History Series / DayBreak

* ''Series/DayBreak2019'', an American post-apocalyptic dramedy series.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/day_break_poster_1279.jpg]]

->''"We may race and we may run"''\\
''"We'll not undo what has been done"''\\
''"Or change the moment when it's gone"''
-->-- '''David Gray''''s ''The Other Side'', played near the end of the first episode

Today Detective Brett Hopper will be accused of shooting state attorney Alberto Garza. He will offer his rock solid alibi. [[FrameUp He will realize he's been framed]]. [[ClearMyName And he will run]]. [[GroundhogDayLoop Then he will wake up and start the day over again]].

''Day Break'' was a 2006 action thriller television series starring Taye Diggs (''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'', ''Film/TheWayOfTheGun'') as a cop framed for murder. He's on the run from the police, a local Latin gang who want to track down the key witness he's hidden away, and the shady mobsters who want him to take the fall. With each loop Hopper gets another chance to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong fix all his mistakes]] and try to escape the day.

What sets this apart from other time loops is the fact that injuries sustained carry over in the loop, so dying is not an option. Also, he can inspire individuals to fix their own problems by leading them towards their own personal epiphanies, which keeps him from having to fix everyone's problems everyday. This can cause problems when people don't do what he expects.

It's up to Hopper to find the true murderer, save his loved ones, get his witness to trial in one piece, and make it to tomorrow.

Not to be confused with the British breakfast television show or the Netflix series.

----
!!This series provides examples of:

