Podcast / Big Data

The keys to the internet will be taken out of their hands.

"This is the sound of..."

-Dalles Spieler

There are seven keys to the internet, and they are needed to keep it afloat. Reporter Dalles Spieler discovers from an unknown source that the keys are being stolen and is given records of the individual thefts as they happened. With help of her producer, Mic Rara, she publicizes the files in the format of a podcast and does some sleuthing of her own. Can the internet be saved?

The nine episode podcast by Ryan Estrada is a spinoff of Broken Telephone and is an anthology of different heists taking place around the world as the seven keys are stolen by each key holder. Each episode is also infused with a bunch of information about a variety of subjects from hacking to trolling to penetration tests. It stars a few big names, like Felicia Day and Paul F. Thompkins (Dead Authors).

A nerdy comedy crime show, if you like.

And here's the best part: it could all really happen.

It aired in late 2016, and a sequel (Bigger Data) is in production. Visit it here [1].

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If seven thieves stole seven keys, the trope list as we know it could could come to an end!

• 419 Scam: Marion and the company she is secretary for are victim to this by Jinhae's mother and Doc Sans.
• Accidental Innuendo: Yes, penetration test sounds weird. No, it isn't what you think. Lampshaded by Fresa:
  Fresa: Yeah, that's what I said. A penetration test. I know. Sounds dirty. Look, I'll it again so you can get all the the snickering out of your system right away, okay? Penetration test! Good? Got it? Okay, now shut up.
  • If you're wondering, it's to test a building's security.
• Ambiguously Evil, Affably Evil: Most of the thieves are shown to be generally good and/or decent people, and though they are all criminals, some believe they are doing the right thing.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Fresa is able to make an entertaining show and sounds like a nice guy, but his true self comes out when he speaks to who he thinks is Ren.
• Asshole Victim: A some of the keyholders were shown not to the best of people: Bill Denton makes money off of ideas that werent his own, and Frank Kreoller insults and disrespects both his fellow keyholders and the guards.
• Ambiguous Gender: Whether Ren Rosado is male or female is unknown.
• Ax-Crazy: Colt was a bit nuts.
• The Bad Guy Wins: The Internet is shut down.
• Blackmail: Ren successfully does this to Abby and June.
• Bottle Episode: The heist story of episode 2 takes place in a single room.
• Butch Lesbian: Abby Hanlon is in a relationship with her partner June, is drawn with shorter hair and has a slightly surly attitude.
• The Cameo:
  • Many characters and actors from other podcasts appear as newspeople and interviewees:
    • Gemma, Rod, Mallory, Poletti, Chuck Octagon, and Michael from Greater Boston show up.
    • Corin Deeth from Kakos Industries is in a mini-episode.
    • Lauren Shippen of The Bright Sessions is Atta Mooring.
    • Cecil of Welcome to Night Vale also comes up.
  • There are also characters from Ryan Estrada's other works:
    • The true masterminds (though accidental) are Aki and Ella from Aki Alliance.
    • Manisha, CJ, and the people of Speak 1098 from Broken Telephone are major characters.
    • Jinhae and Ulsan are from a comic about Acts of Gord.
• Cannot Tell a Joke: Sello, and it ends up Played for Drama as he arouses Amare's suspicions.
• The Chanteuse: Macey used to be this. She left to work with Marc and sing in their routine.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Chief Jo has quite a foul mouth.
• The Cracker: Fresa was able to steal millions from a company.
• Creative Closing Credits: The credits have not only have who contributed to the show, but also jokes and outtakes.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind: The top mastermind who stole the internet on purpose was Jinhae and Ulsan's mother, referenced in the first episode. Dalles's mom was also involved, though not on purpose.The true masterminds are two tween girls, and the dude who blows up the internet was the mansplainer who called in episodes 5 and 6.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Porter calls in repeatedly to tell Dalles and Mic that the internet itself is in no danger, just the DNS connection, but they don't listen. So what does he do? Shut it down himself.
• Downer Ending: They find the masterminds, but it's too late, the internet is gone, and in a horrifying series of explosions.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Ren Rosado will blackmail people and cheat them out of money, but abuse a public service? No way.
• Exact Words: Brandt said she was with the FBI, not an FBI agent.
• Fiery Redhead: Brandt.
• Flock of Wolves: One the groups behind the theft, the Zero Knights, has enmity with a group called the Naughty Dames. Members of each group infiltrate the each other, and it turns out they're the exact same group.
