Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 16 (click to see context) from:
** Averted in "Love is a Battlefield". Where every guy that was a stalker up to this point was sympathetic and or had an excuse in even the minimal use of the word. The stalker in this episode was female and a complete sociopath: killing her dog, framing her ex for assault, and was even going to kill his girlfriend all while gloating to her how she was going to get away with it, just so she could look like the victim. It was like the episode was stating "yes there are female stalkers and they can be worse than males".
to:
** Averted in "Love is a Battlefield". Where Up to this point, every guy that was a stalker up to this point who was sympathetic male was portrayed sympathetically and or had an excuse excuse, in even the minimal use of the word. The stalker in this episode was female and was a complete sociopath: killing her dog, framing her ex for assault, and was even saying she was going to kill his girlfriend all while and gloating to her about how she was going to get away with it, just all so she could look like the victim. It was like the episode was stating "yes there are female stalkers and they can be worse than males".
Changed line(s) 24,26 (click to see context) from:
* {{Deconstruction}}: This series, in its own way, seems to deconstruct both on stalking and how stalking is treated. Not all of the stalkers are treated as evil people that just want to hurt the person. In some cases the stalker realizes they have a problem and ask for help as if he was hopelessly addicted to a drug, another the person being stalked wasn't even the target but was in the house the guy was fixated on, and another one suffered a serious breakdown and was delusional believing there was a conspiracy against him. Then, there's Jack who has essentially been reduced to stalking simply because his ex-Wife won't let him anywhere near his son.
** Not to mention so far the only complete sociopath of a stalker was a woman, going against the idea that stalkers are male and showing they can be even worse than male stalkers.
*** One of the suspects arrested was trying to get close to a famed reporter so that the person can get closer to his colleague.
** Not to mention so far the only complete sociopath of a stalker was a woman, going against the idea that stalkers are male and showing they can be even worse than male stalkers.
*** One of the suspects arrested was trying to get close to a famed reporter so that the person can get closer to his colleague.
to:
* {{Deconstruction}}: This series, in its own way, seems to deconstruct both on stalking itself and how stalking the way it is treated. Not treated.
**Not allof the stalkers are treated as evil people that just who want to hurt the person. their victims. In some cases cases, the stalker realizes they have a problem and ask asks for help help, as if he was hopelessly addicted to it like it's a drug, another the person being stalked wasn't even the target but was in the house the guy was fixated on, and another one drug. One stalker had suffered a serious breakdown and was delusional became delusional, believing there was a conspiracy against him. Then, there's Jack who has was essentially been reduced to stalking simply because his ex-Wife won't ex-wife wouldn't let him anywhere near his son.
** Not to mentionson. The one stalker so far the only who ''is'' a complete sociopath of a stalker was is a woman, going which also goes against the idea that all stalkers are male and showing they shows that female stalkers can be even worse than male stalkers.
*** One of ** Sometimes, the suspects arrested stalker isn't after the person they're stalking, but someone or something related. For example, one stalker was fixated on someone's house. Another was trying to get close to a famed famous reporter so that the person can to get closer to his colleague.
**Not all
** Not to mention
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 5,6 (click to see context) from:
-->-- '''Lieutenant Beth Davis talks about stalking to university students in "Pilot"'''
to:
-->-- '''Lieutenant Beth Davis Davis''' talks about stalking to university students in "Pilot"'''
students, "Pilot"
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:333:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stalker_poster_3859.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:333:He's definetely not your friendly neighbor.]]
->''"Stalking can be the result of a relationship gone wrong or delusional fixations that are pushed to the extremes. Anyone can be a stalker... anyone can be a victim and it's on the rise."''
-->-- '''Lieutenant Beth Davis talks about stalking to university students in "Pilot"'''
''Stalker'' is an American police procedural show that aired on Creator/{{CBS}}, created by Kevin Williamson as part of the 2014–15 fall television season. It first aired on October 1, 2014. The show stars Creator/MaggieQ and Dylan [=McDermott=] as UsefulNotes/LosAngeles Police Department detectives assigned to investigate cases of stalking, big or small, in the Greater Los Angeles area. CBS has confirmed that the show will not be renewed after the network concludes its airing.
Detectives of the Los Angeles Police Department's Threat Assessment Unit investigate stalking cases that occur every day in the city of Los Angeles. Leading the unit is Lieutenant Beth Davis, an [[ExperiencedProtagonist experienced plainclothes officer]] responsible for handling stalker cases by the [=LAPD=]. Joining the unit is Detective Jack Larsen, who is a recent transfer to the [=LAPD=] from the city of New York. While there, he tries to [[DarkandTroubledPast reconnect again with his wife and child after they left him]]. So far, his ex-wife is not receptive of his presence and wants him to leave.
