History Series / Godless

* AllWomenAreLustful: Implied to be some of the womens' reason for wanting men back in La Belle again.

* BawdySong: Two of the ladies sing "Don't Forget the Girls of La Belle" in the town saloon, a raucous listing of the attributes of women from different locales, but always reminding you not to forget the titular girls from La Belle. A much slower, somber version of the song [[SolemnEndingTheme plays over the end credits of the episode]].

* TheCameo: UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter Donald "the Cowboy" Cerrone has a cameo as a member of Frank Miller's gang. His biggest moment is looking into the windows of La Belle and shaking his head back at Frank. The casting of fellow UFC veteran Keith Jardine as KnifeNut Dyer Howe was probably a factor in his appearance.

** [[spoiler:The residents of Blackdom are revealed to be veteran soldiers who chased Miller's gang out of their area back in the war. When Miller's gang comes to their town, however, they massacre the inhabitants with negligible losses]].
** When Roy Good confronts the five fleeing security men, he shoots the leader in the leg, causing the other four to immediately back down.

--> '''Griffin:''' ''(to a stranger hiding)'' What's your name?

* FatalFlaw: [[spoiler:Whitey's fondness of showing off and pride in how fast a draw he is ends up costing him his life at the climax as he boldly walks out to confront Griffin's gang who have no interest in a draw contest and just immediately puts a knife to his heart before any words are even spoken.]]

** When they are repairing one of the fence posts on her ranch, Roy and Alice discuss the old wive's tale about gold being buried beneath such posts. The stories go that ranchers would bury it there to hide it from bandits and the government. In the season finale, [[spoiler:Roy tells Alice that there is one last fence post which needs fixing, and when she goes to set it straight she finds the money that Roy left for her]].

* {{Homage}}: The first season ends with a replication of the ending to the classic western ''Film/{{Shane}}'' as Roy (Shane, a gunfighter) rides off from the now-quiet town to leave them to their own lives. While the film left it a question of what happened to Shane after he rode off, the series follows Roy so we see where he winds up.

** Roy Goode is enough of a crack shot to -- literally -- shoot the head off a snake, which he demonstrates in the first episode when a sidewinder moves to attack an infant. This is partially what gives away his identity, as A.T. Grigg (Who already suspected who he was) uses this as confirmation that "Ward" is the [[FamedInStory famed outlaw]].

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:A.T. Grigg, who engineered the final shootout between Miller's gang and La Belle is shot, but escapes with his life, which is more than can be said about many characters]].

* LikeBrotherAndSister: Maggie is very fond of Whitey, even bringing him meals on occasion, and it is implied that he let her outdraw him in order to salve her pride. Maggie seems to be closer to Whitey than to her ''actual'' brother, and at the end of the season, [[spoiler:Sheriff [=McNue=] asks her to speak at his funeral because she knew him best]].

* LoveBeforeFirstSight: Martha's husband hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to track her down after she ran off. When the dispatched detective finally catches up with her, he confesses that he doesn't care at all what her husband wants, since ''he'' has fallen in love with her after carrying her picture around for so long.
* MagicalNativeAmerican: [[ExaggeratedTrope Exaggerated]] almost to the point of parody. Sheriff [=McNue=] keeps encountering one Shoshone man who claims he is just out hunting, but he makes all sorts of cryptic references about [=McNue=]'s life and follows him no matter where he travels. Eventually [=McNue=] begins to wonder if he is hallucinating the entire thing, only to be relieved when Roy says that he, too, can see the Shoshone man...until Roy explains that he was with him a few months back and the Shoshone man ''died''. The sequence ends with [=McNue=] wondering if he's been seeing a ghost all along, or if Roy is just messing with him.
* MinorInjuryOverreaction: Sheriff [=McNue's=] failing eyesight is a tragic example. He can no longer do his job and believes he'll be completely blind within a year - but then a stranger sells him a pair of second-hand glasses that effectively restore his vision. Being cheap and flimsy, they don't survive the series, but he at least knows to seek out a pair of his own in the future.

* OddFriendship: Alice Fletcher isn't actually friends with anybody in the town, but she is at least the most civil with Callie Dunne, the current schoolmarm and former sex worker. It seems that Connie reaches out to her because she understands what it's like to be ostracized.

** Sherriff [=McNue=] and Roy Good stand in the center of the street, shooting at Griffin's gang at point-blank range and suffer not a scratch from any return fire.

* PreMortemOneLiner: In the season finale, [[spoiler: when Frank again says that [[ForeseeingMyDeath he has seen his death and this is not how it happens]], Roy walks up to him and says that he saw wrong before [[CoupDeGrace shooting him dead]].]]

** The season finale had [[spoiler:Roy Goode and Frank Griffin settle their differences in a one-on-one duel. Roy killed Frank, but Frank got a shot off in return and wounded Roy in the stomach]].

