Line #56 Series/FlashGordon2007


1	[[quoteright:333:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flash-gordon-2007_3844.jpg]]
2	''Flash Gordon'' (2007-2008) was a [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci-Fi Channel]] adaptation of [[ComicStrip/FlashGordon the comic strip of the same name]], incorporating material from previous adaptations. The plot follows Flash as he discovers a rift in space leading to the planet Mongo, ruled by an evil dictator who controls the planet's water supply.
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4	The characters include:
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6	* Steven "Flash" Gordon (Creator/EricJohnsonActor), whose scientist father supposedly died in a mysterious accident.
7	* Dale Arden (Creator/GinaHolden), a reporter and Flash's ex-girlfriend.
8	* Dr. Hans Zarkov (Creator/JodyRacicot), Flash's father's eccentric research assistant.
9	* Ming (Creator/JohnRalston), ruler of Mongo (not officially called "The Merciless").
10	* Baylin (Creator/KarenCliche), a bounty hunter from Mongo (a new character introduced for the series).
11	* Princess Aura (Creator/AnnaVanHooft), Ming's daughter.
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13	In the beginning, the show had a MonsterOfTheWeek format. After negative critical reactions, a mid-season {{retool}} shifted the focus to a Mongo-based story arc. Despite this effort, ''Flash Gordon'' was canceled after one season, ending on a cliffhanger, although most plotlines were resolved.
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15	For the earlier live-action Flash Gordon series, see ''Series/FlashGordon1954''.
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17	!!Provides examples of:
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19	* AdaptationNameChange: Of a sort. By all appearances, "Flash" was his real name in the comic strip. Here it is a nickname with his given name being "Steven."
20	* AfterTheEnd: At least as far as Mongo is concerned; Mongo's original civilization collapsed, leaving Ming to rebuild.
21	* AlienAmongUs: Baylin.
22	* AndManGrewProud: The original Mongo civilization was highly advanced to the point where they could set up a massive mining operation on their moon and build ''two more moons'' as processing centers. This eventually led to their downfall. An accident resulted in the planet being showered with a toxic mineral, killing the vast majority of the population and contaminating nearly all water supplies. Only a few million who managed to escape to one of the moons survived before returning to the planet. The current Mongo people remember the day of the accident as the Sorrow, which is commemorated every year.
23	* AppliedPhlebotinum: Ming controls Mongo's potable water supply.
24	* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking:
25	** In the series finale, Ming dons a Patriot uniform and proceeds to kick Flash's ass.
26	** Barin, the leader of the Verden, is also a pretty good fighter. Better than Flash, at any rate. He is played by Creator/SteveBacic, after all.
27	* BerserkButton: Never say "Ming the Merciless" in front of Ming. He might just prove you right.
28	* BlingOfWar: Ming trades in the faux-Mandarin robes for a flashy military uniform in this version. The uniform isn't just for show, as he proves himself to be a capable fighter in the GrandFinale.
29	* CastingGag: Sam J. Jones, who played Flash in the [[Film/FlashGordon1980 1980 film]], plays Krebb in "Revelations".
30	* ChekhovMIA: Flash's father.
31	* CardboardPrison: At ''least'' four times. Lampshaded in an [[http://www.thewebsitez.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?b-misctvshows/m-1181138996/ episode recap]], which jokes that Ming's dungeon will be renamed "The Mongo Inn", "for its liberal check-out policy".
32	* CoolClearWater: Do ''not'' drink water on Mongo unless it comes from the planet's only clear source, unless you want to turn into a Deviant, a mutated mindless monster.
33	* DisposableFiance: Joe Wylee is introduced as Dale's fiance, and he and Flash are suitably chilly to one another even before [[spoiler:Joe goes off the deep end and dies in his attempt to find proof of Mongo]].
34	* DistressedDude: The intro alone has at least four shots of our heroes captured.
35	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Ming is a dictator who absolutely despises Deviants and will order a newborn's execution if his DNA contains traces of deviancy. [[spoiler:A later episode reveals that Ming himself is a Deviant]].
36	* EatingTheEyecandy: Flash does this to Baylin when he catches her taking an "oil bath". He stares until [[ClingyJealousGirl Dale]] pulls him away.
37	* EatTheBomb: Baylin neutralizes the alkaline components of a bomb using her highly acidic stomach acid. Even though the bomb didn't go off, they still used the standard [[ToiletHumor burp gag]] common to the trope, minus the fireball that usually comes with it.
38	* EnemyMine: Flash and friends forge an alliance with the queen of Frigia, [[spoiler:a polar region that has ice in quantities to jeopardize Ming's monopoly on potable water]].
39	* EvilChancellor: Rankol [[spoiler:(later subject to a HeelFaceTurn).]]
40	* EvilMinions: Ming's Patriot Guards.
41	* {{Fanservice}}: Baylin oiling her naked body in Flash's backyard. [[MaleGaze The camera lingers on her]] shapely legs and gives a few SideBoob shoots.
42	* FishOutOfWater: A lot of the comedy on the show comes from Baylin's reactions to Earth.
43	* ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: Flash himself, although he plays into it by continuing to search for his father once it's clear that Ming is intimidated by Flash's apparent fulfillment of prophecy. [[spoiler:Even when Rankol tries to convince Flash that his father is already dead ''for his own protection'' so he'll give up and stay on Earth.]]
