| 1 | [[quoteright:216:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/19846019_jpg-r_640_600-b_1_d6d6d6-f_jpg-q_x-xxyxx_6026.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:216:(From left to right) Top: [[SpoiledSweet Oregon]], [[DoggedNiceGuy Kingsley]], [[UpperClassTwit JP]]. Bottom: [[{{Ladette}} Vod]], [[{{Geek}} Howard]] and [[PluckyGirl Josie]]]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ''Fresh Meat'' is a British comedy series from the creators of ''Series/PeepShow'' that aired on Channel 4 for four series between 2011 and 2016. The show centres around 6 students attending university in Manchester who miss out on accommodation in halls and so are forced to share a house together. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | HilarityEnsues. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | The main characters are: Kingsley, a DoggedNiceGuy with a crush on Josie, who isn't as innocent as she appears; Howard, a [[FriendlessBackground social recluse]] with only a slight grasp on normal human behaviour; Vod, DeadpanSnarker {{Ladette}} and self-proclaimed slut; Oregon, a pampered-yet-sweet-but-also-neurotic girl trying to escape her privileged upbringing; and JP - [[UpperClassTwit affluent but a bit of an idiot]], who tries far too hard to impress those around him. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | ---- |
| 11 | !!This show provides examples of: |
| 12 | |
| 13 | * AbusiveParents: [[spoiler: Vod’s mother is a cruel, irresponsible and vindictive woman who terrorised Vod throughout her childhood, blaming her for ‘ruining her life’ and saying - in her presence - that she regrets having her. When Vod [[CallingTheOldManOut calls her out]] for her behaviour, she flies into a violent rage and wrecks much of the kitchen.]] |
| 14 | * AerithAndBob: Eventually revealed to be the case in season 4 with the Pembersley brothers: Tomothy (his mother wanted to call him Tom, his father wanted to call him Timothy) and Jonathan (JP). |
| 15 | * TheAlcoholic: The whole house is this to a degree, and excessive drinking is an essential part of the students' daily routine. In particular, Vod, Josie and JP are considerably more seasoned boozers than the rest. |
| 16 | ** Josie resorts to the six-packs and the wine quite frequently when things aren't going well. |
| 17 | ** Vod's mother Chris, who became an alcoholic because she had Vod at 19 and feels she ruined her life. When she has had too much to drink, she goes into a violent rage and becomes 'The Beast'. |
| 18 | * AllGaysArePromiscuous: JP's reaction when Giles comes out is to assume that he wants to have sex with him. This may actually be because he believes AllMenArePerverts; when Giles tries to explain by asking "Do you want to shag every woman you know?" JP responds "Yes, of course!" |
| 19 | * AllGirlsLikePonies: [[spoiler: Oregon is revealed to own one, as part of her former life as a sheltered rich girl.]] |
| 20 | ** Averted with Josie [[spoiler: when she quits her zoology degree]]; she "just really doesn't give a fuck about any animal". |
| 21 | * AlphaBitch: "King" Ralph is a male one, [[GirlPosse Boy Posse]] and all. |
| 22 | ** JP tries to establish himself as one with Kingsley and Howard as his wingmen in season 3 (''"The good [Kingsley], the bad [JP], and the ugly [Howard]"''), but it doesn't really take. |
| 23 | * AmbiguouslyBi: Although JP is only ever explicitly shown being attracted to girls, he can be surprisingly affectionate with Kingsley, and draws oddly detailed cocks on everything. |
| 24 | * APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy: [[GenreBlindness JP]] fondly likes to imagine that this is going to happen, despite a towering mass of evidence to the contrary. |
| 25 | * AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Howard's, by his own admission, are said to be "excruciatingly embarrassing" in the final episode. |
| 26 | * AmusingInjuries: At the university sit-in/protest, Oregon fucks Hasan with so much gusto and force that he snaps the frenulum of his penis (aka the Banjo String). This is also only about half an hour after [[{{Hypocrite}} Oregon declares that sex is banned at the sit-in.]] |
| 27 | -->'''Paramedic''': Severed frenulum, heavy flow, we've got ''a lot'' of blood...no, we really do... |
| 28 | * AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: JP does this in almost every interaction with Sam, from their one-night stand onwards. |
| 29 | * AnnoyingPatient: JP comes down with mumps in series 2, and nobody wants to go near him. |
| 30 | * ArmourPiercingQuestion: When Oregon is [[INeedAFreakingDrink quickly working her way through a table full of shots]] after discovering that her new "Mr. Perfect" is actually [[spoiler:Shales' son]], the first question that pops into Vod's head triggers a VomitIndiscretionShot; |
| 31 | -->'''Vod:''' Do they have the same "O" face? |
| 32 | * ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Oregon's rules for the university sit-in. |
| 33 | -->'''Oregon:''' No sex, no harassment, no discrimination and ''no circus skills''. |
| 34 | * ArtifactTitle: Made more sense when they were actually freshers; as of series 3, most of them are in their second year. |
| 35 | ** Candice still technically counts as Fresh Meat, especially as she becomes taken with Professor Shales just like Oregon did. |
| 36 | ** Also in series 3, Howard starts working at an abattoir, and gets to bring home "spares". |
| 37 | * AshesToCrashes: JP takes his father's urn back to the flat with him when his mother sells the house. The next episode it's stolen in the course of a robbery. Feeling guilty, and based on an anecdote she hears, Josie goes rooting through a skip to see if the burglars dumped it. She finds it, intact... and promptly spills the ashes into the skip. |
| 38 | * AutoErotica: In one episode, Shales wants to have sex with Oregon in his car before they go to a tapas bar for dinner. She refuses because she doesn't like the idea. |
| 39 | * BadLiar: Oregon flat out lies to her parents about her degree and her union presidency, knowing full well it will end in tears. |
| 40 | * BaitAndSwitch: When JP's dad is dying, Oregon gets a call that someone close to her is dying, and looks at a picture of a man with a horse, leading the viewer to assume that her dad will pass away soon, too. [[spoiler:It turns out it's her favourite horse that's dying, and she takes a detour to say goodbye to him, preventing JP from getting his own goodbye.]] |
| 41 | * BaitTheDog: Tomothy set up a job for JP after he graduates. Sounds all well and good, right? Actually, no. In fact, Tomothy intends to give the job to his brother whether JP wants it or not ([[spoiler:he doesn't, but laments he may not have any other choice]]). [[spoiler:He even attempts to emotionally blackmail JP into taking the job by bringing up their dead father (JP is a WellDoneSonGuy, remember?). JP ultimately decides he doesn't want the job and that [[GetOut he also doesn't want his brother interfering with his life]].]] |
| 42 | * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: In her bid to become President of the Student Union, Oregon works her arse off day and night on campaigning and canvassing, as well as fending off fierce competition from Vod, almost losing her friendship in the process. Her hard work pays off and she wins the election, only to be immediately saddled with union debts, financial irregularities and active lawsuits. |
| 43 | * BedmateReveal: A bedridden JP acts a bit weird and antisocial towards Kingsley. After K leaves, Vod's mum Chris pops her head out from under the covers. |
| 44 | ** Kingsley discovers Josie is sleeping in the same bed as him and Heather, causing him to splutter, "[[LampshadeHanging Why is she in our bed?!]]" |
| 45 | * BerserkButton: Few of the main students really have this trait. Howard explodes a couple of times when people infer that, just because he's a nerd, he must like Lord of the Rings. [[EvenNerdsHaveStandards He really, really doesn't]]. Beyond the main cast, Vod's alcoholic mum does though; she suddenly transforms into the aforementioned 'Beast' when she realizes she forgot to buy the duck for dinner. |
| 46 | * BettyAndVeronica: Josie and Ruth respectively to Kingsley, in series 1. Then in series 2, Heather is the new Betty and Josie has become the Veronica. |
| 47 | * BeYourself: Parodied - JP attempts to teach Howard how to be a "real person." Naturally, he doesn't get very far: |
| 48 | -->'''Howard:''' I'm just being myself... |
| 49 | -->'''JP:''' Why the ''fuck'' would you want to do that?! That is literally the stupidest thing I've ever heard! |
| 50 | * TheBigBoard: When Howard turns AmateurSleuth following a break-in. |
| 51 | * BigBrotherBully: Tomothy to JP in a downplayed example. He comes across as a BigBrotherMentor to JP and has set up a job for him in London, only to pressure JP into taking the job when JP doesn't want it, talking down to JP, ignoring his advice [[spoiler:and even emotionally blackmailing him by bringing up their dead father]]. |
| 52 | * BigBrotherMentor: Tomothy takes on this role for JP in season 4, [[BaitTheDog though it eventually becomes clear that Tomothy is trying to force JP to take a job he himself doesn't want]]. |
| 53 | * BigDamnKiss: [[spoiler: Josie and Kingsley in the series 2 finale. See IUhYouToo below.]] |
| 54 | * BigFancyHouse: JP's family has one in Cornwall. |
| 55 | -->'''JP:''' Welcome to my house -- [[WaxingLyrical my very big house in the country.]] |
| 56 | ** Oregon too, somewhere in southern England, although it doesn't seem to be as palatial as JP's. |
| 57 | * BigWhat: Tomothy, then Oregon, when Vod tells them she thinks she gave Tomothy a dodgy pill. |
| 58 | -->'''Vod:''' I sold [Tomothy] a dodgy pill and I'm worried he's gonna die. |
| 59 | -->'''Tomothy:''' [[OhCrap What?!]] |
| 60 | * BingeMontage: The "freak out", notably including a shot of red wine to the eyeball and JP hotboxing an antique knight's helmet. |
| 61 | * BizarroUniverse: Noah and his four mates live in the house next door, and they are all handsome, fashionable, ultra-clean and basically the polar opposite of the main characters. Josie steps into this universe and lives like a queen with them for an episode. |
| 62 | * BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The group (sans Josie) ends their academic careers with varying degrees of success, though it's underscored by overall mediocrity, save for Howard. Still, they end on a (mostly) good note, save for Josie, who closes the series with a sweep of the now-empty house as she's clearly saddened by the prospect of a year alone as she finishes her degree.]] |
| 63 | ** [[spoiler:The song playing during the scene[[note]]Carina Round's "Backseat"[[/note]] underscores the mood, describing relationships that "should have been forever" but are now just memories from one stage of your life. Anyone who's lost or is losing contact with friends they hung out with daily in college can feel this scene hit ''hard.'']] |
| 64 | * BlackComedy: Josie uncovers a picture in JP's room that he drew of himself hanging from a noose. He says he drew it for fun because of the stress of the upcoming finals. |
| 65 | * BlackComedyRape: Vod on Riz: "I might rape him." |
| 66 | ** In-universe, Oregon does this a lot when she's trying to demonstrate her edginess. |
| 67 | -->"Harvest the men. Rape the men! We're like feminist vikings." |
| 68 | -->"I woke up a few times on my year off having had a penis I didn't know about." |
| 69 | ** An early season one plot has JP concerned that he might have assaulted someone after he blacks out drunk during sex. There's a moral message about JP learning to respect women and the vulnerability of university freshmen, but it's mostly played for laughs. |
| 70 | -->'''JP:''' I really like her. And I'd like to take her out again. Only thing is, if I've raped her, I don't think she'll want to go. |
| 71 | * BlatantLies: Most of what Oregon claims she has done. |
