Described by the creators as "The Golden Girls meets Murder, She Wrote but featuring big, hairy gay men," Where The Bears Are is a gay themed comedic murder mystery. Nelson Dorkoff (Ben Zook), Reggie Hatch (Rick Copp), and Wood Burns (Joe Dietl) are cleaning up the morning after a drunken party when they discover that Nelson now has a smoking hot new boyfriend named Todd (Ian Parks), and that there is another hot bear passed out in their bathtub... who turns out to be dead. The bears seek to uncover the killer, find out if Todd is really all that he seems, and most importantly, clear their names so that people will be willing to come over to their house for sex.
The series is found at http://wherethebearsare.tv
The first three installments of Seasons One through Four are on their YouTube page. The YouTube versions are censored, but their DVDs are uncensored.
Where the Bears Are contains examples of the following:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Oscar Butterfield for Wood.
- Captain Coley proves to be one for Reggie, who firmly rejects him after getting a kiss planted on him. Reggie then spends the rest of the scene alternating between making out with him and saying that it cannot, will not, must not happen.
- Alone with the Psycho: This situation comes up in each season so far. In the first season, Nelson thinks that Todd is the killer and subdues him, only to be marched off by Cyril, the real killer. In the second season, Nelson is menaced by one of Todd's exes, and Reggie is ambushed by Cyril but rescued by his new boyfriend Jeremy... who turns out to be that season's real killer. In the third season, the Bears interview Cyril for an insight into the mind of a serial killer. Nelson is left alone with Cyril after the others leave, and is menaced by him before he is able to get out of the room. Subverted in that Cyril was only fucking with him that time. More seriously, Todd distracts Alfie so that the others can investigate Alfie's sister. The sister was not involved... but Alfie was. In the fourth season, the Bears are alone on a boat with Todd's mobbed up brother and his goons, and the FBI agent they have kidnapped. In the fifth season, it gets subverted. Both Reggie and Wood spend time alone with Chase Hansen, but neither is in any danger as they are not his target.
- All Gays are Promiscuous: Averted with Nelson and Todd, played straight (ahem) with almost everyone else.
- That said, with the wedding approaching, both Todd and Nelson are starting to fantasize about other men.
- Always Murder: Ultimately averted in Season Five. The real mystery involves Todd's seeming affair with a man he meets at a clothing optional resort. It turns out that Todd is a spy, and the man he ran off with was under investigation.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: The fourth season's killer gets one off when she is revealed at the wedding.
- Jimmy gives one to Todd as well, but he does try to kill him afterward.
- Anyone Can Die: Proven in Season Three when Buzz is brutally killed.
- Topped in Season Four, where Dickie Calloway is killed.
- Ass Shove: Wood is on the receiving end when Mistress Lena allows the bears to look at her records if one of them stays behind to get a mechanized dildo shoved up his ass, and Reggie and Nelson volunteer his services.
- Asshole Victim: The fourth season's victim, Dickie Calloway.
- Also the sixth season's victim, Toby Marsden.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Wood starts a relationship with Tucker, but is all over Big Ben the moment he sees him, to the point where he apparently forgets Tucker is standing right there.
- Attention Whore: Nelson has his moments, Reggie even more so. Zigzagged by Reggie and Honey's producer, who isn't out for the limelight herself but is constantly pushing them to increase ratings.
- Author Appeal: Via
Word of God, Ben Zook's favourite episode of The Golden Girls is Grab That Dough. When he had a chance to use a game show in the series, he took it. - Back for the Dead: Season Four kills off Dickie Calloway.
- Bad Boss: Suzie Collins is horrible to her subordinate, Hairy Potter.
- Captain Coley is homophobic and is very free with gay slurs.
- The Bear: The show is about the bear subculture, especially the first and third seasons.
- Berserk Button: Gary reacts negatively any time Ace brings up anything related to the topic of weight.
- Big Beautiful Man: It is about bears, after all.
- Big Damn Heroes: In Season One, the bears rescue Nelson when the real killer is about to kill him too. In Season Two, Nelson and Reggie get into trouble trying to investigate a person of interest. Todd swoops to their rescue, beating up two much bigger men. Happens again when Todd's ex Ivan breaks into the house, and attacks Nelson, who ends up saving Todd when Ivan gets the upper hand on him. Happens a few times in Season Three. Again in Season Four, when Tucker comes to Reggie's rescue against Ace and Gary, and Jimmy is the one to take down Sandy.