----
!!This show contains examples of:
* ActionSurvivor: The victim in "Fanatic", an actress named Nina Preston, proves herself to be one throughout the episode crossing over with CrazyPrepared, GenreSavvy and BadAssNormal. [[spoiler: After being the victim of three prior stalkers, she had setup a safe room in her house complete with alarm and surveillance cameras. When she picks up on the fact that there's an intruder in her house, she locks herself in and notifies the police. When her stalker attacks her agent and confronts her at the hospital, she's able to use mace and self-defense techniques to subdue him and then smartly calls out for help. Finally, when the stalker's mother goes after her, she uses a hot cup of tea and is able to fight her off until help arrives. That is while being stalked with a deranged woman with a knife, suffering from a knife wound, and scared. At no point does she panic. Bad. Ass. The only time she slips up is when not locking her trailer door.]]
* [[AllAbusersAreMale All Stalkers Are Male]]: So far all the stalkers shown are male, [[spoiler:with the exception of "Whatever Happened to Baby James?", "Cry For Help", "The News" and "My Hero"]]
** Averted in "Love is a Battlefield". Where every guy that was a stalker up to this point was sympathetic and or had an excuse in even the minimal use of the word. The stalker in this episode was female and a complete sociopath: killing her dog, framing her ex for assault, and was even going to kill his girlfriend all while gloating to her how she was going to get away with it, just so she could look like the victim. It was like the episode was stating "yes there are female stalkers and they can be worse than males".
* AlwaysGetsHisMan: This happens in the end of every episode, regardless if a stalker is arrested or gunned down by police.
* {{Blackmail}}: A sub-plot shows the tension between Amanda and Jack with the former willing to use it to get him to leave the city. It's averted since Jack tells Beth about his past near the end of "Love is a Battlefield".
* CliffHanger: With the end of the 20th episode being the season finale due to the show not being renewed.
* CrazyPrepared: What happens to former stalking victims afterwards. Of course, it doesn't always work.
** ProperlyParanoid: The end result of being a stalking victim.
* DarkSecret: Jack has one that Amanda is using to {{Blackmail}} Jack as part of the sub-plot.
** Beth Davis as well, to the point she changed her identity. So far all we know is her real name is Michelle Webber.
* {{Deconstruction}}: This series, in its own way, seems to deconstruct both on stalking and how stalking is treated. Not all of the stalkers are treated as evil people that just want to hurt the person. In some cases the stalker realizes they have a problem and ask for help as if he was hopelessly addicted to a drug, another the person being stalked wasn't even the target but was in the house the guy was fixated on, and another one suffered a serious breakdown and was delusional believing there was a conspiracy against him. Then, there's Jack who has essentially been reduced to stalking simply because his ex-Wife won't let him anywhere near his son.
** Not to mention so far the only complete sociopath of a stalker was a woman, going against the idea that stalkers are male and showing they can be even worse than male stalkers.
*** One of the suspects arrested was trying to get close to a famed reporter so that the person can get closer to his colleague.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Beth tells Perry White he did this when [[spoiler: he released her previous stalker from the asylum]]. From what we have seen lately it seems like he is starting to agree with her.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Due to the show's canceling, the last scene's a CliffHanger of a killer holding his lover at gunpoint because [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]].]]
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Jack suffers from this in the first few episodes. Despite being extremely competent in the job everyone is a JerkAss to him. However, they grow to respect his detective skills.
* EngineeredHeroics: What Beth's stalker tried to do to get her to be his girlfriend again. But the fire spread faster than he anticipated and her family died in the fire.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Displayed in how the relationship between Perry and Ray ultimately plays out. Perry begins to realize pretty quickly that Ray is a lot more vicious than he bargained for.
* EveryEpisodeEnding: Beth going through her nightly routine.
** Inversely, all episodes start the same as well -- with the unfolding of the case that is investigated in that episode.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: A non-romantic example. The entire team is able to catch on that Beth is having troubles. Yet every time one of them ask if she needs any help she essentially tells them to [[JerkAss leave her alone]].
* FictionalCounterpart: The Threat Assessment Unit to the actual Threat Management Unit of the [=LAPD=].
* HalloweenEpisode: The [=LAPD=] investigate an abandoned house in "The Haunting" on rumors that it used to be haunted. [[spoiler:It wasn't true.]]