* AbusiveParents: Miguel Dominguez, a notorious ProfessionalKiller working for the conspiracy, went to prison for [[SelfMadeOrphan murdering his own parents]]. It's originally believed that he's just a total psycho who targeted his sister afterwards and she's been in hiding ever since, but it eventually transpires that he was trying to protect her because their father slashed up her face while the mother watched. She's adored him ever since [[spoiler:and is his contact in Los Angeles]].
* AMFMCharacterization: A funny moment when we learn that the skinheads in their van listened to "Heat of the Moment" by Music/{{Asia}} before they went to attack Damien.
* AmoralAttorney:
** Damian's attorney Nathan Baxter sold him to the conspiracy. He tries to sell Hopper in several episodes too.
** [[spoiler:Hopper's attorney Barry Colburn]] turns out to be the mastermind behind the conspiracy.
* AnyoneCanDie: Most of the main cast die at least once. But next day they live again. Hopper's biggest fear is the loop stopping when somebody he cares about is dead. In the end [[spoiler: it's subverted, all Hopper's friends live.]]
* ArcWords: "Decisions ... consequences." These words are originally spoken by the Man in the Quarry to threaten Hopper, and recur several times throughout the series. It's unintentionally very appropriate to Hopper's predicament, since every action he takes during the [[GroundhogDayLoop time loop]] to solve the conspiracy could result in something he didn't foresee.
* BadGuyBar: Detective Choi is assaulted in a white supremacist bar.
* BaitAndSwitchAccusation: At the start of episode 5, a deputy approaches Hopper, saying he knows what's going on. Hopper looks baffled but then it turns out the deputy was talking about the I.A. meeting with Shelton.
* BavarianFireDrill: Hopper gets a little rough with Rita at a diner. She decides to leave and when Hopper tries to follow, a police man blocks his way. Hopper then successfully uses a scare tactic in order to get rid of the cop:
-->'''Hopper''': Just so you know, that girl is a witness in a homicide case. It she gets away, she's gonna be in serious danger. Now do you want that on your head?
** When Hopper is apprehended at Garza's house, he flashes his badge and pretends to be checking the security. Fortunately, uniformed cops don't know the face of the prime suspect.
* BigBad: Councilman Tobias Booth, who is leading a city-wide alliance of corrupt administrators trying to control Los Angeles behind the scenes. Booth is directly responsible for framing Hopper and setting the whole plot in motion. [[spoiler:At least until it's revealed that he actually answers to [[TheManBehindTheMan Barry Colburn]], Hopper's supposed defense attorney.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: In the last possible moment [[TeethClenchedTeamwork Hopper and Chad]] storm the motel room door and shoot Detweiler who was about to kill Billy and possibly Rita.
* BloodFromTheMouth:
** The female victim sports this while floating in the pool at Baxter's place.
** Also Chad when being shot in episode 6.
* BottleEpisode: Hostage episode 5, which takes place in Chad's office with lots of dialoguing.
* BuriedAlive: Detweiler, by his own gang at the rock quarry.
* CallingCard: Hopper mentions that the real killer might have left the gun at his place as a calling card.
* TheCavalry: The police force comes to the aid of Choi after he is captured in the BadGuyBar.
* ChekhovsGunman: Hippo. He shows up at LAPD as a random stranger at the vending machine but later turns out to be Uncle Nick's dragon and FriendOnTheForce.
* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler:Barry Colburn]] has been running a city-wide conspiracy along with other corrupt officials for decades, had Hopper framed through his front-men for Garza's murder and then [[spoiler:acted as his attorney]], and even the dismantlement of his organization just results in him choosing to cut his losses, while remaining a free man protected from any and all prosecution and never even having been a suspect.
* ClearMyName: Hopper [[FrameUp is framed]] for the murder of Alberto Garza and must figure out who's doing it and why. Bummer, when he realizes that [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle clearing his name was not fixing the loop]]. He has to do more than that.
* ConfiscatedPhone: In episode 7, Hopper hijacks the laptop of a pedestrian to read out the data from his USB Stick.
* CrazyJealousGuy: [[spoiler:Chad Shelton.]]
* CrimeTimeSoap: The series revolved as much about the personal lives of Brett and his family and colleagues as it did on the mystery.
* CutShort: Averted, actually. The show was canceled after only six episodes were aired, but the 13-episode season was already completed. Despite the {{Sequel Hook}}s, the series' one season is actually a fully completed and pretty well-contained story.
* DarkSecret: Rita's backstory of having [[spoiler:killed her dad with a flashlight for him mistreating Billy]].
* ADayInTheLimelight: Most of the supporting cast has a problem to be solved, and they get their own episode to deal with it.
