June, 1937, while on an expedition, Nazi soldiers ambushed your party. It was here that you were subdued, and transported to the bunker, correct? Nazi sympathizer 'Claire Capshaw' started a series of interrogations? We wanted your reassurance, that during these interrogations, you did not reveal any, uh, American secrets to your captors. We can trust you, right Dr. Jones?
The Indiana Jones Interrogations is a miniseries created by Jonathan Rogers and Jonas Acuff. A seven-installment fan film for the Indiana Jones character, the series is in a Found Footage format that makes sense for the character's time period—degraded interrogation footage taken by his Nazi captors while he is their prisoner in the year 1937. Indy is forced to cooperate with a former student of his, Dr. Claire Capshaw, who has defected to Germany, adding salt to Indy's torture wounds.
The show is designed as a character piece for Indiana Jones, partly out of necessity thanks to a limited budget and production values, and partly to help it stand out as a unique creation. The series has been steadily building a cult following, and received positive reviews from sites like The Geek Speak Show, The 7th Matrix, The Bearded Trio, and even was featured on the Indy Cast.
The Complete Series playlist on YouTube
The Complete Series album on Vimeo.
The Indiana Jones Interrogations features examples of:
- Adventurer Outfit
- Agent Scully: Indy retains his trademark skepticism of the supernatural whenever the topic is broached by Capshaw.
- Anachronic Order: Episode 4 features clips from what are considered otherwise-ruined recordings, presented in a montage format, and with some of them being from earlier in the series (noticable by Indy's first fedora and shirt)
- Artifact of Death: The MacGuffin Indy was after in the events that led to his capture is likely another of these. It's described as having needed an incantation to be activated, and if it had been, the Nazis would have been 'invincible.'
- Aside Glance: With there being an In-Universe camera, this is to be expected.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Indy in the series finale.
- Big Bad: Major Arnold Albrecht, an especially cruel and prideful Nazi who unapproves of Capshaw's non-violent interrogation methods.
- Big "NO!": A fairly restrained one, when Claire gets shot and Indy lunges toward Albrecht, before being held at gunpoint.
- Black Screen of Death: A variation occurs at the end of Episode 2, when Indy attacks his captors, in the process smashing the camera and making the footage stop.
- Berserk Button: When Claire at one point tries to use Indy's birth name of 'Henry' in a bid to reason with him, Indy breaks the composure that he's held throughout the whole discussion and proceeds to give her a very vitriolic "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In Episode 7, Indy briefly addresses the camera when he wants to call out Agent Buthrow's superiors.
- Breather Episode: A few segments of Episode 4 show that some of the interrogations were less tense and more pleasant between Indy and Claire, though sadly we don't see much of those.
- Call-Back:
- In Episode 4, there is mention of Indy's scoutmaster, Mr. Havelock, from the prologue of The Last Crusade, as well as a reference to Indy having lectured about the artifacts from Coronado's expedition. Though this technically also counts as a Call-Forward since the series takes place before Last Crusade revealed those plot points.
- Several references to the Ark of the Covenant occur, as it's the biggest event in the Indy timeline before the series begins, and Indy's infamy with Nazi Germany over the incident is at its peak.
- Marion Ravenwood and Rene Belloq are mentioned in passing, also references to Raiders.
- Call-Forward: In one of the documentation cards shown before the episodes, a 'General Ross' is mentioned, this being the same General Robert Ross that appears in Crystal Skull, set decades later.
- Camera Abuse
- Chekhov's Gun: In Episode 5, mention is made by Albrecht and Oberhaust of there being nearby bombings, and a mysterious traitor within the Reich having leaked the base's location to Allied forces. This pays off very next episode, when the base comes under surprise attack from one of these bombing raids.
- Clothes Make the Legend: Indy's fedora almost never comes off during the series, in homage to the same tradition used in the films.
- Continuity Nod: Numerous throughout, so far the most obvious of which is Claire name-dropping The Ark of the Covenant. The series takes place post-Raiders, so it makes sense for it to be referenced.
- Cosmic Plaything: Taken to new levels with Indy, being a belligerent prisoner throughout the show, and resulting in him constantly on the receiving end of beatings.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Indy is being threatened with this if he does not agree to answer the questions Claire has been assigned to ask him.
- Darker and Edgier: Compared to the films, which are generally pretty light, pulpy adventure stories, this show deliberately tries to be much grittier, more atmospheric and with more personal stakes.
- Death Glare: Indy initially gives Claire many of these, as he is still deeply angry at her for her treason.
- Deadpan Snarker: Indy has a quippy response for almost everything Claire or the other Nazis throw at him, though Claire herself gets her moments.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Episodes are in a degraded black-and-white form, to create the illusion of them being actual recovered films from the 1930's.
