Line #36 Series/Pure


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pure_profile_web.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"God makes the rules. Only God. Remember that."]]'''''Pure''''' is a 2017 Creator/{{CBC}} television drama created by [[Series/TheListener Michael Amo]]. After cancellation by CBC, it was picked up by WGN, with a second season airing in 2019.
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4	Noah Funk is a [[UsefulNotes/AmericanChurches Mennonite]] who has just been chosen as Pastor of the Mennonite colony outside the town of Antioch, Ontario. However, an attempt to save a boy who [[HeKnowsTooMuch knows too much]] and betray those who would harm the child backfires, and the head of the notorious "Menno Mob", Eli Voss, gives him [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse An Offer He Can't Refuse]]: join the Mob or his family dies. Seeking to reach a compromise between his beliefs with the lives of his family, Noah accepts the offer, while secretly conspiring to destroy the Mob from the inside. Meanwhile, police detective Bronco Novak is also investigating the Mob for the murders at the beginning of the series, and is shocked to learn that his old high-school rival, Noah, has apparently turned to organized crime.
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7	!!This series has examples of:
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9	* ActualPacifist: Noah, [[spoiler:until Eli forces him to kill him in the season one finale, leading to a HeroicBSOD.]]
10	* BadCopIncompetentCop: It's clear that Novak is not the best policeman who ever lived. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment In the first episode alone]], he's seen getting his ID and badge stolen after spending the night with a prostitute, accidentally tampering with evidence during a crime scene, stealing a knife he found while [[spoiler:busting Gerry Epp's house]] and taking it home with him, and even smart-mouthing DaChief (who reveals to the audience that's he's ''already'' on probation watch). That being said, he does make the connection between the Mennonites and the burned car, and also finds the stash of cocaine in the wreckage.
11	* TheBigGuy: Joey Epps.
12	* BilingualBonus: The dialog in the show is a mixture of English and [[UsefulNotes/GermanDialects Low German]], which is mostly spoken in church with the occasional phrase thrown in during casual conversation.
13	* [[BritishBrevity Canadian Brevity]]: The first season is only six episodes long.
14	* TheCartel: The Menno Mob has connections with the Mexican trug trade, as well as a go-between in [[UsefulNotes/OtherCitiesInTexas El Paso, Texas]].
15	* ChekhovsGunman: The prostitute who steals Novak's ID and badge in "Ordination" reappears in "The Singing" [[spoiler:and turns out to be a former Mennonite, who reluctantly helps Novak with translating Noah's phone call]].
16	* TheChessmaster: Anna Funk's master manipulation of Joey Epp. She's also the one who fixes the problem of Chainsaw.
17	* ContrivedCoincidence: A crucial scene from "The Singing" has [[spoiler:Novak placing his surveillance equipment on Noah's buggy, Noah buying the burner phones for the Mob, and Tina and Ben having their date in the town]] happening at exactly the same time and place. While it could be argued that, since Antioch is a small town, the odds that all of these characters would be together at the same time is decent, it still stretches credibility; to make matters worse, much of the show's plot wouldn't make any sense if this hadn't happened.
18	* CreepyChild: Ezekiel, who doesn't say much other than a cryptic comment about the dead bodies hidden in the Funk's barn that he's not supposed to know about.
19	* CulturalStereotypes: The pilot, "Ordination", has a few scenes establishing the differences between Canadian Mennonites and your stereotypical Amish (for instance, the Mennonites will use cars if they're painted completely black and, while electricity is at a bare minimum, houses have modern but homely interiors).
20	* DaChief: Police Chief Kingsley. Bonus points for being a SassyBlackWoman.
21	* DirtyCop: [[spoiler:Chief Kingsey.]]
22	* DownerEnding: Season one's ending is pretty sad.
23	* EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: Justified by the small-town setting. Noah and Bronco were old high-school rivals [[spoiler:and Bronco had a brief crush on Anna]]; and in the present day, Bronco's son Ben befriends Noah's daughter Tina.
24	* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Abel (the drug addict) and Noah (the newly elected preacher) Funk, at least when the series begins. Noah's children Tina and Issac could also apply.
25	* ForcedToWatch: [[spoiler:Noah watches Eli Voss shoot Abel.]]
26	* FrameUp: Anna is framed by [[spoiler: Hector Estrada]] to make it look like she's the boss of the drug operation. Thankfully, it's uncovered by Abel who turns over the evidence for the police.