* DeathIsCheap: Thoroughly averted despite the presence of a GroundhogDayLoop. Wounds that the main character suffers carry over into the next day, so Hopper can't afford to be reckless and get into gunfights where he might die because he can always try over. If he dies, that's it. He also can't just dismiss other people dying even though they do generally come back, as he has no control over the loop. When someone asks him why he doesn't just "try again the next day" when Hopper isn't certain about someone's safety, he admits that his worst fear is that someone he loves will be killed for good because the loop has stopped.
* DetectiveDrama
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Happens several times. In one iteration of the loop, Brett accidentally reveals to Rita that their first date was actually a stakeout.
* DirtyCop:
** [[spoiler:Chad Shelton]], who tried to frame Hopper for the Garza murder.
** [[spoiler:Uncle Nick and Hopper's father]], who took the hush money and dropped the Jane Doe murder case.
* DivingSave: Hopper is saving Margo from the bus this way.
* DomesticAbuse: Subverted. During earlier runs we are to believe that Hopper's brother-in-law mistreated his sister. Turns out it was the baddies.
* DoWithHimAsYouWill: At the end of the series, detective Brett Hopper discovers that the person who killed his father years earlier is actually [[spoiler:uncle Nick, his father's old partner]]. Hopper's informant Damien, a career gangster, captures him after he tried to double cross Damien and to give Hopper the satisfaction of killing him presents him with a gun. Hopper taunts the killer's protests that he had no choice by saying that there's ''always'' a choice and walks away. Damien executes the killer seconds later.
* DrawAggro: Battle does a HeroicSacrifice and draws Buchalter and Fencik away from Hopper and Rita at the motel so they could escape. Doubles as RedemptionEqualsDeath because Battle [[MustMakeAmends atones]] for the OvertRendezvous trap she took part in.
* DrivenToSuicide:
** Hopper's dad years earlier. [[spoiler:Subverted -- his old partner actually killed him because he was digging too deep into a case.]]
** [[spoiler:Played straight with Conrad Detweiler in the last episode, who places his shotgun underneath his chin upon reading about the conspirators being rounded up in the morning paper.]]
** [[spoiler:Mrs Garza either got killed or shot herself too.]]
* DungeonBypass: The foreknowledge allows Hopper to do this. He spends the day or two, or a week navigating yet another figurative maze, finding keys to people, and in the end marches straight to his goal. Can't get a murder book from an uncooperative IA investigator? Break into his car. Spent hours searching for the right photo? Next day he finds it in seconds.
* DysfunctionJunction: The lives of Hopper and everyone he knew were really damned screwed up ''before'' the conspiracy made its move.
* EmbarrassingRingtone: Chad has an embarrassing ringtone on his phone and Rita calls him out on it when they drive in his car. It's unclear if he has this ringtone for everyone or only for Hopper.
* EmergingFromTheShadows: Detweiler does this in episode 6.
* EntitledToHaveYou: Chad is still broken up about the failure of his marriage to Rita, thinks that they belong together, and that Hopper isn't worthy enough to be with her. [[spoiler:He frames Hopper for Garza's murder by tampering with the murder weapon while it's in evidence lock-up.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: When Hopper tracks down Detweiler, the latter turns out to be a caring husband who would die for his family.
* EvilAllAlong:
** [[spoiler:Uncle Nick killed Hopper's father way back when to save his own hide.]]
** [[spoiler:Chad Shelton planted the murder weapon to incriminate Hopper.]]
** [[spoiler:Barry Colburn is initially introduced as a helpful if skeptical defense attorney assigned to publicly defend Hopper, and in a later episode he helps Hopper out further with his investigation. At the end of the series it's revealed that he was actually pulling the strings of the Big Bad.]]
* FakeInTheHole: Hopper throws a rigged hand grenades at the gang of baddies who have kidnapped Choi. The distraction works long enough for TheCavalry to enter.
* FallGuy: Hopper was supposed to take this roll for the murder of Garza.
* FanService: Creator/VictoriaPratt and Moon Bloodgood are always lookin' good, and considering that Taye Diggs wakes up every morning with his shirt off... Except that one time after [[spoiler:[[FanDisservice he got shot]].]]
* FlashSideways: It's not fully explained if or how other characters besides Hopper are affected by the time loop but Rita seems to be acting differently ever after she and Hopper had a serious talk at Mexico.
* FrameUp: Several measures are taken to ensure Hopper is found guilty for Garza's murder. The murder weapon is planted in his apartment. A shirt with Garza's blood shows up at Rita's place. Garza's wife claims to have seen Hopper at the crime scene. And lastly [[spoiler:Chad Shelton]] plants finger prints on the weapon to further incriminate Hopper, although he did so for personal reasons.
* FriendOnTheForce: Battle for Hopper.
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: Subverted. Injuries Hopper sustains from one day carry over to the next, ranging from a shaving cut to bruises to [[spoiler: bullet wounds]]. Everybody else is fine though.
