Line #14 YMMV/ThePretender


1	* {{Adorkable}}: Jarod has a childlike innocence, purity of emotion, and wonder (when not Pretending); is just terribly nice and sweet to innocents; practically squees any time he gets to interact with a family that really loves one another; and is genuinely curious and puzzled about U.S. societal and cultural norms; all of which combined makes even the over six-foot, highly imposing Jarod someone that is just terribly adorable when he's not being the psycho, badass avenger and defender of the weak.
2	* AngstWhatAngst: In "Toy Surprise," we find that Mr. Parker never seemed perturbed by his wife's death. Sydney even recalled Mr. Parker told him "Life goes on" and resumed life as if nothing happened - immediately after the funeral, thus suggesting this trope. A DSA that Angelo had obtained even shows that exact conversation, but after Sydney leaves, we see Mr. Parker sit down and openly weep over Catherine.
3	* BetterOnDVD: Loose ends or not, the [=DVDs=] make it a lot easier to try to keep track of what's going on instead of getting one episode at a time.
4	* TheChrisCarterEffect: It became increasingly apparent that the writers had no real idea where any of the the ongoing mysteries of The Centre were actually going, nor any interest in resolving them.
5	* CryForTheDevil: In the flashbacks to "Once in a Blue Moon," Jarod stops a serial killer (but fails to save the final victim). In the present, he foils the copycat in time and discovers the body of the girl he failed to save all those years ago. In the next scene, we see BigBad Mr. Raines clutching the girl's necklace and crying. Sydney lampshades this trope by telling Miss Parker, "Sometimes, even the devil deserves a little privacy."
6	* FridgeBrilliance: The B-plot of "Cold Dick" has Broots and Miss Parker end up in bed together when they arrive in Vegas, but it turns out to be AllJustADream. There's actually a hint at this in the call letters of the radio station Broots puts on. First of all, the station has five call letters when American radio stations normally have four. Second, the first call letter is W when they're supposed to be in Las Vegas. Radio stations west of the Mississippi River have call letters starting with K.
7	* HilariousInHindsight: In "Red Rock Jarod," Lyle has kidnapped a pregnant woman and buried her alive. To get him to reveal where she was buried, Kyle intends to use his knife. The stabbing happens off-screen, but when next seen, Lyle is clearly suffering from a nasty wound. Years later, [[{{Series/BurnNotice}} another Jeffrey Donovan character]] would repeatedly insist that the JackBauerInterrogationTechnique never works.
8	* ItWasHisSled: Jarod having both a brother and sister.
9	* MoralEventHorizon: Mr. Lyle killing [[spoiler:Kyle]].
10	* NightmareFuel:
11	** "Not Even a Mouse." How George died: [[spoiler:After the drunk-driving coroner accidentally hit him - she panicked, injected him with a [[AndIMustScream paralytic, and finished him off via autopsy]]]]. Later, a disgusted Jarod [[spoiler:paralyzes '''''her''''' and sends her off to the same fate (or so she thinks)]]. Uh - this is a ChristmasEpisode, right?
12	* RetroactiveRecognition:
13	** Most famously, [[Creator/JeffreyDonovan Kyle]] is [[Series/BurnNotice Michael Westen]] without the scruples.
14	** Creator/JonGries, who plays Broots, has shown up in dozens of HITG roles. Today he is most recognizable for playing [[Film/NapoleonDynamite Uncle Rico]], [[Series/{{Lost}} Roger Linus]], and [[VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution Sheriff Sturkey]].
15	** Sydney is [[{{Series/Carnivale}} Lodz]].
16	** Mr. Lyle is [[Series/DesperateHousewives Mike Decker]].
17	** Jake Lloyd appeared in about half a dozen episodes (in flashbacks, as young Angelo) before being cast as Anakin Skywalker in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''.
18	** "Homefront" had a rather nasty father who has been a rather nasty person in a number of other things (including the vampire businessman who gets defenestrated in the first episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}''), and his ex-wife is [[Series/TheOfficeUS Jan]].
19	** Jarod's clone is [[Film/FinalDestination Kevin Fischer]] and [[Series/PrettyLittleLiars Ian Thomas]].