- That last is more Villainous Rescue, because while Jimmy had nothing to do with Dickie's murder, he is a criminal responsible for the other shenanigans going on.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Honey Garrett. She's a sweet as pie Martha Stewart knockoff when the cameras are on, but when they're off...
- Black Comedy Rape: Happens twice to Wood in Season Two. The first time, he is forced to take a mechanized dildo up the ass while his friends examine a store's records. The second time, he is drugged and raped by a lecherous fan who films the encounter. Both are played for comedy, and while we see no comeuppance for the first perpetrator, Season Three reveals that the second has lost his medical license over his actions.
- Narrowly Averted in Season Three. The same character is drugged, but Reggie and George Ridgemont come to his rescue before the rape. This is also Played for Laughs.
- Played straight later on. Todd is separated from the other bears and is knocked unconscious and fondled.
- Narrowly Averted in Season Three. The same character is drugged, but Reggie and George Ridgemont come to his rescue before the rape. This is also Played for Laughs.
- Blatant Lies: In Season Five, Reggie insists he loves all animals. He does not.
- Bloodless Carnage: In the fourth season opener, Todd gets shot at least once at point blank range, but there is no blood.
- Justified, as there was no blood. Todd was wearing a harness from the Stockroom, and it blocked the bullet.
- Calling The Old Woman Out: Nelson finally tells off his overbearing mother for the horrible way she's treated Todd.
- The Cameo: Jackie Beat as himself in Season One. Margaret Cho plays a clerk at a fetish store in Season Two. She turns out to be a lot more than she seems... Missi Pyle plays Reggie's producer in Season Four. Singers Matt Zarley and Tom Goss also feature in Season Four. Perez Hilton plays a mobster's son in Season Five.
- Carpet of Virility: Todd and Detective Winters have hairy chests. Wood's chest is less dense, but he has much more body hair to make up for it.
- Cast Full of Gay: Lampshaded in Season Two.Mary Ashley Pendleton: "I know we're in Los Angeles but for God's sake, is everyone gay now?"
- Chekhov's Gun: Comes up a few times in the series, most dramatically with the sexy harness Todd bought for the wedding night. It saves his life when Sandy shoots him.
- Clear My Name: The bears aren't formally charged in Season One, but they want to do this to clear up any suspicions. Subverted in Season Two, when it looks like Reggie will be charged with murder but is swiftly released.
- The murder-related plot of Season Six. Nelson shot an abusive co-star while filming a scene, so the bears have to find out who switched the prop gun with a real one.
- Cliffhanger: Episode 15 of Season Four ends with a big one: Todd is shot point blank in the chest.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Honey Garrett drops a few in Season Four when things don't go her way.
- Combat Stilettos: Subverted in Season Three. The killer wears them as part of his Buzz-Killing costume, but they slow him down when he has to chase after Nelson afterward, and that plus some quick thinking on his part allows Nelson to last long enough for help to arrive.
- Coming-Out Story: In Season Four, we discover that Captain Coley is, in fact, gay. He tries to claim that he's just researching things to try and understand his gay son, but Reggie sees right through him.
- Comic Sutra: The Octomountain Tango.
- Contrived Coincidence: Averted and played straight. In Season Two, the bears track a suspect to a leather bar and discover his contact. However, they run into much of the supporting cast while they are there. Both of Reggie's stalkers were after him, and Ivan was almost certainly stalking Todd at that point. The detectives are more of a stretch, but Martinez was close enough to the victim to be invited to a pool party/fundraiser at his home, so they ran in the same circles.
- Also, Wood's old friend Suzie is the assistant coach of the gay rugby team.
- Cool Old Lady: The elderly passenger in Season Three. She knows all about Bears because her son is one, and she's down with it.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Nelson is incredibly jealous of Todd in Season Two, and imagines him in bed with every man who even talks to him.
- This is reversed in Season 3, with Todd becoming jealous of Nelson.
- Subverted in that case as Buzz actually was hitting on Nelson, so Todd's jealousy was well founded.
- This is reversed in Season 3, with Todd becoming jealous of Nelson.
- Cringe Comedy: In Season Four, while at a straight bar for an investigation: Reggie, Nelson and Wood get into an argument over which of them can act the manliest. They settle it by acting like stereotypical sexist pigs, which disgusts the waitresses and horrifies the straight male patrons.