* RedHerring: The center episodes of the season set up the Quicksilver mining company as the predominant enemy for La Belle itself, with Logan's goons intimidating nearby people into staying out of their way and setting up to take control of the town. He as much as admits that Quicksilver is going to shuttle in men who will take advantage of the women of La Belle. [[spoiler:When it is revealed that Frank Griffin is on his way to the town, Logan's crew head out of town. Their biggest impact on the finale is that they stole the horses that La Belle could have used to escape themselves.]]

* {{Schoolmarm}}: Connie is the current schoolteacher, but she used to be one of the town whores working the brothel. After the mine accident the brothel closed down, and she fell into teaching instead.

* SecretlyWealthy: It's not really a ''secret'', but neither is it very well known that Connie Dunne is actually the richest person in La Belle. She works as the local {{schoolmarm}}, but she has $20,000 saved from her time working as a prostitute and is single-handedly funding the town's expenses.

* ThatManIsDead: Whitey says there is no way "Ward" is the same man on Roy Goode's wanted poster, because Ward stopped Whitey from doing something hurtful and Goode was "one to do the hurting." [[spoiler: Roy had apparently been thinking the same thing, as the end of the season reveals that he had literally buried his pistol and gunbelt, along with his loot from the Griffin gang, in his father's grave]].

* WealthyPhilanthropist: In a role reversal, Connie Dunne -- the former prostitute -- offers to take town-running Maggie [=McNue=] away from the hard life in La Belle. After her successful time in the town brothel before it closed down, Connie is now the richest person left in La Belle, and she would like Maggie to leave town with her and put their tragedies behind them.

** Marshall Cook is hot in the trail of Frank Miller's gang, but Miller gets the drop on him and he's killed in the first episode, leaving the rest of the characters to contend with the gang themselves.

** The only people that Frank Griffin deliberately does not want to antagonize are the residents at Blackdom, many of whom were Buffalo Soldiers who ran his gang all over -- and ''out of'' -- the territory. He views them as a larger threat than any of the lawmen he encounters throughout the season, and he visits them personally in the hopes of persuading them to stand aside when he attacks La Belle.

* NotWhatItLooksLike: Mary Agnes at one point sees her lesbian lover Callie Dunne come out from Martha's house while fixing her clothes, making Mary think she's cheating, leading to a big fight between them. [[spoiler:Eventually Mary learns, upon visiting Martha, that Callie was actually there to let herself be painted nude for a picture that was to be a gift to Mary.]]
* OddFriendship: Alice Fletcher isn't actually friends with anybody in the town, but she is at least the most civil with Connie Dunne, the current schoolmarm and former prostitute. It seems that Connie reaches out to her because she understands what it's like to be ostracized.

* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: [[Poor, poor Whitey in the climax...]]

* FatalFlaw: [[spoiler:Whitey's fondness of showing off and pride in how fast a draw he is ends up costing him his life at the climax as he boldly walks out to confront Griffin's gang who have no interested in a draw contest and just immediately puts a knife to his heart before any words are even spoken.]]

* {{Mook}}: Miller's gang has about nine famous members, with the rest being unnamed and expendable mooks.

* PreMortemOneLiner: In the season finale, [[spoiler: when Frank again says that [[ForeseeingMyDeath he has seen his death and this is not how it happens]], Roy walks up to him and says that he saw wrong before [[CoupDeGrace blowing his brains out]].]]

* AFatherToHisMen: Frank Miller commands the respect of his 30 outlaws even after having his arm cut off. He's a literal father to some of them, having adopted a number of boys and young men as their surrogate father.

* AllWomenAreLustful: A large portion of the women of La Belle don't care about the mine ''per se'', they just want it to be reopened so that there will be '''men''' in the town again. A few of them are downright salivating at the thought.

* ChekhovsSkill: Sherriff [=McNue=] is established to be a crack shot in dialogue and in Alice's flashback, but his vision is too poor for gunfighting these days. In the climax, [[spoiler:Griffin's men are backlit by the sun, so he can clearly see their shadows, allowing him to put his rifle marksmanship to use once again]].

* CoupDeGrace: In the season finale, [[spoiler:Roy wins [[QuickDraw the final duel with Frank]], but Frank's wound is not immediately lethal. As Frank repeats his oft-mentioned line about [[ForeseeingMyDeath having seen his own death and knowing that this is not how it happens]], Roy walks up to him, [[PreMortemOneLiner tells him that he saw wrong]], and blows his brains out]].

** Whitey Winn, the town deputy, claims to be the fastest draw in town and spends much of his idle time twirling his guns. When two drunken cowboys ride into town and begin shooting off their pistols, Whitey shows that he ''is'' fast by first wounding one in the shoulder, and then wounding the same man ''again''. [[spoiler:His natural speed doesn't compensate for his youth or naiveté, and is killed with a thrown knife to to the chest before he even realized he had to draw]].

* ForeseeingMyDeath: Frank is constantly claiming to have foreseen his own death and is fearless in situations that appear to be his end. He will calmly tell people "I have seen my end, and this ain't it." [[spoiler:When he tries it one last time after having been shot by Roy, [[SubvertedTrope Roy tells him that he saw wrong and blows his brains out]].]]

