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dawson casting belongs on the trivia page


* ComboPlatterPowers: Rather unavoidable, since the original myths gave the gods dominion over areas either extremely broad (winning stuff!), apparently unrelated (love and...apples?), or overlapping (there are three love goddesses just on the show).



* DawsonCasting: A slight inversion occurs as well with Olivia Tennet who was 19 when she played 21-year-old Delphine--and who looks younger than her actual age.
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* DivineRanks: A major theme of the show. Odin's ascendancy over all the gods makes him the keystone for getting their full powers back. It also creates drama in other ways:
** Michele's primary character trait is an inferiority complex about being a "minor" goddess.
** Though the other characters try hard to ignore it, major gods--like Hod, Hel, and especially Loki--are operating on a whole 'nother plane of power. Olaf emphatically and bluntly tells Mike to give up his feud with Loki, because they are simply not a match for the god of fire.
** Freya is naturally and immediately the leader of the goddesses, and her domain of "prosperity" gives her a lot of resources to lead with.
** Eva is such a fount of power she sends the other goddesses into a kind of seizure when they first meet her.


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* DomesticAbuse: Joe/Njord beat his wife, and Ty/Hod resents the hell out of him for it. In a later episode, Joe expresses regret...then in the same breath implies the abuse was mutual, and that [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence to a certain extent they both enjoyed it]].
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** Anders' inability to keep it in his pants brings the god-killing cult to New Zealand. This has second and even third-order consequences which end up [[spoiler:turning Gaia into Idunn instead of Frigg like she was supposed to be.]]

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* CardCarryingVillain: Colin obviously embraces his role as the god of mischief and lies, and enjoys the hell out of it. He wears nothing but [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience red and black suits]], interferes with Axl's quest despite it [[ForTheEvulz serving no interest of his]], and delivers every line like he's [[EvilIsHammy got a stage audience]].



** [[spoiler: In the first episode, the boys mother was revealed to be the incarnation of Frejya. At the beginning on the last episode, the Big Bad Agnetha is revealed to be Frejya.]]

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** [[spoiler: In the first episode, the boys boys' mother was revealed to be the incarnation of Frejya. At the beginning on the last episode, the Big Bad Agnetha is revealed to be Frejya.]]
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ughhhh this is why I should\'ve used preview...


** Anders and [[spoiler:Gaia]] sincerely don't like each other, and don't want to be together. It doesn't change the fact that [[TheRedStringOfFate they are soul mates]]. Their attraction is irresistible but so repugnant to both that she actually leaves the country--and the person she ''actually'' wants to marry--to escape it.

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** Anders and [[spoiler:Gaia]] sincerely don't like each other, and don't want to be together. It doesn't change the fact that [[TheRedStringOfFate [[RedStringOfFate they are soul mates]]. Their attraction is irresistible but so repugnant to both that she actually leaves the country--and the person she ''actually'' wants to marry--to escape it.
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** Anders and [[spoiler:Gaia]] sincerely don't like each other, and don't want to be together. It doesn't change the fact that [[StrangledByTheRedStringOfFate they are soul mates]]. Their attraction is irresistible but so repugnant to both that she actually leaves the country--and the person she ''actually'' wants to marry--to escape it.

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** Anders and [[spoiler:Gaia]] sincerely don't like each other, and don't want to be together. It doesn't change the fact that [[StrangledByTheRedStringOfFate [[TheRedStringOfFate they are soul mates]]. Their attraction is irresistible but so repugnant to both that she actually leaves the country--and the person she ''actually'' wants to marry--to escape it.

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** Anders and [[spoiler:Gaia]] sincerely don't like each other, and don't want to be together. It doesn't change the fact that [[StrangledByTheRedString they are soul mates]]. Their attraction is irresistible but so repugnant to both that she actually leaves the country--and the person she ''actually'' wants to marry--to escape it.