* ImprovisedWeapon: The victim in "Fanatic" uses a hot cup of tea [[spoiler: to stun the stalker's mother, who was armed with a knife, and buy herself time to escape.]]
* JerkAss:
** Virtually the entire team is this to Jack despite him being a great addition to the team. Also Amanda at certain times.
** Then there was the TokenBlackFriend in "The Haunting" who wanted to completely ruin her friend's ex-boyfriend's life simply because she fully believes that he is the one stalking her. She is displayed throughout the episode seeming to want to destroy the guy's life more than she cares about keeping her friend safe. And when it turns out her ex-boyfriend has nothing to do with the stalking, she doesn't seem to give it a second though that she was very close to ruining the guy's life.
*** Although, in fairness, the ex-boyfriend ''was'' stalking her - he was mostly harmless and didn't turn out to be the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Bad Guy Of The Week]], but he actually did most of what the friend attributed to him.
* KillItWithFire: [[spoiler:Kate Edwards.]]
* MamaDidntRaiseNoCriminal: The mother of the stalker in "Fanatic" refuses to believe anything bad the Unit says about her son.
* MyBelovedSmother: The stalker's mother in "Fanatic". Revealing she faked being the actress he liked by replying to his emails to her (which fed his delusion) and attacked a bully at her son's school with a knife. [[spoiler: Then she tried to kill the victim believing he would be better off with her gone]].
* NeverMyFault: The stalker's mother from "Fanatic" was ultimately responsible for feeding her son's delusions and getting him in trouble, but blamed Nina instead.
* NewMediaAreEvil: The driving point by Beth Davies when she tells an audience of university students in "Pilot" that stalkers use their personal data found in social media to follow them.
-->'''Beth''': Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tinder. Whatever app is hot today, we have too much access to one another. Social media is the number one reason stalking cases have tripled in the last decade.
* OddlySmallOrganization: The [=TAU=] is made up of six full-time detectives.
-->'''Beth''': There are currently 6 Detectives in the unit. Each Detective is responsible for his own caseload, but we're a small unit, so we work together.
* OhCrap: Played with whenever a stalker/s manages to get the jump on their victims after they let their guard down.
* PoliceAreUseless: Subverted and averted. The unit tells most of the victims/attempted victims that unless they can tell them what they know about their stalkers, they won't be able to help them if they get into trouble again with their stalker/s.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: At least arguably this is the ultimate fate of [[spoiler:Perry Whitley]].
* RedHerring: In some episodes, the [=TAU=] investigates the [[WrongGenreSavvy obvious suspect]] such as an ex-boyfriend or a convicted child molester. Turns out that they aren't the suspects at all.
* ShownTheirWork: The show explains what would happen if a stalking case is reported to the police, starting with a restraining order before the court would issue an order for the stalker to not go near his/her victims or risk arrest.
* ShowWithinAShow: "Savage Shore", first mentioned in "Fanatic".
* StalkingIsFunnyIfItIsFemaleAfterMale: In "A Cry for Help" the bus driver who tells his co-workers he was being stalked by a woman laughed at him and told him he should be flattered.
* StalkingIsLove[=/=]StalkerWithACrush[=/=]StalkerWithoutACrush: Depending on the suspects, but these are most of the motivation why the stalkers stalk their victims.
* TitleDrop: Many times.
* TooDumbToLive: Jack Larsen in "Manhunt" just shot their main suspect and thinks he's dead. The suspect is ex-Military special forces. Instead of keeping his eye on him and immediately calling for backup, he turns his back on him allowing the suspect to get the drop on him.
* UrbanLegend: The deserted house in "The Haunting" after rumors in the community said that the couple who lived there died by killing themselves. [[spoiler:It was false, but the wife did die due to natural reasons. The husband chose to isolate himself from the community by "hiding" himself inside the basement.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: One person who stands out is [[spoiler:a former high school sports star Scott Mason, who started out his career as a serial rapist by raping Freshman best friends Cori and Meg. He continued raping teenage girls after high school ball games.]]
----
[[caption-width-right:333:He's definetely not your friendly neighbor.]]
->''"Stalking can be the result of a relationship gone wrong or delusional fixations that are pushed to the extremes. Anyone can be a stalker... anyone can be a victim and it's on the rise."''
-->-- '''Lieutenant Beth Davis talks about stalking to university students in "Pilot"'''
''Stalker'' is an American police procedural show that aired on Creator/{{CBS}}, created by Kevin Williamson as part of the 2014–15 fall television season. It first aired on October 1, 2014. The show stars Creator/MaggieQ and Dylan [=McDermott=] as UsefulNotes/LosAngeles Police Department detectives assigned to investigate cases of stalking, big or small, in the Greater Los Angeles area. CBS has confirmed that the show will not be renewed after the network concludes its airing.
