When Phil confronted Phantasm over a room full of kidnapped girls, drugs, hookers, and guns, he was knocked out and framed.
One ten-year stretch later, Phil is out. But he's a different man now. He's Chozen. Badass ex-con, and unashamed lover of handsome men everywhere.
Crashing with his sister, Chozen sets out to reach the top of the rap game, and put Phantasm in his place for what he did.
Chozen was paired up with Archer on the FX lineup, debuting on Jan. 13, 2014. Unfortunately, the series struggled to find an audience (being scheduled against the runaway hit Rick and Morty didn't help), and the series was cancelled shortly after its first season finale. Only 10 episodes aired, with three unaired episodes being included on the Amazon DVD.
Tropes:
- All Gays are Promiscuous: Chozen could be the page image. He has sex with any man even remotely attractive, openly mocks the concept of gay marriage and makes fun of an LGBT support group for promoting "vanilla homosexuality".
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: While Tracy is chewing out Chozen in the series premiere, this happens:Tracy: You're drunk, you're a mess, and worst of all, you lied to me about not renting that stupid movie!
- Ax-Crazy: Phantasm is a complete nut. Force feeding meat to kidnapped vegetarians, stealing Ricky's cat and mailing a taunting letter written in his fur, videotaping himself massaging a naked Crisco's mom...the list goes on.
- In the unaired episode 12, he becomes more normal when his dad/butler takes him back to the southern town their family came from, and Phantasm falls in love with a young woman named Dawn, who he begins a normal life with. When her husband, who she thought had died in Afghanistan, unexpectedly returns, she feels she can't leave him. Phantasm takes it VERY poorly, and burns down Main Street.
- Big Brother Worship: Tracy admits Phil was her hero before he went to prison. It's why she still puts up with him after he gets out.
- Big Beautiful Man:
- Chozen, who goes from an adorable chubby teenager to a husky, Big Fun gangster.
- Jamal, physically anyway. Personality-wise he's an asshole.
- Big Beautiful Woman: Tracy, by entertainment standards, due to being compared to both the type of women you see in typical media, and her own attractive mom. She's notably chubbier, but very attractive regardless.
- Big Eater: Chozen eats a lot, and is often shown having a huge pile of food on his plate when eating at the college cafeteria.
- Chess Master: Phantasm one-ups Chozen's attempt to catch him on video with a transwoman by getting an transman to sleep with Chozen. He even says he already had the guy on staff just for situations like that.
- A Day in the Limelight: The unaired episode 12 focuses on Phantasm returning to his dads hometown to recuperate after a breakdown and falling in love with a waitress, with Chozen reduced to a short B-plot about pretending he's his parole officer's date to a wedding.
- Depraved Kids' Show Host: King Pickle. A corrupt scumbag who hosts cuckold parties (parties where married men watch their wives have sex with other men) and keeps two guys dressed as plums chained in his closet. He also tricks his employees into basically signing their away their lives to him, putting up a genial facade while in reality he just uses and throws people away.
- Domestic Abuser:
- Chozen to Hunter. Hunter wants a relationship while Chozen only uses him for sex and treats him like crap. Hunter finally dumps him in "Boys Night" after he hangs out in an exclusive gay club and realizes how unhealthy his and Chozens relationship is.
- Justified (in the sense that it has an In-Universe reason, not that it's excusable) since this is the way relationships work in prison, which is where Chozen spent most of his formative years.
- Chozen himself is on the receiving end of this when his prison boyfriend Jamal is released from jail and the two rekindle their relationship. Jamal is possessive, alienates all of Chozen's friends, and then tries to force him to rob a sneakers store with him.
- Chozen to Hunter. Hunter wants a relationship while Chozen only uses him for sex and treats him like crap. Hunter finally dumps him in "Boys Night" after he hangs out in an exclusive gay club and realizes how unhealthy his and Chozens relationship is.
- Embarrassing Nickname: The girl dubbed Onion Pussy whom Crisco meets at a strip club. They even have a conversation about said nickname (they went to high school together) and Crisco still has no idea who she is or what the nickname was before the nickname's source identifies her.
- Expy: Chozen is essentially an animated version of Bobby Moynihan's "Pepper guy" character from Saturday Night Live.
- Freudian Excuse: Chozen became the way he is because of ten years in prison, where he had to become a jerk just to survive.
- Genius Ditz: Chozen isn't the brightest guy, but he can write and spit rhymes like a total pro.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Discussed by Crisco and Ricky while hiding in Ricky's house from a Scary Black Man with a scar on his face. He was just there to repo Ricky's TV.