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** Anders and [[spoiler:Gaia]] sincerely don't like each other, and don't want to be together. It doesn't change the fact that [[StrangledByTheRedString [[StrangledByTheRedStringOfFate they are soul mates]]. Their attraction is irresistible but so repugnant to both that she actually leaves the country--and the person she ''actually'' wants to marry--to escape it.



* CallBack: The first season ends with Mike and Axl playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. Something Mike did in the first episode to prove to Axl that he was a God. This is repeated in the series finale.

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* CallBack: CallBack:
**
The first season ends with Mike and Axl playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. Something Mike did in the first episode to prove to Axl that he was a God. This is repeated in the series finale.
** Hey! That girl in the bridal shop looks familiar...


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** Subverted with Gaia. [[spoiler:All signs--including the true, deep love between her and Axl--say she's the Frigg. She would have been!--had Idunn not died moments before her goddess-ing ceremony, and "jumped the queue"]].
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* TheDanza: Michele/Sjöfn is played by the actress Michelle Langstone
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* TopGod: Odin is not just in charge, the laws of metaphysics mean the other gods need him and Frigg to ascend to Asgard again.
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* FiveManBand
** TheLeader: Axl/Odin - He's the All-Father. And while he's still growing up, it is his moral compass and vision that direct the larger actions of the gang.
** TheLancer: Mike/Ullr - Mike is mature where Axl is young, experienced where Axl is not, responsible where Axl is careless, considered where Axl is impulsive, and very much in charge when Axl is absent...and sometimes when he's not.
** TheSmartGuy: Anders/Braggi - by far the shortest, and least physically intimidating of the brothers, not much of leader, morally questionable--and yet a lot of Anders' dialogue consists of "stay here," "let me handle this," or "I have a plan."
** TheBigGuy: Ty/Hod - despite how [[BlessedWithSuck Ty feels]] about his assigned god, he is the most powerful of the brothers, and his ice power is actually the only one [[CursedWithAwesome useful for offensive battle]], as opposed to the other brother's passive powers of talking, winning, finding stuff, and occasionally seeing the future.
** TheChick - Olaf/Baldr is a gentle and compassionate soul, especially compared to his grandsons.

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* AngstWhatAngst: The Frigg explains the rite to return the gods to Asgard, including the part where her brother [[KilledOffForReal actually dies]]. She all but shrugs when asked about it, and simply says he knew what would happen to him. After the rite she happily pairs off with her true love, and no mention of her brother's death is made.



* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: In the first episode, the boys mother was revealed to be the incarnation of Frejya. At the beginning on the last episode, the Big Bad Agnetha is revealed to be Frejya.]]

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* ChekhovsGun: ChekhovsGun:
**
[[spoiler: In the first episode, the boys mother was revealed to be the incarnation of Frejya. At the beginning on the last episode, the Big Bad Agnetha is revealed to be Frejya.]]



* ChekhovsGunman: We see a split second cut of Anders mid-coitus with an extremely tall woman in Norway. It's implied by Anders' exposition that she's a giant, like Bryn. Later the gang discovers [[spoiler:she was very much human, a virgin, a member of the Christian cult that wants to exterminate the Norse gods, and very, ''very'' upset about being tricked into bed. It's her story that galvanizes the cult to bring their fight to New Zealand]].



* TheDanza: Michelle Langstone, who plays the goddess Michele/Sjöfn.



* DudeWheresMyRespect: Olaf and Ingrid are not seen as particularly competent oracles. While it's true that their visions of the future bounce between useless to nonexistent, their knowledge of the past and the present is invaluable. Everyone seems to forget that these two are the ones who interpret the signs and determine the identities of all the gods and monsters they run into.

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* DudeWheresMyRespect: DudeWheresMyRespect:
** Said almost verbatim by Axl/Odin on a couple of occasions.
**
Olaf and Ingrid are not seen as particularly competent oracles. While it's true that their visions of the future bounce between useless to nonexistent, their knowledge of the past and the present is invaluable. Everyone seems to forget that these two are the ones who interpret the signs and determine the identities of all the gods and monsters they run into.