- Da Chief: Captain Coley.
- Damned by Faint Praise: Inverted. When Mrs. Dorkoff finally gives her drunken opinion of Todd, she calls him average... right after she admits that he's "attractive, in that buff, scruffy, musclebear way."
- The Danza: George Ridgemont is played by actor George Sebastian. This isn't a coincidence; the role was written with him in mind.
- Daydream Surprise: Happens once per series/movie to Reggie when he makes a pass at a hot guy who proceeds to strip. Everything after the pass is a daydream.
- Subverted in Season Three, when it finally happens for real.
- Depraved Homosexual: George Ridgemont. One of Wood's admirers, George has cash flow problems because he molested 26 of his male patients while they were under anesthesia, and they are now suing him. And then he does it to Wood after bailing him out of jail.
- Deadpan Snarker: Most commonly Nelson and Reggie, but Todd starts to get in on the act as well. Not Wood, though.
- Disney Villain Death: The fate of Jeremy in Season Two.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The killer in Season Two really was unfairly screwed over by Reggie, Elliott, and the other leaders of their frat, but going on a murder spree decades later is a bit much.
- Distaff Counterpart: The four main bears are very clearly patterned off of Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia from The Golden Girls. Nelson is generally level-headed but has his neurotic moments, especially where Todd is concerned (Dorothy). Reggie is a well-connected writer and is the horniest of the bunch (Blanche). Wood's sweetness is only outdone by his stupidity (Rose). Todd's of a different generation than the others, is the shortest member of the main cast, and is especially close to one of the others while also being close to the other two (Sophia).
- Distracted by the Sexy: Invoked in Season Three, when Wood and Todd act as distractions while Reggie investigates.
- Reggie was in turn distracted by Mickey's sexy, though that was not Mickey's intent.
- Distressed Dude: In Season Three, Todd is captured by one of the killers. In Season Four, it's Tucker's turn, and then the other bears.
- The Ditz: Wood. Burns.
- He is finally outdone in Season Three. Bambi the flight attendant is even dumber than Wood.
- Divorce Is Temporary: The opening scene of Season Four shows Winters and Martinez together, but the build up shows that they are getting divorced. Sure enough, they reconcile in Episode 14.
- Dodgy Toupee: Reggie briefly sports one in Season Four, to some mockery.
- Double Entendre: On occasion.George Ridgemont: "Where is Wood? I need Wood, and I need Wood now!"
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Todd when he's in personal trainer mode.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Gary takes his mother out to lunch on a regular basis.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Twice in the same scene in Season Five. First, Reggie and Wood realize that they are dating the same man. Second, after Todd recognizes him as a co-worker and realizes that he is The Mole, Wood reveals that he made the man a key to their house. Wood is the last to realize the implications.
- Fag Hag: Played with. Suzie Collins hangs out with many gay men. They aren't into her, but that doesn't stop her from sexually harassing them anyway.
- Nelson and Dickie's friend Sandy is one as well, as is Nelson's mom.
- The waitresses at Mugs & Jugs were much friendlier to the bears once they realized that they were gay men putting on a front.
- Fake Boobs: Susie Collins again. She paid for them with part of the settlement money from her lawsuit.
- A more literal set of fake breasts are used as part of Oscar's disguise.
- Fair Cop: Detective Winters in Season One. Joined by Detective Martinez in Season Two.
- Fan Disservice: Nelson's drunken pole dance in Season Two. It's that or a fetish, depending on one's tastes.
- Flanderization: Wood wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch in Season One, but he has gotten progressively more dimwitted over the series.
- Foreshadowing: Reggie breaks up with Captain Coley, comparing him to a dog owner; Reggie will never be first in his life. So, naturally, the next man he falls for is a dog owner. The man, Chase Hansen, is soon also banging Wood on the side. Also in the fifth season, the Bears go to a Mexican restaurant and a luchador ring in the course of their investigation, and then go to Mexico in the last act.
- Fourth Ranger: Todd moves in with Nelson in Season Two, and quickly bonds with Reggie and Wood. Maybe a little too well, as they set off Nelson's jealousy.
- Friend on the Force: Detectives Winters and Martinez are this for the Bears. Except in Season Three.
- Gay Groom in a White Tux: Averted. Both Nelson and Todd wear black tuxes at their wedding.
- Zig-zagged at the actual wedding. Neither is in a tux, but both are wearing white dress shirts.
