Anthony: I don't really have any friends, though it's not that I'm socially awkward, it's just that everyone at school is such a butthole. Or a nerd. Well, I'm a nerd too, sort of, but I mean like a lame-super nerd, like a guy who thinks "Numa Numa" is funny.
One Life Remaining
is a Halo 3 comedy-drama machinima series by Jon CJ Graham, of Arby 'n' the Chief fame. The series follows Anthony Heitzmann, a lonely, self-admitted video game nerd trying to get a life - with little success. It's notable for its significantly improved writing over Graham's previous attempts, but is now suffering from the same problems with Cerebus Syndrome his older shows have been infamous for, which has caused it to be less popular than it once was, as the first season rivaled Arby 'n' the Chief in popularity.
This series provides examples of:
- Ax-Crazy: Kathryn. Of course, she did escape from the loony bin.
- Bilingual Dialogue: most of the time, Chad and Pete.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Kathryn.
- Broken Bird: Kathryn, with a mix natural mental health issues turned her into a complete psycho.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: All the characters are either evil or Jerk Asses. At best Deadpan Snarkers. And that includes protagonists. The only truly exceptional character dies in the same episode when he is introduced.
- Black Humor: Drunken Anthony telling Sarah "I've got WAY bigger problems than you" while she is being held at gunpoint. She doesn't take it well.
- Book Dumb: Chad comes off as a lazy idiot, but he's got more common sense than Anthony and Peter despite them having a higher education.
- Cerebus Syndrome: Again, as usual Jon's more intricate plots tend to go hard into this. Unfortunately, also as usual for his work it hasn't been handled as well as it could have, and it's been going on for far too long to where the show just isn't the same anymore. Most fans were hoping it blows over and they can get back to the more grounded in life style the machinima was known for in season 1. To put into perspective, the series ended with a high speed police chase involving a bomb threat at a college.
- Continuity Nod: The plot takes place in Esoteria, the same city as Hard Justice (Jon's previous series)
- Bernard Brown appears in a few episodes in the second season.
- Cool Old Lady: Apparently Chad's grandma was crazy cool, but but we only know this by how she died. She skydived into a volcano.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Chad likes to throw these.
- Deadpan Snarker: Almost EVERYONE. It's one of Jon's trademarks.
- Fantastic Racism: A plot device that was supposed to be in Hard Justice but was carried over to this series when it was dropped. Elites due to the Covenant war are not accepted by most humans, and it was the reason Pete was bullied in college. It's also probably the reason he gets beat up by the jerk cop that Kathryn tried to use to arrest Anthony and Chad on the way to their apartment.
- Humans Are Bastards
- To the point of exaggeration. Seriously, what woman would try to throw you in jail just because your date with her was, well, unsuccessful?
- Chad is probably the only exception.
- Who is sometimes an ass anyway.
Chad: So, uh... why are you afraid of toilets?Pete: { For God's sake, I'm not afraid of toilets. The flushing sound just makes me kind of nervous. }Chad: Why?Pete: { I was given swirlies on a daily basis for four years at university by a closet homosexual. }Chad: What the hell? Your guts bullied in university! People don't get bullied in university...Pete: { Yeah, people don't. }- Anthony skirts the line, but his female friend from collage averts it completely. Until Katryn kills Ted and Anthony acts like a prick to her.
- And the asylum guard that Kathryn killed averts it hard.
- Jerk Jock: Ted.
- Let's Get Dangerous! Peter. On the SWAT team. SHIT JUST GOT REAL.
- Odd Triple: with the Sliding Scale of Silliness vs. Seriousness being: Pete > Chad > Anthony.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Pete against Ted, and MUCH more seriously, Kathryn against Anthony.
- Silent Credits: S2E9, after Ted dies. Also S2E3, if the rain doesn't count.
- Slice of Life: Whenever the series doesn't suddenly turn into a crime thriller, it's about Anthony trying to live a post-graduation life.
- Straight Gay: Ted, at least according to Pete, but considering Ted's voice is so exaggerated to be manly it's probably true and a parody.
- Stylistic Suck: Fixedsys as the title card (and credits) font. Though this (along with square-wave sound effects accompanying them) is more likely a nostalgic allusion to fixed-width character displays of early computers.
- Take That!: "The O'Brian Factor" in S1E4
- Team Pet: Parodied by Pete.
- Took a Level in Badass Post-timeskip Peter is a cop! He also seems to be a member of SWAT. Dramatic Gun Cock
- They Don't Make Them Like They Used To: video games, according to Anthony. Probably Jon, too...
- This Loser Is You: after Graham released the first few episodes, there were tons of comments on YouTube telling "holy crap, this guy is so like me".