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* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Avoided for the most part, but some of the god's powers are very specialized, making them only useful in very specific roles.
** Hod's power over all things dark and cold (like ice) is mostly only good for making Ty miserable, except when facing down the god of fire, Loki.
** Though Anders is often [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway mocked for being the god of poetry]], in practice his power is tantamount to mind control...handy whenever you need someone talked into something.



* [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway What Kind of Lame Power Is Poetry, Anyway?]]: Anders often gets ridiculed for his god powers, most notably by Michele and Ty.
** Not that it stops him from building a very successful marketing business, partying away every night and sleeping with any woman he feels like.

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* [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway What Kind of Lame Power Is Poetry, Anyway?]]: WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway:
**
Anders often gets ridiculed for his god powers, most powers--most notably by Michele and Ty.
Ty--though it's mostly for [[PowerPerversionPotential the way he uses it]].
** Not Every single time someone is told that it stops him from building a very successful marketing business, partying away every night and sleeping Ty is Hod, they either laugh or [[BlessedWithSuck offer their condolences]].
** Inverted
with any woman he feels like. of the love goddesses. Though they literally have the power of heart, it's a generally admired skill.
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* AngstWhatAngst: The Frigg explains the rite to return the gods to Asgard, including the part where her brother [[KilledOffForReal actually dies]]. She all but shrugs when asked about it, and simply says he knew what would happen to him. After the rite she happily pairs off with her true love, and no mention of her brother's death is made.
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rewrote to eliminate the need for spoiler tags


* MoralityPet: Dawn is this for Anders. Trying to use/hurt her is one of the few boundaries he won't cross, [[spoiler: as Colin/Loki found out when he tried to manipulate Anders into using his powers to make Dawn sleep with him.]]

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* MoralityPet: Dawn is this for Anders. Trying to use/hurt her is one of the few boundaries he won't cross, [[spoiler: as Colin/Loki found out when he tried to manipulate Anders into should be the last man on earth capable of having a platonic friendship with a beautiful woman, but he seems truly unable to consider using his powers sleaze on Dawn. He takes great risk to make Dawn save her from Loki's schemes and actually looks appalled at the suggestion that he would use his wiles to sleep with him.]]her.
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* XanatosSpeedChess: Mike/Ullr and Colin/Loki both know there's only one way Mike can beat the vastly more powerful Colin: if it becomes a "game," Mike cannot lose. The two spar with words, both trying to turn the situation to their advantage...aaaand that makes it a ''game'' Loki!

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* XanatosSpeedChess: Mike/Ullr and Colin/Loki both know there's only one way Mike can beat the vastly more powerful Colin: if it their feud becomes a "game," Mike cannot lose. lose. The two spar with words, both trying to turn the situation to their advantage...aaaand that makes it a ''game'' Loki!
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* XanatosSpeedChess: Mike/Ullr and Colin/Loki both know there's only one way Mike can beat the vastly more powerful Colin: if it becomes a "game," Mike cannot lose. The two spar with words, both trying to turn the situation to their advantage...aaaand that makes it a ''game'' Loki!

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* ArcWords: [[OhCrap "Jormungand is stirring"]].

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* ArcWords: ArcWords:
** "You can't trust goddesses."
**
[[OhCrap "Jormungand is stirring"]].



* BelligerentSexualTension: Anders/Bragi and Michele/Sjöfn.

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* BelligerentSexualTension: BelligerentSexualTension:
**
Anders/Bragi and Michele/Sjöfn.Michele/Sjöfn
** Anders and [[spoiler:Gaia]] sincerely don't like each other, and don't want to be together. It doesn't change the fact that [[StrangledByTheRedString they are soul mates]]. Their attraction is irresistible but so repugnant to both that she actually leaves the country--and the person she ''actually'' wants to marry--to escape it.


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* YouCantFightFate: No matter how badly any of them want the change their character, the gods will inevitably end up fulfilling their fables or prophecies, and often worse off for their efforts.
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* HiddenDepths: Thor seems like a reactionary brute always on the verge of exploding into violence--because he is--but his actions "Typical Aukland God" show what a sentimental love he harbors for his late wife, how painfully he feels the absence of his grown daughter, how ashamed he is of his failing farm, and possibly most surprising [[spoiler:he reveals he has a tenor to put Pavarotti to shame]].