* WorldOfActionGirls: La Belle is an enforced version of this. With no men to take up the job and living on the edge of the frontier, the already capable frontierswomen have become even more formidable.

''Godless'' is a [=2017=] Creator/{{Netflix}} Western limited series. It stars Creator/JeffDaniels, [[Series/DowntonAbbey Michelle Dockery]] and Creator/JackOConnell.

* ChekhovsGun:
** When they are repairing one of the fence posts on her ranch, Roy and Alice discuss the old wive's tale about gold being buried beneath such posts. The stories go that ranchers would bury it there to hide it from bandits and the government. In the season finale, [[spoiler:Roy tells Alice that there is one last fence post which needs fixing, and when she goes to set it straight she finds the money that Roy left for her]].
** In the second episodes, Charlotte Temple makes a point that the town hotel is made out of "brick and iron". In the final battle, the hotel is the refuge for the citizens of La Belle because its brick and iron construction make it impervious to being burned down.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: Roy Goode is enough of a crack shot to -- literally -- shoot the head off a snake, which he demonstrates in the first episode when a sidewinder moves to attack an infant. This is partially what gives away his identity, as A.T. Grigg (Who already suspected who he was) uses this as confirmation that "Ward" is the [[FamedInStory famed outlaw]].

* RedHerring: The center episodes of the season set up the Quicksilver mining company as the predominant enemy for La Belle itself, with Logan's goons intimidating nearby people into staying out of their way and setting up to take control of the town. He as much as admits that Quicksilver is going to shuttle in men who will take advantage of the women of La Belle. [[spoiler:When it is revealed that Frank Griffin is on his way to the town, Logan's crew [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere head out of town]]. Their biggest impact on the finale is that they stole the horses that La Belle could have used to escape themselves.]]

* TooDumbToLive: A.T. Grigg goes ''back'' to La Belle when he knows the Griffin gang is on the way so that he can get the story for his newspaper. [[spoiler:Though he is shot several times, [[SubvertedTrope he is actually one of the survivors of the battle]].]]

* {{Expy}}: McNue is played by Scoot McNairy, has a degnerative condition and resides in a female-dominated corner of a male-dominated setting. As pointed out by Alan Sepinwall, he's basically [[Series/HaltAndCatchFire Gordon Clark]] with a six-shooter.

* MealTicket: In a role reversal, Connie Dunne -- the former prostitute -- offers to take town-running Maggie [=McNue=] away from the hard life in La Belle. After her successful time in the town brothel before it closed down, Connie is now the richest person left in La Belle, and she would like Maggie to leave town with her and put their tragedies behind them.

* SuperPersistentPredator: In the first episode a sidewinder (rattlesnake) moves into Alice Fletcher's cabin to attack an infant inside.
Sidewinders only attack humans when they feel threatened, and do not seek them out as prey even when they are babies.

* WorthyOpponent: When Sheriff [=McNue=] manages to track down Frank Griffin and his gang, Frank compliments him on his "ginger" for not only catching up to them, but having the courage to do so all by himself. Frank holds him at gunpoint before letting him go ''and wishing him good luck''.

* RedHerring: The center episodes of the season set up the Quicksilver mining company as the predominant enemy for La Belle, with Logan's goons intimidating nearby people into staying out of their way and setting up to take control of the town. He as much as admits that Quicksilver is going to shuttle in men who will take advantage of the women of La Belle. [[spoiler:When it is revealed that Frank Griffin is on his way to the town, Logan's crew [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere head out of town]]. Their biggest impact on the finale is that they stole the horses that La Belle could have used to escape themselves.]]

* ThatManIsDead: Whitey says there is no way "Ward" is the same man on Roy Goode's wanted poster because that man was "one to do the hurtin."

* ChekhovsGun: In the second episodes, Charlotte Temple makes a point that the town hotel is made out of "brick and iron". In the final battle, the hotel is the refuge for the citizens of La Belle because its brick and iron construction make it impervious to being burned down.

* EnemyMine: There is no love lost between La Belle and the nearby town of Blackdom. In addition to all the racial issues of the time, the La Belle mine also poisoned the water and growing land in Blackdom so they couldn't even feed themselves. When they learn that Frank Griffin and his gang are coming, however, La Belle sends Whitey over to try and talk them into a common defense. [[spoiler:Expecting something like this, Frank visits Blackdom the night before his attack in order to persuade them not to help, and winds up massacring the entire town]].

* OddFriendship: Alice Fletcher isn't friends with anybody in the town, but she has the most civil relationship with Connie Dunne, the current schoolmarm and former prostitute. It seems that Connie reaches out to her because she understands what it's like to be ostracized.

* WorldOfActionGirls: La Belle is an enforced version of this. With no men to take up the job and living on the edge of the frontier, the already capable frontierswomen have become even more formidable.

* HiddenDepths: Boastful, gun obsessed Whitey sneaks off to get violin lessons from Louise, whom he's obviously sweet on.

* ResignationsNotAccepted: The plot kicks off when Roy gets fed up with Frank and runs away from their outlaw band, and they start hunting him down leading him to take refuge in La Belle.