History Series / TheBorder

* CanadaEh: And how! Set rather blatantly in {{UsefulNotes/Toronto}}; most of the cast are Canadians as well.

* ThoseTwoGuys: Generally [[BadassBaritone Al "Moose" Lepinsky]] and [[TokenBlackFriend Darnell Williams]], who are frequently partnered on assignments.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Border_Intertitle_1435.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:The title, obviously.]]

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The building used as the fictional ICS headquarters was formerly the terminal for the short-lived fast ferry that connected Toronto with Rochester, NY. It was considered ideal thanks to the full-featured customs facilities left over from its original purpose, which could stand in for customs areas at an airport.

* BikerBabe: Khalida Massi, introduced in the third season, is one to some extent. This [[DistractedByTheSexy gets Slade's attention]].

* AnyoneCanDie[=/=]CharacterDeath: [[spoiler:Layla, in the second season finale.]]

* BolivianArmyCliffhanger[=/=]CutShort: [[spoiler:The series' third-season finale, and ''de facto'' series finale, ended this way in the midst of a shootout between several trapped and pinned-down ICS agents and a besieging gang from a Mexican drug cartel somewhere in Toronto's Port Lands. WordOfGod on the outcome is still unknown.]]

* FictionalCounterpart: While some agencies such as the [[UsefulNotes/TheMounties Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] and Canadian Security Intelligence Service are mentioned, some not very flatteringly, at other points in the series fictional agencies stand in for real ones. According to Denis [=McGrath=], this was done due to legal concerns to get clearance instead of using the names of the real agencies.

* FriendOnTheForce: Al with the Toronto Police Service as he's a liaison officer with ICS.

* HeroicBSOD[=/=]WhatTheHellHero: Occurs to Gray ''in spades'' after [[spoiler:the deaths of Layla and his father, whereupon he goes [[CowboyCop temporarily rogue]]]]. Norton, in particular, can only tell him to [[GetOut get out of her sight]].

* ShakyCam: The camera does not stay still for longer than a nanosecond on this show. Shots are sweeping in every possible direction as well as snap-zooming in and out. The cameraman was probably weaving like a drunk to achieve the effect.

* ADayInTheLimelight: To the other ICS agents in both the TV and DVD extras (The Psych tests) aside from Mike.
* ActionDuo: Gray and Layla, later with Liz and sometimes with Darnell. Al and Darnell. Mike and Maggie and sometimes with Bianca.

* TheConscience: The point of the entire show. The creators [[WordOfGod said in an interview]] that they wanted the show to be compared like 24 "with a human conscience."

* BolivianArmyCliffhanger: Somewhat literally, in that [[spoiler: the series' third-season finale, and ''de facto'' series finale, ended this way in the midst of a shootout between trapped ICS agents and a besieging gang from a Mexican drug cartel. WordOfGod is still unknown.]]
* CanadaEh: And how! Set rather blatantly in UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}}; most of the cast are Canadians as well.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Kessler commanding ICS with the rank of Major. [[Franchise/GhostInTheShell Shouldn't it be all familiar?]]

* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: I.C.S.

* HeroicBSOD[=/=]WhatTheHellHero: Occurs to Gray ''in spades'' after [[spoiler:the deaths of Layla and his father, whereupon he goes [[CowboyCop temporarily rogue]]]].
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Mike near the end of the 1st season after he [[spoiler:learns that the Canadian government is harboring an ex-Croatian warlord to help them hunt down more infamous warlords from the Bosnian War by giving him facial surgery. He goes on his own to help the survivors hide from him by asking an ex-JTF-2 subordinate of his to provide protection while he contemplates assassinating the ex-warlord before someone else took the shot for him.]]

* KilledOffForReal[=/=]AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Layla, in the second season finale.]]

* ActionGirlfriend: Liz Carver (played by Grace Park) is this to Gray Jackson.

* BikerBabe: Khalida Massi, introduced in the third season, is one to some extent. This gets Slade's attention.

* FictionalCounterpart: While some agencies such as the [[UsefulNotes/TheMounties Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] and Canadian Security Intelligence Service are mentioned, some not very flatteringly, at other points in the series fictional agencies stand in for real ones. According to Denis [=McGrath=], this was done due to legal concerns to get clearance in using the names of the real agencies.
** Canada Customs instead of the Canada Border Services Agency
** Département de Police du Québec instead of Sûreté du Québec.

* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: ICS
* HandsomeLech: Mike Kessler; lampshaded by his daughter Zoe in conversation with his ex-wife.
* HeroicBSOD / WhatTheHellHero: Occurs to Gray ''in spades'' after [[spoiler: the deaths of Layla and his father, whereupon he goes [[CowboyCop temporarily rogue]].]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Mike near the end of the 1st season after he [[spoiler: learns that the Canadian government is harboring an ex-Croatian warlord to help them hunt down more infamous warlords from the Bosnian War by giving him facial surgery. He goes on his own to help the survivors hide from him by asking an ex-JTF-2 subordinate of his to provide protection while he contemplates assassinating the ex-warlord before someone else took the shot for him.]]

* KilledOffForReal / AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler: Layla, in the second season finale.]]

* PrivateMilitaryContractors: The domain of ICS nemesis Andrew Mannering's company, Trucott Solutions Inc., by the 2nd/3rd seasons.
* ProfessionalKiller: A few episodes have this as the plot. Daisy, aside from being a M16 agent deployed to Toronto, [[spoiler:is a black ops assassin originally sent in to kill a Nigerian drug dealer to prevent a crisis from erupting back in Britain.]]

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The building used as the fictional ICS headquarters was formerly the terminal for the short-lived fast ferry that connected Toronto and Rochester, NY. It was considered ideal thanks to the full-featured customs facilities left over from its original purpose, which could stand in for customs areas at an airport.
* RetiredBadass: ICS chief Mike Kessler is a former Major in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Task_Force_2 Joint Task Force 2]], the Canadian military's elite special forces unit .
* ShakyCam: The damn camera does not stay still for longer than a nanosecond on this show. Shots are sweeping in every possible direction as well as snap zooming in and out. The cameraman was probably weaving like a drunk to achieve the effect.

* TheAtoner: See HeWhoFightsMonsters.
* TheConscience: The point of the entire show. The creators said in an interview that they wanted the show to be compared like 24 "with a human conscience."
* TokenMinority: There are in ICS, given that Canada is a multinational country. You got Layla (South Asian), Darnell (African) and Khalida (Algerian). In DHS, you got Bianca (Cuban-American from Florida) and Liz (Asian-American from Idaho).

* TheWarOnTerror: Some of the episodes either have this or a mix of this with other subplots. One of the episodes is set in Afghanistan.

Not to be confused with the 1982 Creator/JackNicholson film with [[SimilarlyNamedWorks the same name]].

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The fictional ICS headquarters (and real-life production facility) were set in a building formerly belonging to the Rochester fast ferry. It was considered ideal thanks to the full-featured customs facilities left over from its original purpose.
* RetiredBadass: ICS chief Mike Kessler, formerly a Major in Canada's Joint Task Force 2.

* FictionalCounterpart: While some agencies such as the [[TheMounties Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] and Canadian Security Intelligence Service are mentioned, some not very flatteringly, at other points in the series fictional agencies stand in for real ones. According to Denis [=McGrath=], this was done due to legal concerns to get clearance in using the names of the real agencies.

''The Border'' follows a fictional group of agents who comprise the Immigration and Customs Security agency (ICS). The ICS was ostensibly created by the Canadian government to handle trans-border matters concerning national security, including terrorism and smuggling after the events of September 11, 2001 and is under the portfolio of Public Safety Canada.

* FictionalCounterpart: Canada Customs standing in for the Canada Border Services Agency, and Département de Police du Québec standing in for the Sûreté du Québec. According to Denis [=McGrath=], this was done due to legal concerns to get clearance in using the names of the real agencies.

A Canadian drama produced by the CBC, ''The Border'' premiered in January 2008 and aired for three seasons before being cancelled in the winter of 2010. So far as of 2011, there's no word on whether the third season will have a proper conclusion.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Kessler commanding ICS with the rank of Major. [[GhostInTheShell Shouldn't it be all familiar?]]

* TheAloner: See HeWhoFightsMonsters.

''The Border'' follows a fictional group of agents who comprise the Immigration and Customs Security (ICS) agency. The ICS was ostensibly created by the Canadian government to handle trans-border matters concerning national security, including terrorism and smuggling after the events of September 11, 2001. ICS is under the portfolio of Public Safety Canada.

* FictionalCounterpart: The CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) as Canada Customs and the Sûreté du Québec as the Department Du Police du Quebec (Quebec Police Department). According to Denis [=McGrath=], this was done due to legal concerns to get clearance in using the names of the real agencies before the production team was forced to use fictional names instead.

* CanadaEh: And how! Set rather blatantly in {{Toronto}}; most of the cast are Canadians as well.

Not to be confused with the 1982 JackNicholson film with [[SimilarlyNamedWorks the same name]].