44	* KlingonPromotion: Ming is disappointed with Aura when she ''doesn't'' do it when he's incapacitated. In his mind, this indicates she's not fit to rule.
45	* LadyLand: The Omadrians are a female-only canton (with the only males being [[GroinAttack castrated]] to keep them docile) specializing in powerful herbal medicine. They are led by [[spoiler:Aura's mother]].
46	* LegFocus: When Baylin is taking an "oil bath" she's nude reclining on a chair and lifts her leg so she can clean it as if she were on a bathtub.
47	* MacGuffin: The Imex is a portable information database that's the subject of the first two episodes.
48	* MadScientist:
49	** Zarkov, as usual, but this time he's also the ConspiracyTheorist (which is how he got fired from government research).
50	** Rankol also plays with this trope [[spoiler:which seems to be yet another layer in his {{Chessmaster}} strategy.]]
51	* MarsNeedsWater: The well of pure water that Ming controls [[spoiler: as opposed to the polar ice that he doesn't]] is running out, so he intends to use the rifts to steal Earth's water. In one episode draining a whole lake.
52	* MonsterOfTheWeek: The original format of the show. Something would come through from Mongo, and Flash and the others would have to either kills it or send it back, while keeping it a secret from everybody else.
53	* MrFanservice: Barin.
54	* MsFanservice: As with most Flash adaptations, Aura gets a heaping of fanservice, as do Baylin and Dale on occasion.
55	* MundaneUtility: Ming's plan for the portal technology? Steal water from Earth.
56	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: For most of the season, Flash, Dale and Zarkov all agree that they need to keep the rifts secret, since if the Earth authorities knew about them they'd start their own experiments and cause further damage to the fabric of space/time. Then, in the penultimate episode, Dale arbitrarily decides to go public with the news of an imminent invasion, which achieves nothing except attracting the attention of shady government types and forcing her and Flash's mother to go on the run.
57	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Rather than being Fu Manchu in Space, Ming is modeled after Saddam Hussein, meaning he goes from East Asian to West Asian.
58	* NoMacGuffinNoWinner: Flash invokes this scenario to make Aura think the Imex is destroyed.
59	* OfCorpseHesAlive: The body of a Patriot Guard accompanies our heroes back to Earth in one episode; to avoid suspicion this trope is invoked and PlayedForLaughs.
60	* OneWayVisor: Ming's guards.
61	* OrganicTechnology: A lot of Mongo tech is partially biological, such as the robots that explode into puddles of sludge when destroyed in the pilot, and the bomb Baylin ate.
62	* RaceLift: The Ambiguously Asian Ming became 100% Caucasian.
63	%%%%* RedRightHand
64	* ReligionOfEvil: Averted. [[spoiler:The monks, who also secretly include Rankol, are actively working behind the scenes to undermine Ming's rule and assist Flash on multiple occasions.]]
65	* RemakeCameo: Sam Jones (the [[Film/FlashGordon1980 1980s Flash]]) played a prisoner.
66	* SchizoTech: Mongo has managed to develop interdimensional travel, but ground transportation is scarce, water purification is seemingly nonexistent, and many tribes outside of Ming's city seem to be extremely primitive (aside from their clothing.) Almost all travel on Mongo seems to be done on foot in this version. [[RememberedICouldFly Good thing Flash is an Olympic-level distance runner.]]
67	** Justified in that Ming does not want the people to have access to tech that can be used against him or undermine his monopoly on water. The few people who have automobiles are wealthy trade merchants. Said portal technology was also created by an earth physicist who first created it himself and sent himself to Mongo accidentally. Using this physicist Ming was able to recreate the portal technology, and possibly also make the sci-fi weapon technology he uses, but it's unsurprising that the scientist didn't invent water treatment plants for him. [[spoiler:Subverted in that the scientist did in fact invent a water treatment plant while there.]]
68	* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: Baylin cleans herself with oil in the buff on Flash's backyard, uncaring of who sees her. Flash explains that since they don't access to clean water, they have to bathe themselves with oil.
69	* SocialCircleFiller: Nick appears in only 4 out of 21 episodes, one of them being the pilot.
70	* StrawmanNewsMedia:
71	** Both of the TV stations shown are obsessed with ratings and Dale's attempts to promote the value of integrity are ignored. Dale's competitor is the eye candy news piece.
72	** Dale can drop completely off the grid for days at a time without filing a story, checking in with her editor, or even turning in an expense report, and nobody thinks this is unusual.
73	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Ming actively tries to maintain his image as "the Benevolent Father", using propaganda campaigns, celebrations, grand public gestures, and other tools of a Third World dictator trying to look legit. He will give extra water to a sick girl, while ordering her father's execution with the same breath.
74	* WeWillNotUsePhotoshopInTheFuture: Used in an episode where Flash must discredit a recording of a rift portal before he turns it into a nation wide story.
75	* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: After [[spoiler:Ming]] is captured by LaResistance in the GrandFinale, he is being led to the gas chamber past his daughter and [[spoiler:son]]. When asked if his own daughter would execute her father, she tearfully replies that it's necessary. His reply? "Finally, a daughter I can be proud of." [[spoiler:He doesn't die]].

Context Series / FlashGordon2007