27	* FramingTheGuiltyParty: In "Ordination", [[spoiler:Noah knows that Gerry Epp is involved with the Menno Mob, but plants drugs under his couch anyway then tips off Novak about the "discovery"]]. While the police don't suspect a thing, [[spoiler:the Mob]] catches on right away and [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse react accordingly]].
28	* HeroicBSOD: Noah has one after [[spoiler:killing Eli Voss.]]
29	* IHaveYourWife: The cartel leader coerces Anna into running operations for him in Canada, holding Isaak prisoner to insure she'll obey.
30	* IronicName: [[Literature/BookOfGenesis The biblical Noah]] received a MissionFromGod to keep his family (and animals) safe while God cleansed the world of evil with a massive, unsubtle flood. Noah Funk is discreetly cleansing evil himself in God's name, because said evil is putting his own family in danger.
31	* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: How Novak gets [[spoiler:Jerry Epp to confess that Noah has replaced him as the Mennonites' main drug supplier]].
32	--> '''Novak''': [[ShameIfSomethingHappened I don't think anybody's gonna be surprised when they find you hanging by your bootlace next time this door opens in Maidenstone.]]
33	* MassiveNumberedSiblings: Strangely averted. Rural Mennonites are known for having big families, but the two families seen here (Noah Funk's and Gerry Epps') have only two kids a piece, and there aren't many/ any small children or babies shown in the church scenes. Noah also makes it sound like Abel is his only sibling in the story he tells Eli Voss. Played straight with Eli, who had ten children (but all of them died when his wagon was hit by a truck).
34	* MistakenForGay: Noah and Abel are repeatedly taken for a gay couple by the ex-Mennonites they meet, who assume this is the reason they've left the colony, despite the latter saying they're really brothers.
35	* NayTheist: Eli Voss expresses hatred of God, and contempt for the Mennonites' teachings. This appears to be a result of his family being killed after a truck hit their buggy. As a result, [[EvilStoleMyFaith he lost faith]] and [[FaithHeelTurn became a criminal]].
36	* NiceGuy: Seemingly Issac Funk's only character trait.
37	* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: After he gets Gerry Epps arrested, Eli Voss gives one to Noah: become the boss for the Canadian Mennonites, or else. The second season has Anna receive one too, but from Voss's partner in the cartel he ran the cocaine for. We earlier see one Mexican police officer refusing a similar offer, and dying for it.
38	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Eli Voss lost his ten children in an accident. This seemingly led to him losing faith in the Mennonite religion and becoming a criminal.
39	* PoirotSpeak: Mennonite characters (even those who've left the community like [[spoiler:Loretta Dunkel]]) will use Low German slang even when speaking in English. The most obvious example is the frequent use of ''jo'' and ''ne'' for yes and no (as opposed to the modern German ''ja'' and ''nein'').
40	* TheQuietOne: Ezekiel rarely speaks. Understandable, considering he watched his whole family get killed, and also doesn't speak much English.
41	* SadisticChoice:
42	** Anne is given one by the Mexican drug lord. She either works as his manager of the Canadian Mennonite drug trade, or he kills both her children. However, even if she agrees, he will keep one of them as a hostage. This leads to another such choice, as he'll let her choose. [[spoiler: She chooses her son.]]
43	** Estrada later forces Isaac into one when he tries to save a Mennonite who's crossed the cartel. He'll be spared if Isaac cuts off his fingers, but shot otherwise. Isaac reluctantly does it.
44	* SiblingMurder: [[spoiler:Joey Epps kills his brother Gerry.]]
45	* SymbolicBaptism: The ending of season one has Issac's actual baptism juxtaposed with Noah standing outside in the rain, leaving his faith.
46	* TruthInTelevision: While the story is entirely fictional, the show was inspired by [[http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/40-years-of-the-fifth-estate/mennonite-mob very real Mennonite organized crime syndicates]] which existed as recently as the 1990s.
47	* WhamLine: This line of Noah's from "The Singing" - not just because of what he's saying, but because [[spoiler:it's part of one of his sermons; he is essentially confessing to working for the Menno Mob in front of the entire congregation and begging others to join him]].
48	--> '''Noah''': [[spoiler:If a loved one wants to work for Eli Voss, come to me. If you need help to ''quit'' working for Eli Voss, come to me. [[SpannerInTheWorks And together, we will say "Get thee hence, Satan!"]]]]

Context Series / Pure