- The Hedonist: While Chozen qualifies, he's actually by far outpaced by Jimmy, his roadie/manager. Jimmy both uses and sells drugs, engages in all manner of depraved sex acts while filming them for sale online, and has a long history of the indulgences in the music businesses.
- Henpecked Husband: Boyfriend variant. Much as he denies it, Crisco is completely at his girls beck and call.
- Hermaphrodite: Bobbi, whom Chozen meets at the campus LGBT support group.
- Here We Go Again!: The season 1 finale ends the way the show started, by Chozen being arrested (though this time he's actually guilty). He even says the same line: "Oh boy..."
- Hoist by His Own Petard: When Chozen tries to trick Phantasm into a compromising position with Bobbi, Phantasm winds up tricking him into sleeping with his transman bodyguard.
- I Know Mortal Kombat: Subverted in episode 10. Troy tries to get away from Phantasm's guards by hiding like Altair, but they immediately notice him.Troy: Assassin's Creed is bullshit!
- Interrupted Intimacy: When we first see Tracy, she's on the couch having sex with her boyfriend. And then Chozen breaks in by climbing through her window, which leads to her boyfriend leaving moments later.
- Chozen bursts in on two businessmen having sex in a public bathroom. He then tells them they "ain't doing it right", and then engages in a threesome with them.
- Ignored Epiphany: Phantasm's romance with Dawn (and his redemption) ends quite poorly when her husband, previously thought to be dead, return and Phantasm walks right into their reunion. Dawn feels that she cant just leave her husband who literally fought his way out of Afghanistan just to come back to her, and asks Phantasm if he can understand. Phantasm ponders for a moment...then tells her "Naah", and sets fire to the towns main street, reverting to his original jerkass persona
- It's All About Me: Chozen. Constantly takes advantage of Ricky, Crisco and Tracy and pretty much expects them to put their lives on hold to help with his rap career.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Phantasm was right that Chozen was constantly stealing the spotlight and pushing him out of rhymes when they were playing together. Of course, that doesn't excuse Phantasm framing Chozen for HIS crimes when Chozen was going to call the cops.
- Karma Houdini: So far, Phantasm has received no comeuppance for his actions.
- Until the season 1 finale. When Chozen owns him on the mic in front of a giant crowd, punches him and makes him piss himself.
- Lampshade Hanging: At the LGBT meeting in episode 3 they're talking about "The media and its portrayal of gay men as shallow oversexed deviants with no respect for family values", which Chozen himself admits pretty much describes him.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Jamal, the inmate that raped Chozen in the shower, later gets the same treatment once Chozen bulks up.
- Lonely at the Top: Phantasm, who's become successfull beyond the wildest dreams of most musicians... and he got there by betraying his friends, framing one of them for his own crimes, and threatening the other two to keep quiet about it. While one episode implies that he simply uses this trope for sympathy with his fans, the last episode made implies that it's very much real, as he has no real friends, and throws tantrums like a spoiled brat when the sycopanths around him aren't openly worshipping him every waking second.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: Chozen. If he's not trying to get his record out there, he's flirting with any mildly handsome dude in the vicinity.
- Manchild: Jambi, the mentally handicapped adult son of Esmeralda, the local prostitute. To even reach Esmeralda, potential clients have to distract him, usually with board games.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: Phantasm is a massive success, a millionaire and a cultural phenomenon, but he has no real friends, just people who he pays to put up with his childish tantrums. While one episode plays this as Phantasm exploiting the image of it being Lonely at the Top for further fame, episode 12 reveals that it's very much a real problem.
- Nobody Poops: Averted. Chozen takes a dump (with the bathroom door open, no less) in the series premiere.
- Obviously Evil: Phantasm from the word go.
- Once an Episode: Each episode features a rap song themed to the plot of the story.
- Orange/Blue Contrast: The season 1 finale rap battle between Phantasm and Chozen has them backlit by orange and blue lighting respectively.
- Pet the Dog: Phantasm really loves his pet leopard. When it accidentally kills itself trying to catch a bird in episode 12, he's inconsolable
- Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Though he had shades of it before he went in, Phil really embraces this as he becomes Chozen.
- Prison Rape: How he met his ex Jamal. Originally the target of this, Phil (after he became Chozen) later returned the favor. Jamal claims later that he "let Chozen pin him".
- Put Their Heads Together: Chozen does this to two jocks hassling Troy.
