History Series / IMayDestroyYou

* {{Tuckerization}}: Arabella shares her surname, Essiedu, with Kwame's actor Paapa Essiedu.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Arabella has pink hair and, in the past, she had purple hair.

* HappyEnding:
** [[spoiler:Arabella accepts that she may never find real closure with her rapist, and decides to move on. She ultimately is able to finish her book]].
** Terry [[spoiler:lands a job in a commercial and is in a happy relationship]].

''I May Destroy You'' is a 2020 British drama series, a co-production between Creator/{{HBO}} and Creator/{{BBC}}.

''I May Destroy You'' is a 2020 Creator/{{HBO}} British drama series.

''I May Destroy You'' is a 2020 British drama series on Creator/HBO.

''I May Destroy You'' is a 2020 British drama series on TV/HBO.

''I May Destroy You'' is a 2020 British drama series.

** Kojo, Arabella's dad, frequently makes cutting remarks to his children that he clearly thinks are all in good fun, not picking up how uncomfortable this makes them.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Terry is this to Kwame when she gives a speech about how Arabella only ''seems'' fine after being raped because he's not paying enough attention to her signs of trauma. Her speech is completely astute and insightful, which is why it's especially heartbreaking for Kwame to not have anyone else realise he's just been raped too. But it's a tricky situation anyway, because focusing your attention towards someone you ''already'' know to have been raped is not a bad thing at all.

** Terry [[spoiler:lands a job in an commercial and is in a happy relationship]].

* GreyAndGrayMorality: A running theme within the series, especially in regards to the main trio. “The Alliance” (a FlashbackEpisode) shows this at play, when Terry and Arabella were in college with Theodora. Theodora has sex with Ryan, but he takes photos of the encounter without Theo’s consent. Theo then cuts herself and later accuses Ryan of raping her to explain her injuries. Arabella and Terry believe that Ryan is being framed for rape (which is correct) and reveal the photos to the principal, not realizing that Ryan had taken them without Theo’s consent, to clear him and show solidarity. This exonerates Ryan - who doesn’t get punishment for taking the photos nor is ever found out apparently. Then we later learn about Theo’s history: [[FreudianExcuse she was coached by her mother to accuse her father of sexually assaulting her in order for her mum to get custody of her during an acrimonious divorce, which explains (but doesn’t excuse) her actions against Ryan]]. The episode shows that the characters (Arabella, Terry, Theo) do morally questionable or outright terrible things, or alternately believe someone is completely innocent without the benefit of the full context of the issue. But none of them are exactly “bad” in the traditional sense because they believe they are doing what’s right even if how they go about it is either out of context or just the way they were brought up.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: A running theme within the series, especially in regards to the main trio. “The Alliance” (a FlashbackEpisode) shows this at play, when Terry and Arabella were in college with Theodora. Theodora has sex with Ryan, but he takes photos of the encounter without Theo’s consent. Theo then cuts herself and later accuses Ryan of raping her to explain her injuries. Arabella and Terry believe that Ryan is being framed for rape (which is correct) and reveal the photos to the principal, not realizing that Ryan had taken them without Theo’s consent, to clear him and show solidarity. This exonerates Ryan - who still doesn’t get punishment for the photos nor is ever found out apparently. Then we later learn about Theo’s history: [[FreudianExcuse she was coached by her mother to accuse her father of sexually assaulting her in order for her mum to get custody of her during an acrimonious divorce, which explains (but doesn’t excuse) her actions against Ryan]]. The episode shows that the characters (Arabella, Terry, Theo) do morally questionable or outright terrible things, or alternately believe someone is completely innocent without the benefit of the full context of the issue. But none of them are exactly “bad” in the traditional sense because they believe they are doing what’s right even if how they go about it is either out of context or just the way they were brought up.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: A running theme within the series, especially in regards to the main trio. “The Alliance” (a FlashbackEpisode) shows this at play, when Terry and Arabella were in college with Theodora. Theodora has sex with Ryan, but he takes photos of the encounter without Theo’s consent. Theo then cuts herself and later accuses Ryan of raping her to explain her injuries. Arabella and Terry believe that Ryan is being framed for rape (which is correct) and reveal the photos to the principal, not realizing that Ryan had taken them without Theo’s consent, to clear him and show solidarity. This exonerates Ryan - who still doesn’t get punishment for the photos nor is ever found out apparently. Then we later learn about Theo’s history: [[FreudianExcuse she was coached by her mother to accuse her father of sexually assaulting her in order for her mum to get custody of her during an acrimonious divorce, which explains (but doesn’t excuse) her actions against Ryan]]. The episode shows that the characters (Arabella, Terry, Theo) do morally questionable or outright terrible things, but none of them are exactly “bad” in the traditional sense because they believe they are doing what’s right even if how they go about it is either out of context or just the way they were brought up.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:David]], Arabella's rapist, is never arrested.

* TokenWhite: The main cast is black except for Arabella's roommate, Ben, and one of the officers investigating the case, Beth. Neither play a very large role besides how they interact with Arabella.

* RapeAsDrama: Reconstructed. Arabella was raped, but as it's based on Coel's real-life experiences, it also shows a lot of the details, such Arabella switching between being seriously traumatized and making jokes and behaving "normally", and her repeated insistence on not calling it rape. This also goes for the other victims of rape or sexual assault, like [[spoiler:Terry]]. At one point, [[spoiler:Terry]] very casually mentions wanting to visit Arabella's support group for rape victims after finding out that she'd been [[spoiler:tricked into having a threesome]].

* RapeAsDrama: Reconstructed. Arabella was raped, but as it's based on Coel's real-life experiences, it also shows a lot of the details, such Arabella switching between being seriously traumatized and making jokes and behaving "normally", and her repeated insistence on not calling it rape.

* HeroicSeductress: In the three finale's {{Imagine Spot}}s, Terry distracts [[spoiler:David]]'s friend Michael by flirting with him, such as giving him a lap dance, as Bella approaches [[spoiler:David]].