Special Unit 2 - Television Tropes & Idioms

Television series that aired on UPN and followed Nick O'Malley (Michael Landes) and Kate Benson (Alexondra Lee), two Chicago detectives who work for the titular agency, which is charged with dealing with supernatural monsters called "Links."

Lasted only 2 seasons. Running from April, 2001 to February, 2002. A total of 19 episodes.

This series contains examples of:

Abnormal Ammo: Nick (after blowing up a building with one shot from his service-issue pistol): "Red Bullets kick ass!"
Agent Mulder: Kate, who insisted she saw monsters as a kid well into adulthood.
- It's implied that everyone at SU2 was this in their respective lives/careers before joining up.
Aliens and Monsters
All Myths Are True: Except vampires.
Anti-Hero: Nick is a type 4; he enjoys killing/tormenting links and even likes intimidating humans on occasion, but still has some base line heroism.
Arbitrary Skepticism: See above for a traditional example. In-universe, everyone who doesn't work at SU2 displays this.
Badass Normal: Nick, Kate. They have guns and guts, that's it.
Big Bad: The unnamed, former king of the Links was shaping up to be this before the series was cancelled.
Boxed Crook: Carl works for SU 2 because he is a thief and a bad one.
By-the-Book Cop: Kate was this in muggle police and contrasts Nick, who has more experience in SU 2. In a inversion of the usual, she's Ensign Newbie and gradually becomes more like as time passed.
Camp
City of Adventure: Chicago
The Corpse Stops Here
Cowboy Cop: Nick who has little regard for rules. Not that there are that many regarding links but still...
Da Chief: Captain Page
The Danza: Richard Gant as Captain Richard Page, Sean Whalen as Sean, Jonathan Togo as Sean's replacement Jonathan.
Deadpan Snarker
The Face: Carl is the SU 2 liason to the link underworld. He's not personable or friendly to say the least but he does have useful connections and considering other links want nothing to do with SU 2 he's a step up.
Fantasy Kitchen Sink
Dead Little Sister: Nick's former partner/lover.
Death by Sex: Subverted in "The Depths."
Hey, It's That Guy!:
- Before he was Superman, Tom Welling had a small guest appearance in "The Depths."
- John de Lancie played the all-powerful, unnamed Link that once ruled them all.
Hot Scientist
The Hunter: The Bogeyman in "The Invisible."
I Know Your True Name: According to Jonathan's research, knowing the name of the former king of the Links will give one power over him. Needless to say, the unnamed Link kept it underwraps.
If Jesus Then Aliens
Immune to Bullets
Interspecies Romance
Jack the Ripper: "The Beast"
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Nick and Carl in spades, though the latter veers into Jerkass fairly often.
Literal Genie
Master of Illusion: One featured Link, the Chameleon, has the ability to read a person's mind and disguise itself as a familiar face. This allows it to kill its prey and elude capture with far more ease than others.
Mister Exposition: Captain Page, Sean, Jonathan.
Monster of the Week
No One Could Survive That: At the end of "The Eve," Nick and Kate fire on the unnamed Link, seemingly vaporizing him. However, since no one knows his biology, they have no idea what his remains would be, assuming he left any. After Kate suggests it would be impossible for this Link to have survived, Captain Page points out the grim reality of SU2 that anything is possible.
Noodle Incident
Our Dragons Are Different
Our Monsters Are Different
Our Gnomes Are Weirder
Pointy Ears
Precision F-Strike: In "The Eve," Carl sarcastically tells the officers "Maybe you should re-named yourselves FU2."
Psychic Assisted Suicide
Reasonable Authority Figure: Captain Page
Screwed by the Network: During Season 2, the series was initially given a pick-up for a full season. However, when a change in leadership occurred, UPN rescinded the order.
The Smart Guy: Sean in Season 1, Jonathan in Season 2.
Snarky Non-Human Sidekick: Carl
Spy From Weights And Measures
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Jonathan in Season 2.
They Walk Among Us
Vitriolic Best Buds: Nick and Carl
Weirdness Censor
Who You Gonna Call?
X Meets Y: The X-Files meets Ghostbusters.
Your Vampires Suck: Da Chief dismisses their existence entirely as "the silliest thing I ever heard." See also Take That to guess what.