The Reviewers S1E1 "Pilot" / Recap

Andy and Jeff are two struggling internet reviewers, trying very hard to find fame in their online personas

"Pilot" provides examples of:

The Ace: The Messiah is established as the internet's #1 personality, Andy's dream in life to be just like him. Considering what we see of The Messiah is him mocking his interviewee incessantly until he is straight-up tackled, that can also give us an idea of what Andy is like.
Affectionate Parody: Space-Lancer Steve was meant to be a spoof of the concept of the Mid-Review Sketch Show, the show drawing heavy emphasis on its plot-lines, filmed with No Budget and very sloppily throws in a justification for why he would review a movie (in this case, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday) in the situation that he's in.
Bait-and-Switch: Andy proclaims that he does not want to be an object of hate and that he wants to be like The Messiah... an incredibly popular Jesus-esq internet personality that quotes old rock tunes.
Brick Joke: Jeff gives Andy chapstick for when he is going to kiss his ass over how much better his video is. At the end of the episode, Jeff asks for his chapstick back.
Caustic Critic:
- Count Thomas Howl is a Horror Host vampire-reviewer who reviews movies from The Asylum.
- Space-Lancer Steve is a Captain Space, Defender of Earth! who reviews schlocky VHS films (both mainstream and niche) in-between low-budget plot-lines.
Canon Immigrant: The Messiah was originally a minor character that appeared in The Cinema Snob's review of The Tormentors. Here, it is established that he is a beloved internet personality that hosts celebrity interviews.
Establishing Character Moment:
- We first see Andy filming a review of Snakes on a Train. He is dressed in a low-budget vampire costume, his acting is stilted and awkward and he keeps flubbing his lines, having clearly not practiced them. In his narration segment, he goes on to admit that he found the idea of being an internet reviewer more inspiring than a guy who survived being shot in the head and completing a triathlon (or figure-skating) and laughing at his own puns. This establishes that he speaks primarily in humble-bragging, tends to have Skewed Priorities and has Delusions of Grandeur towards himself and his supposed internet fame.
- The Rickhead is introduced giving various hyperbolic and politically-incorrect statements about raw footage of a cat (with soothing music over it), establishing him as a Troll that will Accentuate the Negative on anything no matter how benign.
Hypocrite: The Rickhead takes the time to make various baseless accusations and politically-incorrect insults at Andy and Jeff, only to accuse anyone who gets angry at him for his opinions of "hating criticism".
No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: Discussed In-Universe. While Andy Can't Take Criticism, Jeff sees Hatedoms as a right of passage and is aware that haters do nothing but draw advertisement to their shows.
Profound by Pop Song: Lampshaded in the case of The Messiah's dialogue.
The Messiah: Oh! Reach out in the darkness my brother and you may find a friend.
Nick: That your schtick? "Hippie Jesus spouting song-lyrics"?
The Messiah: If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife.
Nick: How does that one make any goddamn sense in context to what we were talking about?
Seinfeldian Conversation: Andy and Jeff wind up going off track about the progress of their videos talking about how vampires watch movies other than vampire movies. Jeff has to point out to Andy that real vampires don't exist and then they go on about how if they did, Andy playing a vampire while being human would be racist to vampires.
Shout-Out: The clip from The Genius is a clear parody of the iconic "Power Glove scene" in The Wizard.
Soul-Crushing Desk Job: Andy hates his desk job, so much so that he walks out while his boss is berating him for abusing company resources.
Straw Critic: The Rickhead represents those who will Accentuate the Negative on any given video and inspire Hatedoms to them with near murderous vigor, making him the human embodiment of the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.
Take That!:
- Space-Lancer Steve can be read as one to the Mid-Review Sketch Show trope, most notably Atop the Fourth Wall.
- When Nick pointed out that the Rollin' Rocker he used in The Genius was just a plastic prop that didn't work, The Messiah comments "so in other words, it was like all the Rollin' Rockers we all bought at the store."
- In his interview with the Messiah, Nick Pike sarcastically tells him that he's Kirk Cameron when he goads him. Then the Messiah tells him that Kirk Cameron is more likable, leading to Nick tackling him.