| 72 | ** Josie accidentally drills through a patient's cheek in her dentistry practical, [[FromBadToWorse the bit then comes off the drill when she tries to remove it, and then she finds the bit is stuck in the girl's cheek]]. Josie assures her that everything's totally fine. |
| 73 | * BookEnds: |
| 74 | ** Howard using a hairdryer to air-dry Peking ducks at the beginning of series 1, and to defrost a frozen Christmas turkey at the end. |
| 75 | ** One episode opens with Vod frantically cleaning the living room in preparation for her mother's arrival. It ends with [[FriendshipMoment everyone else]] cleaning up the living room [[spoiler:after her mother smashes it up in a drunken fury.]] |
| 76 | * BoyishShortHair: Vod throughout most of her stint at Manchester Medlock, a summation of her outrageously ladette personality. |
| 77 | ** Averted when she dons some hair extensions in one episode, when she falls in love with Al the Handyman. |
| 78 | ** In Season 4 she finally grows long, feminine hair, although she keeps one side shaven and retains her boyish punk clothes. |
| 79 | * [[GirlPosse Boy Posse]]: The Stowe-aways, a group of hugely entitled posh boys and JP's fellow [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stowe_School Stowe School]] graduates who engage in cruel hazing, bizarre sexual games and look down on anyone who isn't them. JP is desperate for their approval. |
| 80 | * BreakUpBonfire: Non-romantic variation, after Vod falls out with [[spoiler:her mother]], she burns anything that reminds her of her on the barbecue. |
| 81 | * UsefulNotes/BritishAccents: The show has a ''lot'' of different ones. In many cases this is due to ActorSharedBackground, but it also serves to underscore the cosmopolitan nature of the larger UK universities. |
| 82 | ** Josie comes from the Welsh valleys, and she sounds like it. |
| 83 | ** Kingsley, being an Essex boy, speaks with an Estuary accent. |
| 84 | ** Vod appears to speak Multicultural London English (MLE), though she grew up in a number of areas due to being a military brat. |
| 85 | ** Howard is clearly Scottish (more specifically Glaswegian). |
| 86 | ** Candice has an extremely prominent Yorkshire accent. |
| 87 | ** JP and Oregon are the only major characters who don't sound "regional," though this is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] since they are the posh ones in the house. |
| 88 | * UsefulNotes/BritishUnis: Manchester Metropolitan University [[FictionalCounterpart with the serial numbers filed off]]. |
| 89 | * BrickJoke: Vod gets the idea to get Al the handyman to come back to the house by attempting to flush a pair of jeans down the toilet. At the end, Howard answers the door to a different handyman (as Oregon reported Al for the burglary offscreen) who was called out to remove said jeans from the toilet. |
| 90 | * BritsLoveTea: Britishness is showing. With tea-drinking. |
| 91 | ** Vod drinks tea, despite being the opposite of the stereotypical tea drinker. |
| 92 | ** Candice starts making daily cups of tea for Howard for seemingly no reason; the faint sparks of their romance to come, in spite of Howard's paranoia and geek logic. |
| 93 | * BrokenPedestal: Averted. While staying in JP's house, Vod finds a series of letters from JP's father to a lover he had. Knowing that it would result in this trope if JP found out, Vod burns the letters. |
| 94 | * BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats: The Stowe-Aways, embarrasing InitiationCeremony included. |
| 95 | -->'''Tobes:''' There's a bit more to being a Stowe-Away than banter. |
| 96 | -->'''Ralph:''' Yeah, it's not just about going to a Chinese restaurant and doing a shit in a pint glass. |
| 97 | -->'''Tobes:''' It is ''partly'' about that... |
| 98 | * {{Buttmonkey}}: Oregon. Throughout the series, most of her endeavours wind up failing in one way or another, and her few successes are [[spoiler: revealed to have been orchestrated by her ex-lover Tony Shales.]] Meanwhile, her romantic relationships fail more spectacularly than those of any of the other characters. |
| 99 | * CabinFever: When Vod first enters the house and catches a pant-less Howard drying Peking ducks with a hairdryer, he "explains" that he hasn't spoken to another human being "for some time". |
| 100 | * CallBack: Several to the pilot episode alone; |
| 101 | ** "Hump me with your mega-cock!", called back in series 3 with "Hump me with your [=PowerPoint=]!" |
| 102 | ** JP objecting to someone using "his" bathroom while he's in the shower. |
| 103 | ** Kingsley's first impression of JP is that he's the kind of public school boy who's into communal masturbation. It later emerges that that's exactly what he used to do in his Stowe days. |
| 104 | * CallingShotgun: [[AlphaBitch King Ralph]] does this when he and JP meet Tobes' [[EveryoneLooksSexierIfFrench sexy French cousin]], and calls JP getting friendly with her [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain "infringing on his copyright".]] |
| 105 | * CallingTheOldManOut: Vod's [[spoiler:"You're a shit mother."]] It doesn't go down well. |
| 106 | * CaptainOblivious: Oregon's "Insufficient funds? What does that mean? Is it the bank? Does the bank have insufficient funds to pay me?" |
| 107 | * CaptainObvious: When Oregon stops having sex with Hasan and sees blood on her hand from his penis, she remarks, "That can't be good." |
| 108 | * CasanovaWannabe: Although JP does have a healthy enough sex life, he has only a lukewarm success rate with picking up girls, and gets fobbed off and rejected many, many times throughout the show. Compares badly to Kingsley who [[spoiler:casually sleeps with almost every girl or woman he talks to]]. |
| 109 | ** JP's older brother Tomothy when he tries to cheat on his wife with Josie. |
| 110 | * TheCastShowOff: Oregon's impromptu rendition of "Black Velvet", especially after [[StylisticSuck Kingsley's attempts at singing]]. Both play the guitar, too. |
| 111 | * CaughtWithYourPantsDown: Almost everybody in the opening scene of the penultimate episode. The day before finals Josie goes around the house trying to bring her friends morning cups of tea, only to walk in on, in turn, Kingsley (trousers round his ankles), Vod (eating Nutella off a knife with her other hand) and Oregon (using a riding crop as an aid. "Oh my god. Don't look at me!") all going at it. When she comes to the cellar door she at least pauses long enough for Howard to warn her off ("I'm masturbating, and no, I do not have time to stop."), but she's still fool enough to walk in on JP (who, luckily, is having a depression spiral instead of a wank). |
| 112 | * CheatersNeverProsper: |
| 113 | ** JP tries to get out of his geology exam in the first series, but decides to sit it after bribing Dan to reveal the questions to him. When he finally sits the exam, he finds that Dan had lied about what the questions were. |
| 114 | ** At the pub quiz final, JP buzzes in with the correct answer... to the next question, having missed a line when he was reading the answer sheet. Sam is not impressed. |
| 115 | -->'''JP''': I just didn't want to look stupid! |
| 116 | -->'''Sam''': You didn't even cheat properly, that's how stupid you are! |
| 117 | * ChekhovsGun: The "freak out" episode has JP fish out a couple of shotguns when he's planning to defend the house against the people his mother intends to sell it to. Not only do he and Vod proceed to wave them around [[JugglingLoadedGuns in a decidedly irresponsible manner]] for the rest of the episode while everyone gets steadily drunk, but JP then reveals he once shot a man accidentally on a pheasant hunt. In the end, [[spoiler:the trope is subverted -- nobody gets shot.]] |
| 118 | ** In the burglary episode, Al the handyman gives JP advice that JP gives to the second handyman at the end, involving bolts, screw blades and socket heads. |
| 119 | ** From the same episode, Sabine suggests that they could look for their stolen possessions in a skip. Josie is seen doing this in the final scene and find's JP's father's urn, much to her relief, before accidentally spilling the ashes out of it. |
| 120 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Only a minor example, but Dan the Geology Man disappears after season two and is never mentioned again by any of his students. |
| 121 | ** Brian, a fairly pivotal side character in the later episodes of Season 1, and set up to be a sort of ArchNemesis to Howard, completely vanishes after Season 1 Episode 7 with absolutely no explanation. |
| 122 | * CitizenshipMarriage: Vod and Javier. In a subversion, Vod only wants him to be a citizen so he can get a job and make enough money to catch a plane back to Venezuela... Javier, on the other hand, is genuinely in love with her and thinks it's for real. |
| 123 | * ContinuityNod: |
| 124 | ** Many, but a notable one is JP continuing to call Kingsley "[[IronicNickname Knutsford]]" well into the third season, based on a brief gag in the opening minutes of the pilot. Similarly, all the housemates disparagingly refer to Kingsley as "[[IronicNickname The Pussy Man]]" intermittently throughout the series after a similar [[BlatantLies entirely erroneous admission]] in the same scene of the pilot. |
| 125 | ** The penultimate episode of series three sees tensions boiling over, and ''everything'' everyone has done to piss the others off gets dragged out into the open. |
| 126 | * CorruptTheCutie: Candice joins the house as a frumpy, mousy, sheltered girl from a religious family, wearing almost Amish-like clothes. Over the course of season 3, as she experiences life in the house, she becomes a radical feminist, then latterly a goth, and then begins a relationship with Howard. |
| 127 | ** Dylan Shales is a happy, laid-back, friendly gentleman with a zest for life, and he is made up when he begins dating Oregon. By the end of season 2, [[spoiler:his relationship with his father is destroyed, and he sets his mattress on fire and gets drunk on hard liquor, before telling Oregon to do one.]] |
| 128 | * CringeComedy: Kingsley's interpretive dance for his Drama class is met with a horribly awkward silence. |
| 129 | ** JP hyping his DJ set in the Series 1 finale: "DJ Rape is gonna rock them whether they like it or not". |
| 130 | * DeadpanSnarker: JP, Vod and Howard are the biggest offenders, but all of the housemates do this from time to time too, such as Kingsley in the burglary episode. |
| 131 | * DeathGlare: Oregon gives Vod one [[spoiler:after suggesting in the final episode they go for a masters. In fact it's because Oregon got a lower grade that Vod did. Oregon got a 2:2, while Vod got a 2:1.]] |
| 132 | * DefensiveWhat: Josie to Heather and Kingsley after they stare at her taking a bottle of vodka out of the freezer. |
| 133 | * DescriptionCut: Kingsley, JP and Howard are about to head out for a boys' night out, with no girls allowed, and they start dancing, singing and getting rowdy. One cut later, they're quietly drinking in a deserted pub with Vod and Oregon. |
| 134 | -->'''Vod''': I haven't been on a boys' night out for ages, cheers Kingsley! |
| 135 | * DesperatelyCravesAffection: Desperate Dan the Geology Tutor Man. |
| 136 | ** JP is the only member of the house who hasn't had a meaningful relationship. [[CasanovaWannabe But even his sex life starts to look pretty bleak]]. |
| 137 | * DidNotGetTheGirl: JP and Howard are both crushingly rejected by Sam, despite both thinking they had a big chance of scoring. |
| 138 | ** Howard almost dates Lauren the Geology Girl, but is left devastated when she rejects him (thanks to Brian freaking her out). |
| 139 | -->'''Howard''': All relationships are doomed. If you emotionally undress in front of someone, they will pour acid on your shivering skin, and leave you, to die. |
| 140 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: Kingsley drops out of Geology only weeks in, and transfers to Drama, based on nothing other than a) lots of hot girls being in the Drama class, and b) JP verbally committing to do the same. When JP naturally flakes out, he's left studying for a course he hates, with no friends and nothing in common with any of his classmates. |