Detectives of the Los Angeles Police Department's Threat Assessment Unit investigate stalking cases that occur every day in the city of Los Angeles. Leading the unit is Lieutenant Beth Davis, an [[ExperiencedProtagonist experienced plainclothes officer]] responsible for handling stalker cases by the [=LAPD=]. Joining the unit is Detective Jack Larsen, who is a recent transfer to the [=LAPD=] from the city of New York. While there, he tries to [[DarkandTroubledPast reconnect again with his wife and child after they left him]]. So far, his ex-wife is not receptive of his presence and wants him to leave.
----
!!This show contains examples of:
* ActionSurvivor: The victim in "Fanatic", an actress named Nina Preston, proves herself to be one throughout the episode crossing over with CrazyPrepared, GenreSavvy and BadAssNormal. [[spoiler: After being the victim of three prior stalkers, she had setup a safe room in her house complete with alarm and surveillance cameras. When she picks up on the fact that there's an intruder in her house, she locks herself in and notifies the police. When her stalker attacks her agent and confronts her at the hospital, she's able to use mace and self-defense techniques to subdue him and then smartly calls out for help. Finally, when the stalker's mother goes after her, she uses a hot cup of tea and is able to fight her off until help arrives. That is while being stalked with a deranged woman with a knife, suffering from a knife wound, and scared. At no point does she panic. Bad. Ass. The only time she slips up is when not locking her trailer door.]]
* [[AllAbusersAreMale All Stalkers Are Male]]: So far all the stalkers shown are male, [[spoiler:with the exception of "Whatever Happened to Baby James?", "Cry For Help", "The News" and "My Hero"]]
** Averted in "Love is a Battlefield". Where every guy that was a stalker up to this point was sympathetic and or had an excuse in even the minimal use of the word. The stalker in this episode was female and a complete sociopath: killing her dog, framing her ex for assault, and was even going to kill his girlfriend all while gloating to her how she was going to get away with it, just so she could look like the victim. It was like the episode was stating "yes there are female stalkers and they can be worse than males".
* AlwaysGetsHisMan: This happens in the end of every episode, regardless if a stalker is arrested or gunned down by police.
* {{Blackmail}}: A sub-plot shows the tension between Amanda and Jack with the former willing to use it to get him to leave the city. It's averted since Jack tells Beth about his past near the end of "Love is a Battlefield".
* CliffHanger: With the end of the 20th episode being the season finale due to the show not being renewed.
* CrazyPrepared: What happens to former stalking victims afterwards. Of course, it doesn't always work.
** ProperlyParanoid: The end result of being a stalking victim.
* DarkSecret: Jack has one that Amanda is using to {{Blackmail}} Jack as part of the sub-plot.
** Beth Davis as well, to the point she changed her identity. So far all we know is her real name is Michelle Webber.
* {{Deconstruction}}: This series, in its own way, seems to deconstruct both on stalking and how stalking is treated. Not all of the stalkers are treated as evil people that just want to hurt the person. In some cases the stalker realizes they have a problem and ask for help as if he was hopelessly addicted to a drug, another the person being stalked wasn't even the target but was in the house the guy was fixated on, and another one suffered a serious breakdown and was delusional believing there was a conspiracy against him. Then, there's Jack who has essentially been reduced to stalking simply because his ex-Wife won't let him anywhere near his son.
** Not to mention so far the only complete sociopath of a stalker was a woman, going against the idea that stalkers are male and showing they can be even worse than male stalkers.
*** One of the suspects arrested was trying to get close to a famed reporter so that the person can get closer to his colleague.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Beth tells Perry White he did this when [[spoiler: he released her previous stalker from the asylum]]. From what we have seen lately it seems like he is starting to agree with her.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Due to the show's canceling, the last scene's a CliffHanger of a killer holding his lover at gunpoint because [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]].]]
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Jack suffers from this in the first few episodes. Despite being extremely competent in the job everyone is a JerkAss to him. However, they grow to respect his detective skills.
* EngineeredHeroics: What Beth's stalker tried to do to get her to be his girlfriend again. But the fire spread faster than he anticipated and her family died in the fire.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Displayed in how the relationship between Perry and Ray ultimately plays out. Perry begins to realize pretty quickly that Ray is a lot more vicious than he bargained for.
* EveryEpisodeEnding: Beth going through her nightly routine.