- Generation Xerox: Zig-zagged. Physically, Nelson is a dead ringer for his father (to the point where some viewers believe that the actors are related, though that has been disproved), but his personality comes from his mother.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: Wood slaps Reggie with the corpse Nelson was using to research his possible role as a sheriff. It Makes Sense in Context.
- He Really Can Act: An In-Universe example. Events conspire to force Nelson to give Dickie's eulogy. He does his trademark "and scene" hand motion and tells a story about how he and Dickie invented it together. Todd was convinced that Nelson was upset, and the bears went after him after he became too choked up to finish. It turns out he was acting the whole time.
- Longtime viewers might have been tipped off because the first season established that the "and scene" hand motion was something Nelson and Dickie's acting coach had them do. They didn't invent it.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: Reggie.
- How We Got Here: The fourth season opens on Nelson and Todd's wedding, then flashes back two weeks to the wedding shower.
- Hidden Wire: Used to catch a money laundering kidnapper in Season One.
- I Call It "Vera": Suzie's has named her breasts Thelma & Louise.
- I Did What I Had to Do: In the course of his fledgling spy career, Todd has had to have sex with various people three times.
- Idiot Ball: Season Four. Hoo boy. So you're in the clear, and everybody thinks you're just going home, but you let it slip that you've rented a yacht for a few days, but you're really using the yacht as a cover for your criminal activities, which now include holding an FBI agent. That's dumb enough, but now your brother and his fiancée and their two best friends want to borrow it to complete an aborted wedding, and you don't want to say no because you have finally rebuilt your relationship with your brother? Then, Jimmy darling, why on Earth would you a) not get rid of said FBI agent you have stashed on board before your brother and co. arrive, and b) not come up with some excuse to delay things while you hire other people to staff it as opposed to the two goons who have been conspicuously hanging around for nefarious purposes?
- Imagine Spot: In Season Two, Nelson starts to imagine Todd in bed with everyone, even his own roommates.
- In Love with the Mark: In Season Five, Crusher defects because of his infatuation with Wood.
- Incompatible Orientation: Suzie for Wood.
- More tragically, Sandy for Nelson.
- Instant Sedation: In Season Three, Todd is knocked out with chloroform, which works rather quickly given his muscular build.
- It's All About Me: Reggie, Reggie, Reggie...Reggie: Murder? Models? Mayhem? This is a great story for my pilot presentation!
- Jerkass: Dickie Calloway is a prime example, deliberately sabotaging Nelson out of spite even though he's the one with the much bigger career... which he flaunts in Nelson's face.
- Lady Drunk: Nelson's mom. Boy howdy, Nelson's mom.
- Leatherman: The bears dress up in leather at one point in Season Two.
- Malaproper: Wood has a photogenic memory, knows what evidence tamponing is, and will have you know that Dumbo is a delicious dish made from sausage, rice, and shrimp.
- Male Frontal Nudity: Averted. The DVD releases are uncensored, but the most you see is ass. Usually (though not exclusively) Todd's.
- Married to the Job: Averted in Season Six. Todd gets an opportunity to do important work in Russia, but it would be a three year assignment and he would have no contact with Nelson. He turns it down.
- May–December Romance: Nelson and Todd, although the age difference isn't as extreme as in other examples.
- Mr. Fanservice: Todd, Detectives Winters and Martinez.
- Moment Killer: Nelson and Todd have a serious discussion about their feelings and their issues shortly before their wedding, and the director Wood hired asked them to reenact it shirtless.
- Money, Dear Boy: An In-Universe example. Nelson and Todd have no interest in helping Reggie solve Season Four's killer because they're planning their wedding... until Reggie offers to pay for it all if they help him crack the case.
- Motive Rant: Each killer launches into one upon revelation of his crimes, but this is taken to extremes by Alfie, one of Season Three's killers. He felt he couldn't compete with other twinks, decided to become a bear, but couldn't gain weight due to a hyperactive thyroid, and gives an especially crazed rant to a captive Todd.
- Season Four's killer beats them. Sandy's rant is just as crazed as Alfie's, but she proceeds to try and get her actual target.
- Murder by Mistake: Turns out to happen in Season Four. Sandy had honestly gotten over her hatred of Dickie, but she accidentally killed him anyway.
- My Beloved Smother: Mrs. Dorkoff, come on down!
