Line #66 Series/Insecurity


1	[[quoteright:333:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/insecurity_ca.jpg]]
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3	A [[CanadianSeries Canadian]] action-comedy and WorkCom ''[=InSecurity=]'' is a parody of modern spy fiction, once labeled as "''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'' minus Jack Bauer.", that premiered on CBC in 2011.
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5	The show follows a team of agents who work for the fictional National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), a Canadian intelligence agency centred in Ottawa. Essentially a latter-day ''Series/GetSmart'' but with more [[BuffySpeak Canadian-ness]], the show follows the basic character template of all Canadian shows (DeadpanSnarker, ButtMonkey, OnlySaneMan, etc.) and drops it into an espionage-themed setting.
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7	''[=InSecurity=]'' was conceived by Robert de Lint and Virginia White (a director and executive producer of ''Series/CornerGas'', respectively) who then approached Kevin White (showrunner of ''Corner Gas''). The original pilot revolved around the tedium in electronic surveillance work, but it was rejected on the grounds of being too niche and a second pilot was done in a more ''24'' style. The show was picked up for thirteen episodes and premiered on January 4, 2011. The first episode was viewed by 740 000 people. (Doesn't sound like a lot by American standards, but it's a respectable audience up here.)
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9	A second season was aired and a DVD release for the 1st season is out there. However, the series won't be continued due to budget cuts made by the Canadian federal government for 2012.
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11	Has absolutely NOTHING to do with the similarly named [[ComicStrip/InSecurity strip.]]
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13	[[ShoutOut/InSecurity Head here for the Shoutout page.]]
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15	----
16	!!This show provides examples of:
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18	* ActionGirl: Jojo and Alex both fit this a lot of the time.
19	* AffablyEvil: The Ghost, AKA Joshua Crane
20	* AirVentPassageway: In "The Ghost", the titular villain leads Alex into the vents before replacing the grate cover and trapping her.
21	* AllNationsAreSuperpowers: In the show Canada has secret programs to develop advanced stealth submarines and portable supercomputers, has suborned the Norwegian prime minister, and has a shadowy rivalry with the Dutch. In reality, Canada has second-hand British submarines plagued with technical problems, is on good terms with the Netherlands, and has no official foreign espionage program under CSIS...or so we're led to believe, anyway.
22	* AmnesiaEpisode: "The Kwan Identity".
23	* AmnesiacLiar: "The Kwan Identity" has [=JoJo=] get hit by Alex's car while undercover as a drug dealer's girlfriend, and becoming convinced she is her undercover persona.
24	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: According to N'udu, when Peter goes drinking he loses something. Those things include keys, files, laptop, and... N'udu's FLAMETHROWER.
25	* AxCrazy: N'udu once drove anti-government rebels in Ligeria crazy that they blew up the piano he was using. [[DisproportionateRetribution After he rebuilt it, N'udu used the piano wire to kill them while they were sleep as retribution.]]
26	* BatmanGambit: In the official gag videos released by [=CBC=], Claude takes advantage of his daughter's boyfriends by making them work around the house. ([[BlatantLies Of course, he defends it by saying that it's his way of really knowing if they are worthy of being the perfect guy for his girl.]])
27	* BilingualBonus: Claude frequently swears in Québecois French.
28	* BigBadDuumvirate: In "The Kwan Identity", The Anti-Monarchist People's Popular Front of the Republic of Eire, an anti-monarchist, Ottawa-based terrorist cell and the Silver Kings, an Asian-Canadian street gang.
29	* BladeEnthusiast: N'udu has a lot of knives ranging from cutting things to open canned items to killing people in covert ops.
30	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: N'udu in the episode "The Ligerian Candidate." However, he was already AxCrazy from the beginning.
31	* BusmansHoliday: It was supposed to be Alex's night off during the episode "El Negotiator."[[spoiler:Her stubborn idea of having fun anyways is what allows them to subdue the kidnappers in the end.]]
32	* ButtMonkey: Burt.
33	* CaliforniaDoubling: An only-in-Canada variant -- set in Ottawa but filmed in Regina, Saskatchewan.
34	* CanNotSpitItOut: When Peter believed Alex was [[spoiler:going to die]] in "Death by Birthday", he tried to tell her his feelings (and he sort of did.) When Alex was going to say something in return, she fainted and when she [[spoiler:got better]], thanks to LaserGuidedAmnesia, she didn't remember anything at all.