| 141 | * DiggingYourselfDeeper: [[spoiler:When Dylan finds out about the affair that Oregon had with Shales (Dylan's father), Oregon blurts that she also had a bit of a crush on his mother, too.]] |
| 142 | * DisproportionateRetribution: Dan is very angry about Kingsley issuing an official complaint about the quality of his teaching, so at the end of a field trip, [[MoralEventHorizon he forces Kingsley to chase after the van and then drives off without him, leaving him stranded in the Pennines]]. The kicker ([[{{Pun}} no pun intended]])? Kingsley had a broken leg (after JP fell on him when he escaped off a ledge he was previously trapped on). |
| 143 | * [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength Doesn't Know Her Own Strength]]: Josie, annoyed at Heather constantly gushing about her new relationship with Kingsley, takes their self-defence class with Sabine a little too seriously and breaks Heather's arm. |
| 144 | * DoNotCallMePaul: Oregon. |
| 145 | * DontComeAKnockin: Various objects in the house are shown falling over as Howard and Sabine "make fuck buddies." |
| 146 | * DressesTheSame: For a while in the first series, Oregon begins copying Vod's fashion and buying the same clothes, much to Vod's chagrin. |
| 147 | ** Josie then does the exact same thing in series four, with her new "Jobbo" persona. Vod is even less pleased with this than with Oregon. |
| 148 | * DrowningMySorrows: After Josie is kicked off her dentistry course, she turns to the alcohol for comfort. [[spoiler:This was also after she had accidentally caused the burglary earlier in the same episode.]] She is seen getting a bottle of vodka out of the freezer and Heather remarks to Kingsley on how fragile Josie is. |
| 149 | ** Vod's mother does this, being TheAlcoholic, and becomes "The Beast" when she drinks too much, which amounts to flying into a drunken rage and caused Vod to have to hide under her bed until her mother passed out. [[FridgeHorror This happened a lot]]. |
| 150 | * DrunkDriver: When a paralytic Josie decides to drive from Cornwall to Wales to gatecrash her ex's wedding, the less-drunk-but-still-a-bit-drunk Kingsley ends up driving her instead. |
| 151 | -->'''Kingsley:''' ''[after Josie trips up trying to get to her car]'' You're too drunk to ''drunk-drive!'' That's pretty drunk! |
| 152 | * DudeMagnet: New fresher Sam becomes the object of desire for JP, Howard ''and'' Kingsley in season 3, even when the latter is in a fully committed relationship with Josie. [[spoiler:She sleeps with JP once, but ultimately rejects all three of them.]] |
| 153 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In Ralph and Tobes' first appearance, they barely recognise JP. At the beginning of series three, Ralph implies their mothers are friends, suggesting he has known JP reasonably well for quite some time. |
| 154 | * EmbarrassingNickname: |
| 155 | ** Kingsley briefly tries to reinvent himself as "[[TheCasanova The Pussyman]]", and J.P. never lets him forget it. |
| 156 | -->'''JP''': Kingsley's a virgin? No, wait...The ''Pussyman'' is a virgin?!? |
| 157 | ** Vod (real name Violet)'s mother calls her "Milly", to her friends' confusion. It later becomes apparent that it's because she was born when her mother was a teenager and was her "little Milly millstone round my neck". More of a Painfully Cruel Nickname, really. |
| 158 | ** JP is referred to variously as "J-Penis" or "J-Paedo" by his friends from Stowe. |
| 159 | ** JP calls Howard "Preparation H" at one point in the third series, in front of his crush Sam no less. |
| 160 | * EroticEating: |
| 161 | ** Vod does this to a colleague of Shales' to piss off Oregon. It's not entirely clear if she's [[FanDisservice trying to make it disgusting]] or if she's just ''really'' bad at it... |
| 162 | ** When JP tries to take a break from masturbating, he gets extremely flustered at seeing Oregon eat a banana. |
| 163 | * EurekaMoment: Howard has one in the burglary episode when recalling Josie's comment about Oregon accusing the housemates of doing it. |
| 164 | -->'''Howard''': ''[[imitating Josie]]'' "To start accusing your own housemates of robbery. Housemates. Housemates... |
| 165 | * EuropeansAreKinky: Sabine is extremely pragmatic about sex and very up-front about having a [[FriendsWithbenefits fuckbuddy]]. When her usual guy doesn't show up on time, [[spoiler:she matter-of-factly invites Howard to fill in. He obliges. "Jumanji!"]]. |
| 166 | * EvenNerdsHaveStandards: Howard thinks Brian is a weirdo. Everyone else thinks ''Howard'' is a weirdo. |
| 167 | * EvenTheGuysWantHim: Javier, who is an object of lust for the entire flat. He is [[CaptainOblivious oblivious]] to this. |
| 168 | * EverybodyHasLotsOfSex: Pretty much every single character is incredibly sexually active and few act otherwise. Even socially awkward house loner Howard unexpectedly gets in on the action with multiple girls. |
| 169 | * EveryManHasHisPrice: How JP secures the nicest room in the house in the first episode. |
| 170 | * EveryoneHasStandards: While each of the housemates has done their share of nasty and selfish things, they're all visibly horrified when they realize what an awful, abusive person [[spoiler:Vod's mom]] is, and how terrible [[spoiler:her childhood]] must've been. |
| 171 | * EveryoneLooksSexierIfFrench: JP falls for the French cousin of one of the Stowe-aways. |
| 172 | * EveryoneMeetsEveryone: The six housemates all hail from completely different areas of the UK, as well as different social classes, and all meet each other for the first time in episode 1. A key part of the show's earlier series was capturing that horrifying first year awkwardness, that most British university students often throw themselves into. |
| 173 | * EvilMatriarch: Chris, Vod's mother. She is a huge {{Jerkass}} who says, in Vod's presence, that she wanted an abortion but was too late, and has regretted it every day since, and she does this ''while laughing about it''. She is also TheAlcoholic, insults her daughter to her face, calls her "Milly" (for "millstone") and goes on huge drunken tirades [[NeverMyFault blaming other people for her own mistakes]]. |
| 174 | * ExactEavesdropping: Josie wakes up to overhear Kingsley's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove while they're alone in a car, and feigns still being asleep. What she can't see is that he's on the phone to Heather. |
| 175 | * ExactWords: This happened as part of an event in Vod's childhood, where Vod told her mother not to get drunk on one of her sports days. She didn't get drunk. She took acid instead, mistook another child (a boy, no less) for Vod, tried to take him home, and the police got involved. According to Vod, [[FridgeHorror this was normal for her]]. |
| 176 | * ExperimentedInCollege: "Dorm rules" in JP's public school. Paraphrased; |
| 177 | -->'''Giles:''' Come on, all the "power showers"... when you think about it, it was pretty gay.\ |
| 178 | '''JP:''' What's gay about it?\ |
| 179 | '''Giles:''' What, two men wanking each other off?\ |
| 180 | '''JP:''' Don't call it ''that!'' |
| 181 | ** At one point, Oregon decides she needs to do this in order to prove she's not homophobic. See TestKiss below. |
| 182 | * ExpositoryHairstyleChange: |
| 183 | ** Oregon's frequent hairstyle changes as she tries out new personas. |
| 184 | ** Kingsley's post-heartbreak [[Literature/TheGame2005 soul patch]]. |
| 185 | * FaceDoodling: JP draws a massive cock on Howard's forehead in the very first episode. |
| 186 | -->'''Kingsley''': So, dick-drawing on a fellow housemate. Was that cool? |
| 187 | -->'''JP''': Pen-cocks are going to happen, mate. It's just part of living together. |
| 188 | * FakingAndEntering: Josie and Heather, when they try to cover up their being responsible for the burglary. |
| 189 | * FalseRapeAccusation: Not exactly, but Josie tells Dave that Kingsley [[BlatantLies "molested her mind"]] to get her to have sex with him. |
| 190 | * FalseStart: Kingsley and Josie. [[BelligerentSexualTension Repeatedly.]] |
| 191 | * TheFellowshipHasEnded: [[spoiler:The final episode, where most of the housemates finish their degrees and part ways, though downplayed in that some of the group do stay paired up. Howard lands an internship that requires him living in London, Vod and Oregon are off to Laos to teach and write a book respectively, and JP and Kingsley are planning on living together, with the former planning on using his connections to get employment and the latter living rent-free with an unpaid internship. Only Josie is left behind and alone to finish her degree, [[BittersweetEnding a prospect she isn't looking forward to.]]]] |
| 192 | * FemininityFailure: When Vod dresses up for Al the handyman, she actually looks quite nice, except she ruins it with her obvious self-consciousness, her weird infatuation-induced sweatiness, and the fact she [[spoiler:awkwardly removes everything including her hair extensions and false eyelashes before shagging him]]. |
| 193 | * FictionalCounterpart: While clearly set and filmed around Mancunian universities, the students themselves attend the fictional Manchester Medlock University. |
| 194 | * {{Fingore}}: Vod tells the others of a break-in where someone got tied to a chair and his fingers were cut off one by one until his gave up his PIN. |
| 195 | * FishOutOfWater: Kingsley is shown to be a loner and an outcast in his Drama course, with only the promiscuous, manipulative Ruth acknowledging his existence. During an animal dancing session, he is made to stand in place as a single quiet sheep, while the entire rest of the class bounces around pretending to be loud monkeys. |
| 196 | * FiveTokenBand: Each member of the cast is from a different part of the UK, and from a different social class. A lot of the humour is from the ValuesDissonance between them all. Very much TruthInTelevision for British unis. |
| 197 | * ForeignQueasine: Josie’s speciality dish of “Munge.” |
| 198 | * TheFriendNobodyLikes: |
| 199 | ** JP in series one, but they get used to him. It even gets {{Lampshaded}} by him. |
| 200 | ** Sabine, who became a new room-mate at the start of series two due to a [[PoorCommunicationKills misunderstanding]] everyone was too socially awkward to sort out. She knows she's disliked in the house, and this is not helped by the fact she dislikes the housemates and gives up attempting to talk to them after a few episodes. [[spoiler: She's got a friend in Howard though, after they become "fuck buddies" at least.]] |
| 201 | ** Howard tends to be better-received than JP is, but even the other housemates are often put off by his occasionally bizarre behavior, and Josie admits near the end of Season 4 that she can usually only tolerate him for a few minutes at a time. Also, ''nobody'' is interested in his suggestion of living together in London. |
| 202 | * FriendshipMoment: The gang driving JP up to his Dad's funeral and sticking up for him at the party. |
| 203 | ** When Kingsley gives Howard his invite to the BP 'promising students' dinner. |
| 204 | ** Vod and JP have one at his family's home when he talks about his two "crying steps". It even ends with Vod hesitantly lying her head on his shoulder to comfort him. |
| 205 | ** Vod and Oregon share many such moments throughout the series. Their friendship is by far the most volatile, and is really put to the test on many occasions. However, no matter how bitter or spiteful they become to each other, they always warmly embrace and make up with each other in the end. |
| 206 | * FriendVersusLover: Kingsley and Josie, over Heather. They form up a custody agreement as to who gets to have her on different nights of the week. |
| 207 | * TheFriendsWhoNeverHang: Howard and Oregon have almost no scenes together without the other members of the group present. |
| 208 | * FullNameBasis: When someone refers to Paul Lamb the Invisible Man as "Paul", JP has no idea who they're talking about. Despite the fact he lives in the same house. |
| 209 | * FullNameUltimatum: Josie gets this in a text message when she's summoned to a disciplinary hearing after getting kicked off her dentistry course, as it refers to her as "Josephine Jones". |
