History Series / DispatchesFromElsewhere

* HeelRealization: Fredwynn has one when he looks back at his memories and realizes his need to be right all the time has just been alienating people.

* HostageMacGuffin[=/=]LivingMacGuffin: The missing Clara. Finding her is one of the ultimate goals of the Elsewhere experience; Commander 14 more or less ''orders'' the participants to look for her, and by Clara's own account she seems to have been kidnapped.

* BornLucky: Commander 14's narration suggests that this is the true nature of Divine Nonchalance, comparing it to a cartoon character effortlessly and obliviously avoiding a long line of potential sources of disaster. Clara is implied to be a strong possessor of Nonchalance.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: The first episode is introduced by Octavio himself, looking into the camera, addressing the audience directly, and explaining why the show is opening in this way... and implying he knows a good deal about ''you'' personally.

** Turned into a FourthWallPsych with a scene in which Peter, like Octavio, sits talking to the camera in front of a wall of some bright color -- we find that he's just talking to his psychiatrist.

* MediumBlending: In Episode 1, Commander 14's narration comparing Divine Nonchalance to the behavior of a BornLucky cartoon character is accompanied by a split screen in which we see Simone's walk home from the cafe recreated as a black-and-white cartoon a la Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer.

* The music streaming service everyone uses is called [[Franchise/TheMuppets Manamana]].

* EvolvingCredits: The title screen changes with every episode. The logo remains the same, but the colors and textures differ -- usually including a pattern relevant to the individual episode.

* HostageMacGuffin[=/=]LivingMacGuffin: The missing Clara. Finding her is one of the ultimate goals of the Institute experience; Commander 14 more or less ''orders'' the participants to look for her.

* StringTheory: Fredwynn apparently has a wall in his home dedicated to the Institute.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Fredwynn, with his obsessive attention to detail, fascination with conspiracies, and slight social tone-deafness.

* PrideParade: Simone goes to join one in the second episode, approaching a group of trans woman. At the last moment though she runs away for an unknown reason.

A group of four very different people (Segel, Creator/SallyField, [[Music/{{Outkast}} Andre Benjamin]], and Eve Lindley) find themselves drawn out of their dull, mundane lives when they each discover clues leading them into a mysterious puzzle involving the bizarre Jejune Institute; its head, Octavio Coleman, Esq. (Creator/RichardEGrant); and its nemesis, the Elsewhere Society. Elsewhere's leader urges them to search for a missing girl named Clara, who is important to the Society's work for reasons left vague, before Coleman can find her. They attempt to follow the instructions they are given and unearth the truth about the Institute, but the mystery winds deeper than they ever imagined -- in fact, it's entirely up in the air as to whether they've entered an AlternateRealityGame, fallen into a GovernmentConspiracy, or stumbled onto honest-to-God magic.

Based on ''The Institute'', a 2013 documentary covering a [[BasedOnATrueStory real-life ARG]] in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco that began in 2008 and ran for several years -- although Segel has switched the scene to UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}}. The ARG's real-life director, Jeff Hull, is a consulting producer on the series.

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Peter and Simone, having interacted mostly with the Elsewhere Society, conclude that it's a righteous [[LaResistance resistance]] seeking freedom and opposing the schemes of the Jejune Institute. Fredwynn and Janice, who have been following a different trail, are of the opinion that the Institute is mainly a righteous and philanthropic enterprise and the Elsewhere Society a bunch of loose-cannon troublemakers playing at being revolutionaries.

* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: One of the main draws of the Elsewhere experience is that it offers a purpose to people, a goal for them to pursue. Of the central cast, Peter seems to be most motivated by this, but the others clearly feel the same draw, if less intensely.

* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Part of the Institute's appeal, as felt by the main characters, is the chance it offers to be in on something unusual and far from mundane. Peter feels this so strongly that he actually breaks down in tears watching the Jejune Institute's induction video.