35	* ChekhovsSkill: Jojo is a forensic scientist, code cracker, bomb defusal expert, linguist in English, French, German, Italian and Ojibwe and an expert in keeping Burt quiet. She says she can't speak Mandarin Chinese.
36	* ChildHater: Jojo doesn't like children (and she doesn't seem to be actively malicious to them, as shown in the episode "Recycle after Reading" and they all seem to adore her.)
37	--> '''Jojo''' : ''Simon says put your birds in the bag.''
38	--> '''Kid''': ''I like you.'' tries to hug Jojo
39	--> '''Jojo''': ''Simon says don't touch me.''
40	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Jojo says she studied forensic sciences at the Science of Forensics and Forensic Sciences. Uh, they sound the SAME!
41	* DisproportionateRetribution: N'udu was suggesting this when he lost his scissors after he borrowed it to Cluade once time. Burt... took care of them.
42	* EliteMooks: NISA has a SWAT unit as support to agents.
43	* FakeNationality / FictionalCountry: Canadian actor Richard Yearwood plays Benjamin N'udu, who hails from the African nation of [[{{Bulungi}} Ligeria]].
44	* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: NISA, the agency the main characters work for, is a fictional Canadian intelligence agency based partly on the real CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) and on spy agencies as seen on TV. Same with DISA.
45	* HighlyConspicuousUniform: NISA's Dutch rivals (DISA) wear orange bulletproof vests. They admit they lose a lot of agents that way.
46	* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Burt when he stole a prototype item from [=NISA=] [=HQ=] to ensure the safety of his parents from a [=DISA=] cell in Ottawa.
47	* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: With N'udu after being brainwashed by Ganzi rebels via subliminal message on a phone call.
48	* ImprobableWeaponUser: Alex subduing her kidnapper by smacking her face with a volleyball. When Alex and company were taken hostage by the Mexican Freedom Front, they were [[spoiler:supposed to use dental floss, an asthma puffer, saute skewers, and a serving tray to take out the terrorists.]]
49	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: As mentioned above in "Death by Birthday", but also plays a big role in "The Kwan Identity" when Jojo gets it and her new identity (she was undercover as a drug dealer's girlfriend at the time) actually likes Burt. (In the end of the episode, she's back to normal and Burt tries to hit her over the head with a bowling ball.)
50	* ManchurianAgent: "The Ligerian Candidate"
51	* MythologyGag: In one episode, a NISA security guard mistakenly calls Claude "Karl". In the original pilot, Remy Girard's character was named Karl Lesage.
52	* NobodyPoops: Averted in "The Ghost". Getting the VillainOfTheWeek to, ahem... "pass" a USB drive he swallowed is actually a minor plot point.
53	--> '''Burt''': ''So, to be clear, we're all just sitting around waiting for this guy to poop?''
54	--> '''Claude''': ''Yep.''
55	** Alex and the Ghost have both also "never been regular."
56	* NotAsYouKnowThem: In an interview video, Alex tells the NISA interview officer that she enjoys working together with her team due to "great chemistry". Let's say that no one in her team backed up on that.
57	* RealSongThemeTune: It's called "The Sun Ain't Shining No More" created by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXKEQB5Fzao The Asteroids Galaxy Tour]], the same people who did the music for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5h-LAvQDCQ that Heineken commercial]].
58	* TemptingFate: The Ottawa Eight threatens Alex's grandmother with harm, but decides against acting when she tells her story:
59	-->'''Marjorie Cranston''': ''A Nazi tried to hit me once. I put a dum-dum between his eyes, and his head split open like cheap firewood.''
60	* TheBet: The entire NISA office betting on [[spoiler:when Alex will die.]]
61	* TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: Parodied when a news report revealed where Alex was "staying" due to injuries from a car bomb. [[spoiler:The nurse was not the real killer.]]
62	%%* LookBehindYou: Claude does this to the Ghost to allow Alex to subdue him. It didn't work, but Claude was able to disarm Ghost anyway.
63	* UndercoverAsLovers: Alex and Peter in "Keeping up with the Laslovs." And then they [[IntoxicationEnsues get drunk.]]
64	* VillainOfTheWeek
65	* VillainousGlutton: The Ghost.
66	* WesternTerrorists: The Ottawa Eight, the Mexican Freedom Front, and the A.M.P.P.F.O.T.R.O.E. or the Anti-Monarchist People's Popular Front of the Republic of Eire (the Irish terrorists in "The Kwan Identity".)
67	* WhatTheHellHero: NISA after they deployed the SWAT team to the wrong place. The news report calls the unit a bunch of "psychopaths".

Context Series / Insecurity