History Series / Earth2

* SurvivalistStash: While they more frequently salvage their own supplies from the scattered drop pods dropped by the Eden Advance ship as it broke apart, the colonists survive the winter because the Terrians - via Uly - direct them to the abandoned station and greenhouse built by an earlier group of human colonists who had secretly traveled to G889. They all died, except for [[spoiler: Mary]].

* AwesomeMcCoolName: A few. Broderick O'Neill, Ulysses Adair...

* [[IllGirl Ill Boy]]: Uly, afflicted with the mysterious Syndrome, theorized to be a result of the absence of a natural environment on the space stations.

* StockEpisodeTitles: "Redemption".

* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: While G889/Earth 2 shows plenty of soft SF tropes (an environment with elements of the Gaia hypothesis, Terrian psychic abilities, etc.), the science and technology on the side of the colonists skews much more towards hard SF. The space habitats humanity inhabits after its exodus from Earth produce artificial gravity by spinning, spacecraft are purely utilitarian and built with vacuum flight in mind, interstellar flights take decades (with starship crews [[HumanPopsicle in hibernation]] during the crossing) and the [[OlderThanTheyLook relativistic effects of such flights]] are noted (particularly in Alonso's case, who's a flight veteran). There are escape pods that are shaped a lot like space capsules for atmospheric reentry, supplies include special canisters for accelerated artificial gestation of animal embryos, the equipment and vehicles of the crew are a very utilitarian mix of low-tech and hi-tech solutions, etc.

This show was notable for several things: A heavy message about environmental responsibility, mostly outdoor shooting in lesser-seen landscapes, plenty of practical effects, its female protagonist (played by Debrah Farentino) and overall strong female cast, and [[PlayingAgainstType casting Clancy Brown as one of the good guys]].

No relation to the 1971 made-for-TV movie ''Film/EarthII'' or the comic book of [[ComicBook/{{Earth 2}} the same name]].

* EasyLogistics: The show ''averts'' this on a regular basis. In [[http://www.planetg889.com/albums/articles/Starlog_1_1995.pdf a period interview]] for an issue of Starlog, Clancy Brown made a nod towards this trope, remarking that "We can't beam out of anyplace. That's what I like about it. We're not dealing with super-intelligent beings who can steal our souls. We're dealing with starvation, disease, frostbite and stuff like that.". The team simply has to work with what it has or what it finds, being cut off from civilisation in a mostly unexplored alien wilderness.

* CheerfulChild: Uly, especially after he gets cured of the Syndrome. True is slightly more bratty, but has a similar demeanour. When the two kids bury the hatchet in later episodes, they even [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments go sleding together]] during the planet's snowy winter.

* NoPartyLikeADonnerParty: Played with in the episode "Survival of the Fittest". A recon team gets its buggy damaged, is already out of supplies and has an injured member (Morgan). Then the recon team stumbles upon an underground Grendler hovel with cache. Though the team members are eventually found and helped back to the base camp, they're unwilling to discuss certain details, and [[RashomonStyle their testimonies vary a bit]]. Then Danziger finally confesses he shot the Grendler inhabitant, not in self-defence, but in temptation to get the team some proteen. The team didn't eat one of its members (as they all made it back), but survived by eating some prepared Grendler flesh. So it's cannibalism ''on aliens''. True is then [[http://cdn.static.ovimg.com/episode/178085.jpg kidnapped]] by a Grendler who turns out to be the murdered Grendler's spouse. A teary-eyed Danziger begs the male Grendler to forgive him his crime (given the circumstances the team was in) and to spare True, his only child. Though neither species understand each other's speech, the Grendler [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments realises what is being said and forgives Danziger]].

** Uly's and True's VR simulation fantasy seen in one episode has them roleplaying in a SpaghettiWestern style town, with True as the local damsel in distress and Uly as a suspiciously [[Film/DollarsTrilogy Man With No Name]]-like gunfighter character, standing up to two outlaws (one of them implied to be [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Jesse James]]). Being kids, [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments True and Uly ham up their two archetypes]], True then [[{{Tomboy}} gets bored of her role]] and changes her virtual costume into [[ActionGirl a gunslinger outfit]].

* CaliforniaDoubling: In this case, the planet's various regions were shot in different parts of New Mexico, rather than California. An intentional aversion of the usual choice, since the locations were less visually known to viewers and the unique mix of local geology and flora gave the alien planet setting some added verisimilitude.

* StarfishAliens: While ''Earth 2'''s native aliens aren't completely out there at first glance, the devil is in the actual details. AliensSpeakingEnglish is completely averted throughout the series, and the nature of the species' biology and psychology has many unique, sometimes completely inhuman features.