• Gift of the Magi Plot: The Christmas special. To give Troy a day off, Linda infected people so they couldn't eat meat and so wouldn't go to his Arby's. However, she now can't eat meat herself and cannot eat the ham Troy was going to use his day off to bring to her.
• Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen: As Park Yo Han relaxes in the springs, Jinhae steals his clothes and he chases after her naked.
• Gotta Catch Them All: All the keys to the internet. Subverted in that only three keys are really needed, five if you want to make sure no one else can have control. For the back-up keys, this is averted, Fresa only looks for five of them.
• Happily Married: Marc and Macey.
• Hollywood Hacking: Averted. Everything is possible.
• Impersonating an Officer: Brandt uses FBI status to investigate. However, she is no longer associated with the FBI and is committing a crime.
• Ink-Suit Actor: As can be seen from the trailer and promotional equipment, most of the characters look like their actors.
• Intangible Theft: Subverted. The internet itself is untouchable, but the keys sure aren't.
• Intrepid Reporter: Dalles Spieler goes rogue journalist in order to report this story. Mic is less fearless, but counts.
• Irony: Kroeller was proud of the fact that he was the only keyholder to not get robbed. Guess who ends up pleading for his life, handcuffed, and being robbed.
• Karmic Thief: Marc and Macey steal from Denton because they believe his idea stealing and patent trolling must be avenged.
• Naked People Are Funny: Many of the jokes in the first episode come from the fact that Yo Han ran outside naked.
• Obligatory Joke: Episode 7: Because ICANN
  Colt: Say it!
  Kreoller: (crying) No one can beat the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
  Colt: I can. (ICANN is the owner of the keys.)
• Operator from India: Manisha is from India and is the person speaking for Ren Also, the people in Manisha's company are the ones who visit the Speak 1096 site (a call back to Broken Telephone).
• Out-of-Context Eavesdropping: Amare listens in on Sello and Kaya's conservation before she arrives. It sounds villainous, but isn't:
  Sello: She cannot know about this. She must never know! I will kill anyone who messes this up.
  Kaya: You stay here and listen for Amare, I'll go get rid of the corrupt power...
  Context: They were going to present a PowerPoint to her, to show her the company, but it didn't save correctly, and the started to panic.
• The Plague: Linda launches an epidemic of ticks that cause people not to be able to eat meat.
• Poor Communication Kills: As with the prequel comic, this is still an issue that the characters deal with. See Disproportionate Retribution for an example.
  • An almost played straight example is when Amare tasers Sello because she thought he was a bad guy, when he was just trying to tell a joke. He survived, but Amare believed she had killed him and felt terrible.
• Pursue the Dream Job: Hana decides to leave the observatory to find aliens by they last episode.
• Pyrrhic Victory: The criminals wanted to steal the keys and/or shut down the internet in order to either get money or rebuild it. However, there is no money at all (two little girls don't have the millions that they wanted) and replacing the internet will be very very difficult.)
• That's All, Folks!: The last line is "I think that's it."
• The Schlub Pub Seduction Deduction: Jinhae spends time with Yo Han at the bar in order to steal his key.
• Shown Their Work: There was an amazing amount of research put into the writing.
• Signing-Off Catchphrase: Most of the episodes end with the word "Exactly."
• Sociopathic Hero: Mic calls Dalles this.
• Stage Magician: Marc Oliver is a downplayed version who also mixes in motivational speeches and steals Denton's key.
  • His wife Macey is his Lovely Assistant who sings and works behind the scenes.
• The Stinger: At the end of episode 5, it is shown that Sello survived and now makes bad jokes.
• String Theory: The trailer.
• Unexplained Recovery: Kreoller somehow survives being chained inside a burning building.
  • If one reads between the lines, we learn it was Mallory who saved him.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened right after Brandt broke into Mic's vehicle and what, if any repercussions Dalles got after breaking into Colt's house and accidentally killing him are unknown. Justified as the show is what Dalles and Mic make for the public, so they wouldn't publish that stuff.
• What's a Henway?: Sello and Kaya try to get Miss Amare to ask about Newbeach. It almost gets him killed.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The credits of the last episode show what happened to the keyholders.
• World Tour: The characters themselves don't travel around the world, but the audience, both in-universe and out, do. The stories are in a variety of places, like Korea, Scotland, Texas, and Kenya.
• Wrong Assumption: Miss Amare assumes that Kaya and Sello are the thieves. They aren't. It was the driver.

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