| 210 | * TheFunInFuneral: The students attend JP's dad's funeral in 1x8, partly as a show of support to JP, partly for other reasons. |
| 211 | -->'''Vod''': Seriously, if I knew the food was going to be this good at my dad's funeral, I'd kill the fucker tomorrow! |
| 212 | * GayBravado: JP's is put to the test when he discovers one of his old public school mates is ''actually'' gay. Also, due to this trope (plus a dash of SelectiveObliviousness from JP), Giles' attempts to explain this fact to him turn into an OverlyLongGag. |
| 213 | * {{Gaydar}}: [[AmbiguouslyBi Vod]] can tell Oregon isn't gay "because of your shoulders. I don't know, it's something about your shoulders."]] |
| 214 | * GenderEqualEnsemble: Played straight with the six leads, with three guys (JP, Kingsley and Howard) and three girls (Oregon, Vod and Josie). |
| 215 | ** Subverted when you include the other housemates they've had: Paul Lamb, Sabine, Candace and Javier. |
| 216 | * GenreSavvy: |
| 217 | -->'''JP:''' "Am I the posh one you all secretly hate?"\ |
| 218 | '''Howard:''' "I've seen enough [[RomanticComedy rom coms]] to know... [[BelligerentSexualTension if you 'hate' her]], [[DiscussedTrope you must like her.]]" |
| 219 | * GetOut: [[spoiler:Chris yells at everyone to fuck off when she flips out and starts tearing the place apart.]] |
| 220 | ** In the final episode, [[spoiler:[[RageBreakingPoint JP tells Tomothy to fuck off after having had enough of him]].]] |
| 221 | ** Also in the final episode, Vod orders everyone out of the house party when the house starts cracking up (no, really, cracks start appearing in the walls and plaster is shaken down from the ceiling!) due to the sheer amount of people inside. |
| 222 | * TheGhost: Paul Lamb the Invisible Man - also the only housemate whose full name is given in the first episode (and [[FullNameBasis used thereafter every time he's mentioned]]). |
| 223 | ** Deconstructed (albeit [[PlayedForLaughs For Laughs]]) in the finale: apparently Paul Lamb the Invisible Man has been around the whole time, but the housemates have just been completely oblivious to him. He moved out after ([[FridgeHorror understandably]]) having a nervous breakdown, and no-one noticed. |
| 224 | * GirlOnGirlIsHot: When the possibility arises of a curious Oregon snogging a drunk Josie, JP is delighted. When they tell them they'll only do it [[Film/AmericanPie if JP kisses Kingsley first]], he goes for it. (While Kingsley has to be convinced. At shotgun-point.) |
| 225 | * GuyOnGuyIsHot: Vod’s response to seeing JP kiss Kingsley is an approving “Hot.” |
| 226 | * GraduationForEveryone: Averted; at the finale, Josie still has a year left for her degree, which, sadly, leaves her the only one left behind as [[TheFellowshipHasEnded everyone else moves on to the next stage of their lives.]] [[spoiler:Not that it's an instant happy ending for all: Howard received the highest marks, with most of the other group receiving realistically mediocre or poor marks due to their academic habits.]] |
| 227 | * GratuitousSpanish: Vod had a summer fling with Javier while she and Oregon were travelling in South America, but since Vod can't speak Spanish, Oregon had to translate for her. |
| 228 | * GrossUpCloseUp: Sabine rubbing an ice cube on her bruised face (and sucking on it) that both the viewer and the housemates think is made from JP's frozen spunk. It isn't. [[spoiler: JP unknowingly downs them at the end of the episode to the rest of the house's horror/delight.]] |
| 229 | * HairTriggerTemper: Dave. |
| 230 | * HappyEndingOverride: In the final episode of season 3, after a lengthy period of UnresolvedSexualTension, [[spoiler:Candace and Howard]] finally hook up. But by the first episode of season 4 [[spoiler:Candace]] has been PutOnABus, so [[spoiler:she breaks up with him over the phone.]] |
| 231 | * HarpOfFemininity: Ruth has a Harp of Femininity in her dorm room, apparently for decorative purposes. Kingsley is utterly amazed by it. |
| 232 | -->'''Josie''': She is ''such'' a dick. |
| 233 | -->'''Kingsley''': Yeah, she's a bit of a...she's kind of, she's interesting, isn't she? |
| 234 | -->'''Josie''': No, not really. |
| 235 | -->'''Kingsley''': No, but she's, she's sort of intense. She's got a harp! |
| 236 | * HasAType: Kingsley falls for two girls of East Asian descent. |
| 237 | * HeadphonesEqualIsolation: Vod, occasionally. At one point she fails to realise that the hoover she's using is turned off. Kingsley also has some, they are stolen when the house gets burgled in the second season. |
| 238 | * HeadTiltinglyKinky: A "Rafael Nadal backhand" is witnessed in Paul Lamb the Invisible Man's secretly filmed moment of masturbation. It gets a synchronised three-man head-tilt from the Stowe-Aways. |
| 239 | ** ...as does the photo of JP's dad and his lover: "We don't know if they were doing it... oh yeah, they were definitely doing it" |
| 240 | * HeelRealization: More or less forced upon Josie by Kingsley in the episode where the house gets burgled. [[spoiler:Josie had left her key in the door by accident while heading out and Sabine got the blame from Howard because of Howard nursing a spite against her. Kingsley got the truth out of Heather and decided to keep quiet, but when Howard pointed the finger of blame at Sabine, Kingsley confronted her and chewed her out outside, and in the next scene, so did everyone else after Josie revealed the truth.]] Includes TearsOfRemorse. |
| 241 | -->'''Josie''': ''[sobbing]'' "I'm a really terrible person. I've done really, really terrible things." |
| 242 | * HerCodenameWasMarySue: Oregon writes a play ("We Had to Kill Her") in which a girl called Delphine [[OnlySaneMan puts up with a cavalcade of idiots]] like Gwen, a Welsh simpleton who has sex with anyone and wears a sack, her boyfriend "Ainsley" (also in love with Delphine, as is everyone), a pair of villains who are described as "a posh twat and a Scottish slob", and the main villain, Hilda, who deceives a guy called Alfonso into marrying her for selfish reasons and ends up getting smothered to death by Delphine. The housemates find out about it... and, self-serving as it is, [[BrutalHonesty it actually serves]] as a pretty effective WhatTheHellHero to several of them, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone including Oregon]]. |
| 243 | * HeroesGoneFishing: Obviously, every time the group is seen in the pub. |
| 244 | ** At the start of the second series, JP is shopping with Giles and taking selfies of him. |
| 245 | ** Kingsley is seen practising his guitar a few times. |
| 246 | * HiddenDepths: Pretty much everyone - at least, hidden from each other. |
| 247 | * HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Deconstructed with Vod: the revelations of how her HardDrinkingPartyGirl mother brought her up are initially played like this, with even Vod herself trying to laugh them off ("Mums eh? You know what mums are like.") But it gradually becomes clear just how awful her mum is, and just how much it affected Vod. |
| 248 | * {{Hipster}}: Heather is the biggest example. She wears trendy clothes, has an unusual haircut, and speaks almost entirely in sarcasm and irony. The housemates actually take the piss out of her behind her back for it. |
| 249 | -->'''JP''': Mate, she's a sarcastronaut and she rides an ironocycle! |
| 250 | ** Kingsley sheds his dorkiness after season 1 and adopts a fedora, a soul patch, a guitar and a massive dose of pretentiousness. |
| 251 | -->'''Kingsley''': Heh. Oregon, you want to bring back The Vicar of Dibley? Start a petition. You want to change the world? Write a song. |
| 252 | ** Oregon is fond of oversized glasses and bureaucratic haircuts. |
| 253 | * HotLibrarian: Dylan is a male example, and Oregon falls for him in the burglary episode, so much so she introduces herself to him using her real name. Unfortunately, it turns out he's the son of Tony Shales, giving Oregon an OhCrap when she finds out. |
| 254 | * HufflepuffHouse: Kingsley refers to the gang in this way at the beginning of the show, arguing that JP is more of a Slytherin. |
| 255 | * HumiliationConga: |
| 256 | ** Series 2 as a whole is a very long conga for Josie, as her love life, her friendships and her career all rapidly start to fall apart. |
| 257 | ** Oregon in the last episode. She's forced to explain to her mother that she was [[spoiler: removed from her post as President of the Student Union, under-performed everybody except JP in her exams, had affairs with Tony Shales and his son, and accidentally [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin broke another student's dick]] (and got him deported in the process).]] To make matters worse, her acceptance into a master's degree course in Creative Writing is [[spoiler: revealed to have been masterminded by Shales, who switched out Oregon's writing sample with one of his own.]] |
| 258 | * {{Hypocrite}}: Among many other examples, J.P. has a go at Kingsley for pursuing Sam when J.P. "had dibs". He's getting confused; the only "dibs" arrangement was when he offered to play wingman to Howard but asked Sam out for himself because she was too good for him. |
| 259 | * HypocriticalHumor: Soon after Sabine arrives, Josie remarks early on that they should probably talk to Sabine. No one can actually bring themselves to do so when Sabine enters the room. |
| 260 | * IAmSpartacus: Howard claiming responsibility for Paul Lamb the Invisible Man's "[[UnusualEuphemism Rafael Nadal backhand]]" |
| 261 | * IdleRich: Proud, flamboyant posho JP has a seemingly limitless supply of cash from his rich parents and brother, and often just buys his way out of any problem that may arise. He is shown to possess zero appreciation for the value of money. |
| 262 | ** Fellow posho Oregon is very similar, but tries desperately to suppress and obscure her richness. |
| 263 | * IHaveMyWays: How Howard lost his virginity, "technically speaking." |
| 264 | -->'''Howard:''' I have my own... methods. We can get into it if you insist, but I may need some graph paper and a medical encyclopedia. |
| 265 | * IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: JP reveals he once shot a beater (and the father of their current gardener) during a pheasant hunt. The guy ''died'', but it was "a couple of years later when he rejected an organ" (implied to have been required because of the injury), [[NeverMyFault so it's not like it's JP's fault]]. Most worryingly, it [[JugglingLoadedGuns doesn't seem]] to have [[AesopAmnesia taught him any lessons]] about UsefulNotes/GunSafety. |
| 266 | * INeedAFreakingDrink: After Oregon finds out her perfect boyfriend Dylan is Shales' son, she returns to the house and immediately starts knocking back tequila and whisky miniatures in very short order. |
| 267 | ** Later on, Dylan himself reacts in the same way when he finds out Oregon had sex with his father. |
| 268 | * INeedToGoIronMyDog: Vod and JP do this after Josie reveals she opened Oregon's letter and just told Oregon she has been rejected from her Fulbright scholarship (Oregon said she wanted to wait until after her finals to open it). Knowing the situation has just gone ''very'' bad, Vod says she needs to open a window, while JP says he is going to hide behind the box he's sitting against. Neither actually do it, as Oregon starts sobbing and [[PetTheDog they all hug her]]. |
| 269 | * InferioritySuperiorityComplex: There are many instances of JP flip-flopping between cocky, alpha male dickhead and sorrowful, depressed, insecure sadact, often within the same episode. |
| 270 | * InformedPoverty: Kingsley can come across as being this. JP refers to him as "poor" but in Series 2 he arrives back on campus with a completely new wardrobe and two guitars. It's more likely that he's working-class but is considered poor by the absurdly-rich JP. |
| 271 | * InterclassRomance: [[spoiler:Josie and JP end the series as an OfficialCouple even though she has made plenty of derisive jabs about his posh status.]] |
| 272 | * IUhYouToo: In the Series 2 finale: |