- Downer Ending: Years later, after Indy's escape from captivity, and with the fate of Claire Capshaw a mystery to the audience, he has to endure one final interrogation by a government agent on behalf of Major Eaton, who want him to sign off on a heavily altered version of his testimony to act as propaganda. While discussing his original debriefing, we learn Claire Capshaw died during the escape from the besieged bunker, killing herself so that Indy could flee without her crippled body slowing him down, despite all of Indy's efforts to drag her with him to safety. Indy is clearly broken up over this, and this is the first he's ever spoken of it to anyone. His interrogator is less than sympathetic, and in the end, Indy is so offended by the agent's attitude that he storms out of the room, and his story becomes yet another embellished piece of propaganda, with Claire Capshaw's sacrifice going unremembered by anyone except Indy, who feels undeserving of it after his treatment of her.
- Driven to Suicide: Quite possibly a factor in Claire's decision to shoot herself and give Indy an unburdened escape, she's established as feeling some measure of guilt and self-loathing for her defection to Germany, and probably saw the situation as her chance to take herself out, but with some kind of noble purpose to hide it.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The first two episodes have Indy wearing a fairly generic fedora, shirt and satchel, which then get replaced with a proper Raiders-style fedora, and his leather jacket also finally makes it's debut in Episode 4. Most noticeably, Claire Capshaw's voice actress is recast between Episode 2 and 3, and sticks for the remainder of the series.
- Everybody's Dead, Dave: Indy is the only known survivor of the bunker, by series' end.
- Evil Laugh: Dr. Oberhaust and Major Albrecht engage in this at least once, most noticeably Oberhaust while seen giving electric torture to Indy.
- Expy: Claire is in many ways one for the depiction of Dr. Harleen Quinzel in The Joker Blogs, as both are young, mentally troubled female doctors trying to interview a belligerent patient whom they have conflicting feelings about. The differences lie in Claire having a long history of personally knowing her subject before the series begins, their past dynamic colors their entire interaction throughout the episodes, and as opposed to Quinzel's Start of Darkness narrative, Claire's is a redemption narrative (more specifically, Redemption Equals Death).
- The Faceless: Claire is always behind the camera, as is anyone else not-Indy, since all other characters are voice-only roles.
- Family-Unfriendly Violence: Episode 4 shows glimpses of Indy suffering electric torture by Dr. Oberhaust.
- Fan Sequel: Takes place a year after Raiders of the Lost Ark, after Indy has become notorious to Nazi Germany.
- Final Battle: Episode 6 sees Indy and Oberhaust engage in an off-screen slug-fest in the midst of the base coming under fire from an air raid, while Claire is crippled by a gunshot wound.
- Formula-Breaking Episode: Episode 7 in a fashion, with a professor-mode Indy and an entirely different interrogator.
- Found Footage Films
- Freak Out: Albrecht has a mental breakdown during Episode 6, attempting to assassinate Indy and Claire, not giving a damn that the base is literally under fire from an Allied bombing attack, and when he is the last one left in the damaged room, he grabs the camera as he attempts to escape, ranting in German that he will use the footage as proof to Hitler of his loyalty. He doesn't survive the blasts.
- Genre Blindness: Albrecht and Oberhaust, the two main villains of the series, both show remarkable naivete with their handling of the bunker's security and Indy himself, not having the bunker immediately evacuated once word hits that it's location has been compromised, and foolishly allowing Indy to be interrogated without restraints in Episode 2 (though in fairness, this was by Claire's order).
- Genre Deconstruction: The series takes a much darker, more gritty look at the reality of a man like Indiana Jones being held captive and tortured by Nazis, and also fleshes out some of the moral ambiguity present in both his character and his sworn enemies (Claire being a Nazi with complex reasons for defecting).
- Ghost Story: In Episode 4, Indy recounts to Claire a story from his days as a Boy Scout (as seen in The Last Crusade), where his party encountered a Hopi Indian that told them the story of the trickster spirit, the Coyote, known for causing mischief to those who deserved it, and how this helped form some of Indy's more roguish traits. The way the story is told, the Indian almost seems like a supernatural presence, what with appearing out of the darkness right after a campfire is mysteriously blown out.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Episode 6, where Claire is shot in the gut off-camera by Albrecht
- Girl of the Week: Claire is depicted as a previous one, that to Indy's disgust, has since joined the cause of his hated enemies.
- Grand Finale: The final interrogation, between Indy and a US government stooge that sees the entire experience he endured twisted into wartime propaganda.
- Gut Punch: The reveal of Claire's fate.
- Hell Is That Noise: Indy and Claire both noticeably become very concerned when they hear explosions and sirens going off outside, during their last argument in Episode 6.
- Here We Go Again!: Basically Indy's reaction to Agent Buthrow about to begin one last interrogation session.
- Heroic BSoD: Indy is visibly traumatized by his time in the bunker, and continues to grieve for his lost student.
- Hidden Depths: Both Indy and Claire get to show different sides of themselves (Indy, that he actually has a great deal of self-loathing and insecurity, and Claire is an unexpectedly kind and loyal friend to Indy despite being a Nazi).
