History Series / Slasher

* DropTheHammer: The Widow murders [[spoiler:Eddie Jacobs]] with a sledgehammer, making a deliberate point to do so slowly and painfully.

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: Mocked InUniverse. Florence shows off one of her sculptures to the family and cracks a pair of eggs on it, and Spencer promptly bursts out laughing at how pretentious it is.

** Differently from the previous seasons, the killer's costume is more elaborated than a parka or a cape that can be quickly removed along with the mask, meaning that it would be difficult for someone to wear the outfit and go unnoticed while doing so. [[spoiler: A hint that the Gentleman has found a way to remove themself from the group to act without being noticed.]]

* ShowerOfAngst[=/=]ShowerOfLove: [[spoiler: Liv and Theo have one of these. He had just killed Vincent in self-defense and is ''drenched'' in blood. After Liv cleans him up a bit, they kiss in the shower, and it segues to them having sex.]]

** RevengeIsNotJustice, in the absence of any true or even possible justice, vengeance is the only available arbiter. [[spoiler:Regina, after Kenneth figures out that she's the Widow, leaves a note for him admitting that justice would render vengeance unneeded, but its absence meant the only to give out payback for Margaret's torment and murder was revenge.]]

* HeWhoFightsMonsters: ZigZagged. [[spoiler:Verdi, Gladys, Andrew May Jr., and Kenneth Rijkers are all decent people for most of the season. However, the end of season sees Verdi setting up one of her sisters' deaths and pins it on the other, and all four of them deciding to side with the Widow and kill Garvey. It's unclear just how much of this has really changed them, but it's clear that it has, though Rijkers still expresses some visible discomfort with it all.]]

** The Widow chooses to spare Melanda Israel while she's performing surgery to save Andrew May Jr. but stays to watch the operation. Afterwards, Dr. Israel herself is kept in the hospital to keep her in and the Widow out. [[spoiler:She's murdered not long after. The only other person who was present there was Regina herself; the Widow was already in. She wasn't sparing Melanda, she was making sure that she was actually saving his life, and waited until Andrew's recovery was in motion before killing the town's best surgeon.]]
*** There's also the fact that [[spoiler: Regina was the one who insisted on Melanda being the one to do the procedure despite the fact that she was in prison at the time.]]

* HollywoodOld: Assuming that the events take place in 2016, Sarah is supposed to be 28 years old, but her grandmother Brenda (who should be ''at least'' 65 for two generations to have passed) is played by an actress who would be more convincing as her mother (who is already dead within the show's PresentDay storyline) or aunt, as Wendy Crewson was barely 60 while filming and she looked even younger.

* RecycledPremise: It's easy to miss, but ''Ripper'' follows a similar premise to ''Guilty Party''. A woman gets murdered by her bullied victims who frame an innocent man for it who dies afterwards, the villain is seeking revenge for said death, [[spoiler: Jefferson Brown's character gets killed off by the end of the premiere, Paula Brancati's character survives to the end and imprisoned, and the killer gets away with everything]].

*** There's also the fact that [[spoiler: Regina was the one who insisted on Melanda being the one to do the procedure despite the fact that she was in prison at the time]]

** Season five has the Widow. This is the first of the killers to be explicitly called female by default despite their gender being unknown for most of the season since they wear WidowsWeeds. This person is one of the most violent murderers, killing people in ways that aren't just creative but immensely torturous and painful with deliberate intent to reduce them to begging for their lives. They also revert to the practice of leaving bodies to be discovered in gruesome ways unlike the previous two killers. They are also the most vigilante-like of the killers. [[spoiler:She's the second killer who gets away with her crimes, and even gets others to join her crusade of revenge. Her reasons are also sympathetic in that she seeks revenge for her mother's torment, and the first revenge crusader who doesn't suffer from MisplacedRetribution, in that all of her targets were in fact people who victimized her mother.]]

** The Widow comes about because [[spoiler:the Botticelli sisters, Basil Garvey, and numerous other people participated in the ''vicious'' torment, eventual murder, and bodily desecration of Margaret Mehar. Her daughter bore witness to most of it, and was taken and trained by a fellow worker who took her in. She comes back twelve years later, seeking revenge against everyone involved in Margaret's fate and Andrew May Sr.'s wrongful execution.]]

--> '''Justine''': You all watched that boy get killed and none of you ''fucking'' did a thing!
* NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead:

** [[spoiler:Spencer, a heartless ControlFreak, is killed with an injection of acid that burns through his heart and chest, while he's in a situation of absolute vulnerability.]]

* TheBadGuyWins: EvilVersusEvil is in play, so this was almost unavoidable. [[spoiler: The Widow, revealed to be Regina Simcoe, not only gets away with her murder spree killing everyone involved in her mother's death except for Viviana, who is going to rot in prison for the murders, but she also converts all of the surviving characters to her way of thinking including Detective Rijkers, Verdi, Gladys, and Andrew, all of whom were entirely heroic characters for the majority of the season.]]

* TheDogBitesBack: Verdi eventually pays back her sisters for their torment of her by [[spoiler: arranging to have Venetia killed during Georges' magic show and frames Viviana for it]].

* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler: Regina ultimately chooses not to kill Viviana, instead leaving her to rot in prison.]]