** Inversely, all episodes start the same as well -- with the unfolding of the case that is investigated in that episode.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: A non-romantic example. The entire team is able to catch on that Beth is having troubles. Yet every time one of them ask if she needs any help she essentially tells them to [[JerkAss leave her alone]].
* FictionalCounterpart: The Threat Assessment Unit to the actual Threat Management Unit of the [=LAPD=].
* HalloweenEpisode: The [=LAPD=] investigate an abandoned house in "The Haunting" on rumors that it used to be haunted. [[spoiler:It wasn't true.]]
* ImprovisedWeapon: The victim in "Fanatic" uses a hot cup of tea [[spoiler: to stun the stalker's mother, who was armed with a knife, and buy herself time to escape.]]
* JerkAss:
** Virtually the entire team is this to Jack despite him being a great addition to the team. Also Amanda at certain times.
** Then there was the TokenBlackFriend in "The Haunting" who wanted to completely ruin her friend's ex-boyfriend's life simply because she fully believes that he is the one stalking her. She is displayed throughout the episode seeming to want to destroy the guy's life more than she cares about keeping her friend safe. And when it turns out her ex-boyfriend has nothing to do with the stalking, she doesn't seem to give it a second though that she was very close to ruining the guy's life.
*** Although, in fairness, the ex-boyfriend ''was'' stalking her - he was mostly harmless and didn't turn out to be the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Bad Guy Of The Week]], but he actually did most of what the friend attributed to him.
* KillItWithFire: [[spoiler:Kate Edwards.]]
* MamaDidntRaiseNoCriminal: The mother of the stalker in "Fanatic" refuses to believe anything bad the Unit says about her son.
* MyBelovedSmother: The stalker's mother in "Fanatic". Revealing she faked being the actress he liked by replying to his emails to her (which fed his delusion) and attacked a bully at her son's school with a knife. [[spoiler: Then she tried to kill the victim believing he would be better off with her gone]].
* NeverMyFault: The stalker's mother from "Fanatic" was ultimately responsible for feeding her son's delusions and getting him in trouble, but blamed Nina instead.
* NewMediaAreEvil: The driving point by Beth Davies when she tells an audience of university students in "Pilot" that stalkers use their personal data found in social media to follow them.
-->'''Beth''': Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tinder. Whatever app is hot today, we have too much access to one another. Social media is the number one reason stalking cases have tripled in the last decade.
* OddlySmallOrganization: The [=TAU=] is made up of six full-time detectives.
-->'''Beth''': There are currently 6 Detectives in the unit. Each Detective is responsible for his own caseload, but we're a small unit, so we work together.
* OhCrap: Played with whenever a stalker/s manages to get the jump on their victims after they let their guard down.
* PoliceAreUseless: Subverted and averted. The unit tells most of the victims/attempted victims that unless they can tell them what they know about their stalkers, they won't be able to help them if they get into trouble again with their stalker/s.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: At least arguably this is the ultimate fate of [[spoiler:Perry Whitley]].
* RedHerring: In some episodes, the [=TAU=] investigates the [[WrongGenreSavvy obvious suspect]] such as an ex-boyfriend or a convicted child molester. Turns out that they aren't the suspects at all.
* ShownTheirWork: The show explains what would happen if a stalking case is reported to the police, starting with a restraining order before the court would issue an order for the stalker to not go near his/her victims or risk arrest.
* ShowWithinAShow: "Savage Shore", first mentioned in "Fanatic".
* StalkingIsFunnyIfItIsFemaleAfterMale: In "A Cry for Help" the bus driver who tells his co-workers he was being stalked by a woman laughed at him and told him he should be flattered.
* StalkingIsLove[=/=]StalkerWithACrush[=/=]StalkerWithoutACrush: Depending on the suspects, but these are most of the motivation why the stalkers stalk their victims.
* TitleDrop: Many times.
* TooDumbToLive: Jack Larsen in "Manhunt" just shot their main suspect and thinks he's dead. The suspect is ex-Military special forces. Instead of keeping his eye on him and immediately calling for backup, he turns his back on him allowing the suspect to get the drop on him.
* UrbanLegend: The deserted house in "The Haunting" after rumors in the community said that the couple who lived there died by killing themselves. [[spoiler:It was false, but the wife did die due to natural reasons. The husband chose to isolate himself from the community by "hiding" himself inside the basement.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: One person who stands out is [[spoiler:a former high school sports star Scott Mason, who started out his career as a serial rapist by raping Freshman best friends Cori and Meg. He continued raping teenage girls after high school ball games.]]
----