- Rated G for Gangsta: Crisco and Ricky's birthday hip hop act, Kool Kidz, much to Chozen's frustration. Despite his distaste for the act, he agrees to join for one episode, presumably for spare cash.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Phantasm gives one to Oprah-expy Vanessa in episode 12 after she blindsides him with the embarrassing clip of Chozen punching him in episode 10. Phantasm proceeds to trash the interview set, then proceeds to tear into Vanessa herself, reducing her to tears. Among other things, he said she "had a face like Jackie Robinson's glove".
- Chozen gets one from Gary, his father, as a response to Chozen telling him to just "roll with" the nights hijinx. It's not as impactful as it could have been since none of the things Gary was frustrated over was really Chozen's fault.
Gary: Roll with it?! I rolled with it when you decided to be a black person! I rolled with it when I caught you in the tool shed sucking Blaine's dick! AND I ROLLED WITH IT WHEN YOU WENT TO PRISON!! I'M DONE ROLLING!!
Chozen: [coldly] Stupid me, I thought that was what fathers were supposed to do. - Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Chozen is the Manly Man to Sensitive Guys Troy and Hunter.
- Silver Vixen: Esmeralda, the local prostitute in Ricky's neighborhood. It's a local tradition for boys to lose their virginity to her, and the tradition has been going for generations.
- Status Quo Is God: The unaired episode 11 starts with Chozen back in jail for breaking his parole when he punched Phantasm. On top of that, all anyone remembers about the incident is the punch which has become a meme. The rap battle is virtually forgotten, meaning that it hasn't improved Chozen's hip hop rep one bit.
- Stacy's Mom: Chozen and Tracy's mother Brenda is attractive. Incredibly frustrating for Tracy, who's been trying to compete for attention with her own mother since puberty. Chozen doesnt much care, though he's surprised Brenda bothered to carry either of them to term and risk her looks.
- Staging an Intervention: After Chozen's rekindled romance with his prison boyfriend Jamal leads to tensions with his friends, they stage an intervention to try and convince him that Jamal's a bad influence. It takes Jamal trying to force him to help knock over a sneakers store to snap Chozen out of it.
- Suck E. Cheese's: Part of the first episode takes place at an establishment called "Cheezy Charlie" (not to be confused with the one from Family Guy and The Cleveland Show).
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The ending to "I'm With The Contraband". While Chozen and Tracy simply lose out on the money from their now closed speakeasy, Ricky, Crisco and Jimmy still try to live out their fantasies from the episode song "Dream Come True".
- Ricky already has his desired golden and bejewelled mouth grill, but since he bought it online and didn't have it put in by a qualified dentist, it does massive damage to his teeth and gums, costing him most of the front teeth of his upper jaw, forcing him to sell it just to fix the damage.
- Crisco couldn't get insurance for his motorcycle, and his girlfriend wouldn't let him have one even if he did, forcing him to settle for an electric scooter.
- Jimmy acts out his fantasy of snorting a huge line of cocaine in a parking lot, which in the song led to him transforming into a jetplane like a Transformer. In real life, he passes out halfway through the line and slams headfirst into the bumper of a parked car.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Chozen was much nicer before he went to prison. Ten years later, he reenters society as a thuggish jerk. Justified as it was the only way he could survive in prison.
- The Tooth Hurts: The end result of Ricky getting a janky-ass grill during "I'm With The Contraband". He ends up having to sell the bejeweled grill just to pay for the damage it did to his teeth.
- Toxic Friend Influence: After Chozen's ex, Jamal, gets out of prison, he reconnects with Chozen and immediately begins screwing up every part of his life. After he tries to convince Chozen to rob a shoe store, he finally gets sick of Jamal's shit and they break up quite violently.
- Chozen himself. Until Chozen had reentered their lives, Crisco and Ricky had been working steadily in the children's party circuit. Not exactly glamorous but it's work. They spend most of the season supporting Chozen's rise to fame instead.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Chozen and Tracy's parents Brenda and Gary, who met in college. Other than grayer hair, they look pretty much the same as they do now.
- Undying Loyalty: Troy follows Chozen because the latter protects him from bullies and treats him like a friend.
- Villain Song: I Win
by Phantasm from Episode 2. - X Called; They Want Their Y Back: During the finale's rap battle, Phantasm drops the line "By the way, Katy Perry wants her titties back."
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Nope, beating Phantasm didn't help Chozen at all, all it did was create a meme and land him back in jail for parole violation.