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* FreudianExcuse: Since the gods are all one big messed-up family, there are many examples.
** Eva's father [[spoiler:Loki]] didn't just neglect to tell her she would be a god, he often actively screwed with her mind, just for fun, apparently.
** When Michele goes on a brief rant calling her mother a self-absorbed, social climbing narcissist with an inferiority complex about being only a minor goddess, it becomes painfully obvious where Michele got those same traits, and that she's oblivious to the irony.
** All the Johnson brothers were abandoned by their father--who simply disappeared without explanation, then their mother--who waited long enough for Mike to become Ullr before walking off into the woods to be a tree for a little while, leaving Mike to raise his three younger brothers.



* GenderBender: Axl, in one episode from season 2.

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* GenderBender: GenderBender:
**
Axl, in one episode from season 2.


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-->"Not THIS Loki!"
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* PowerPerversionPotential: Anders' powers of persuasion are tantamount to a date rape drug when he uses it to talk women into bed--which is how he uses it most often. His argument that he doesn't talk them into anything they don't want to do is undermined when three women whose lives were ruined by Anders' seduction [[spoiler:team up to castrate him.]]

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* [[spoiler: BroughtDownToNormal]]: [[spoiler: Once Odin and Frigg are reunited, the spirits of all the Norse gods leave their hosts and return to Asgard, leaving the Johnsons and everyone else mortal again.]]

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* [[spoiler: BroughtDownToNormal]]: [[spoiler: BroughtDownToNormal: While Axl is seriously ill in "Man-Flu", everybody's god powers stop working. The powers return when Axl recovers.
**[[spoiler:
Once Odin and Frigg are reunited, the spirits of all the Norse gods leave their hosts and return to Asgard, leaving the Johnsons and everyone else mortal again.]]
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* NakedApron: [[spoiler: Ty and Dawn]] do some baking together in only aprons only while waiting for the Gar in the "The End of the World As We Know It" episode.
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* {{Seers}}: Olaf and Ingrid. Oracles, to be more exact.

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* {{Seers}}: Olaf and Ingrid. Oracles, to be more exact. Though sadly they are rather incompetent at it. They tend to miss things completely, their interpretation of signs comes about too late or their answers are so vague they are practically useless. Being gone a lot of the time or strung out on drugs and alcohol does not help matters since they do not gain needed information and cannot be found.
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Reason you suck speech

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* ReasonYouSuckSpeech: Characters frequently give these to others when calling out their JerkAss behaviors. A few that stand out are:
** From the first season episode ''Bad Things Happen'' Axl chews out Anders for the latter's treatment of women and forbids him from having sex for a time. Anders is on the receiving end from Mike as well in season 2.
** Mike gives a major one to Olaf in the second season episode ''House of Jerome'' for always being gone when the family needs him, being strung out on drugs, and his general failings as an oracle.

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Jerkass gods


* {{Jerkass}}: Anders, in spades.

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* {{Jerkass}}: Anders, in spades. Colin/Loki as well
* JerkAssGods: Many of the problems come from the characters being self-centered, looking down on regular humans and abusing their abilities. Both the gods and goddesses sadly share this despite calling it out on each other.
** The gods range from the casually selfishness of Olaf's frequent disappearances and abandonment of others, to the abuse of abilitie by the likes of Anders to compel others and destroy relationships regardless of the consequences to Colin/Loki getting a sadistic glee in trolling others.
** The goddess have Agnetha who looks down on her fellow goddesses and abandoned her family, Michele's abuse of her own abilities to the more outright insanity of Eva.
** A few gods on each side tend to be the exceptions. Axl holds himself to a higher standard and tries to use his position as Odin to fix some of the damage. Tyr is one of the nicest guyes on the show. Ingrid and Stacy can be more friendly when not having their spirits crushed by the others. Most of the more independent goddesses are nicer since they have not been expose to the whole mess. However, even the best have their moments.
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* SuperStrength: Axl and Thor, though Axl more so. [[JustifiedTrope/Justified]] in that Axl is Odin, Thor's father, makes sense he'd be stronger than him.

