History Series / TheGetDown

** Averted with Zeke and Mylene. It was clear before they dance at Les Inferno, and this was Zeke's states goal. But she rejects him at the end of the night.

** Where There Is Ruin, There Is Hope For Treasure: In the burnt-out ruin that is the South Bronx, a new art form is being born.
** Seek Those Who Fan Your Flames: Not only does Shaolin have to forge a real connection with his crew, but Zeke has to find [[BrilliantButLazy genuine inspiration]].
** Darkness Is Your Candle: This episode centers on the 1977 blackout, and the looting and rioting that occurred therein. But in this darkness, people are free to speak the truth. Francisco confesses his ongoing love for Lydia (and we get hints that he's Mylene's father), Jackie confesses he's a JadedWashout to Mylene and tells her how horrible the music industry is, but so impresses her with his honesty in that moment that she insists he stay on as her agent. After discovering that they've been tricked into [[DarkSecret dumping a body for Cadillac]], Zeke rebrands the Fantastic Four Plus One as the Get-Down Crew and leads them in stealing new equipment from Les Inferno.
** Forget Safety, Be Notorious: In order to make amends with Flash, the crew have to embark on a dangerous mission into hostile territory and in the process begin forging their reputation.
** You Have Wings, Learn to Fly: Flash has repeatedly referred to Shao's crew as his wings, and he has to learn to trust them as his voice.
** Raise Your Words, Not Your Voice: Zeke learns that it's not enough to speak; you have to have something to say.

-->''[All stare at Dizzee.]''

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Ed Koch, Mayor of New York from 1978-1990.

* HollywoodToneDeaf: When The Get Down Brothers are practicing for the battle, Ra-Ra initially struggles ''a lot'' with his verse. Then Dizzee suggests he doubletimes it.

* ShoutOut: When Shao is talking to Zeke about the internship, he repeatedly calls him [[{{Roots}} Toby]] while mimicking the (white) people Zeke'll be working for.

* MeaningfulEcho: Played with. In the scene that cuts between Jackie at the record pool with Leslie Lesgold, Shao at Fat Annie's, and Zeke at Mr. Gunn's house, Leslie's, Annie's, and Mr. Gunn's lines are all echoes of each other, culminating in a MoralEventHorizon for each of the protagonists.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Averted. On two separate occasions, men are coerced into sex by women in more powerful positions, and in both cases the men are shown to feel disturbed and degraded by the circumstances. ([[spoiler:Jackie Moreno by Leslie Lesgold who then refuses to promote Mylene's record in revenge for Jackie forcing her to give him a blowjob and firing her when she was his intern, and Shaolin Fantastic by Fat Annie]])

* FramingDevice: The first episode begins with Adult Zeke headlining a massive concert in NYC. Most of the following episodes begin with him rapping about the events of the episode.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In-universe example. To show the graffiti writers he hasn't sold out, Zeke incorporates different tags and pieces into his speech at Ed Koch's rally without letting the politicians or other adults realize what he's talking about. They think it's generically inspirational. Even more impressive that he's doing it on the fly. Doubles as MomentOfAwesome.

* HollywoodToneDeaf: Played with. When The Get Down Brothers are practicing for the battle, Ra-Ra initially struggles ''a lot'' with his verse. Makes it all the more impressive when he double-times it like a beast.

* MeaningfulEcho: Played with. In the scene that cuts between Jackie at the record pool with Leslie Lesgold, Shao at Fat Annie's, and Zeke at Mr. Gunn's house, Leslie's, Annie's, and Mr. Gunn's lines are all echoes of each other talking about power. The scenes all, uhh, ''climax'' at the same time to emphasize the idea that each of the three protagonists are risking the loss of their humanity.

* RedOniBlueOni: Shao (Red Oni) and Zeke (Blue Oni)

* RealityEnsues: Zeke, when he's tearfully rejected by Mylene in the first episode, doesn't forgive her immediately. When she comes to the hideout to ask Zeke for a favor, he curses her out and storms off.