* GroundhogDayLoop: The whole series is built around one. In all, Hopper seems to be stuck in the loop for a month or two until he dismantles the conspiracy successfully.
* GunsAkimbo: Brett pulls this off on his 3rd loop during the hotel shootout.
* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler: After the death of Hopper's sister, he flashes back on the deaths of everyone he cares about due to his actions in the loops and starts to break down.]] He gets over it pretty fast, though.
* HeroicSacrifice: Battle in the motel shootout. [[spoiler:Hopper runs to the car, Andrea is covering him. The gunman shows up, and rather than shoot him, she calls out and allows herself to be shot.]]
* HostageSituation: Of all the places to have one, Hopper starts one in his own police station in downtown L.A. during one of the time loops. He needed a case file which happened to be checked out by an InternalAffairs agent who hates Hopper. And the agent chooses to be obstructive out of spite and couldn't be persuaded (let alone bribed, since he's I.A.). The first time Hopper tried force to get his way it immediately got him arrested, the second time he actually had to take the agent hostage in his own office, resulting in an hours-long armed stand-off with his colleagues.
* HostageVideo: The baddies leave one of these behind showing Hopper's brother-in-law bruised up and tied to a chair.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Uncle Nick drops this line when being questioned by Hopper about his past as a DirtyCop.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Every episode title begins with the question "What If...", illustrating how Hopper uses different tactics each day to get to the bottom of the conspiracy.
* IgnoreTheSexy: Hopper can't be bothered to get involved with the sexy girl who made a pass at him on the plane to San Francisco. He's a bit preoccupied with being stuck in a GroundhogDayLoop and having to clear his name after being framed for murder.
* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Hopper often reveals that he knows more than he should due to his expanding knowledge from previous loops which gets him into tricky situations.
** In episode 10, Hopper wants Battle to look into all murder cases done execution style. When Spyvak hears this he notes that this further incriminated him since Garza was killed that way and the information was not released to the public. Battle is not impressed by this detail and sticks with Hopper.
** In episode 11, Hopper tells Rita in the morning that he did not kill Garza though he should not have known about the murder at this point which makes Rita suspicious.
* InspectorJavert: Detectives Spivak and Choi, who are investigating the Garza murder and proceed to arrest Hopper for the crime the conspiracy framed him for. Choi proves to be more reasonable than his partner however, and actually helps Hopper after Hopper saved his life in one loop. Spivak hated Hopper's father and is prejudiced against the son. In addition, he seems to be involved with the conspiracy, [[spoiler:which is subverted -- Shelton planted the evidence]].
* InstitutionalApparel: Hopper sports a flashy red/orange jumpsuit in county jail and Rita likes to run around in her ruby nurse outfit all day long.
* InternalAffairs: Chad Shelton is an obstructive internal affairs agent who dislikes Hopper because Hopper's girlfriend Rita is Shelton's ex-wife, pretty much accusing Hopper of "stealing" her. He also has some leverage over Hopper's partner and proves to be at least a bit corrupt as well, having [[spoiler:previously covered up a crime committed by Rita to protect her brother, and turns out to have forged the evidence used to convict Hopper of the Garza murder for his own reasons.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Chad accuses Hopper of demonstrating this trope in hostage episode 5.
-->'''Chad''': It's just so you. Basically, the whole world, the very concept of time, revolves around Brett Hopper, 'cause you're so special. Man, and people say I got an ego.
* ItsTheJourneyThatCounts: The case at hand helps Hopper to reconnect with his estranged sister while also teach him a lesson about trust in relationships.
* ItWasHereISwear: When Hopper wants to show the police the dead body in the bath tub above his apartment. It's gone by the time they get there.
* JanitorImpersonationInfiltration: Apparently, Buchalter and Fencik obtained access to Hopper's apartment by posing as plumbers.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Wow, that [[spoiler:Chad Shelton]] isn't such a bad guy after all, right? Wrong. [[spoiler:Chad framed Hopper for murder because he was bitter about losing his ex-wife.]]
* JitterCam: Used a lot in action sequences.
* KarmaHoudini:
** [[spoiler:Barry Colburn has been leading the entire conspiracy through his front man Booth. His distance from the whole affair means that the dismantlement of the organization doesn't affect him in the slightest. Hopper figures Colburn's place in the thing out by the end but can't obtain any actionable evidence beyond suspicions, so Hopper can only warn Colburn that it's not over yet.]]
** [[spoiler:Chad Shelton]] is arrested when his role in the conspiracy is brought to light, but he subsequently escapes, possibly as part of a SequelHook.
** Another scene of WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue shows Garza's murderer and several other hitmen in the prison van with concealed pistols and ready to kill their guards.
* KilledMidSentence: Torrez. Damien shots him and his last words to Hopper are:
-->'''Torrez''': El Llorón... He's not the... ''(Torrez dies)''
* KindaBusyHere: Over and over again.
* LaserSight: Used extensively at the end of HostageSituation episode 5, where Hopper leaves the office with Chad and is pointed at by millions of red laser lights.
* MamaDidntRaiseNoCriminal: During one of the repeating days Hopper visits his mother's home to further the investigation by digging up information on his dead father. When she chastises him for not visiting her more often he explains that he's too busy at the moment since he's wanted for murder in Los Angeles, although he didn't actually do it. Her response? "Well of course -- I didn't raise a murderer!"
* TheManBehindTheMan: The thugs targeting Hopper are commanded by the ominous "Man from the Quarry". We learn his name -- Conrad Detweiler -- only several episodes later. Then he is heard taking orders from somebody else -- Tobias Booth. Who in one episode even executes him for allegedly leaking information to Hopper.[[note]]Incidentally, in the last aired episode Hopper learns Detweiler's name and address, assumes that he has found the boss who has answers and can make it all stop, but then some [[NothingIsScarier nameless and faceless]] man orders to bury Detweiler alive [[YouHaveFailedMe to make an example of him]]. And then the series was taken off air and the rest was released much later.[[/note]] [[spoiler:But Booth is actually subordinate to Barry Colburn, who is the ultimate leader of the conspiracy. Hopper eventually learns the truth, but Colburn is actually so high up in the criminal chain that all his tracks are covered and Hopper can't do anything about him, so he [[KarmaHoudini remains a free man]].]]
* MeaningfulEcho: For every decision, there is a consequence. Decisions.....consequences.....
* MexicanStandoff: At the nightclub in episode 9, when the owner and his gang is confronted by Damien and his men. Then Hopper joins the standoff as a third party.
* OffBridgeOntoVehicle: Hopper jumps from a footbridge onto a moving metro to escape his pursuers.
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Hopper's friends, family, lover, enemies, his ''entire life'' is relevant to the murder of Alberto Garza.
* OnePhoneCall: Hopper demands one at LAPD after being arrested for murder in early episodes. Usually he calls Baxter, who recommends him Colburn. In other episodes Damien Ortiz calls Hopper.
* PetTheDog: Played with. At the end of the HostageSituation, the erstwhile dickish and obstructive Chad throws Hopper (who has been taken into custody) a bone, telling him not to bother searching Chad's office in the next loop because he can find the file that Hopper needs in Chad's parked car. However, Chad probably thinks Hopper is insane, making the gesture meaningless. Either that, or he taunts him with the whole hostage mess being avoidable.
* PoliceLineup: At LAPD, Hopper's landlord Mr. Zeitoun identifies [[ThoseTwoBadGuys Buchalter and Fencik]] as the [[JanitorImpersonationInfiltration false plumbers]] using this method.
* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Both Garza and Jane Doe in the photograph sport tiny head entry wounds.
* ProfessionalKiller: Miguel Dominguez aka "El Llorón" ("The Crying Man") is the contract killer who murdered Assistant District Attorney Alberto Garza, for which Hopper is framed. [[spoiler:He's normally incarcerated, but he has an agreement with the corrupt authorities to release him occasionally so he can take out people whenever his employers want him to.]]
* PunkInTheTrunk: The footage we see of Rita trying to dispose of her dad when Buchalter pulls her over and makes her open the trunk of the car.
* RansackedRoom: Hopper's place has been searched and vandalized. Happens also to his sister's place in episode 4.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Detective Choi, especially later in the story. He is the only one at LAPD believing in Hopper's innocence. He calls Spivak out on his narrow-mindedness and helps out with Hopper's investigation.
* RedHerring:
** Detective Spivak ([[NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize played by Mitch Pileggi]]) is one of the homicide detectives assigned to the Garza case, and unlike his [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure more reasonable]] partner [[InspectorJavert seems a bit too eager to nail Hopper for the murder he's been framed for]]. When Hopper finds out that the ballistics report was falsified, he suspects that Spivak is responsible and is part of the conspiracy. This is reinforced by Spivak's involvement in the corruption investigation. [[spoiler:Not only is Spivak not responsible, it turns out to have nothing to do with the conspiracy and was merely an act of revenge by InternalAffairs agent Chad Shelton, who was still bitter over his wife Rita leaving him and becoming involved with Hopper.]]
** Jared seems to be part of the solution to the looping problem but he is not seen again after episode 7. He comes back though as the MysteriousWatcher at the very end.
* RefugeInAudacity: Trying to sneak into the backdoor of Garza's mansion, Hopper is confronted by a cop securing the crime scene. Hopper then flashes his own badge and puts the cop straight for not checking the door for forced entry. The distraction works and Hopper gets away unchallenged.
* RippleEffectProofMemory: Only Hopper retains memories of earlier days.
* SavedByThePlatformBelow: Two mooks fetch Hopper and throw him from a rooftop. Then the camera pans down to show him having safely landed on top of the building's entrance canopy.
* SaveScumming: It's a GroundhogDayLoop, so this is obvious. Also subverted, because it's not a ''true'' GHL when people actually can change from loop to loop. They may not remember what you did, but they're still pissed at you. [[spoiler:And if you do something good for them, they still feel grateful.]] Plus, injuries are carried through the "reset", but only for Hopper. Being shot in an early iteration locks him out of several more, as he keeps losing his stitches every time he loops.
** An obvious example: Hopper needs several days to convince the prison warden in San Francisco to let him see Dominguez. When he finally gets it right, it turns out Dominguez is not there.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The first thing Hopper does when he becomes aware of the temporal loop is not to fight the conspiracy that is trying to frame him but to take his loved ones and just run away from everything. It doesn't work, as he wakes up back at Rita's place when the daytime converges. He ''has'' to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong.
* SelfMadeOrphan:
** Hitman Miguel Dominguez was originally locked up for killing his own parents. It's later revealed that he did this to protect his sister from their abusive father.
** This parallels what happened to Rita and Billy. [[spoiler:She killed her dad with a flashlight before he could beat her brother to death.]]
* SequelHook: For both the A plot and B plot. Though [[spoiler:Barry Colburn]] is revealed as the BigBad behind the Garza murder, [[spoiler:the waves of arrests and suicides following Hopper's victory [[KarmaHoudini passes him right by]] without damaging any of his assets or capabilities... but between those deaths and the prestige Hopper gained from the arrests, he'll be Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department within ''weeks'', with all the assets he needs for a drawn-out war with Colburn. Also, several hitmen and Chad manage to escape. Colburn and Hopper share a few pointed words as to how ItHasOnlyJustBegun before Hopper leaves to go to the final confrontation with Uncle Nick.]] As for the time loops? The final shot of the series is [[spoiler:Jared Pryor looking at Hopper meaningfully ''despite having given him a clean miss on the final iteration of the day''.]]
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: This seems to be the reason for the loop. Illustrated early on by the bus accident.
* ShameIfSomethingHappened: Detweiler shows Hopper the footage of Rita being assassinated. Then he reminds Hopper of what could happen to his sister and her children if he didn't play along and confess to Garza's murder.
** Hopper returns this thread against Detweiler's family when he tracks down and confronts him in episode 6.
* {{Short Runner|s}}: 13 episodes, 7 didn't air.
* ShowerOfLove: Happens in the pilot between Hopper and Rita but is defied by Hopper in later loops because he [[IgnoreTheSexy can't be wasting time in the morning]].
* ShrineToTheFallen: The mother of Jane Doe kept her daughter's room the same way for all those 15 years since the murder. Plot point as it helps Hopper to find leads to who her murderer was.
* ShutUpHannibal: Hopper gets a lot of these. Though to be fair, most of the time he already knows what the bad guy is going to say.
* SoftGlass: Averted. In the pilot episode, Brett throws a guy into a glass display case. In a later scene set a few hours later, we are told that "they're still picking the glass out of his back" at the hospital.
* SuicideForOthersHappiness: Chad suggests this as a possible solution to Hopper's failure to end the loop and the misery he causes to his loved ones. [[spoiler:{{Foreshadowing}} that he's part of the conspiracy, as he truly ''does'' want Hopper dead for getting into a relationship with his ex-wife]]. Then again, Hopper's been holding him at gunpoint telling insane stuff for hours.
-->'''Chad''': I've got a solution. If everyone you care about is in trouble because of you, why don't you take yourself out of the equation?\\
'''Hopper''': What are you talking about?\\
'''Chad''': Kill yourself. Seems to me if you die, everyone else will be fine.
* TastesLikeChicken: When Jared asks Hopper to give him his arm, he suddenly bites it and starts shouting "I told you, we taste the same! We all taste just like chicken!"
* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch
* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Buchalter and Fencik.
* TimeTravelTenseTrouble: Brett often ran into this whenever he tried to explain the GroundhogDayLoop to another character.