* ClosestThingWeGot: Plenty of this trope throughout the show. Dr. Vasquez was originally the chief medical staff member, but the less experienced Dr. Heller replaced Vasquez shortly before the expedition was forced to set off from the base orbiting Earth. The landing on G889 doesn't go according to plan. [[spoiler:(An early episode reveals this was deliberate sabotage by an unwitting pawn of the government)]] While many members of the advance team survive the emergency landings in escape pods, most of the useful cargo burns up on entry, lands in completely different locations (often getting damaged), or gets stolen by Grendlers after landing. The advance team are forced to scrounge together whatever tech, resources and supplies they can find from the escape pods and cargo containers found in the wider region they've landed in, almost a whole continent away from the coast of New pacifica, where they were originally headed. Though they sometimes rediscover useful stuff along the way, they have to settle for fairly basic hi-tech equipment for most of the series.

* RightBehindMe: In the pilot episode, Devon complains about Julia's inexperience asshe walks up behind her.

* CheerfulChild: Uly, especially after he gets cured of the Syndrome. True is slightly more bratty, but has a similar demeanour. When the two kids bury the hatchet in later episodes, they even [[HeartwarmingMoments go sleding together]] during the planet's snowy winter.

* NoPartyLikeADonnerParty: Played with in the episode "Survival of the Fittest". A recon team gets its buggy damaged, is already out of supplies and has an injured member (Morgan). Then the recon team stumbles upon an underground Grendler hovel with cache. Though the team members are eventually found and helped back to the base camp, they're unwilling to discuss certain details, and [[RashomonStyle their testimonies vary a bit]]. Then Danziger finally confesses he shot the Grendler inhabitant, not in self-defence, but in temptation to get the team some proteen. The team didn't eat one of its members (as they all made it back), but survived by eating some prepared Grendler flesh. So it's cannibalism ''on aliens''. True is then [[http://cdn.static.ovimg.com/episode/178085.jpg kidnapped]] by a Grendler who turns out to be the murdered Grendler's spouse. A teary-eyed Danziger begs the male Grendler to forgive him his crime (given the circumstances the team was in) and to spare True, his only child. Though neither species understand each other's speech, the Grendler [[HeartwarmingMoments realises what is being said and forgives Danziger]].

** Uly's and True's VR simulation fantasy seen in one episode has them roleplaying in a SpaghettiWestern style town, with True as the local damsel in distress and Uly as a suspiciously [[Film/DollarsTrilogy Man With No Name]]-like gunfighter character, standing up to two outlaws (one of them implied to be [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Jesse James]]). Being kids, [[FunnyMoments True and Uly ham up their two archetypes]], True then [[{{Tomboy}} gets bored of her role]] and changes her virtual costume into [[ActionGirl a gunslinger outfit]].

* PapaWolf: John Danziger. He's a mild-mannered person, but avoid angering him if you don't want to feel his {{tranquil fury}}. Gaal learns it the hard way when he attempts to abuse True's naivete to bring discord and sabotage to the team.

* ShownTheirWork: Much of the technology used by the humans is plausible and practical in a surprisingly non-dated way. The starship drives and geolocks are the most far-fetched tech in the series, and even then, the starships are all firmly STL.

** Some of the episode titles are references to various other media. E.g. "[[Film/TheManWhoFellToEarth The Man Who Fell to Earth (Two)]]", "[[Film/NaturalBornKillers Natural Born Grendlers]]", "[[Film/GorillasInTheMist Grendlers in the]] [[VideoGame/{{Myst}} Myst]]", "[[Theatre/TheTempest Brave New Pacifica]]".

* {{Cliffhanger}}: The season finale ends with [[spoiler: Adair critically ill from an unknown ailment and placed into suspended animation.]] Also, the same episode revealed that [[spoiler: Reilly is in fact an Artificial Intelligence, and he had just had unspecified safeguards unlocked in his coding.]]

** The humanoid, but dwarfish and even more non-human [[http://retrophaseshift.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Grendler.png Grendlers]] are another example. Their [[http://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/profilesinhistory/00/413000/H3257-L40395037.jpg heads]] vaguely resemble that of a baby rhino, their tribes are obsessed with curiously scavenging and trading with just about anything (somehting that causes the advance team plenty of headaches as well as fortunate moments) and for some reason, they can get addicted to ''human blood'' (due to parts of its chemical composition). Unlike Terrians, they wear simple and concealing, if slightly ragged clothes. Most of their vocalisations sound like deep-voiced grunts or camel bleats. Despite seeming ugly and sinister at first glance, they're peaceful, goofy and even rather helpful in most of their encounters with the team. Gaal tried to enslave a few of them as his would-be henchmen, but thankfully wasn't much successful. One of the episodes focuses on showing that Grendlers have complex intelligence and thought, and can feel anger and grief on the same level as any human.

* GaiasLament: Based on everything we are told, the surface of Earth is horribly polluted, and plantlife is in such a state that ''burning wood is illegal''.