History Series / LosSimuladores

* PowerWalk: The opening and closing credits. [[AC:[[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace IN THE RAIN!]]]]

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: For example, in the end of the season one, when two criminals get arrested for having documents with the picture of Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden, maybe you can be arrested for identity theft, but no one is so silly to arrest you for pretending to be an already dead person.

* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: Could apply in the very last episode. First we got the conclusion of Milazzo's story arc; a thriller/suspense plot where he is determined to take revenge on the team. The opening scene is quite intense with a creepy atmosphere, flashbacks, distorted sounds. Milazzo is not only a very inmoral guy, he's very skilled with weapons and martial arts (what makes him extremely dangerous too) and because of the team, he's erased from existence; he doesn't have an identity, home or belongings, and of course he's [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge pissed as hell]]. But [[spoiler: this story doesn't last too much, really; once the team gets rid of him (again), the episode goes through a tone shift, becoming a comedic Christmas special which deals with family ties and nostalgic childhood memories.]] This does not mean it is bad, in fact, is an excellent episode and great series finale.

A comedic action/adventure show with moments of psychological drama, it is a [[CultClassic cult series]] in Argentina. You can see the article (which is really complete) on [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_simuladores here]].

Since the series ended in 2004, a return was teased numerous times through the following decades, originally thought to be a third season, such as the characters making a cameo for an infamous ad for Netflix's [[Series/{{Lupin2021}} Lupin]].

Eventually, a film was announced in March 2022 for the [[Creator/{{ParamountPlus}} Paramount Plus]] platform, almost exactly 20 years after the airing of the first episode, with the entire cast returning to reprise their roles, under the direction of the original writer and creator Damián Szifrón. The film is set to release sometime in 2024.

* PowerWalk: The opening and closing credits. [[AC:[[RecycledInSpace IN THE RAIN!]]]]

* RealityShow: The guys arrange a fake, ''Series/{{Survivor}}''-like reality show to send one VillainOfTheWeek to the jungle, living for himself ''for one full year''. [[TheBusCameBack Then he returns]] and they deceive him ''again'' by sending him to ''[[UpToEleven kill Osama bin Laden]]''.

* CapitalismIsBad: An underlying theme in many of their episodes, which also fits very well with that particular moment in Argentine history, and with many issues the country suffered (and still suffers): An abstent state, corrupt public officers, exploitative business, publicity over-saturaution, loan sharks, scammers, domestic abusers, Dirty cops, etc.

* DirtyCop: They're featured a lot. We even see Lamponne playing one during one of the opperatives.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: For example, in the end of the season one, when two criminals get arrested for having documents with the picture of Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden, maybe you can be arrested for fake identity, but no one is so silly to arrest you for pretending to be an already dead person.

* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: One episode had the client having these. The team has a plan to make them look likable.
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%%* AssholeVictim
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* BankRobbery: They help foil it [[spoiler:(and the [[DirtyCop commissioner's plan to silence the crooks]])]].
* BatmanGambit: The team specializes in this ones (although they are prettt good at XanatosGambit and XanatosSpeedChess (07x01 as a good example).
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%%* BavarianFireDrill
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%%* ContinuityPorn
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%% ** [[spoiler:Santos]]
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** "Out of Calculation" (07x01): During a drill, Santos and Lamponne get involved in a bank robbery, and they have to deal with a group of murderous {{Dirty Cop}}s.
** "An Involuntary Job" (13x01): The team is hired by a mobster who wants to free his partner from jail, responsible for the deaths of children in meal centers by buying spoiled food, and Santos decides not to take the case, only to [[spoiler:[[OhCrap be stabbed in the leg and kidnapped]], to force the rest of the team to work against their will, or else Santos would be executed]].
** "The B-Brigade" (07x02): The team infiltrates the FBI to free their fellow partners of the B-Brigade who [[spoiler:were captured by U.S agents who mistook them for actual terrorists and brought them under prolonged interrogation and torture]]).
** In the second season, there's the subplot of Milazzo trying to find the four protagonists to get revenge for what they did to him in "The Last Hero". Altough the second season has lots of comedy, there are small segments showing Milazzo and his tireless search for the team, all this in a very dark tone with noir/thriller elements.
** The fate of [[spoiler:the original Máximo Cozzetti (which name Ravenna uses as a pseudonym), who's in a mental hospital believing there's a Soviet robot out there to kill him]].
* DarkestHour: Either 13x01 or 07x02 could qualify. In the first one, Santos is kidnapped and the team is forced to freed a corrupt public officer from a maximum security prison. In the second, the B-team is abducted by the FBI, and they are forced to travel to Washington D.C. to freed them. Both are the riskiest missions undertaken in the series (Im the first one, either they succeed or Santos dies. In the second one, either they succeed or the B-team spends the rest of their lives im Guantanamo (or, alternatively, they drag the FBI attention over the team). Both situations feature the highest stakes and risks of the whole series).

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%%* DirtyCop: Both authentic and fake.
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* DubNameChange: OK, this trope only applies fully for the Russian version, but...
** In Mexico, Ravenna is called Vargas, and Lamponne is called López.

* FilmNoir: It has a lot of elements of this, the use of music (sometimes very smooth and jazzy), the ambiguous morality, the anti-heroes, the mysteries... Some episodes has a special feel of this genre;

** "An Involuntary Job" : This episode includes a kidnapping, an attempted escape from a maximum security prison, the clients here are the biggest assholes in the whole show; two cheap bastards petty mobsters who are responsible for many acts of corruption, and one of them involving the death of children.

** Marcos Molero, a private detective hired by Milazzo. An alcoholic anti-hero who doesn't know that Milazzo plans to kill the team. It's a noir character 100%.

* KarmicTrickster: In their way, they are this. They punish the bad guys, fix the dubious ones, and help the good ones.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: For example, in the end of the season one, when two criminals get arrested for had documents with the picture of Adolf Hitler y Osama Bin Laden, maybe you can be arrested for fake identity, but no one is so silly to arrest you for pretending to be an already dead person.

* ThemeTuneCameo: The series' theme tune, Astor Piazzolla's "Cité Tango", is the same one the team uses as their ringtone.

* TheWarOnTerror: Terror Alert Level ranging between Blue and Yellow.

** After "saving" the life of a (deceived) mobster, the thankful wiseguys offer repaying the favor to him (who's disguised as a doctor). [[spoiler:He asks them to [[BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord have a talk]] with the sexually harrassing boss of his girlfriend]].

''Los Simuladores'' is one of {{UsefulNotes/Argentina}}'s greatest TV shows (having a 9.4/10 rating on [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316613/ IMDB.com, being the 3rd Argentine series by rating (and it could be argue that Los Simuladores is actually the best Argentine series)]]), with critically acclaimed acting, scripts and production. Also, [[SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove you probably never heard of it]].

Los Simuladores ([[AC:[[BlindIdiotTranslation lit: The Simulators]]]], or more accurately [[AC:[[{{Woolseyism}} The Pretenders]]]]) are four-man secret organization that can "solve all kinds of problems"... for a fee. And no, they're not the bad guys.

This group helps people who are desperately in need, by doing something they call ''drills'' ([[AC:lit: ''simulations'' - hence the group's name]]) which involve complex {{plan}}s that one way or another solve the problem. This may or may not involve deceiving the person with said problem, and ''always'' involves deceiving a whole bunch of other people.

A comedic action/adventure show with moments of psychological drama, it is a [[CultClassic cult series]] in Argentina. You can see the article (which is really complete) on Wiki/TheOtherWiki, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Simuladores here]].

* RealityShow: The guys arrange a fake, ''Series/{{Survivor}}''-like reality show to send one VillainOfTheWeek to the jungle, living for himself ''for one full year''. [[TheBusCameBack Then he returns and they deceive him ''again'' by sending him to ''[[UpToEleven kill Osama bin Laden]]''.

* AirVentPassageway: to help a boy pass an ApatheticTeacher's [[OneHitKill one-mistake-and-you're-screwed]] exam.
* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: The team has a plan to make them look likable.
* AssholeVictim

* BalancedHarem: Ravenna in the second season, altough it isn't a major plot in the series. He lives with three beautiful (and highly intellectual) women, who are deeply in love with him. However, he not to have the same feelings for them.

* BavarianFireDrill
* BigBad: There is not a main villain of this series. The stories are mainly focused on the team and their work, and the people around it. They have to face different VillainOfTheWeek, or opponents in different occasiona. The closest thing the series has to a Big Villain is Franco Milazzo, during season 2, and Marcos Molero.

* {{Con Artist}}s (siding with fairness, though)
* ContinuityPorn

* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:Santos]]
** Lamponne was bullied as a child, and fought in the Falklands War.

** '''"Out of calculation"''' (07x01, During a drill, Santos and Lamponne get involved in a bank robbery, and they have to deal with a group of murderous dirty cops)
** '''"An Involuntary Job"''' (13x01, in which the team is hired by a mobster who wants to free his partner from jail, responsible for the deaths of children in meal centers by buying spoiled food, and Santos decides not to take the case, only to [[spoiler:[[OhCrap be stabbed in the leg and kidnapped]], to force the rest of the team to work against their will, or else Santos would be executed]]).
** '''"The B Brigade"''' (07x02, where the team infiltrates the FBI to free their fellow partners of the B Brigade who [[spoiler: were captured by U.S agents who mistook them for actual terrorists and brought them under prolonged interrogation and torture]]).
** In the second season, there's the B plot of Milazzo trying to find the four protagonists to get revenge for what they did to him in "The Last Hero". Altough the second season has lots of comedy, there are small segments showing Milazzo and his tireless search for the team, all this in a very dark tone with noir/thriller elements.

* DarkestHour: Either 13x01 or 07x02 could qualify. In the first one, Santos is kidnapped and the team is forced to freed a corrupt public officer from a maximum security prison. In the second, the B-team is abducted by the F.B.I., and they are forced to travel to Washington D.C. to freed them. Both are the riskiest missions undertaken in the series (Im the first one, either they succeed or Santos dies. In the second one, either they succeed or the B-team spends the rest of their lives im Guantanamo (or, alternatively, they drag the F.B.I. attention over the team). Both situations feature the highest stakes and risks of the whole series).
* {{Dirty Cop}}s: Both authentic and fake.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The final episode of the Argentine version is called... ''[[ShapedLikeItself Final Episode]]''.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: The reason why they decide to rescue the B-Brigade from the F.B.I. headquarters. Any other choice would end up bad for everyone.

** "The Copernicus Pact" : The team bassicaly introduce the victims of the operative in a simulated Casablanca-like romantic film noir.

** In the second season, the B plot of Milazzo chasing the Team plays this trope very straight.
** Marcos Molero, a private detective hired by Milazzo. An alcoholic anti-hero who doesn't know that Milazzo plans to kill the team. It's a noir character 100 %.

* {{Jerkass}}: generally the victims of the drills, like in "The Last Hero", "The Spanish Witness", "Unemployment Insurance", "Z 9000" or "The Social Debilitator".
* FourManBand:
** TheSmartGuy: '''Santos''' (Logistics and Planning)
** [[OnlySaneMan The Normal Guy]]: '''Medina''' (Research)
** [[LoveableSexManiac The Pervert]]/TheCasanova: '''Ravenna''' (Characterization)
** TheBigGuy/The ButtMonkey: '''Lamponne''' (Technics and Transportation)
*** The original project included a fifth member (the TokenGirl).
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking
* [[IHaveYourWife I Have Your Leader]]: [[spoiler:Santos is kidnapped by mobsters in the first season finale, forcing the team to unwillingly help them for free.]]

* {{The Matchmaker}}s: In the very first episode.
* NoBudget: It is clear in the first season that the show had a clearly low budget (One part of a chapter was actually paid by one of the actors), which actually ends up being part of the charm, given that the show holds itself on intelligent and deep plots, good dialogue, the acting force of the main 4 and their interactions, funny situations, witty humour and a very good use of music.
* NoExportForYou: Not only it was never translated to English, but it was barely exported to other Spanish-speaking countries ([[FridgeLogic no one knows why]]). Instead, remakes were made.

* [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Our (Fake) Vampires Are Different]]
* ThePlan

* [[ThePowerOfRock The Power Of Music]]: Frequently used to trigger mental states and emotions in unsuspecting "victims".
* PowerWalk [[AC:[[InSpace IN THE RAIN!]]]]: The opening and closing credits.

* {{Pseudonym}} / NomDeGuerre: In the simulations, the guys use names taken from their past victims (like "Máximo Cozzetti", always used by Ravenna), or even names from the show's crew (like "Juan Carlos Cabral").
** In the second season we learn that [[spoiler:Mario Santos']] name is a pseudonym too. [[spoiler:His real name is Francisco de Aguirre.]]
* RealSongThemeTune: Astor Piazzolla's "Cité Tango", [[ThemeTuneCameo which the team uses as their ringtone]].
* RealityShow: The guys arrange a fake, Series/{{Survivor}}-like reality show [[spoiler:to send certain antagonist to the jungle, living for himself ''for one full year''. [[BackForTheFinale Then he returns]] and they deceive him ''again'' by sending him to [[UpToEleven kill Osama bin Laden.]]]]

* RegularCaller: Santos
** Coupled with quirky DayInTheLife-style sequences from the other 3 guys.
* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: Could apply in the very last episode. First we got the conclusion of Milazzo's story arc; a thriller/suspense plot where he is determined to take revenge on the team. The opening scene is quite intense with a creepy atmosphere, flashbacks, distorted sounds. Milazzo is not only a very inmoral guy, he's very skilled with weapons and martial arts (what makes him extremely dangerous too) and because of the team, he's erased from existence; he doesn't have an identity, home or belongings, and of course he's [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge pissed as fuck]]. But [[spoiler: this story doesn't last too much, really; once the team gets rid of him (again), the episode goes through a tone shift, becoming a comedic Christmas special which deals with family ties and nostalgic childhood memories.]] This does not mean it is bad, in fact, is an excellent episode and great series finale.
* SpecialEditionTitle: The series finale.
* [[StarfishAliens Starfish (Fake) Aliens]]
* TeamPet: Betún (Lamponne's dog) in the seco0and season, an [[NearlyNormalAnimal Almost Normal Animal]].

* [[ThoseWackyNazis Those Wacky (Fake) Nazis]]
* WhatAnIdiot: There are cases through the show:
** The worst example might be in 07x02. The B-Brigade, during an operative, pretends to be a terrorist cell during the War on Terror (2003), which was against Santos's suggestions, and they used, against all logic (which is lampshaded by Medina) traceable cellphones during the operation. Predictably,they drag the U.S. secret services attention, they get tracked, detained (with Fehler's exception) and taken to the F.B.I's headquarters for interrogation (ColdBloodedTorture). TooDumbToLive.

** Later, he finds a man who bullied him in middle school [[spoiler:and points a gun to his head. A "BANG" flag gun just to scare him, but still the guy didn't know it.]]
** The B-brigade sub-leader tells Santos about a male kindergarten teacher who beats the kids. Santos considers the case's not worth a plan, and instead he [[spoiler:sends a BigGuy nicknamed [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Satan"]] to threaten him.]]

''Los Simuladores'' is one of {{UsefulNotes/Argentina}}'s greatest TV shows (having a 9.4/10 rating on [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316613/ IMDB.com]]), with critically acclaimed acting, scripts and production. Also, [[SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove you probably never heard of it]].