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Albrecht's attempt to assassinate Indy and Claire backfires when Indy takes advantage of Albrecht's Evil Gloating to knock him out and flee the building with Claire, and in the end he dies blown to smithereens mere minutes later.
- Hot for Teacher: Implied to have, at least initially, been the situation with Claire towards Indy while in school. Though their relationship later developed into more of a surrogate father/daughter dynamic.
- How We Got Here: Episode 7 acts as such, given Agent Buthrow recaps the entire series to jog Indy's memory.
- Iconic Outfit: The fedora is enough to show that this is Indiana Jones being tied to the chair.
- Idiot Ball: Honestly, the Nazis should have known better than to untie Indy while he was still actively refusing to cooperate with the interrogations.
- Insistent Terminology: Whenever Buthrow continues to forget to call Claire Capshaw by her professional title, Indy not too quietly reminds him.
- Indy Ploy: The Trope Namer thinks that refusing to cooperate will buy him time to find an opportunity for escape, even if it means suffering unimaginable punishment.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The coarse-and-cynical Indy is nevertheless honorable, and refuses to cooperate with Nazis.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Albrecht goes utterly mad with despair and paranoia in the end.
- Jump Scare: When Indy leaps toward the camera at the end of Episode 2.
- Just a Flesh Wound: Definitely invoked with the amount of punishment Indy is described as taking throughout the series.
- Killed Off for Real: Arnold Albrecht and Claire Capshaw are both definitively dead, whereas Oberhaust is considered to have perished in the bombings by the creators, but there is no direct statement of this in the series itself.
- Kubrick Stare: Indy does this often, to show his defiance to the cameraman filming the interrogations.
- Large Ham: Dr. Erik Oberhaust, and Albrecht during his descent into insanity in Episode 6.
- Leave the Camera Running: The episodes are mostly cut down to the relevant portions, but sometimes filler is left in, such as the beginning of Episode 5, when Oberhaust can be heard off-camera humming to himself while waiting for Albrecht to arrive with Indy, and the camera has already been turned on and begun filming.
- Minimalist Cast: There are only five named characters in the series, and all except for Indy never appear on camera, always manifesting off screen as speaking roles, and careful editing is used to create the illusion of Indy interacting with other people in the room.
- Mood Whiplash: Grave threats of bodily harm by his captors are often defused by a humorous quip from the defiant Indy. Another example is the cutting of a harrowing clip of Indy being given electric torture, to him pleasantly telling Claire an old childhood story.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Indy attacks his captors at the end of Episode 2, and it's clear from dialogue in future episodes that he put up an admirable fight, even if he never stood a chance of actual escape.
- The Oner: Every episode except for 7 has at least a couple moments of visual glitches to mask cuts, but 7 was accomplished all in one take.
- Parental Neglect: Claire makes very brief mention of having never known her own father, and considers Indy to be something of a substitute.
- Piggybacking on Hitler: Claire claims this is what she is doing by being loyal to the Nazis, since she believes them to be powerful enough to take over the world, and so wants to be on the winning team to ensure she can be a force for good on the inside. One can only assume, since she's saying this all on tape, that she's confident she can convince her higher-ups that this was just telling Indy what he'd want to hear, to gain his trust and get him to cooperate.
- Precision F-Strike: In Episode 6, Upon seeing Claire get shot in front of his eyes by Albrecht, Indy begins to yell at his captor, 'You fucking—-!'
- Properly Paranoid: Albrecht has suspicions that Claire Capshaw is not entirely loyal to the Nazi cause, and is compromised by feelings for Indy. Both of which are true.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "Mind. Your. Tone. Pig!"
- Shout-Out: The dialogue in the first two episodes at times pretty unsubtly references the spiel of Dr. Harleen Quinzel in The Joker Blogs, which was a big stylistic influence before the show grew into its own.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Indy and Claire have this dynamic farther along in the series.
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Spiritual Successor: It has been noted by some viewers the immense similarity to The Joker Blogs. It was indeed a major stylistic influence on the series. - Stylistic Suck: The series is designed to look like badly degraded, poorly-lit and glitchy 30's era film footage filmed in sub-part conditions.
- Those Wacky Nazis: The ones holding Indy prisoner in the first place.
- Time-Passage Beard: Episode 3 takes place after a short time skip, during which Indy has been living in inhumane conditions, and so we see him with an unshaved mug.
- Vague Age: It's not quite clear how old Claire Capshaw is, considering how young she sounds, but she is said to have graduated from Marshall College, top of her class, at some point acquired some kind of doctorate, and has now been working as a Nazi sympathizer for an unspecified period of time.
- We Have Ways of Making You Talk
- Wham Episode: Episode 6. Where everything goes to hell.
- Wham Line: 'She took the gun... and shot herself... so that I could run.'
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Is Erik Oberhaust really dead? There's no on-screen confirmation as said earlier, and it's only the word of the creators clarifying his fate.