| 273 | --> [[spoiler: '''Kingsley:''' I love trumpets. I fucking love them.]] |
| 274 | --> [[spoiler: '''Josie:''' I fucking love them too.]] |
| 275 | * IResembleThatRemark: Sabine accuses Josie of deliberately breaking Heather's arm, and when Josie [[NeverMyFault denies it]], Sabine says she thinks Josie isn't a nice person. Josie's response: "[[PrecisionFStrike Fuck you]]." |
| 276 | * IronicNickname: Kingsley has two, both stemming from the first episode: "Knutsford" (after he tries to get away from JP by claiming he's attending a different university) and "[[EmbarrassingNickname The Pussy Man]]". He [[UrbanLegendLoveLife has only]] himself [[IHaveToGoIronMyDog to blame]] for either of them. |
| 277 | ** The Pussy Man falls out of use somewhere around season 3, but he continues to be called Knutsford through to the very end, including subtle variations like Knutsack. |
| 278 | * ItsAllAboutMe: JP is usually entitled, selfish and largely oblivious of anyone else's needs. Though all the housemates are guilty of this from time to time, especially Josie. |
| 279 | * ItsAllJunk: [[spoiler:JP burning his childhood possessions when he finds out his mother is selling their BigFancyHouse.]] |
| 280 | * {{Jerkass}}: Chris, Vod's mum, is a ''big'' one. She nicknames Vod "Milly" (for millstone, which she sees Vod as), is TheAlcoholic, attempts to get off with JP even though he wants no part of it, tells Kingsley and Josie their relationship is doomed, and wishes Vod was aborted, voicing this out loud within earshot of Vod ''and laughing about it'', and [[NeverMyFault blowing up at other people for her own mistakes]]. [[spoiler:Vod's attempt to call her out on it ("You're a shit mother." - she ''really'' is) results in Chris flying into a drunken rage and wrecking half the house]]. Who can blame Vod for burning everything that reminds her of her mum or her childhood afterwards? |
| 281 | ** Tomothy, JP's older brother. He cheats on his wife with Oregon and later tries to do the same with Josie, who isn't interested, mocks JP's (admittedly ridiculous) career ambitions and [[spoiler:attempts to emotionally blackmail him when JP refuses the job Tomothy set up for him. By the way, all of that is basically emotional abuse. After said blackmail, JP decides he's had enough of Tomothy.]] |
| 282 | ** The Stowe-aways, JP's posh acquaintances, are unrepentant assholes with basically no redeeming qualities whatsoever. |
| 283 | * JerkassHasAPoint: This happens a few times, especially with JP. |
| 284 | ** During the burglary episode, Oregon firmly suspects that Al the handyman is responsible, after an observation from Howard. JP points out the outrageousness and unprecedented nature of her claims, especially as Oregon has no evidence, which he also later points out. |
| 285 | --> '''Oregon:''' [[BlatantLies I'm not being prejudiced,]] but how does a normal guy afford a place like this? |
| 286 | --> '''JP:''' Oh, I don't know. [[DeadpanSnarker Maybe he did some work, and got paid for it]]. |
| 287 | ** JP also called Tomothy out for being unfaithful to his wife because he adulterated with Oregon. [[IgnoredEpiphany Tomothy ignores him and carries on regardless]]. JP later does the same thing when Tomothy gets drunk and makes unwelcome moves towards Josie. |
| 288 | ** Tomothy has good reason for trying to set JP up in a job in London, in that JP is lazy, has bad habits and poor career choices. [[BaitTheDog However, he does go the wrong way about doing it]]. |
| 289 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Arguably all six main characters, though JP and Vod are probably the most obvious examples. All of them think ItsAllAboutMe from time to time (particularly JP and Josie), have done their fair share of stupid, selfish, heartless, and nasty things (sometimes all four at once), but they're good people inside and are clearly capable of [[PetTheDog acts of kindness]]. See EveryoneHasStandards and the Heartwarming page for examples. JP even gets called this when Kingsley agrees with Josie that "[JP] is a dick, but for a dick he's surprisingly all right." |
| 290 | * JugglingLoadedGuns: All through the episode at JP's house, after he digs out a pair of shotguns (while everyone's already drunk). [[spoiler:Chekhov would be spinning in his grave: they never go off.]] |
| 291 | * KarmaHoudini: Thoroughly averted. If a character does something idiotic, expect them to suffer the full consequences. |
| 292 | * KissingUnderTheInfluence: A wasted Vod yanks singer Riz by the shoulder and gives him a massive snog, only to find out to her horror that it's actually drummer Mark. |
| 293 | -->'''Vod''': We've got to go! I've snogged the wrong guy! |
| 294 | -->'''Oregon''': What? |
| 295 | -->'''Vod''': It must be because they were wearing the same jacket... |
| 296 | * LadykillerInLove: |
| 297 | ** {{Gender flip}}ped with Vod when she falls in LoveAtFirstSight with the handyman. |
| 298 | ** J.P., for Sam: |
| 299 | --->''"I know you guys think I'm this lovable rogue, this happy-go-lucky sex machine, and I'm sorry to disappoint you all, but I think... I think I've got a broken heart."'' |
| 300 | * LastMinuteHookup: [[spoiler:Howard and Candice]] in the Season 3 finale, but it doesn't survive into the fourth season. |
| 301 | ** [[spoiler:Josie and JP]] decide to become an OfficialCouple in the series finale after a season of WillTheyOrWontThey. |
| 302 | * LastNameBasis: At his SummationGathering in the burglary episode, Howard insists on using everyone's surnames, which is the first time we learn several of them. |
| 303 | * LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Josie is light, Vod is dark, and Oregon is somewhere in between. Deconstructed in that Josie [[BitchInSheepsClothing isn't as nice as she seems]], while Vod is [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold the opposite.]] |
| 304 | * LimitedSocialCircle: {{Justified|Trope}} with the six main characters, as they've all moved to Manchester from other parts of Britain, so they wouldn't have any friends there beyond their uni mates. |
| 305 | * LiterallyLovingThyNeighbor: Kingsley and Josie, with adjoining bedrooms. |
| 306 | * LockedInTheBathroom: In S1 Ep7, when Dave finds out that Kingsley and JP both slept with Josie, [[OhCrap they both panic]] and lock themselves in the bathroom to get away from him. |
| 307 | * LonersAreFreaks: Howard. Brian even more so. |
| 308 | * LongDistanceRelationship: Josie and Dave. Dave is somewhat more committed to it than Josie is. |
| 309 | ** [[spoiler:Josie has a year left of her degree at the end of the series, while JP graduates and starts a job elsewhere, meaning they'll have to do this. The likelihood of them actually accomplishing this is probably dubious at best, given her track record with Dave...]] |
| 310 | * LoveDodecahedron: Howard's birthday party sees one come to a head: Josie is dating Kingsley, whose ex Heather has just turned up to find out that they dated for a while before she and Kingsley broke up; in front of both of them, J.P. accuses Kingsley of having an (emotional) affair with Sam, who J.P. believes he has "dibs" on. Much face-slapping ensues. |
| 311 | * LoveFatherLoveSon: Oregon is appalled to discover that when she finally falls in LoveAtFirstSight with a guy (enough that she introduces herself by her real name), and who's so generally lovely that even a suspicious Vod signs off as "Mr. Perfect"... he turns out to be the ''son'' of none other than her old flame, Tony Shales. |
| 312 | * {{Manchild}}: JP. |
| 313 | * ManipulativeBastard: "King" Ralph, who among other things successfully manipulates JP out of several thousand pounds of his inheritance from his late father, and at a time when he's feeling particularly vulnerable. |
| 314 | * MayDecemberRomance: Several examples (see AgeGapRomance above) but the most significant one is Oregon and her affair with her English tutor, the married, middle-aged father Professor Tony Shales. It comes back to haunt her, again and again, all the way through to the series' finale. |
| 315 | * MeaningfulName: Lampshaded by Oregon with a character in her play having a very unsubtle example of this. |
| 316 | --> '''Oregon:''' As a matter of fact, Gwen is a metaphor for the demise of feminism, hence why her surname is Feminism. |
| 317 | * MeaningfulRename: [[spoiler: Oregon]]. |
| 318 | * MeetCute: Kingsley and Josie, [[NotWhatItLooksLike through the glory hole]]. |
| 319 | * TheMillstone: [[EvilMatriarch Vod's mother]] firmly believes Vod is this, as she claims Vod ruined her life by being born, and even nicknames her "Milly". |
| 320 | * MistakenForMurderer: Vod, by Howard. |
| 321 | -->'''Vod:''' It's not a human head. It's the weight and shape of a human head, but it's not a human head. |
| 322 | * MistakenForRacist: Vod for kissing Mark after spending all night trying to pull his friend Riz. When she tries to explain that this was only because they were both wearing identical jackets and ''[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial definitely wasn't]]'' because [[RacialFaceBlindness they're both Asian]], she just ends up [[DiggingYourselfDeeper digging herself deeper]]. |
| 323 | * MoodWhiplash: |
| 324 | ** [[spoiler: Dylan tells Oregon that he's come to terms with the fact that she slept with his father, and they kiss each other. He instantly pulls back and states that nope, it's still "too weird" after all and abruptly walks away.]] |
| 325 | ** JP's awkward reaction ("That woman is clearly delusional") after Vod's mum spills [[spoiler: his inability to, erm, lift the drawbridge turns pretty quickly to her flying into a drunken rage, destroying both the kitchen and her relationship with her daughter.]] |
| 326 | * MortonsFork: Kingsley gives Josie one at the end of the burglary episode: [[spoiler:either she confesses to accidentally causing the burglary by leaving her keys in the front door and thus making her look bad in front of everyone, or Kingsley will do it for her and make Josie look worse for not confessing. Josie has a HeelRealization moment and chooses to confess.]] |
| 327 | * MurderTheHypotenuse: J.P., towards Kingsley, when the latter seems to be moving in on his crush Sam. He drops an iron off the staircase that almost hits him, serves him a bowl of risotto with shards of glass in it, and ultimately threatens him with a breadknife. PlayedForLaughs... at least at first. |
| 328 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Josie at the end of the burglary episode. When it looks like Sabine will be blamed for it, Kingsley calls Josie out. Josie breaks down in tears. |
| 329 | ** Josie gets one in series 4 in the truth tent when she gets angry at Vod and smacks her in the face. She immediately regrets it and fearfully apologises, only for Vod to lose her temper and try to attack her. |
| 330 | * MyLocal: The local boozer that the students hang out at is the real-life The Kings Arms in Salford. |
| 331 | * MysteryMeat: The stuff Howard gets free as surplus from his job at the abbatoir. |
| 332 | -->'''JP:''' ''[looking askance at a clear plastic bag full of bloody chunks]'' What's that?\ |
| 333 | '''Howard:''' It's spare meat. From the loose meat bin. Don't worry, there's some animals in that.\ |
| 334 | '''JP:''' Yes, but... which?\ |
| 335 | '''Howard:''' Hark at the gourmand. |
| 336 | * MyBelovedSmother: Kingsley's mother, who he suspects frequently exaggerates her ails in order to keep him near. |
| 337 | * NakedFirstImpression: Vod first meets Howard as he's standing in the living room, drying duck carcasses, wearing a woolly sweater and nothing below the waist. He claims he's got used to wearing "trousers of the mind." |
| 338 | * NationalStereotypes: Oregon (admiringly) on Jean Shales calmly accepting her husband's affair: "That is ''so'' French". |
| 339 | * NeverLendToAFriend: In the series 2 opener Oregon starts getting annoyed at Vod not paying her back all the money she's borrowed... and soon she discovers ''all'' the housemates (except JP) have been lending her money, so they have a house meeting. |
| 340 | -->'''Vod:''' I didn't realise I was living with a bunch of bean counters!\ |