** One episode takes place during the city-wide blackout on July 13-14, 1977. Interestingly, this ''was'' a pivotal moment in the burgeoning hip-hop scene, as a lot of aspiring [=DJ's=] and [=MC's=] ''did'' loot their records and equipment that night.
** Much of the 1 [[superscript:st]] season focuses on the mayoral election campaign of Ed Koch.

* EnfantTerrible: An entire crew of them (well, working for adults) who terrorize the neighborhood shop-owners for protection money, and shoot up Les Inferno.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: InUniverse example, the nightclub Les Inferno.

* EnfantTerrible: An entire crew of them (well, working for adults) who terrorize the neighborhood shop-owners for protection money, and shoot up Les Inferno.

Set in the WretchedHive of [[BigAppleSauce New York City]] in the blistering hot summer of 1977, ''The Get Down'' is a musical opus that follows the lives of an ensemble of young people living in the Bronx, witnessing the [[DeaderThanDisco death of disco]] and the birth of HipHop. The story is told in the format of the flashbacks of a modern day rapper narrating the story of his youth and the rise of his art.

* AnachronismStew: The scene in the gay bar. The girl with Thor and Dizzee says the drag queens are voguing, a dance style which evolved out of the Drag Ball scene in the 80's.

* FramingDevice: The first episode begins with Adult Zeke performing in his own giant concert. Most of the following episodes begin with him rapping about the events of the episode.

** A few of the lines from Mylene's Pentecostal Disco hit are ''awfully'' suggestive...

* MeaningfulEcho: Played with. In the scene that cuts between Jackie at the record pool with Leslie Lesgold, Shao at Fat Annie's, and Zeke at Mr. Gunn's house, Leslie's, Annie's, and Mr. Gunn's lines are all echoes of each other talking about power. The scenes all, uhh, ''climax'' at the same time to emphasize the idea that each of the three protagonists in the scene are risking the loss of their humanity.

-->"I don't know why it is Ezekiel, that you seem to want to be nothing, when with just a ''little'' courage, you could really be something."

* TwoferTokenMinority: This is TruthInFiction for the seething mix of cultures in late-70s New York. Queer people of color, women of color, mixed race individuals, all over the place. What's different is that the characters are almost exclusively people of color, so what would be twofers on any other show ([[spoiler:the ambiguously bi Rumi,]] all the women) are instead just characters.

** The rap/DJ battle at the end of episode 6 seems to be very loosely based on the battle The Brothers Disco had with Afrika Bambaataa, though with a much different ending than the historical one.
** One episode takes place during the blackout on July 13-14, 1977 that affected the city. Interestingly, this ''was'' a pivotal moment in the burgeoning hip-hop scene, as a lot of aspiring [=DJ's=] and [=MC's=] ''did'' loot their records and equipment that night.
** Much of the 1st season also focuses on the mayoral election campaign of Ed Koch.

* AnachronismStew: The scene in the gay bar. The girl with Thor and Dizzee says the drag queens are voguing, a dance style which evolved out of the Drag Ball scene in the 80's. The scene also features a Christina Aguilera song.

* SternTeacher: Ms. Green really believes in Zeke, and is not afraid to call him out on his apathetic bullshit. She shows up to his apartment ''during the summer'' to make sure he applies for an internship that could lead to college.

* SternTeacher: Ms. Green really believes in Zeke, and is not afraid to call him out on his bullshit. She shows up to his apartment ''during the summer'' to make sure he applies for an internship that could lead to college.

*** ''[-"I can feel you inside of me..."''' '''"We've got to love each other deeply..."-]''

--> '''Jackie Moreno:''' Pastor, Mrs. Cruz, you might want to close your ears for this. See, most of the DJs we need are... ''homosexuals''.\\
'''Mr. & Mrs. Cruz''': [sign of the cross, pained looks, gasp]

--> '''Pastor Cruz:''' And is this Leslie a...\\

* FramingDevice: The first episode begins with Adult Zeke performing in his own giant concert. Most of the following episodes begins with him rapping about the events of the episode.

* FramingDevice: Each episode begins with Adult Zeke rapping about the events of the episode.