship", when Rimmer is told that in the 25th century, mankind ''abolished'' the concept of parents after finally realizing that everyone's hang-ups and neuroses were caused by parents. Rimmer is naturally chuffed to learn he was right.

* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': "The Final Problem" gives some [[TheReveal revelations]] on Sherlock and Mycroft's childhood that explains a ''lot'' about Sherlock's personality. [[spoiler: As it turns out, they actually had a sister named Eurus, who [[EnfantTerrible was...]][[CreepyChild troubled]]. Sherlock also wasn't as [[FriendlessBackground friendless]] as we thought, because he had a best friend named Victor Trevor. Eurus caused Victor to go missing out of jealousy and refused to tell anyone where he was ([[AdultFear turns out she trapped him in a well and left him to die]]) beyond a confusing riddle that no one could solve, despite Sherlock trying endlessly. After Eurus was committed, and later had her death faked, a heavily traumatized Sherlock dealt with it by [[RepressedMemories writing both his sister and his best friend out of his memory entirely]], forgetting either existed]]. It's implied this is the reason for both Sherlock's unwillingness to get close to people at the start of the series, and his pathological need to solve the unsolvable.

** This was lampshaded when a psychotic vampire captured and tortured Buffy's mother and complained to her about his mother "stealing his self respect", before adding "I have mother issues. I'm aware of that."

** Spike's mother tried to rape him [[ItMakesSenseInContext after he murdered her]]. There's also the idea of how utterly disgusted he is with Angelus, a large part of the reason for their hatred seems to stem from attempts to make Spike just as bad as he is.

* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': "The Final Problem" gives some [[TheReveal revelations]] on Sherlock and Mycroft's childhood that explains a ''lot'' about Sherlock's personality. [[spoiler: As it turns out, they actually had a sister named Eurus, who was...[[EnfantTerrible trou]][[CreepyChild bled]]. Sherlock also wasn't as [[FriendlessBackground friendless]] as we thought, because he had a best friend named Victor Trevor. Eurus caused Victor to go missing out of jealousy and refused to tell anyone where he was ([[AdultFear turns out she trapped him in a well and left him to die]]) beyond a confusing riddle that no one could solve, despite Sherlock trying endlessly. After Eurus was committed, and later had her death faked, a heavily traumatized Sherlock dealt with it by [[RepressedMemories writing both his sister and his best friend out of his memory entirely]], forgetting either existed]]. It's implied this is the reason for both Sherlock's unwillingness to get close to people at the start of the series, and his pathological need to solve the unsolvable.

** One episode actually managed to make the perp sympathetic and a bit tragic. An elderly piano teacher and his younger assistant are discovered to be molesting a young boy and evidence is found which indicates this is a pattern that they have repeated multiple times. When the detectives uncover that the assistant himself was molested by the tutor when ''he'' was a boy, they confront him about putting other children through the same nightmare. He breaks down crying and agrees to confess and testify against the older man rather than force their young victims to take the stand. As he put it, "I don't know why [my abuser] is the way he is, but I know why ''I'' am… '[[sobbing]'' I don't want [my victim] to end up a monster like me…"

** It's hinted that Principle Snyder had MommyIssues. Also, there's this:

* ''Film/TheFBI'': In "The Monster", a SerialKiller who strangles women with their own hair was raised by an incredibly strict grandmother who home-schooled him and grew his hair to shoulder length curls--like Gainsborough's ''Blue Boy''--which got him mercilessly bullied by the other boys in the neighbourhood.

** Uses the FreudianExcuse almost as much: