History Main / SocietyOnEdgeEpisode

** The "Crystalling" two-parter involves the kingdom above being threatened with eternal blizzards.

This is for segments of a series -especially a series with an otherwise usually orderly setting- where, for a while, a looming threat of chaos or unrest will be a theme of the segment. This will tend to serve as a ChekhovsGun, and talk of it as a ChekhovsLecture, relating to conflicts later in the series... except when things cool off before getting worse, in which case the implied theme is often that characters were over-reacting to such concerns.

* The last season of ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined'' focused much more than previous seasons on the deteriorating conditions in the ragtag fleet (this being a post-apocalyptic society to begin with).

* ''Webcomic/{{Nebula}}'' at one point has Venus and Mars discussing how tense the situation has gotten, what with the EldritchAbomination watching everyone from the darkness, the brewing rebellion that TheStarscream is trying to stir, and the that the one person in charge has been NotHimself in [[HairTriggerTemper increasingly concerning ways]].

This is for segments of a series; especially a series with an otherwise usually orderly setting; where, for a while, a looming threat of chaos or unrest will temporarily be a theme of the segment. This will tend to serve as a ChekhovsGun, and talk of it as a ChekhovsLecture, relating to conflicts later in the series... except when things cool off before getting worse, in which case the implied theme is often that characters were over-reacting to such concerns.

* ''Anime/PsychoPass'' shows the [[BigBrotherIsWatching Sibyl System]] controlled {{Dystopia}}n Japan to be a society where most people don't think too much about how bad their society is, due to believing they are always safe since the Sibyl System can even monitor peoples' thoughts and "take care" of anyone who would commit a crime. Then comes [[WhamEpisode Episode 14]], in which [[spoiler:a man kills a woman in front of numerous people in contrast to the other crimes shown up to this point in the series, which were hidden from the public. He is able to do this due to having a helmet which allows him to be undetected by the Sibyl System while wearing it.]] Although the criminal is caught, Episode 15 shows people [[spoiler:discussing the crime, the internet is flooded with footage of the crime and people worrying that the Sibyl System does not protect them anymore]]. Worse, [[spoiler:numerous criminals get helmets like the one in Episode 14, and riots begin. The citizens have to fight back against those with helmets to survive, ad soon violence and crime sweeps over the country that once had very few people ever worry about crime.]]

* While much of ''Series/BabylonFive'' involves political conflict and warfare, there's a particular segment of episodes in Season 3 [[spoiler: before and including the station's secession from Earth]] where it becomes inevitable that station interests and Earth Government policy will irreconcileably clash, with the station itself coming into direct danger. Probably the range of episodes from "Voices of Authority" through [[WhamEpisode "Severed Dreams"]] would fit the trope, although it could arguably start with Season 2's finale [[WhamEpisode "The Fall of Night"]].

* ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' is set during a time when human augmentation (basically cybernetics) is starting to take off, leading to a divide betwen people who just want humanity to be "natural" and those who want to augment everything.

** ''Discworld/TheColourOfMagic'' has this as an EstablishingCharacterMoment for [[HumansAreBastards Ankh-Morporkians as a whole]]: a fire started in the rougher part of town soon spreads. Rich citizens are soon selflessly [[KickTheDog hacking down the bridges that span the river]] so the panicking crowds won't be able to invade.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' parodies this trope with their Cartoon Wars two-parter; in the first episode, FamilyGuy [[TakeThat resorts to shock value by doing a caricature of Muhammad]], and after some Islamic fanatics make vague threats of revenge, the residents of South Park are afraid that they will be targeted by terror attacks. [[spoiler:In the second episode, the revenge turns out to be a cartoon of caricatures of various aspects American culture crapping on each other.]]

!! Examples:

* In the ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Force of Nature", warp drive (which powers all Federation starships) was found to be damaging to the fabric of subspace. At the end of the episode, [[spoiler:the Federation decided that until they can figure out a way to counteract the rifts in space, all ships can't go above Warp 5 except in emergencies. This is promptly never mentioned anywhere ever again. Maybe there was a quick fix.]]
* ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' has the station, Bajor and sometimes even the entire Federation in states of near chaos at several different points. For example, late in the first season Vedek Winn stirs up nationalist and conservative religious sentiments in the Bajoran population in an attempt to have the Federation leave the station.

* The second-season premiere of ''VeronicaMars'' largely features the townspeople losing their senses after a long string of privileged rich people get away with crimes they obviously committed. Later, Veronica and Logan (one of the aforementioned rich people) narrowly dodge a drive-by shooting--violence which the series typically avoided until the first season's finale.

* While much of ''{{Babylon 5}}'' involves political conflict and warfare, there's a particular segment of episodes in Season 3 [[spoiler: before and including the station's secession from Earth]] where it becomes inevitable that station interests and Earth Government policy will irreconcileably clash, with the station itself coming into direct danger. Probably the range of episodes from "Voices of Authority" through [[WhamEpisode "Severed Dreams"]] would fit the trope, although it could arguably start with Season 2's finale [[WhamEpisode "The Fall of Night"]].

* In the ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Force of Nature", warp drive (which powers all Federation starships) was found to be damaging to the fabric of subspace. At the end of the episode, [[spoiler:the Federation decided that until they can figure out a way to counteract the rifts in space, all ships can't go above Warp 5 except in emergencies. ]]

* The last episode of the cyberpunk miniseries ''WildPalms'' ups the tension this way by showing society breaking apart at the seams as a result of the power struggle between the crypto-fascist Fathers and the more libertarian and humanistic Friends, secret societies that have been warring over America for decades.

* ''DeusExHumanRevolution'' is set during a time when human augmentation (basically cybernetics) is starting to take off, leading to a divide betwen people who just want humanity to be "natural" and those who want to augment everything.

* The last season of ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined'' (new series) focused much more than previous seasons on the deteriorating conditions in the ragtag fleet (this being a post-apocalyptic society to begin with).

* The last season of ''BattlestarGalactica'' (new series) focused much more than previous seasons on the deteriorating conditions in the ragtag fleet (this being a post-apocalyptic society to begin with).

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The two-parters in general are these in comparison to the rest of the series, catching most major characters off guard in each case. The rest of the series' conflicts seem mundane in comparison.
** The Canterlot Wedding two-parter involved a wedding plan coinciding with a need for increased security due to a mysterious threat against Canterlot. [[spoiler:(Turned out it was connected to the wedding, namely due to the involvement of Chrysalis and the changelings in each.)]]
** The Nightmare Moon arc involved the threat of eternal darkness.
** The Discord arc involved the threat of chaos.

-->- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruSQ12kzcEU Chat reactions]] to [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MLP:FIM]]'s ''[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E25ACanterlotWeddingPart1 Canterlot]]'' ''[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E26ACanterlotWeddingPart2 Wedding]]'' two-parter.

This is for segments of a series; especially a series with an otherwise usually orderly setting; where, for a while, a looming threat of chaos and/or unrest will temporarily be a theme of the segment. This will tend to serve as a ChekhovsGun, and talk of it as a ChekhovsLecture, relating to conflicts later on... except when things cool off before getting worse, in which case the implied theme is often that characters were over-reacting to such concerns.

This is often presented in a context that shows its timing coinciding with some other major event. (Ie. Celebration or sporting event happening around the same time as such threats to stability; [[TruthInTelevision not unlike how that is often the case in real life.]])

* ''MobileSuitGundam00'' in the first season had the episode "Trinity", where Team Trinity reflects on the chaos that had happened so far and how the world is disintegrating into varying stages of anarchy. Ironically, their arrival makes things worse.

* The StarWars prequel trilogy provides an interesting variation on this; the galaxy was under imperial control in the original trilogy, but the prequel trilogy [[ForegoneConclusion focuses on explaining the instability that led to such imperial control]]. Due to the nature of the storyline, however, the feel of a society-on-edge episode still comes through.

* Discworld/TheColourOfMagic has this as an EstablishingCharacterMoment for [[HumansAreBastards Ankh-Morporkians as a whole]]: a fire started in the rougher part of town soon spreads. Rich citizens are soon selflessly [[KickTheDog hacking down the bridges that span the river]] so the panicking crowds won't be able to invade.
* Discworld/TheLightFantastic: a large part of the plot is caused by a very bright, malevolently red star appearing in the sky, and this drives the inhabitants of the Disc to start doomsday cults (''Death himself'' finds them creepy).

* In the ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Force of Nature", warp drive (which powers all Federation starships) was found to be damaging to the fabric of subspace. At the end of the episode, [[spoiler: the Federation decided that until they can figure out a way to counteract the rifts in space, all ships can't go above Warp 5 except in emergencies. ]]
* The last season of ''BattlestarGalactica'' (new series) focused much more than previous seasons on the deteriorating conditions in the rag tag fleet (this being a post-apocalyptic society to begin with)
* The opening episode of Season Two ''VeronicaMars'' largely features the town losing their shit after a long string of privileged rich people get away with crimes they obviously committed. Later on, Veronica and Logan (one of the aforementioned rich people) narrowly dodge a drive-by shooting--violence which the series typically avoided until the first season's finale.

* This is a recurring situation in ''{{Series/Community}}''. Greendale Community College is a sucky school and the students tend to get more volatile and over-the-top as finals approach. The major breakdowns occur once a year in-universe; which corresponds to one per season. In the past this has twice resulted in paintball competitions totally wrecking the school. In season three, the school loses most of its funding so things get even worse. An attempt to achieve a world record for the biggest blanket/pillow fort results in a civil war and a short time later the wake for a deceased student turns into a riot.

* SouthPark parodies this trope with their Cartoon Wars two-parter; in the first episode, FamilyGuy [[TakeThat resorts to shock value by doing a caricature of Muhammad]], and after some Islamic fanatics make vague threats of revenge, the residents of South Park are afraid that they will be targeted by terror attacks. [[spoiler:In the second episode, the revenge turns out to be a cartoon of caricatures of various aspects American culture crapping on each other.]]
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* ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' involves a far more significant threat to Gotham than was presented by the villains of ''Film/BatmanBegins'' or ''Film/TheDarkKnight.'' Things also get dire much more quickly; the worst of the chaos in ''Film/BatmanBegins'' [[spoiler:was resolved before most Gotham residents were even aware of it]] and the worst of that of ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' [[spoiler:was fairly gradual due to the [[KickTheDog continuously worsening nature of the Joker's actions]].]] Things get far more dire more quickly in TDKR.

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[[folder:Films - Live Action]]

[[folder:Film]]

->'''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Shining Armor]]:''' A threat has been made against Canterlot. We don't know who's responsible for it...

-->- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruSQ12kzcEU Chat reactions]] to [[MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MLP:FIM]]'s ''[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E25ACanterlotWeddingPart1 Canterlot]]'' ''[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E26ACanterlotWeddingPart2 Wedding]]'' two-parter.