- Mystery Writer Detective: Reggie becomes this due to the number of murders he helps solve.
- N-Word Privileges: Homophobic slurs get dropped from time to time, but only from the gay cast members until Season Three.
- Actually... since Captain Coley is gay, this is played straight.
- New Media Are Evil: Averted. The bears use an iPhone app to track Nelson when the first season's killer had kidnapped him.
- Never My Fault: Wood accidentally burned down Nelson's house between the second and third seasons, and Nelson didn't pay the insurance premiums because Wood kept putting Nelson's mail in his mail drawer without telling Nelson that he had made him that drawer. Wood doesn't understand why Nelson is still angry.
- Not Me This Time: Jimmy is falling all over himself trying to prove to Todd that he has nothing to do with Dickie's murder. With the revelation of Sandy's guilt, it looks genuine.
- However, while he had nothing to do with Dickie's murder, he is involved in some heavy criminal activity, including drug smuggling and murder.
- Oh, Crap!: Reggie and Sandy share a moment during the wedding when Reggie spots the strychnine in Sandy's bag, and realizes that she is the killer, and she realizes that he knows.
- Parental Marriage Veto: Mr. Dorkoff likes Todd just fine, but Mrs. Dorkoff has a very low opinion of him, which she can't really hide while she's sober. She doesn't even try when she's drunk.
- Police Are Useless: As expected in a show about amateur sleuths. Detectives Winters and Martinez do provide some help, but this is mostly in the form of information. It drives a wedge between them and the Bears in Season Three, because their Captain has threatened to fire them if they don't solve the murder before the bears.
- Justified in Season Four when Sandy has her meltdown at Nelson and Todd's wedding. There were at least three police officers present, but as they were at a wedding it is likely that none of them were armed.
- Porn Names: "Wood Burns" is a pseudonym. Wood is his real first name, short for Woodrow, but he adopted Burns for his porn persona.
- Power Trio: Nelson, Reggie, and Wood. Eventually joined by Todd.
- Private Detective: Mickey Swift in Season Three.
- Winters and Martinez decide to form their own agency at the end of Season Five. Business is booming in Season Six.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: The actor who plays Hairy Potter was unavailable when the third and fourth seasons were filmed, so the character was absent.
- Redemption Equals Death: In a meta sense. The redemption is only tangentially related to the death because of the timing, but Buzz kisses Nelson, is gently shot down, apologizes, and bows out gracefully. His last words were that Todd is a lucky guy. And then the killer caught up with him.
- Reformed, but Rejected: Todd's brother Jimmy just wants to be a part of Todd's life again, but Todd isn't buying it. They reconcile the night before the wedding. Oh, and while Jimmy had nothing to do with the murder, he actually is still a criminal, making this an Averted Trope.
- Jimmy really does want to be in Todd's life again, but he is not only still a criminal, but has become worse.
- Sacrificial Lion: Buzz in Season Three.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Nelson and Todd, though each has exhibited the other trait on occasion.
- For a villainous example, Gary and Ace.
- Sequel Escalation: The first season featured one victim, the second season's victim was the latest in a string of killings, though that was unknown until the climax, and the third has featured five victims as of Part 21, though two were accidental. The fourth season's victim is recurring character Dickie Calloway. Not only that, but both of Season Four's villains are extremely close to the Bears, being one of Nelson's best friends and Todd's estranged older brother.
- In a meta sense, Season Three is bigger than previous seasons in that it has a bigger budget, a rented airplane, and a cast trip to Australia.
- Season Five breaks the murder mystery streak. This time, the bears are roped into a spy mission that has global implications.
- Season Six has both a murder plotline and a spy plotline, and will also show what happened after Jeremy returned at The Stinger of Season Five.
- Sequel Goes Foreign: The climax of the third season takes place on board a plane to Australia, as does the final scene. The last act of the fifth season takes place in Mexico.
- Serial Killer: All of the killers. Cyril is psychotic and constantly changes identities, Jeremy is out for revenge, Alfie is avenging his body issues and Oscar just wants to be a good boyfriend.
- Finally averted in Season Four. The killer only has one target. Sadly for her, but happily for almost everyone else, she kills the wrong man. However, the other villain (Jimmy) is wanted on a number of mob related murder charges.
- Also averted in Season Five, due to the change in format (spy story vs. murder mystery.