** RevengeIsNotJustice, in the absence of any true or even possible justice, vengeance is the only available arbiter. [[spoiler:Regina after Kenneth figures out she's the Widow leaves a note for him admitting that justice would render vengeance unneeded, but its absence meant the only to give out payback for Margaret's torment and murder was revenge.]]

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: The Widow is revealed to be Regina and she gets away with it. Verdi also planned the murder of one of her sisters and framed the other and also gets away with it.]]

** When Basil Garvey is jailed after he pays the Botticelli sisters to let him have Verdi (not connected), Verdi immediately decides she wants to leave while she still can. However, the door is locked, and his head maid Gladys stops her, advising her that Basil would chase her down and wouldn't be happy after he got her again, but still gives her the key. On first, viewing this seems like a BrokenBird of a maid trying to keep the future Garvey matriarch away from Basil's dark side. On a rewatch, [[spoiler:she was actually trying to keep Verdi from unintentionally derailing the Widow's plan for Basil by keeping her, and by extension him, in the city.]]
** Hand-in-hand with the above, Verdi's sudden behavior to make Basil happy after contemplating leaving him takes on a new meaning. At first, it seems like she took Gladys's advice to stay on his good side and have a semblance of a decent life. [[spoiler:It turns out that she was actually filled in on Regina's plan for Basil, as well as the truth about the kind of man he is, and is playing along with their plan.]]

** The first victim is punished for the sin of wrath by being dismembered alive. [[spoiler: This person is Verna [=McBride=], and she's killed because (it's at least theorized) she discovered her husband Peter was cheating on her and killed him in a fit of rage. While that's no excuse to murder due to her overreacting to it herself, being cheated on is something that most people would be rightfully angry about.]]

* SelfDefenseRuse: Dylan holds the killer, [[spoiler:Cam, down while Sarah stabs him multiple times in the stomach and across the body while he's begging her not to kill him. She then slashes his throat and escapes any punishment because she claims it was self-defense... despite his many injuries that contradicted this]].

** Season 5 -- [[spoiler: Every one of the Widow's targets are dead, but she and her followers earn their happy ending, free from Basil Garvey's corruption. However, it's clear [[HeWhoFightsMonsters how much the experience changed them to be no better than Garvey and his associates]] and it's uncertain if they might ever continue their crusade.]]

** Season one had the Executioner. They are a serial killer that is extremely religious, wears a dark, personalized outfit and is something of a legend in the town. They kill people who can be blamed by one of the SevenDeadlySins and the deaths they causes are based on the punishment for each of them in hell. [[spoiler:Their real identity, Cam, is Sarah's closest friend and supposed LoveInterest in the show, who turns out to be a PsychopathicManchild with no particular reason for the killings, except crazy fanaticism.]]

** Season 5 had Margaret Mehar and Andrew May Sr. The former was murdered 12 years ago with the latter being executed for it not long after. The Widow's actions based on their notes tie back mostly to Margaret, but Andrew May Sr. is referenced a lesser amount of times for ostensibly being framed for her death. [[spoiler:Margaret's the primary catalyst, as Regina is her daughter who is seeking revenge. She ends up giving Andrew May Jr. some closure by going after Enid for helping to make it seem like Andrew May Sr. was Margaret's killer.]]

* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler:O'Keeffe is non-binary, uses they/them pronouns (assigned female at birth), and has a girlfriend, while Seamus is secretly gay. Neither make it out alive.]]

** [[spoiler: Grace]] bites off [[spoiler: Florence's]] right index finger. A subsequent contest in the inheritance competition requires the use of rubber bullet guns, leaving them annoyed that they can't squeeze the trigger.

** One of the contests, which only one character participates in, literally is about identifying the killer. [[spoiler: And Grace concludes "the killer isn't one of us". This is the most blatant sign that Spencer not only knew about the killer, but was an active part of the killer's rampage, namely, hiring her to massacre his family members fighting for his inheritance.]]

* KissingCousins: [[spoiler:Vincent tries this with Liv, to her revulsion. She ends up going for his brother Theodore, however... and just as a sign of how bad every relationship in the season is, this one is one of the ''least'' unhealthy relationships.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Basil Garvey has his face torn apart by every character he has hurt throughout the series.]]

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Shanika decides to leave town in the penultimate episode due to the murders. This leaves her as the only major surviving character not present for the climax.

** Season one had the Executioner. They are a serial killer that is extremely religious, wears a dark, personalized outfit and is something of a legend in the town. They kill people who can be blamed by one of the SevenDeadlySins and the deaths they causes are based on the punishment for each of them in hell. [[spoiler:His real identity, Cam, is Sarah's closest friend and supposed LoveInterest in the show, who turns out to be a PsychopathicManchild with no particular reason for the killings, except crazy fanaticism.]]
** Season two had the parka wearing killer. Unlike the Executioner, they bother much less with the theatrics of death, only really interested in killing off the characters and getting rid of them in painful ways. They also do not have any unique nickname like the other killers and the only antagonist to [[spoiler:[[KarmaHoudini get away with their crimes]]. Her real identity, Judith, turns out to be more pitiful than the main characters, who indirectly cause the death of her son and is taking personal revenge on them for it.]]