History Series / Cracked2013

** Villainous example: the two shooters in "The Tennants" & "Voices" are detestable pricks who spend most of their time killing people who can't shoot back. But when the SWAT team interrupts their spree, they manage to take out the entire team in a matter of moments.

It stars David Sutcliff as Detective Aiden Black, a SWAT officer suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who is transferred to the newly-formed Psych Crimes and Crisis Unit after an outburst involving barnyard noises in a diner. He and his new partner, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniella Ridley (Stefanie von Pfetten), and another pair consisting of Detective Poppy Wisnefski (Luisa D'Oliveira) and psychiatric nurse Leo Beckett (Dayo Ade) report to Inspector Diane Caligra (Karen [=LeBlanc=]) are called in to investigate any crime that seems likely to involve an emotionally disturbed person, whether as a perpetrator, victim, or witness. Resistant to the idea at first, Aiden slowly learns to appreciate the job and trust his partner, while trying to recover from the aftermath of two fatal shootings, and an ugly breakup with his girlfriend of three years, Detective Liz Liette (Mayko Nguyen).

''Cracked'' is a Canadian television series that started in 2013.

!!This Series contains examples of:

* AmoralAttorney: Crown Attorney Houseman who tries to destroy Aiden's reputation in "Inquest" in order to make her own career. Averted by Aiden's attorney in the same episode, and by Michael from "The Fallen" who, despite being a bipolar psychotic is a very good attorney who completely changed the life of at least one of his clients (getting her off of drugs and into a college).
* AndShowItToYou[=/=]BeatStillMyHeart: Mandar Kush hits the worst of both tropes when he cuts out a man's heart and eats it in front of a crowd.

* AxeCrazy: Despite what you might expect, the number of violently insane people on this show is relatively low. That said, Ken Hobart from "White Knight" is a definite case while under the influence of bath salts (regressing to a non-verbal, animalistic state), as is Isabel from "Spirited Away" when during the throes of postpartum psychosis--she storms into her parents' house, brandishing a carpet knife, and planning to cut up her daughter. Mandar Kush, paranoid a schizophrenic and cannibal who believed he was being haunted by demons might be the standout, though we only see him like this in flashback. Most of the show's worst killers however--Eliot from "The Light in Black" and the shooters from "The Tennants" & "Voices" are ''not'' insane.
* {{Badass}}: Aiden Black, in typical cop show fashion. Leo gets his moment when he subdues a knife and gun armed thug in "The Price", despite being unarmed.

* BaldOfEvil: Michael from "The Fallen", Ken Hobart from "White Knight", and Mandar Kush from "No Traveller Returns" all have this look, but in a subversion are all deeply sorry after regaining their sanity, and in Michael's case, never hurt anybody in the first place. Mongo Golding, a career criminal in "The Tennants" and "Voices" is a more typical example, but it's subverted when it is revealed that he doesn't want to be the way he is, and accepts Leo's offer to help him start over.
* BatterUp: Blessing from "What We Can't See" takes a baseball bat to the other children who were harassing her, leaving five kids with seventeen broken bones, and giving one boy a concussion. Ed Janoski of "The Hold Out" assaults developer Damien Trombley with one when he believes Trombley is responsible for killing his dog.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Dr. Sean [=McCray=] comes off as affable on the surface, but is a jackass under the surface, with Daniella eventually concluding he is a narcissist. Eliot from "The Light In Black" is a far more extreme example, being a NiceGuy on top, and a psychopath underneath.
* BlondesAreEvil: Played straight by Erin from "White Knight", an insane stalker, histrionic personality, and GreenEyedMonster. Played with in the case of Esme from "The Light in Black" who was cheating on her husband, but is still visibly horrified by his murder. Averted in the cases of Daniella Ridley and Clara Malone, who are both fundamentally good people with the best intentions of their patients at heart.

* DistressedDamsel: Happens to Daniella Ridley in both "The Fallen" and "The Light In Black", requiring Aiden to rescue her the first time, and in a twist, Poppy to bail her out the second time. Neither of these incidents could remotely be conisdered Daniella's fault; both times she just had the bad luck to be visiting someone who, despite their having no apparent involvement in the case, turned out to be the perpetrator. In "White Knight" something similar happens to Detective Liette when she's taken captive by Aiden's stalker, Erin.
* DrivenToSuicide: The girl from "Cherry Blossoms" offed herself due to torment from her classmates. In "The Valley" it's revealed that [[spoiler:Simon Kelley killed himself]]. Liette believes that this will eventually happen to Aiden.