- Sexual Extortion: Suzie does this to Hairy Potter, though it's less "sexual" and more "act like a stripper so I can blow this gay guy." It briefly got her fired from her job as County Coroner, but she sued. She was rehired, her old assistant/victim was fired, and she now makes her new assistant remove an article of clothing whenever he doesn't get one of her pop quiz questions completely correct.
- Shout-Out: To The Golden Girls, as a series. Nelson has a dance sequence where he delights onlookers and shocks Reggie and Todd, much like how Rose shocked Dorothy and Blanche. Both dance sequences were performed by obvious stunt doubles. Another is to the game show episode, Grab That Dough. Other shoutouts include Airplane!, Murder, She Wrote, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
- Sitcom Archnemesis: Nelson and his former performing partner, Dickie Calloway. He seems to have another in Honey Garrett, since Dickie was killed.
- George Ridgemont is this for Reggie. George and Nelson get along as poorly, but George interacts with Reggie more frequently.
- Slasher Smile: Season Three's killer sports one when he realizes that he can finish what he started with Nelson. Made extra creepy due to the mask worn. You can just see the pearly whites flash underneath.
- Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: Reggie has gotten the last clue he needed to uncover the killer's identity, and blurts it out when the minister asks if there's a reason why Nelson and Todd shouldn't be wed. Somewhat ironic, as the killer really, really, REALLY doesn't want the wedding to go through.
- Spy's Suspicious Spouse: Todd seemingly leaves Nelson for a random guy. It turns out that the guy was up to serious shenanigans, and Todd is a field agent for the CIA. He hates being called a spy.
- Stag Party: Reggie and Wood throw one for Nelson and Todd.
- Stalker with a Crush: Yes. The killer in Season One fits this trope, and the killer in Season Two is a stalker who develops a crush.
- Zigzagged with Season Four's killer. Sandy knew that nothing physical would come of her friendship with Nelson, but she wanted emotional intimacy.
- Stalker without a Crush: The killer in Season Two starts out this way. Then he starts to genuinely fall for Reggie.
- Played With in Season Three. Oscar does seem to have a legitimate thing for bears, but he was only hanging around the set as part of Alfie's plan.
- It seems Todd has one in Season Five. It turns out to be his boss at the Agency.
- Stylistic Suck: There is a notable difference between Reggie when he's speaking normally and Reggie when he's on camera.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: The first episode of Season Four sees Dickie Calloway get killed off, poisoned by a glass of champagne meant for Todd.
- Take That!: In Season One:Reggie: Are you insane? If word gets out that we have a dead guy in this house, no one's ever gonna come over here and have sex with us ever again! Not from Scruff or Growlr or Craigslist—Wood: Craigslist, really? You still use that?
- Becomes Hypocritical Humor when you learn that the casting calls for the show were posted on Craigslist.
- Tap on the Head: Averted. Todd is knocked unconscious during a dramatic moment near the end of Season One. In Season Two he mentions that the doctors think he might have short-term memory loss problems because of it.
- Potentially played straight in Season Four. Todd and Tucker subdue Ace and Gary with blows to the head. We don't know what the lasting effects will be, if any.
- Tempting Fate: Averted in Season Four. Gary's jet ski runs out of gas, so Reggie and Wood come about to gloat before heading to get help. Nothing happened, because their jet ski had enough fuel to make it to shore, but that was a hell of a risk.
- The Bus Comes Back: Mickey Swift returns in Season Six. His last appearance was in Season Three.
- The Mole: In Season Five, Todd becomes aware of a mole in his agency, and has to keep an important MacGuffin to himself until he figures out which of his coworkers is the traitor.
- The Stinger: On Season Five, Reggie meets up with an admirer. It turns out to be Jeremy, Season Two's killer.
- Theme Naming: There are a pair of bouncers named Hulk and Thor in Season One. Season Two has a pair of goons named Bert and Ernie. Season Three reveals that Suzie has named her breasts Thelma & Louise.
- Theme Song: Where The Bears Are.
- They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason: Todd's reason for not wanting to talk to the police in Season One. In Season Two, we find out that his uncles were in the Mafia back in Philadelphia, he was in a gang, he has a record, and he came to Los Angeles to get away from all that. He comes clean to Nelson, but reluctantly.
- Becomes more pressing when Nelson invites Todd's brother Jimmy to their wedding, without telling him first.
- Three-Way Sex: Happens in Season Two with Wood and Detectives Winters and Martinez, who are partners in both senses of the term. They briefly break up with him to save their marriage, but neither can stay away.