20	** In the episode "Scott Free", [[Creator/DrakeBell Scott's son]] is [[Series/DrakeAndJosh Drake before he met Josh]].
21	** The Centre contractor in the episode "Over the Edge" went on to become [[Series/{{Angel}} Holland Manners]].
22	** [[Creator/DanielDaeKim The Vietnamese immigrant]] in "Collateral Damage" is [[{{Series/Lost}} Jin Kwon]].
23	** The property developer in "Gigolo Jarod" is [[WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} Elisa Maza]] and [[{{Series/Eureka}} Allison Blake]].
24	** The young man Jarod helps in "Toy Surprise" is Francis from ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle''.
25	** One of Jarod's students in "School Daze" is [[Series/StargateSG1 young Jack]] and [[Series/JoanOfArcadia Luke Girardi]].
26	** The two-parter "Bloodlines" stars Creator/HaleyJoelOsment, in a NotSoSmallRole. Jarod must identify which one of three children is a genius. Since two of the children are unknown child actors and the last one was the lead in ''Film/TheSixthSense'' the year after appearing on this show, [[NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize it's not hard]] for a post-1999 audience to guess which one it is.
27	** A behind-the-scenes example: [[Series/TheMiddleman Javier Grillo-Marxuach]] was a member of the writing team for the first season.
28	** Janitor Kenny, [[spoiler: whose murder may have been a catalyst for Jarod's escape]], is [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Dr. Phlox]]
29	** [[Creator/TobinBell Mr. White]] is played by [[{{Franchise/Saw}} Jigsaw]].
30	** Lounge singer [[Creator/JenniferGarner Billie]] in "Pool" is [[Series/{{Alias}} Sydney Bristow]]/[[Film/{{Daredevil}} Elektra Natchios]], and [[Creator/TimDeKay the man who killed her father]] is [[Series/WhiteCollar Peter Burke]].
31	** [[Series/TwentyFour Charles Logan]] is [[Creator/GregoryItzin the crooked reporter]] Jarod attempts to expose in the first season episode "Jaroldo".
32	** Creator/BryanCranston plays the talk show host at the center of "P.T.B.", shortly before he became famous as [[Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle Hal Wilkerson]].
33	* SeasonalRot: Season 4. TheChrisCarterEffect was in full force, [[LukeIMightBeYourFather old]] [[LongLostSibling storylines]] were being recycled, and newer ones (like Mr. Parker on the run and the whole story behind [[spoiler:Thomas]]' murder) meandered. Those kind of complaints certainly cropped up in the first three seasons, but individual episode quality also began to suffer.
34	* {{Tearjerker}}: The end of "The Dragon House, Part 2." [[spoiler:Jarod's brother Kyle is presumed dead (though he is later shown to have survived), while he found his mother and sister - only to lose them again just as quickly.]]
35	** "Red Rock Jarod," where [[spoiler:Kyle dies for real in Jarod's arms]].
36	** The end of "Under the Reds" when despite Jarod's best efforts, [[spoiler:Steven Chambers' parents decide to take their comatose son off life support and donate his heart to a boy in Cleveland]].
37	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Mr. White, the enigmatic albino played by Creator/TobinBell. Among other things, White acts as The Centre's "finder" for families that could be used as leverage. He plays a notable role in the Season 4 premiere, has been searching for Jarod's family and even tells him he'll [[WeWillMeetAgain "see [him] on down the road,"]] but he never returns.
38	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The first half of Season 4 sees Mr. Parker on the run from the Triumvirate. Not once does he ever cross paths with Jarod during this time. Mr. Parker is also marked for death and struggling to regain his position, but almost all of that material is kept off-screen.
39	* ToyShip: Young Jarod and Miss Parker.
40	-->'''Jarod''': I still remember the little girl who gave me my first kiss.
41	%% While this seems like in-universe, the trope is pure audience reaction.
42	%%* UglyCute: Not physically cute, but absolutely adorable in his mannerisms, childlike innocence, and childlike love. (Who? Please clarify.)

Context YMMV / ThePretender