2020 mystery anthology series, created by, produced by, and starring Creator/JasonSegel and airing on Creator/{{AMC}}.

Based on ''The Institute'', a 2013 documentary covering a real-life AlternateRealityGame in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco that began in 2008 and ran for several years -- although Segel has switched the scene to UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}}.

* WizardClassic: Commander 14 depicts himself as one of these, complete with WizardBeard and gleaming purple robe, in the cartoon Simone watches. Rare live-action glimpses of him confirm the beard, though it's anybody's guess whether it's real.

-->''We all share one common wish -- that one day it will be revealed that there's been a mistake. That one day you will learn that you are meant for more. That one day someone will arrive from the mundane nothingness and say the words: "No, my friend, not you. You don't belong here. Come with me. You belong with the special ones."''

* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Part of the Institute's appeal, as felt by the main characters, is the chance it offers to be in on something unusual and far from mundane.

A group of four very different people (Segel, Creator/SallyField, [[Music/{{Outkast}} Andre Benjamin]], and Eve Lindley) find themselves drawn out of their dull, mundane lives when they each discover clues leading them into a mysterious puzzle involving the bizarre Jejune Institute; its head, Octavio Coleman, Esq. (Creator/RichardEGrant); and its nemesis, the Elsewhere Society. Elsewhere's leader urges them to search for a missing girl named Clara, who is important to the Society's work for reasons left vague, before Coleman can find her. They attempt to follow the instructions they are given and unearth the truth about the Institute, but the mystery winds deeper than they ever imagined -- in fact, it's entirely up in the air as to whether they've entered an AlternateRealityGame or stumbled onto an honest-to-God GovernmentConspiracy.

* LaResistance: The Elsewhere Society may be this, opposing the schemes of Jejune.

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: Peter and Simone, having interacted mostly with the Elsewhere Society, conclude that it's a righteous [[LaResistance resistance]] seeking freedom and opposing the demands of the Jejune Institute. Fredwynn and Janice, who have been following a different trail, are of the opinion that the Institute is mainly a righteous and philanthropic enterprise and the Elsewhere Society a bunch of loose-cannon troublemakers playing at being revolutionaries.

* ActingForTwo: Richard E. Grant both plays Octavio Coleman, Esq., and voices his nemesis Commander 14 of the Elsewhere Society. (14 has a slightly more American accent.) May count as SignificantDoubleCasting.

-->'''Octavio:''' Unless this is your first experience with a limited-run episodic -- which our records indicate it is not -- then you're aware of the storytelling convention which dictates that the filmmakers spend an unnecessary amount of time to introduce you to our protagonist. His occupation, the particularities of his life, and most importantly, the obstacles which stand in the way of his happiness. As the first of my many gifts to you, my friends, I propose we skip this convention and get on with what you came here for: the story.
** Turned into LeaningOnTheFourthWall with a scene in which Peter, like Octavio, sits talking to the camera in front of a wall of some bright color -- we find that he's just talking to his psychiatrist.

2020 mystery anthology series, created by and starring Creator/JasonSegel and airing on Creator/{{AMC}}.

A group of four very different people (Segel, Creator/SallyField, [[Music/{{Outkast}} Andre Benjamin]], and Eve Lindley) find themselves drawn out of their dull, mundane lives when they each discover clues leading them into a mysterious puzzle involving the bizarre Jejune Institute and its head, Octavio Coleman, Esq. (Creator/RichardEGrant). Coleman urges them to search for a missing girl named Clara, who is important to the Institute's work for reasons left vague. They attempt to follow the instructions they are given and unearth the truth about the Institute, but the mystery winds deeper than they ever imagined -- in fact, it's entirely up in the air as to whether they've entered an AlternateRealityGame or stumbled onto an honest-to-God GovernmentConspiracy.

Based, interestingly, on a real-life AlternateRealityGame that began in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco in 2008 and ran for several years -- although Segel has switched the scene to UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}}.