* EnfanteTerrible: Eliot from "The Light in Black" was sociopathic even as a child, and was shipped off to boarding school after he broke his little sister's arm. Blessing from "What We Can't See" is a milder example who, having been raised in a bizarre alien cult, suffers from mood swings, violent outbursts, and delusions.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: The perpetrator from "How The Light Gets In" commits all of his crimes in the name of saving his mother's life. Eliot from "The Light in Black" seems genuinely angry over having missed his mother's funeral.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Eliot from "The Light in Black" seems to be upset about missing his [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas mother's funeral]], and may actually care about his sister and niece; at the very least, Daniella notes he'd never hurt them. Nolan from "Swans" is a dangerous offender with a lengthy rapsheet, but does care about his mentally ill girlfriend, Emily, who returns the favour. Many of the other perpetrators also have family that they care about, but given that they are, for the most part, delusional, or otherwise mentally impaired, calling them "evil" would be unfair.

* GreenEyedMonster: Erin from "White Knight" is an obsessive stalker who becomes insanely jealous when the object of her affections (Aiden) rebuffs her or shows interest in another woman. This results in her taking Detective Liette hostage. The victim from "The Light in Black" was also prone to jealousy, but being a moron, directed his envy at his wife's brother rather than her boyfriend.

* {{Hallucinations}}: Michael from "The Fallen," Mandar Kush from "No Traveller Returns," the mother and daughter duo from "What We Can't See", Isabel from "Spirited Away" and several other schizophrenics, bipolars, and psychotics all see things that aren't there.
* HappilyMarried: Even after everything he did and an eleven year separation, Mandar Kush's wife is looking forward to his coming home. If that isn't a strong marriage I don't know what is. Leo is also married, for the most part, happily.
* HearingVoices: Very common. The schizophrenic perpetrator from "How The Light Gets In" heard the voice of a doctor telling him that he could save his mother by stealing the energy from other people. Michael, a bipolar psychotic from "The Fallen" hears voices and sees things that convince him TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt has arrived, and that he must gather an arsenal to battle {{Satan}} with. Mandar Kush, the paranoid schizophrenic, from "No Traveller Returns" heard voices that told him demons were coming for he and his son Arun, and that he had to fend them off, leading to his spectacular murder of Peter Fong. "Voices" has Mark, a schizophrenic boy whose voices have become so bad, and who is so prone to auditory hallucinations, that he can no longer tell which voices are in his head, and which belong to the people around him.
* TheHeart: The role of the psychiatrist and the nurse on the team, acting as the compassionate counterparts to the more cynical and punishment prone cops.

* KnifeNut: Dominic Lazlo, a schizophrenic man who boards a schoolbus armed with a kitchen knife, stabs the busdriver to death, and then cuts the throat of a boy hostage during his death throes. Michael from "The Fallen" and Mandar Kush from "No Traveller Returns" are also fond of knives, and Eliot uses one on Daniella during "The Light in Black".

* TheMentallyDisturbed: Goes without saying given the premise of the show. So far we've seen schizophrenics, bipolars, a variety of paranoids, Tourettes' syndrome, an obsessive woman with histrionic features, PTSD, post partum psychosis, and one bona fide psychopath.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The reaction of Ken Hobart after coming down from his bath salt high. Mandar Kush has a similar reaction upon regaining his sanity, and believes he should have died in the place of his victim.

* {{Narcissist}}: "Joy" the cult leader from "What We Can't See," who maintains absolute control over his deluded followers as a way of nursing his own ego. After the events of "Inquest", Daniella comes to see Sean as one.

* NoSocialSkills: "The Tennants" features a girl with a bad case of Asperger's Syndrome, whose ability to interact with others is virtually nonexistent. Several schizophrenics featured on the show are in a similar boat, while Trey from "Spirited Away" is a milder example--he has social skills, but his Tourettes means that his best efforts often fail despite that.
* NonActionGuy: Subverted by Leo. As a psychiatric nurse he has no reason to be a badass. This doesn't stop him from clobbering a gun and knife wielding hitman in "The Price".

* OutlawCouple: "Swans" has former teen delinquent Nolan and mental patient Emily whom he breaks out of the psyche ward so they can get married. It's a far less romantic version than most though--the attraction clearly isn't healthy, Nolan spirals out of control quickly, and in the end Emily is brought to the conclusion that they belong in prison.

* RealSongThemeTune: Wintersleep's "Weighty Ghost."

* SerialKiller: The perpetrator from "How The Light Gets In" was well on his way. A schizophrenic who believed that he could save his mother's life by ramming light bulbs into the chests of his victims, draining their energy, and then injecting said energy into his mother, he had killed one boy, failed to break into a second house, and was in the midst of trying to claim a third victim when Aiden stopped him.
* SerialRapist: Featured in "Night Terrors"
* ScaryBlackMan: Subverted by Leo, who while a huge, bald, tattooed black man, is easily the most pleasant person on the show. Played straight by [[spoiler:Idaris John]], a trainer of child soldiers from the DRC.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Aiden. This show being what it is, it's carefully examined by other characters who note that he doesn't have all the symptoms of PTSD.

* SmugSnake: Sean [=McCray=], narcissistic dick extraordinaire. There's also Mackenzie and Ian from "The Valley", and [[spoiler:Idaris John]] from "Faces" who comes off as one when he lets his guard down.

* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Aiden and Daniella engage in this a lot, particularly in "How The Light Gets In". Aiden and Clara also do it on occasion.
* TheSociopath: Eliot, the villain of the season one finale is a diagnosed psychopath with a string of murders behind him. While easily the worst of the show's villains (thus far), he's still treated as an actual person.

* TeenPregnancy: "Spirited Away" involves a teenaged mother suffering from post-partum pscyhosis. Daniella is revealed to have given up her own child at sixteen.
* TeensAreMonsters: "Cherry Blossoms" has a teenage girl DrivenToSuicide by bullying from the AlphaBitch, who is characterised as a sociopath with a penchant for underage drinking. Said AlphaBitch is subsequently the victim of a practical joke turned lethal from the suicide victim's friends. There's also teen mother Isabel from "Spirited Away" who is simply insane, though she's counterbalanced by the presence of the young man with Tourettes' syndrome who looked after her child when he found it. "The Valley" features Ian St. Clair and Mackenzie, a pair of rich teenage boys who convince homeless men to fight each other, then film it and put it up on a pay website; they consider the homeless beneath themselves, and have no issues exploiting them for profit. "Faces" has sixteen year old Julia Grieveson, who murdered her former psychiatrist under orders from Congolese warcriminal [[spoiler:Idaris John]], who also got her addicted to drugs and forced her to kill small animals.

* {{Tomboy}}: Poppy Wisnefski.

* WouldHurtAChild: Isabel from "Spirited Away" is out to kill her infant daughter. In the backstory, Aiden had a bad run in with a disturbed man named Dominic Lazlo who took a school bus hostage, threatening the lives of all the children aboard, and leading to the death of one boy.
* YourCheatingHeart: Sean cheated on his wife with Daniella, which should have been a tip off to her that he was a bastard. In "The Light in Black", suspect Esme cheats on her husband, Oscar, with his boss whenver she gets home from a trip. Annalise from "Rocket Man" cheated on her boyfriend (and later husband) with rockstar Billy, and then on Billy with his parter Max. Somehow we're supposed to find both she and Esme sympathetic. In "Hideaway" we find out that Leo slept with his friend's girlfriend shortly after highschool and before her marriage. Given that her boyfriend (now husband) is a ControlFreak and general {{jerkass}} it's a lot easier to swallow.

NeedsWikiMagicLove.

* CloserToEarth: Downplayed. Leo Beckett is probably the most rational member of the cast. However, none of the others are idiots, and the fact that DaChief is also black helps to downplay any UnfortunateImplications.

* BeardOfEvil: Eliot from "The Light in Black" has a classic one.

* BlondesAreEvil: Played straight by Erin from "White Knight", an insane stalker, histrionic personality, and GreenEyedMonster. Played with in the case of Esme from "The Light in Black" who was cheating on her husband, but is still visibly horrified by his murder. Averted in the cases of Daniella Ridley and Clara Malone, who are both fundamentally good people with the best intention's of their patients at heart.

* NoSocialSkills: "The Tennants" features a girl with a bad case of Asperger's Syndrome, whose ability to interact with others is virtually nonexistent.

* LonersAreFreaks: The way the rest of the tennants in, well, "The Tennants", treat their autistic neighbour.

** Villainous example: the two shooters in "The Tennants" & "Voices" are detestable pricks who spend most of their time killing people who can't shoot back. But when the SWAT team interrupts their spree, they manage to take out the entire team.

* AxeCrazy: Despite what you might expect, the number of violently insane people on this show is relatively low. That said, Ken Hobart from "White Knight" is a definite case while under the influence of bath salts (regressing to a non-verbal, animalistic state), as is Isabel from "Spirited Away" when during the throes of postpartum psychosis--she storms into her parents' house, brandishing a carpet knife, and planning to cut up her daughter. Mandar Kush, paranoid a schizophrenic and cannibal who believed he was being haunted by demons might be the standout, though we only see him like this in flashback.

* BaldOfEvil: Michael from "The Fallen", Ken Hobart from "White Knight", and Mandar Kush from "No Traveller Returns" all have this look, but in a subversion are all deeply sorry after regaining their sanity, and in Michael's case, never hurt anybody in the first place.

* FiveTokenBand: Justified, as the cast work for the police department in Canada's largest and most comopolitan city. Aiden's white, Daniella and later Clara are the white female, Leo's a black man, Inspector Caligra a black woman, and Poppy's actress is of mixed white, Asian, Mediterannean, Indian, and Hispanic descent.

* WhiteMaleLead: Aiden Black, the lead character, and only white man in a cast that otherwise includes two white women, one black woman, and a black man.

* HearingVoices: Very common. The schizophrenic perpetrator from "How The Light Gets In" heard the voice of a doctor telling him that he could save his mother by stealing the energy from other people. Michael, a bipolar psychotic from "The Fallen" hears voices and sees things that convince him TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt has arrived, and that he must gather an arsenal to battle {{Satan}} with. Mandar Kush, the paranoid schizophrenic, from "No Traveller Returns" heard voices that told him demons were coming for he and his son Arun, and that he had to fend them off, leading to his spectacular murder of Peter Fong.

* YourCheatingHeart: Sean cheated on his wife with Daniella, which should have been a tip off to her that he was a bastard. In "The Light in Black", suspect Esme cheats on her husband, Oscar, with his boss whenver she gets home from a trip. Annalise from "Rocket Man" cheated on her boyfriend (and later husband) with rockstar Billy, and then on Billy with his parter Max. Somehow we're supposed to find both she and Esme sympathetic.

* BatterUp: Blessing from "What We Can't See" takes a baseball bat to the other children who were harassing her, leaving five kids with seventeen broken bones, and giving one boy a concussion. Ed Janofski of "The Hold Out" assaults developer Damien Trombley with one when he believes Trombley is responsible for killing his dog.

* BatterUp: Blessing from "What We Can't See" takes a baseball bat to the other children who were harassing her, leaving five kids with seventeen broken bones, and giving one boy a concussion. Ed Ginowski of "The Hold Out" assaults developer Damien Trombley with one when he believes Trombley is responsible for killing his dog.

* CorruptionOfAMinor: [[spoiler:Idaris John]]/Melungo the Wizard from "Face", who abducted and trained child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, forcing them to kill other children, and getting them addicted to drugs and alcohol as part of the process. After coming to Toronto he continues the process with a girl named Julia Grieveson, hooking her on marijuana, cocaine, crack, and meth, forcing her to kill small animals, and finally convincing her to commit a murder.

* BatterUp: Blessing from "What We Can't See" takes a baseball bat to the other children who were harassing her, leaving five kids with seventeen broken bones, and giving one boy a concussion.

* BatterUp: Blessing from "What We Can't See" takes a baseball bat to the other children who were harassing her.

* DrugsAreBad: Bath salts certainly are, as evidenced by Ken Hobart's psychotic break after he takes some in "White Knight." He ends up running around half naked, assaulting and biting a teenager, and then bashing a man's skull in with a pipe.

* {{Badass}}: Aiden Black, in typical cop show fashion.
* BadassBaritone: Leo has the lowest voice of any cast member, as he proves in "The Price" can be quite the badass.

* ChildSoldiers: In "Faces" we meet Ben, a grown-up child soldier from the Democratic Republic of the Congo turned attempted murderer, who works over his former commanding officer with a knife. Given what said officer forced him to do, he's pretty justified.

* ScaryBlackMan: Subverted by Leo, who while a huge, bald, tattooed black man, is easily the most pleasant person on the show.

** "Faces" introduces us to Ben, a shellshocked former child soldier who joins Aiden's support group.

* SmugSnake: Sean [=McCray=].

* TeensAreMonsters: "Cherry Blossoms" has a teenage girl DrivenToSuicide by bullying from the AlphaBitch, who is characterised as a sociopath with a penchant for underage drinking. Said AlphaBitch is subsequently the victim of a practical joke turned lethal from the suicide victim's friends. There's also teen mother Isabel from "Spirited Away" who is simply insane, though she's counterbalanced by the presence of the young man with Tourettes' syndrome who looked after her child when he found it. "The Valley" features Ian St. Clair and Mackenzie, a pair of rich teenage boys who convince homeless men to fight each other, then film it and put it up on a pay website; they consider the homeless beneath themselves, and have no issues exploiting them for profit.

* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Aiden and Daniella engage in this a lot, particularly in "How The Light Gets In".

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The show's message that the mentally disturbed are suffering from an illness and should be treated could not be much more obvious, with episodes like "No Traveller Returns" serving to really drive the message home. Given how the mentally ill are often treated and the general public reaction to them, even in modern societies like Canada and the United States, it's a point that's worth making, as often as possible.