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* SuperStrength: Axl and Thor, though Axl more so. [[JustifiedTrope/Justified]] Justified in that Axl is Odin, Thor's father, makes sense he'd be stronger than him.
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* [[Squick]]: Mike (and some viewers, no doubt) looks fairly freaked when Michele's mother tells him that the previous Ullr was her father, aka Michele's grandfather.

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* [[Squick]]: {{Squick}} Mike (and some viewers, no doubt) looks fairly freaked when Michele's mother tells him that the previous Ullr was her father, aka Michele's grandfather.



* SuperStrength: Axl and Thor, though Axl more so. [[Justified]] in that Axl is Odin, Thor's father, makes sense he'd be stronger than him.

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* SuperStrength: Axl and Thor, though Axl more so. [[Justified]] [[JustifiedTrope/Justified]] in that Axl is Odin, Thor's father, makes sense he'd be stronger than him.
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* Squick: Mike (and some viewers, no doubt) looks fairly freaked when Michele's mother tells him that the previous Ullr was her father, aka Michele's grandfather.

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* Squick: [[Squick]]: Mike (and some viewers, no doubt) looks fairly freaked when Michele's mother tells him that the previous Ullr was her father, aka Michele's grandfather.



* SuperStrength: Axl and Thor, though Axl more so. [[JustifiedTrope: Justified]] in that Axl is Odin, Thor's father, makes sense he'd be stronger than him.

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* SuperStrength: Axl and Thor, though Axl more so. [[JustifiedTrope: Justified]] [[Justified]] in that Axl is Odin, Thor's father, makes sense he'd be stronger than him.
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* SuperStrength: Axl and Thor, though Axl more so.

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* SuperStrength: Axl and Thor, though Axl more so. [[JustifiedTrope: Justified]] in that Axl is Odin, Thor's father, makes sense he'd be stronger than him.
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* ArcWords: [[OhCrap "Jorgamund is stirring"]].

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* ArcWords: [[OhCrap "Jorgamund "Jormungand is stirring"]].



* [[spoiler: BroughtDownToNormal]]: [[spoiler: Once Odin and Frygg are reunited, the spirits of all the Norse gods leave their hosts and return to Asgard, leaving the Johnsons and everyone else mortal again.]]

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* [[spoiler: BroughtDownToNormal]]: [[spoiler: Once Odin and Frygg Frigg are reunited, the spirits of all the Norse gods leave their hosts and return to Asgard, leaving the Johnsons and everyone else mortal again.]]



* DisappearedDad: Joe Johnson/Njoror. He ran out on the family when Axl was a toddler. [[spoiler: He shows up in season three, having being 'pulled' back to Auckland once Axl becomes Odin.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: Michelle's reaction to [[spoiler: Mike breaking up with her, and then sleeping with Hanna/Frygg? To break into Hanna's house and stab her with a kitchen knife. She doesn't succeed on account of Martin/Heimdall coming in and breaking a hammer over her head.]]

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* DisappearedDad: Joe Johnson/Njoror.Johnson/Njord. He ran out on the family when Axl was a toddler. [[spoiler: He shows up in season three, having being 'pulled' back to Auckland once Axl becomes Odin.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: Michelle's reaction to [[spoiler: Mike breaking up with her, and then sleeping with Hanna/Frygg? Hanna/Frigg? To break into Hanna's house and stab her with a kitchen knife. She doesn't succeed on account of Martin/Heimdall coming in and breaking a hammer over her head.]]



** [[spoiler: Axl's genderbent episode in season two becomes this when Frygg is revealed to be the very same woman he turned into.]]

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** [[spoiler: Axl's genderbent episode in season two becomes this when Frygg Frigg is revealed to be the very same woman he turned into.]]

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