History Series / TheThiefHisWifeAndTheCanoe

%% no tropeslashing, please split examples * CloudCuckooLander / WrongGenreSavvy: John's example is a thorough deconstruction.
%%* [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Co-dependency]]: After their fraud is unravelled and they return back from Panama to face the music, John and Anne's relationship begins to take a more central focus as each of them is forced to clarify their motivations in the face of the moral and legal ramifications of what they had done. Whatever the viewer may decide about either person, what becomes very clear is that John and Anne's relationship was neither as healthy nor happy as it may have appeared.

* SugarWiki/Heartwarming Moment: Anne meeting her grandson by Anthony is an undeniable one. She has a look of total adoration and despite his complicated feelings regarding his mother, Anthony does let her hold his son.
** When seeing a counsellor, Anne is asked if John has ever made her happy. Her response is that he gave her two beautiful sons.
** Small but when Anthony finally visits his mother with his infant son, he mentions his wife Louise sends Anne her love. Considering the pain Anne and John put her husband through, this is incredibly generous on her part, and Anne is extremely grateful, sending her love back.
** Felicity (Flick) and Louise's minor roles show their [[UndyingLoyalty loyalty]] towards their respective husbands, despite the chaos erupting around them.

* BigBrotherInstinct: Mark, the Darwin's older son tends to take charge once the fraud comes out, insisting he and his brother Anthony clear their names with the press and comforting his brother.

* ComedicSociopathy: When the police tell John that his story is different to Anne's, John replies that they shouldn't listen to her because he hasn't done so for over 30 years. The 'comedy' becomes something of a dark subversion once it's revealed through Anne's prison therapy sessions that it's very likely that John never had any real sense of regard for his wife, meaning his apparently sarcastic confession may have been true.

* HeartwarmingMoment: Anne meeting her grandson by Anthony is an undeniable one. She has a look of total adoration and despite his complicated feelings regarding his mother, Anthony does let her hold his son.

* HeartwarmingMoments: Anne meeting her grandson by Anthony is an undeniable one. She has a look of total adoration and despite his complicated feelings regarding his mother, Anthony does let her hold his son.

* NeverMyFault: One of John's most prevalent personality traits, alongside his [[ItsAllAboutMe self-centredness]], impulsivity and [[DidntThinkThisThrough poor long-term planning/lack of foresight]], [[DissonantSerenity apathy]], [[ManipulativeBastard deceitfulness]], [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong overconfidence]], and penchant for making[[InsaneTrollLogic facile/delusional rationalisations]]. It is played off for [[ComedicSociopathy very dark humour]] at the beginning, but gradually lapses into drama as the consequences of his fraud begin to tailspin beyond control while he displays almost complete indifference and a lack of accountability for the amount of damage and the resulting sense of betrayal it brings to his family.

* AmbiguousDisorder: [[CloudCuckooLander John]], primarily - see NeverMyFault further below. Anne herself isn't exempt from this, as she is perceptive enough (and in many ways far more levelheaded than her husband) to understand how ridiculous and morally underhanded his schemes are, yet eventually plays along to them anyway. It's implied that her poor self-image and eagerness to please John are partly what motivates her role in the scam, and that as much as anything else she would rather betray her better judgement than risk losing his companionship.

* AssumedWin / HopeSpot: John spends all his money on real estate in Panama, only to be informed that his visa was rejected.

* CloudCuckooLander / WrongGenreSavvy: John's example is a thorough deconstruction.
* [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Co-dependency]]: After their fraud is unravelled and they return back from Panama to face the music, John and Anne's relationship begins to take a more central focus as each of them is forced to clarify their motivations in the face of the moral and legal ramifications of what they had done. Whatever the viewer may decide about either person, what becomes very clear is that John and Anne's relationship was neither as healthy nor happy as it may have appeared.

* YourCheatingHeart: John has a brief escapade with a woman he strikes a rapport with online whilst in hiding and even emigrates to the US to live with her. He claims to Anne that it's a business trip for surveying a potential investment, although she easily sees through the subterfuge. This never lasts however, as it turns out that the woman was only interested in blackmailing John for a slice of the insurance payout he had received, meaning that he had been reckless enough to reveal his scheme to a third party.

* Cerebus Syndrome: The first two episodes interspace drama with absurdist jet-black comedy, but whatever humour there was in the show is significantly toned down if not completely absent in almost every scene occurring after John returns from Panama.

* CerberusSyndrome: The first two episodes interspace drama with absurdist jet-black comedy, but whatever humour there was in the show is significantly toned down if not completely absent in almost every scene occurring after John returns from Panama.

* [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Co-dependency]]: After their fraud is unravelled and they return back from Panama to face the music, John and Anne's relationship begins to take a more central focus as either character is forced to clarify their motivations in the face of the moral and legal ramifications of what they had done. Whatever the viewer may decide about either person, what becomes very clear is that John and Anne's relationship was neither as healthy nor happy as it had appeared.

* CloudCuckooLander: John's example is a thorough deconstruction.

* SuicideAsComedy: John remarks to his neighbour that it's a nice day to go canoeing, just hours before he disappears.

''The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe'' is a four part BlackComedy/CrimeDrama based on RealLife fugitive John Darwin (Creator/EddieMarsan) who faked his own death to cash in on his life insurance with the help of his wife Anne (Creator/MonicaDolan).

* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: Anne is portrayed as a timid co-conspirator to her controlling, if largely useless, husband John.

** Anne herself isn't innocent of this, as her part in the fraud involves treating John's disappearance as a death to their sons over the course of at least seven years. The difference between the two examples is that Anne's manipulation of the situation is passive, done with great reluctance, and takes an [[GuiltRiddenAccomplice enormous emotional toll]] on her, compared with John's [[LackOfEmpathy blithe attitude]] both in the creation and execution of their scheme as well as in his treatment of Anne.

* AmbiguousDisorder: John primarily - see NeverMyFault further below. Anne herself isn't exempt from this, as she is perceptive enough (and in many ways far more levelheaded than her husband) to understand how ridiculous and morally underhanded his schemes are, yet eventually plays along to them anyway. It's implied that her poor self-image and eagerness to please John are partly what motivates her role in the scam, and that as much as anything else she would rather betray her better judgement than risk losing his companionship.

* AssumedWin: CloudCuckooLander John spends all his money on real estate in Panama, only to be informed that his visa was rejected.

* AmbiguousDisorder: John primarily - see NeverMyFault further below. Anne herself isn't exempt from this, as she is perceptive enough (and in many ways far more levelheaded than her husband) to understand how ridiculous and morally underhanded his schemes are, but plays along to them anyway. It's implied that her poor self-image and eagerness to please John are partly what motivates her role in the scam, and that as much as anything else she would rather betray her better judgement than risk losing his companionship.

* AmbiguousDisorder: John primarily - see NeverMyFault further below. Anne herself isn't exempt from this, as she is perceptive enough (and in many ways far more levelheaded than her husband) to understand how ridiculous and morally underhanded his schemes are, but plays along to them anyway. It's implied that her poor self-image and eagerness to please John are partly what motivates her role in the scam, and that as much as anything else she would rather betray her better judgement than risk ending up alone.

* Ambiguous Disorder: John primarily - see NeverMyFault further below. Anne herself isn't exempt from this, as she is perceptive enough (and in many ways far more levelheaded than her husband) to understand how ridiculous and morally underhanded his schemes are, but plays along to them anyway. It's implied that her poor self-image and eagerness to please John are partly what motivates her role in the scam, and that as much as anything else she would rather betray her better judgement than risk ending up alone.