--> '''Chad:''' When did I say this?
--> '''Brett:''' Today.
--> '''Chad:''' Wait, how many todays ago?
--> '''Brett:''' Yesterday.
* TrackingDevice: Buchalter and Fencik plant a device under Hopper's car so they won't lose track of him. When Hopper finds out, he sends them on a WildGooseChase.
* TrainEscape: Hopper fools his pursuers by stepping onto a train but somehow being able to exit the car and hide in the subway tube.
* TrustPassword: At San Francisco's prison, Hopper mentions Detweiler's CatchPhrase "Decisions.. Consequences." to gain the warden's trust.
* UnfinishedBusiness: The A plot is a murder mystery, complicated/enabled by the B plot -- the GroundhogDayLoop. It's implied by the description of [[spoiler:Jared Pyror's]] illness that humans can become "trapped" in loops due to Unfinished Business. Once [[spoiler:Jared]] was made completely aware of his confusion, his loops ended. Hopper had to face the complications of his entire screwed-up life before he could move on to the next day.
* TheUnsolvedMystery: What caused Hopper to repeat his day over and over?
* VacationEpisode: Episode 11, with Hopper and Rita at Las Vegas and Mexico. It soon gets boring for Hopper.
* VanInBlack:
** In the pilot, when Hopper is on an OvertRendezvous with his partner Battle, it turns out he was set up. Hopper realizes this when he notices a couple suspicious people and a white surveillance van parked nearby.
** Also Buchalter and Fencik are spying on Hopper from their black sedan.
* TheVillainKnowsWhereYouLive: Detweiler leaves no doubt about this when showing Hopper the footage of Rita being shot and then adding images of his sister's family.
* WakeUpFighting: Jared, when Hopper wakes him up after he blacked out on the hotel room floor.
* WakingUpElsewhere: Hopper gets knocked unconscious in county prison and wakes up BoundAndGagged at the rock quarry, where he is told to confess to Garza's murder.
* WeaponForIntimidation: Turns out Hopper's gun that he used to keep Chad hostage with was not loaded.
* WhamLine: [[spoiler: [[ThatWasNotADream I'm sorry I bit you]]]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: If Margo isn't hit by a bus, she is kidnapped, brought to a warehouse and [[spoiler:tortured to make courthouse passes to massacre judge Nitzberg and the jury]]. On the last day Hopper stopped the bus, but forgot about the warehouse. Did they kill her, keep her or let her go?
** Partially averted for Rita's brother. In Episode 12 we find we was being blackmailed, because he violated the law and it was his "third strike". [[spoiler:Every time Rita refused to testify against Brett, i.e. several times per episode, her brother got killed.]] In the last days Brett tells Rita to tell Billy to get out of town. He lives, [[spoiler:his blackmailer dies,]] but the third strike is still hanging over him.
* WhiteShirtOfDeath: [[spoiler:Although he didn't die, Hopper got shot while wearing a white shirt in his car on the way to Rita's mother. The blood is very noticeable.]]
* WildGooseChase: Hopper sends Buchalter and Fencik offtrack by disposing their TrackingDevice in a garbage truck.
* WinYourFreedom: Miguel Dominguez was let out temporarily so that he could [[spoiler:commit a murder.]]
* WorstAid: Rita using her skills to remove the bullet from Brett's chest.
* WorthyOpponent: At the end, the mastermind behind the conspiracy takes his organization's defeat in stride and seems to admire Hopper in some odd way although Hopper can't pin anything on the guy himself. He even throws Hopper a bone by revealing his father's killer despite standing nothing to gain from it.
* YouNoTakeCandle: Hopper's landlord Mr. Zeitoun demonstrates this trope perfectly when identifying Buchalter and Fencik as the plumbers at LAPD.
--> '''Mr. Zeitoun''': They're the ones who put Mr. Jarvik in tub. They did not fix leak.
* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: Hopper believes that clearing his name would end the loop. He is devastated when achieving this goal and still waking up the same morning. So after a short period of despair he investigates further. [[spoiler:Turns out he has to bring down everybody connected with the Garza murder before the curse is over.]]
----
->''"Remember, for every decision, there's a consequence."''

Not to be confused with the British breakfast television show.

* FrameUp: Several measures are taken to ensure Hopper is found guilty for Garza's murder. The murder weapon is planted in his apartment. A shirt with Garza's blood shows up at Rita's place. Garza's wife claims to have seen Hopper at the crime scene. And lastly [[spoiler:Chad Shelton]] plants finger prints on the weapon to further incriminate Hopper.

* FrameUp: Several measures are taken to ensure Hopper is found guilty for Garza's murder. The murder weapon is planted in his apartment. A shirt with Garza's blood shows up at Rita's place. Garza's wife claims to have seen Hopper at the crime seen. And lastly [[spoiler:Chad Shelton]] plants finger prints on the weapon to further incriminate Hopper.

* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Hopper's friends, family, lover, enemies, his ''entire life'' is relevant to the murder of Roberto Garza.