| 341 | '''Kingsley:''' Yeah, we've counted them, and we've got no beans. You've taken all our beans! |
| 342 | * NeverMyFault: |
| 343 | ** Josie regarding kicking Heather so hard in a self-defence lesson that she breaks her arm. First it's Sabine's fault for not teaching her the move properly, then it's ''Heather'''s fault for... [[InsaneTrollLogic some reason.]] |
| 344 | ** Josie also blamed her breakup with Dave on [[ExtremeDoormat Kingsley]] even though she was the one who committed the infidelity -- Kingsley thought she and Dave had already split up. |
| 345 | ** JP regarding the time he accidentally ''shot'' a guy, who later died from donor-organ complications that are implied to be connected to the original injury. It'd be alright if he was at least regretful, but he's totally blasé about the whole thing... |
| 346 | ** Hasan blames Oregon for snapping the banjo string of his penis. Oregon points out that it's not the time to start pointing fingers. |
| 347 | ** Chris forgot to buy the duck for dinner and blames Vod for not reminding her to do so. Vod points out that it was Chris's fault, and that she did remember to get cocaine and [[TheAlcoholic eight bottles of wine]]. |
| 348 | ** In a far worse example, Chris firmly blames Vod for ruining her life by being born. Howard tells Vod that she didn't choose to be born, because no one does. This causes Vod to [[CallingTheOldManOut call her out on her actions]] and give her a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, it causes Chris to [[UnstoppableRage completely flip out at all of them]].]] |
| 349 | * NobodyPoops: Thoroughly averted, to the point that some men's room scenes [[GrossupCloseUp open with a closeup of a stream of wee hitting a urinal]]. |
| 350 | ** Oregon remarks in season 4 when [[ItMakesSenseInContext they're all trapped in the cellar]] that she really needs the loo after eating a bag of dried cranberries, but refuses to do it in a bucket. |
| 351 | * NotSoDifferentRemark: JP suggests that he and Oregon are this when he learns that she owns a horse: "You're one of me!". |
| 352 | * OddFriendship: Vod and Howard. Also JP and Kingsley, JP and Josie... JP and anyone really. |
| 353 | * OhCrap: A domino chain of them in S1 Ep7 when Dave finds out from Brian that Josie's slept with Kingsley. From Howard, Josie herself, then Kingsley and JP (the two had both previously slept with Josie and barricade themselves in the bathroom to keep away from Dave). |
| 354 | --> '''Howard''': Abort, Brian, abort! |
| 355 | ** [[spoiler:Josie has one when she realises she left her keys in the door of the house, then she and Heather have one after they rush back and find the door open.]] |
| 356 | ** Josie three times in quick succession when, in her dentistry practical, [[FromBadToWorse she accidentally drills through a patient's cheek, then the bit comes off the drill, and she finds the bit is stuck in the girl's cheek and she can't remove it]]. Uh-oh... |
| 357 | ** Josie again after she receives a text message summoning her to a disciplinary hearing thanks to the above incident. |
| 358 | ** Oregon has one when she learns that Tony Shales is the father of the boy she has fallen in love with, Dylan. She panics and throws his phone into a lake when Dylan gets a call from him. |
| 359 | ** Shales has one when Oregon tells him that Jean is going to tell Dylan about the affair they had. |
| 360 | ** Oregon and Hasan when they realise Hasan is bleeding because Oregon snapped the banjo string of his penis by riding him too hard. |
| 361 | ** Tomothy has one when Vod tells him that she might have given him a dodgy pill and is worrying he might die. Sabine shows up later in the scene and, much to his relief, tells him the pills are safe. |
| 362 | ** [[spoiler:Everybody when Chris flips out at Vod after Vod gives her a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. Vod tries to get everyone out of the kitchen before they get injured. Howard gets another one after almost getting hit by a bottle thrown by Chris before he is able to get out.]] |
| 363 | ** [[spoiler:In the Skype call after the final episode, Oregon has one when Vod tells her [[ItMakesSenseInContext she thinks she is in Vietnam and has Oregon's passport]].]] |
| 364 | * OfficialCouple: The series teases [[WillTheyOrWontThey Josie and Kingsley]] from the first episode, [[spoiler:but they end up not working out. Ultimately the OfficialCouple is Josie and JP, though the latter's graduation means that they'll be forced to try a long-distance relationship, with a dubious outlook.]] |
| 365 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Three of the housemates have very distinct nicknames. |
| 366 | ** JP: Jonathan Pembersley. |
| 367 | ** Oregon: Melissa Shawcross. She's not keen on people knowing her plain, boring actual first name. |
| 368 | ** Vod: Violet Nordstrom. Though her full first name is given as Voderika at some point [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in the first series.]] |
| 369 | * OminouslyOpenDoor: [[spoiler:This is what greets Josie and Heather after Josie leaves her keys in the door when they rush back to get them.]] |
| 370 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: |
| 371 | ** Vod, when she briefly becomes infatuated with Al the Handyman. She begins wearing hair extensions and Oregon's clothing, and is generally reduced to a nervous wreck. She gets over it by the end of the episode, though. |
| 372 | ** Oregon introduces herself to Dylan using her real name, Melissa. [[YankTheDogsChain Shame it doesn't last...]] |
| 373 | ** After [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown walking in on everyone masturbating]] when bringing them tea, Josie walks in on JP and she expresses surprise that he isn't masturbating too. He remarks that he's tired of it, and the tiredness in his voice implies he's serious. |
| 374 | * OopNorth: While set in Manchester, none of the main characters are actually Mancunians, or even northerners in general. |
| 375 | ** New fresher Candice, in series 3, is the first main character to be a local, with a particularly harsh accent to boot. |
| 376 | ** Oregon especially harbours suspicious prejudices against the locals; she reports Al the Handyman to the police for burglary, purely because of his Mancunian accent. |
| 377 | * PetTheDog: When everyone is trapped in the cellar in season 4, JP jumps to Josie's defence when Kingsley starts laying into her. This causes him to realise the two were having sex, and he is quite hurt to discover he was the only one who didn't previously know. |
| 378 | ** Everyone (bar Kingsley, who is suffering from an ocular migraine) hugging Oregon who's crying over the rejection of her Fulbright scholarship. |
| 379 | ** JP also gets very concerned when Kingsley's condition worsens later, and orders Vod to give up the money so not only can they make it to their finals in the morning, but also because it looks like Kingsley is about to suffer a stroke. He's genuinely concerned for his friend. |
| 380 | ** Vod sticking up for Oregon in front of Oregon's overbearing mother. |
| 381 | * PoliticallyIncorrectHero: JP takes this trope up to eleven. Among other things, he claims that he could have ruled India had he been born a century earlier, dresses as Hitler for Halloween, and asks if anyone would be offended if he "deployed the n-word." |
| 382 | * PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Ralph, who amongst other things believes the problem with modern politics is that no-one is racist or homophobic enough. |
| 383 | * PopStarComposer: Graham Coxon from Blur and Dot Allison wrote two songs performed by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuMjXZYcENA Kingsley]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvxv7jECylA Oregon]] respectively. |
| 384 | * PortmanteauCoupleName: An in-universe example. A jealous Josie disparagingly refers to Heather and Kingsley as "Heathsley" behind their backs. |
| 385 | * PromotionToOpeningTitles: Jelka van Houten (Sabine) and Tony Gardner (Professor Shales), as of series three, replacing the spot normally reserved for Robert Webb (Dan). |
| 386 | ** Strangely enough, Jelka van Houten only gets this promotion ''after'' being demoted from the seventh housemate to an infrequent guest. Faye Marsay (Candice), who replaces van Houten as the seventh housemate and main character, is never listed on the titles and ultimately treated as a guest. |
| 387 | * ProudToBeAGeek: Howard. Oregon has to come to terms with it. |
| 388 | * PronounTrouble: Oregon knocks on her tutor's door, a woman answers it and she asks for Professor Shales, only to be told "''I'm'' Professor Shales." She meant Tony, "the other Professor Shales". This is then subverted in the second series, when Oregon goes to see "Shales" (looking "sexy as hell" according to JP), who turns out to be Jean Shales. |
| 389 | * PutOnABus: "Cunty" Sykes, one of Ralph's EvilMinions, is apparently struck down with M.E. offscreen in Series Two, and is 'signed off' for the rest of the year. |
| 390 | -->'''Tobes:''' [[NoSympathy Lucky prick!]] |
| 391 | ** Candice joins the house in season 3 as a regular, main character, then totally vanishes in season 4. The only explanations we get are some scrappy text messages from her, [[spoiler:terminating her relationship with Howard.]] |
| 392 | * QuitYourWhining: While trapped in the cellar with everyone else and suffering from an ocular migraine, Kingsley loudly laments how he is blind, single, has a low libido, and can't revise for his geology finals the following morning. Josie shouts at him to stop it. He points out he has reason to be unhappy. |
| 393 | * RageBreakingPoint: [[spoiler:JP reaches his when Tomothy not only tries to pressure him into taking a job in London he doesn't want, but also makes unwelcome advances towards Josie while drunk (remember, Josie was in a relationship with JP earlier in the series) and also tries to emotionally blackmail JP into taking the job by bringing up their dead father, most likely knowing JP was a WellDoneSonGuy who NeverGotToSayGoodbye to their father before he died. After that, JP decides he has had enough of Tomothy and shouts at him to fuck off.]] |
| 394 | * RagtagBunchOfMisfits: A bunch of poshos, geeks and Vod. |
| 395 | * RealVehicleReveal: Inverted. Oregon has a brand new car purchased by her posh, well-to-do parents. She spends the first few episodes of season 1 denying its existence and pretending she walks everywhere. She's crudely exposed when Vod accidentally presses the key fob while holding Oregon's handbag. |
| 396 | -->'''Oregon''': My god! I totally forgot I had a car! How cool is that! I feel like I've just won a car! |
| 397 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[spoiler:Vod gives one to her mother, with a voice full of tears, which basically amounts to CallingTheOldManOut. She calls Chris a shit mother who made Vod feel like she was nothing, and blaming her for the way Vod turned out.]] |
| 398 | * RichInDollarsPoorInSense: JP, who is easily manipulated out of money by his frenemies, [[AlphaBitch King Ralph]] and the Stowe-Aways. |
| 399 | ** Oregon is so sheltered and spoiled, that when a cash machine displays "Insufficient Funds", she thinks it means the bank does not have sufficient funds to pay her. |
| 400 | * RidiculouslyLongPhoneHold: In one episode, Howard is on hold for ''48 hours'' while everyone else is at JP's BigFancyHouse. When they finally pick up, Howard is busy hooking up with Sabine. |
| 401 | * RightThroughTheWall: The wall between Kingsley and Josie's rooms is particularly devoid of soundproofing. It clearly used to be a single room that has been cheaply divided in two, and there's a conspicuous "glory hole" between them. Kingsley is rather annoyed at hearing Josie with her boyfriend Dave. Later, when Kingsley starts dating Heather, Josie swaps rooms with Sabine to get away from the noise. |
| 402 | -->'''Sabine:''' I used to live in Japan, where the walls are made of paper. |
| 403 | * RomanticFalseLead: Candice's on-off boyfriend Goth Gary, who she only seems to hang out with to get a reaction out of Howard. |
| 404 | * RoomFullOfCrazy: JP, under stress from the upcoming finals, wrote the word "igneous" on thousands of bits of card and put them up all over his wall. |
| 405 | * RunningGag: Howard's frustration at everyone's blanket assumption that he's a ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' fan. |
| 406 | -->'''Howard:''' I've not seen it! I don't watch films about wizards and magical fucking jewelry! |
| 407 | ** Josie and JP clumsily having drunk sex with each other starts off as a running, throwaway gag, especially as Josie goes on to regret it and pretend it never happened, every single time. However, it eventually becomes a main storyline in the final season. |
| 408 | * SarcasmBlind: Howard has a moment of this. After Oregon fails to come up with any other suspects other than Al, Kingsley sarcastically remarks that [[DeadpanSnarker it might be quicker to look him in a dark room and torture him until he confesses]]. Howard takes it seriously and writes it down. |
| 409 | * TheSchlubPubSeductionDeduction: Howard warns Kingsley about this when he pulls a beautiful blonde girl on their first night at the pub ("This does ''not'' happen! It's a trap! When you wake up [[OrganTheft missing a kidney]], don't say I didn't warn you.") Turns out she's not an organ thief... [[spoiler:she's an evangelical Christian, who talks Kingsley into setting up a standing order.]] |
| 410 | * SchoolOfNoStudying: Count how many times you see anyone study. You won't need to use your other hand. No wonder Vod fails first year. This is taken up to eleven in seasons 3 and 4, where education takes such a backseat that you'd be forgiven for forgetting what the protagonists are even studying, and the character arcs almost never intersect with anything education-related. [[spoiler: Then again, eventually most of the group's final grades are pretty mediocre.]] |
| 411 | * ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: A long-running gag throughout the series with proud posho JP. |
| 412 | ** In the first episode, JP is the last housemate to arrive at Hartnell, and so gets the worst room... until he offers to pay Vod £20 a week to switch. |
| 413 | -->'''Kingsley:''' Hang on, you can't do that! I have strong moral objections!\ |
| 414 | '''JP:''' Alright, how about I also pay for Creator/{{Sky}}+HD, with movies and sport?\ |
| 415 | '''Kingsley:''' ''[beat]'' ...[[EveryManHasHisPrice My moral objections have largely been addressed.]] |
| 416 | ** In series two, he loses out on an invite to the BP dinner with Howard and Vod, but turns up anyway and actually gets in: |
| 417 | -->'''JP''': Here's my invite... |
| 418 | -->'''Bouncer''': No sir, that's fifty pounds. Which is ''half'' an invite. |
| 419 | ** Inverted in series three. After destroying Sam's charity fundraising efforts, he tries to placate her with money, but is flatly rebuffed: |
| 420 | -->'''Sam''': You can't just trash things and then wave 50-quid notes at people like a one-man Bullingdon Club! |
| 421 | * SelectiveObliviousness: Josie when she [[spoiler: gets kicked off her dentistry course for drilling through a patient's cheek.]] She attempts to go to class as though nothing has happened, until her professor tells her in no uncertain terms that he will call security if she shows up again. |
| 422 | * SexEqualsLove: Inverted. Vod falls in love with Al, goes out with him and they have sex. [[spoiler:When she wakes up the following morning, she's lost interest in him, claiming to Oregon, "Love is a poison. Sex is a cure.".]] |
| 423 | * SheCleansUpNicely: |
| 424 | ** Vod gets dolled up in a pink dress and heels ([[StickyFingers belonging to Oregon]]) when Howard takes her to a swanky party hosted by BP. [[spoiler:Turns out to be a set-up for a protest.]] |
| 425 | -->'''JP:''' You're fit! I can't deal with you being fit! Stop it! |
| 426 | *** Subverted, though, when she falls in love with Al the handyman, and dresses up ''mentally''. |
| 427 | ** Kingsley and Josie, early on. |
| 428 | -->'''Kingsley:''' Oh, hi, wow, you look.. that.. fits.. that totally fits you. You've got.. fitting clothes. |
| 429 | * ShoutOut: |
| 430 | ** Vod refers to Shales as "[[Film/TheNuttyProfessor1996 the slutty professor]]". |
| 431 | ** [[Film/KingRalph 'King' Ralph]]. |
| 432 | ** Discussing whether JP's BigFancyHouse might have a gardener, Oregon remarks "[[HotMenAtWork Excellent]]... bit of [[Literature/LadyChatterleysLover Mellors]] action!" |
| 433 | ** Howard's [[TheImmodestOrgasm climactic ejaculation]]: "Film/{{Jumanji}}iiiii!" |
| 434 | ** Vod does her makeup exactly like [[Music/DavidBowie Ziggy Stardust]] to attend a poetry reading. For bonus points, the music playing in the scene is "Panic in Detroit" from ''Aladdin Sane''. |
| 435 | ** One of the band names Oregon comes up with is "Film/TimeBandits". |
| 436 | ** Kingsley reads ''Literature/TheGame2005'' at one point. His new trilby, facial hair and (attempted) dismissive attitude towards women are also references to the pick-up artist subculture. |
| 437 | ** While Vod is being counselled she gets angry at the therapist, which leads her to say this; "Are you not getting this? I mean, I'm giving you everything! This is fucking [[Film/WeNeedToTalkAboutKevin 'We Need to Talk About Vod']]! |
| 438 | ** Many shout outs in season 3, episode 7. Howard mentions ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' when talking about hosting a LAN party, and many famous characters are costume-referenced at Candice's ''H' character' party, almost none of them explained (except for Kingsley, who is ''obviously'' George Harrison. Obviously!) |
| 439 | ** Vod explaining why she wants Howard to pretend to be her boyfriend: "I put my hand down ''WesternAnimation/TheWrongTrousers'', Gromit!" |
| 440 | ** The chorus of Kingsley's protest song, about a lonely military drone over Tunisia: "[[Literature/DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep Well if androids dream of electric sheep]]....do drones dream of electric peeps?" |
| 441 | ** In a moment of anger after taking what is presumed to be a dodgy pill made by Sabine, Tomothy refers to Howard as Stig of the Dump. Only afterwards does he get clarification from Sabine herself that the pill is safe. |
| 442 | * ShowerOfAwkward: Played with a couple of times. |
| 443 | ** In the first episode, JP tries to claim first dibs on the upstairs bathroom, but Howard refuses to be bought off. This leads to a game of chicken where JP uses the shower while Howard sits on the toilet, each waiting to see who'll break first. It's JP; "you're using my humanity against me, you '''''beast!'''''" |
| 444 | ** In a {{callback}} in series 2, Heather starts brushing her teeth while JP is in the shower, and he yells at her to get out. Instead she pulls the curtain aside to take a peek, and her complimentary comments on his... endowment make him entirely forget his annoyance. |
| 445 | * ShowWithinAShow: Oregon's play with characters who are obviously based on her housemates. |
| 446 | * SixthRanger: The house has seven bedrooms; one too many for the six students who form the main cast. The last room is occupied by different guest characters in different series: |
| 447 | ** Series 1: Paul Lamb the Invisible Man, [[TheGhost who the viewers never see]] and the housemates claim not to. [[spoiler:Revealed in the first season finale that he was around the whole time and had a mental breakdown because nobody ever noticed him, hence him leaving the house.]] |
| 448 | ** Series 2: Ph.D student Sabine, who is older, foreign, and more introverted than the rest. Only Howard forms any kind of relationship with her (although Josie becomes her friend in the next series) and she moves out before the series' end. |
| 449 | -->'''Kingsley:''' What do you think about her? I don't know what I think about her. I don't ''not'' like her... but I also don't ''like'' her... |
| 450 | ** Series 3: New fresher Candice moves in and, unlike Paul and Sabine, she becomes a true Seventh Ranger, joining the group on various clubbing nights, house parties and pub crawls. |
| 451 | *** Vod's temporary husband Javier also becomes the Eighth Ranger for a while at the same time! |
| 452 | ** In series 4, Candice is PutOnABus, the room is finally left vacant and the group returns to the original group of series 1. |
| 453 | * SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty: Under JP's ownership, the house rapidly begins to become a derelict, slug-infested shithole, leading Josie to take asylum in Noah's clean, tidy, shiny, perfect house next door. Also there's clean-shaven, professional Series 1 Tony Shales, compared to stubbly, smelly, homeless Series 3 Tony Shales. |
| 454 | %% * SlummingIt: JP and Oregon, the former being more upfront about it, [[SecretlyWealthy the latter pretending to be from a less privileged background.]] |
| 455 | * SlutShaming: Josie's "Pope Kingsley" rant is against this, as she assumes he thinks she's a slut for having sex with JP despite him being a stranger to her at the time. Subverted, as Kingsley's only really upset because he had feelings for her. And her rant does lose a lot of its thunder when it's revealed that she has a boyfriend she's been cheating on (before and after the audience knows of his existence). |
| 456 | * SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Howards wears them. He's ProudToBeAGeek [[spoiler:and in the final episode, he gets the highest grade of all the graduating housemates.]] |
| 457 | * SpiritualSuccessor: |
| 458 | ** To ''Series/TheInbetweeners''. Joe Thomas plays more or less the same character in both shows, at different stages of higher education. ''Fresh Meat'' can easily be thought of as "Simon's adventures at uni" (whereas Will [[Series/FridayNightDinner has gone into writing advertising jingles]].) |
| 459 | ** In terms of premise and characters, the show has a lot of similarities to ''Series/{{Community}}'', in that it's an ensemble cast comedy set at an institution of higher learning, featuring a DeadpanSnarker who puts in as little effort as possible most of the time (Vod & Jeff), a somewhat robotic introvert with possible Autism Spectrum Disorder (Howard & Abed), a TeamMom who [[BitchInSheepsClothing doesn't understand the difference between being sweet and being nice]] (Josie & Shirley), a deeply neurotic overachiever who wants to make a difference but goes about in unproductive ways (Oregon & Annie), and a [[UpperClassTwit clueless rich guy]] who just wants to be included (JP & Pierce). |
| 460 | ** Functions as a spiritual ''predecessor'' to ''Series/BadEducation'', which some fans see as JP becoming--of all things--a schoolteacher. |
| 461 | %% * SpoiledBrat: JP whenever he talks to Mummy. |
| 462 | * SpringtimeForHitler: During the Student Union presidential elections, Vod realizes how much her successful campaign as a joke candidate is hurting Oregon, who's running for real. To make amends, Vod tries to sabotage her own campaign at the last minute, with increasingly stupid and offensive policies, which all just make people cheer even louder for her. Oregon tells Vod to announce the one thing that would ''really'' make her a hate target, which overwhemingly succeeds in doing so: |
| 463 | -->'''Oregon''': {{Two words|AddedEmphasis}}...homophobic rant! |
| 464 | * StalkerWithACrush: |
| 465 | ** Brian's (platonic) pursuit of Howard [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything definitely has shades of stalking.]] |
| 466 | ** [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]]: Howard convinces Kingsley that Heather is stalking him, which causes him to investigate her "stalking" [[HeWhoFightsMonsters in a way that strongly resembles stalking]]. Then Kingsley decides she ''isn't'' stalking him, and they start going out... but by then Josie has decided she ''was'', aided partly by a touch of GreenEyedMonster. The whole time this is going on, Shales is actually stalking Oregon. |