- Two Dun It: In Season Three, Alfie and Oscar are working together, each providing the other with an alibi. And in Season Four, Sandy is the killer, but Ace and Gary are after Reggie because their boss Jimmy thinks that Reggie is onto his criminal activities.
- Two-Timer Date: Wood and the Detectives. Subverted in Season Three after their breakup; they pay him a visit so that one can distract him while the other searches the house.
- Again in Season Five, when Chase Hansen ducks out of a "session" with Wood to go have sex with Reggie. Subverted in that he was using them both to track down a thumbdrive Todd had retrieved.
- Trailers Always Spoil:
- The Season Three trailer spoils the return of Cyril and Dickie.
- Subverted with Suzie's return. She is played by the same actress (Loretta Fox) and we even hear her speak, but her hair is much longer and her breasts bigger, so the viewer might conclude that Fox is playing a different character.
- Season Four trailer:
- It doesn't spoil the victim's identity, a first for the series, but it does tell us that Todd gets shot on his wedding day.
- Todd is shown to survive the gunshot wound, as he appears in scenes that happen after the wedding.
- The Season Six trailer reveals the alleged killer (Nelson), but not the murder victim ( Toby Marsden).
- Very Special Episode: Zigzagged in Episode 11 of Season Five. Todd and Reggie disrupt an Anti-Gay "Conversion Therapy" session... by Reggie making Todd give the victim a lapdance to prove that it doesn't work.
- Villain Ball: Season Four again. Jimmy thinks that Reggie is onto him due to his wild accusations, so he has Ace and Gary try to kidnap him. Fair enough, given what he knew. Except... there was a very public murder which set off the accusations in the first place, and Reggie made it crystal clear that he was investigating that murder. Which could have been a fakeout, true, but the second attempt to scare off Reggie involved gun-bearing drones and was in public, and Jimmy's own brother was present for that. If Ace and Gary made a mistake, or if something unexpected had happened, Todd could have died.
- Villainous Breakdown: The killer in Season Two has one when Reggie takes the call from the police and discovers that his alibi has been faked.
- The killer in Season Four also has one upon finally being confronted.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: The bears generally come off as this, because while they are sometimes very affectionate with each other, the rest of the time is marked by Reggie and Nelson sniping at each other and both belittling Wood. It verges on With Friends Like These... at times.
- Waiting for a Break: Nelson! Reggie used to, but after his two books he has a shot at the big time... if Ronnie Brown doesn't get there first.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Detective Martinez whenever he's off duty.
- We Will Meet Again: Gary shouts this at Reggie and Wood when they are speeding away on their jet skis.
- We Used to Be Friends: Nelson and Dickie.
- Also, Todd and Jimmy. They're brothers, and Jimmy is desperate to renew the bond he and Todd had before Todd left "the life."
- Wham Episode: There are a few of these in Season Three. In Episode 13, Buzz is brutally killed, and the killer is apparently a woman. Topped in Episode 16. One of the killers is a woman. The other is her brother, who has kidnapped Todd. Then, in Episode 20, the "other killer" has an airtight alibi, so the Bears are on a plane with two other killers. And in Episode 21, the "woman" was a man dressed as a woman, who has tried to poison the Bears for revenge, but a mix-up has resulted in the pilots being killed, leaving the plane without anyone to fly it.
- Episode 15 of Season Four counts. Sandy is the killer, having accidentally bumped off Dickie while trying to kill Todd. She then decides to finish the job and succeeds in shooting him in the chest at point blank range, proving that the opening scene is not a fakeout.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: In Season Four. Tucker explains that Ace is left tied to a buoy, and presumably Gary was stuck on his jet ski until the cops retrieved him. Some viewers didn't catch the first on their first viewing.
- With Friends Like These...: The bears are good friends, but they are frequently horrible to each other. Examples include Reggie having jailhouse sex with the serial killer who tried to murder Nelson, and Wood neglecting to tell Nelson that said serial killer had escaped from prison months ago.
- Topped in Season Three when Reggie and Wood spy on Nelson and Todd having sex, and they laugh about it when confronted.
- Word of Gay: Inverted. Most of the actors playing gay characters are themselves gay, but not all. Most noticeable in Season Four, where Tucker, Ace, and Gary are played by straight actors.
- Mind you, Tucker turns out to be straight.