| 467 | ** JP, after Sam has made it clear on several occasions she thinks he's a dick, seems to see himself as the DoggedNiceGuy in a rom-com who just has to win her over. |
| 468 | * StickyFingers: At the start of S2 E3, JP is seen pocketing free pens. |
| 469 | ** Vod has a habit of borrowing Oregon's things without permission, including a dress, a skirt, [[spoiler: and even her ''passport''.]] |
| 470 | * StylisticSuck: Kingsley's venture into being a singer/songwriter. |
| 471 | * SummationGathering: The house meeting Howard calls after working out who in the house staged a burglary. [[spoiler:He wrongly accuses Sabine.]] |
| 472 | * SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: "It's not a human head. It's the same shape and weight as a human head, but it's not one." |
| 473 | * SycophanticServant: Ralph's "mates". He treats them more like slaves, barking orders for them to do his bidding, but they are unquestioningly loyal to him. Even the one he insists on referring to as "[[CountryMatters Cunty]]". |
| 474 | * TakeOurWordForIt: The homophobic rant Vod gives at a student union hustings in order to sabotage her campaign. All we see is "Here's what I think about the gays..." and "...And that's what I think we should do with the gays. Any questions?" |
| 475 | * TantrumThrowing: |
| 476 | ** [[spoiler:Vod's mum.]] PlayedForDrama. |
| 477 | ** Then [[spoiler:J.P. smashes up the kitchen again]] after Howard's party. |
| 478 | * TeacherStudentRomance: Oregon and Professor Tony Shales. |
| 479 | * TeamMom: Josie takes on this role in S4 E5, so as to try and help the others prepare for their finals, considering herself this. It's also because she wants to try and get at least one of them to stay after they graduate, as she doesn't want to spend another year in the house on her own. Oregon points out that it was more like trying to poke her beak into everyone else's business rather than worrying about her own life. |
| 480 | * TearsOfRemorse: Josie when she has her HeelRealization after the house is burgled and she can lie about it no longer. |
| 481 | * TeenPregnancy: Grimly deconstructed. Vod's HardDrinkingPartyGirl mum had her at nineteen, and Vod describes their relationship as being more like sisters. [[spoiler:Except she's resentful of having Vod, and tells her so frequently, even making a jokey nickname out of it. She admits to Vod's face that she went to get an abortion but was told she was too late. When Vod wasn't being the grown-up in the relationship she was hiding under the bed from "The Beast's" violent rages.]] |
| 482 | * TestKiss: Oregon starts getting accused of homophobia on Twitter after she gets a competing magazine shut down which happened to be about LGBT issues. Worried they might be right, she decides that the best way to prove she's not a homophobe is to kiss another girl. Vod is dead against it (she [[{{Gaydar}} can tell Oregon's straight]] "because of your shoulders"), but Josie is just drunk enough to be convinced. [[GirlOnGirlIsHot The boys are delighted]], but when it's pointed out that "kissing for the benefit of straight men isn't gay", they decide to do it in private. |
| 483 | ** Oregon also kisses Kingsley in the series finale to see if there's any chemistry they may have missed during the time they lived together. There isn't. |
| 484 | * ThoseTwoGuys: JP and Kingsley. Gender-flipped with Vod and Oregon. |
| 485 | * ThrowTheDogABone: Sabine's talent at martial arts, her promiscuity, and her suggestion that stolen goods are often found in skips, make her temporarily popular with the housemates. |
| 486 | ** Also, Howard is the only housemate to get a super happy ending at the end of series 3, finally finding love with Candice. |
| 487 | ** [[spoiler:In the final episode, JP decides to become an estate agent. During the Skype call he ends a call that obviously went well for him.]] |
| 488 | * TimeSkip: Each season is analogous to one semester at university. However, the show abruptly skips from year 2, semester 1 (season 3) to the final semester of year 3 (season 4), leaving a whole year of Fresh Meat lost to the imagination. |
| 489 | ** The creators intended for the show to run a full six seasons and cover three full years, however it was likely ScrewedByTheNetwork (plus difficulties with cast availability meant over two years passed between the third and fourth seasons). |
| 490 | * TitleDrop: Professor Shales in the first episode, during his introductory class: |
| 491 | -->'''Tony Shales''': Meat for the grinder, this way. Send in the fresh meat for the grinder... |
| 492 | * TrainingMontage: Parodied and [[ConversationalTroping conversed]] when Howard is challenged to a fight over a library book and tries to prepare for it. We see him boxing with a beanbag tied to the ceiling, and he says "now I know why in the movies they always train in a montage -- it's ''exhausting''." |
| 493 | * TwiceShy: Howard and [[spoiler:Candice. Finally get together in the third series finale.]] |
| 494 | * {{Typecasting}}: Joe Thomas as a DoggedNiceGuy, similar to Simon in ''Series/TheInbetweeners'', Martin in ''White Gold'', and Nick in ''The Festival''. |
| 495 | * UncomfortableElevatorMoment: Josie and Kingsley get into an elevator after Oregon's play, seconds after a) Kingsley reveals he didn't dump Heather for weeks after he started dating Josie, and b) Josie reveals she had sex with Baz a few weeks after she started dating Kingsley. To say their faces look awkward in the elevator is an understatement. |
| 496 | * UnstoppableRage: [[spoiler:Chris flies into one after Vod gives her a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. It even [[OhCrap freaks Vod out]] to such an extent that she orders the others to get out before anyone gets hurt.]] |
| 497 | * UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: The housemates seem to take turns in this role. |
| 498 | * UpperClassTwit: JP, his so-called friends 'King' Ralph and Tobes even more so. |
| 499 | * VagueAge: Howard is older than the others (he's been in the house for several years when they start their first year), and ''presumably'' younger than Sabine. When Candice asks him how old he is, he [[TakeOurWordForIt whispers in her ear.]] |
| 500 | -->'''Candice:''' ...Wow. How is that possible?\ |
| 501 | '''Howard:''' There are numerous factors, [[DeadpanSnarker the passage of time being not insignificant among them.]] |
| 502 | * VerbalTic: |
| 503 | ** JP's posh-boy slang, which, among other things, consists of him adding adding "-ers" on the end of absolutely anything. At one point he refers to his dad's heart attack as a "hearters." |
| 504 | ** Howard likes the word "classic" a lot. |
| 505 | ** The Stowe-aways seem to use the word "rape" to mean "cool" or "awesome." |
| 506 | * VirginShaming: When Kingsley admits to Josie that he's actually a virgin, she's shocked and tries to suggest ways for him to fix it, like it's a mistake. Though her surprise is at least somewhat understandable as [[TruthInTelevision the average age of losing virginity in the UK is about 15.]] |
| 507 | * VisualPun: When Howard decides to go to the pub as "a wolf in sheep's clothing" to learn about normal human behaviour, he is wearing a jumper with a sheep pattern on it. |
| 508 | * VulgarHumor: DoubleSubverted with the "spunk ice cubes". At first everyone thinks Sabine is chilling her bruise with them, but then she reveals she emptied the other ice cube tray into a glass because it looked "mouldy", and she's using her own ice. Then Vod happily gives said glass to JP [[LaserGuidedKarma as revenge for making her put the stuff in the freezer to begin with]]. |
| 509 | * WalkInChimeIn: All the housemates come back from the hospital together, and while Josie tries to explain to Kingsley what happened to Heather in a way that [[NeverMyFault absolves her of as much responsibility as possible]], they walk in one by one, always just in time to correct her story; "No, ''you'' broke her arm". |
| 510 | * WellDoneSonGuy: JP has a distant relationship with his father, which never gets a chance to improve because his father dies. |
| 511 | ** It is implied Ralph has a similar problem. He says he wishes to go into politics as "it keeps the old man happy." |
| 512 | ** GenderInverted with Oregon and her mother, which makes it particularly sweet when Vod sticks up for Oregon in front of Oregon's overbearing mother. |
| 513 | * WhatTheHellHero: Towards the end of both the first two series, the seventh housemate leaves as a direct result of the others being frankly ''[[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist horrible people]]''. Towards the end of the third, they all call ''each other'' out on the horrible things they've been doing to each other. |
| 514 | * WillTheyOrWontThey / UnresolvedSexualTension: Kingsley and Josie in series 1. [[spoiler:Subverted in the final episode, but hints of the UST remain in the second series while Kingsley is dating Heather]]. |
| 515 | --> '''Howard:''' [[LampshadeHanging I've seen enough romantic comedies to know that if you hate her, you must love her.]] |
| 516 | ** [[spoiler: In Series 3, they finally end up together... but Kingsley hasn't technically broken up with Heather, who is staying with family in Hong Kong for an indeterminate amount of time. Ultimately their relationship deteriorates and they break up for good.]] |
| 517 | ** [[spoiler:JP and Josie hook up frequently over the course of Season 4, but both are reluctant to start a real relationship. They're an OfficialCouple during the finale, but are fated to a long distance relationship thanks to their different circumstances.]] |
| 518 | * WimpFight: |
| 519 | ** Howard gets into an argument with a big, tough-looking bloke over [[SeriousBusiness a library geology textbook]]. He agrees to meet outside the library for to fight it out, but manages to get it put off a week... and spends the week desperately trying to learn how to fight, beginning with finding out whether you keep your thumb in or out when making a fist. The fight finally comes along... and it's over in five seconds when the other bloke dislocates his thumb, and Howard takes him to hospital. Turns out he didn't know how to make a fist either. |
| 520 | ** Howard's birthday ends in a massive scrap between Kingsley (dressed as [[Music/TheBeatles George Harrison]]) and JP (dressed as a Hooters girl). At one point, George pins the Hooters girl down and tries to smother him with his own foam boob. |
| 521 | -->'''JP''': You can't hurt me with boobs, Kingsley! I ''thrive'' on boobs!! |
| 522 | * WithFriendsLikeThese: JP's old Stowe buddies are absolutely horrible to him, but he still considers them to be some of his best friends. |
| 523 | * YankTheDogsChain: At his birthday party, Howard is almost about to break-through with Candice, but Sabine calls him over, and proposes they rekindle their fuckbuddy relationship. Howard politely declines and returns to Candice, only to find her suddenly dating Goth Gary out of nowhere. A bewildered Howard then backflips and returns to Sabine again, only to find she has now also got a date - with a Howard impersonator, no less. |
| 524 | -->'''Howard''': Oh, fucking perfect! Even the fake me's better than the real me! |
| 525 | ** Oregon falls for Dylan in the burglary episode, so much so that she uses her real name when she introduces herself to him. In the next episode, she finds out that he is the son of Tony Shales, who she had an affair with in the previous season. Understandably, [[OhCrap she panics]], and the relationship does not survive past the end of the season. |
| 526 | ** Despite her pretty awful final grades, Oregon is determined to get a Masters in creative writing, and is ecstatic to get accepted into a program in Manchester. [[spoiler:Only to find out that [[StalkerWithACrush Tony Shales]] submitted his own work instead of hers in order to guarantee her a spot in the program, all so that she can be in his class. Needless to say, she declines.]] |
| 527 | * YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Shales when he gets surrounded by hoodies [[spoiler:and ends up getting mugged]]. |
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