Line #28 Literature/FavoriteSon


1	[[quoteright:302:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/favorite_son.jpg]]
2
3	''Favorite Son'' is a 1987 novel by former Creator/{{CBS}} and Creator/{{NBC}} executive Steve Sohmer.
4
5	The plot centers on little-known Texas Senator Terry Fallon; who was set to deliver a speech welcoming [[UsefulNotes/{{Nicaragua}} Nicaraguan contra]] leader Col. Octavio Martinez when a sniper wounds Fallon while succeeding in assassinating Martinez. As network and cable coverage goes live; Fallon manages to deliver a stirring speech before collapsing, instantly making the little-known Senator a household name.
6
7	Meanwhile at the White House; with about 10 days to go before the party convention, Lou Brenner -- White House Chief of Staff to President Sam Baker -- is leading the charge to have Baker replace Vice-President Daniel Eastman with Fallon, citing polls suggesting such a move was the only chance Baker had to win re-election. Meanwhile, the assassin is identified as a retired Marine and one-time CIA agent named Rolf Petersen who had since gone rogue; but upon expressing fears that such a disclosure would disrupt American relations with allies in Latin America, Brenner manages to intimidate FBI director Henry O’Brien into going through the motions of an investigation, complete with assigning just two agents, an inexperienced agent named Dave Ross and Nick Mancuso; a crotchety, cynical veteran nearing retirement. However, despite a series of events the two manage to expose the aforementioned conspiracy; though not before others are murdered, including a Secret Service agent Eastman assigns to find dirt on Fallon later being murdered; Eastman and Baker getting into a shouting match in front of the press while welcoming diplomats from UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}, Eastman breaking with Baker to declare a last-minute nomination challenge; Fallon revealing himself to be a fascist (which results in Baker being turned off to the idea of even considering Fallon for VP); Brenner trying various forms of blackmail to keep Fallon in line; the revelation Col. Martinez was injected by the CIA with AIDS, Mancuso showing Fallon BRoll showing Crain was in on the assassination of Martinez and attempt on Fallon’s life, and Ross being stabbed to death after having sex with Crain. In the end, Crain. following a VillainousBreakdown, assassinates Sen. Fallon before turning the gun on herself; the various conspirators are arrested and forced out of their jobs and Baker chooses Speaker of the House Charles [=MacDonald=] [[TakeAThirdOption as his running mate for the fall campaign]].
8
9	In 1988; the book was adapted into a mini-series airing on Creator/{{NBC}} on October 30-November 1, 1988[[note]]the last day being one week before Election Day 1988[[/note]] and starred Creator/HarryHamlin; Creator/LindaKozlowski; James Whitmore; Creator/RobertLoggia; Mitchell Ryan; Creator/JohnMahoney; Ronny Cox; Creator/StepfanieKramer; Lance Guest; Creator/JasonAlexander[[note]]just under a year before his big break as George Constanza on ‘’Series/{{Seinfeld}}’’[[/note]] and Richard Bradford. The mini-series proved a hit (the 2nd of the 3-part miniseries beating out ‘’Series/MondayNightFootball’’) and led to Loggia’s Nick Mancuso character getting a spinoff in ‘’Mancuso, FBI’’; which ran for the 1989-90 season before its cancellation. Additionally, Sohmer would pen a follow-up called ''Patriots''; in which - as the Cold War winds down - now lame-duck President Baker has to fend off a coup attempt from [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam veterans]] angered over Baker's pursuit of disarmament.
10
11	!! Tropes associated with this episode:
12	* ACupAngst: Stevie Chandler - who finds herself the subject of many a joke about her wearing a padded bra.
13	* AlphabetNewsNetwork: UBS, the network Stevie and most of the other news personnel with any speaking parts work for. Possibly a ShoutOut to Film/{{Network}}; of which it shares fictional news network initials.
14	* AlternateHistory: The most recent real life President mentioned in the miniseries is UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter (the novel includes a brief mention of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, though the circumstances involving Reagan giving way to Sam Baker is not made clear in the book), and since it's mentioned that Sam Baker is running for re-election, it's unclear what took place between 1980 and 1988 (such as whether UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan became President, for instance). However, several real life political and media personalities are referenced such as [[Series/TwentyTwenty Barbara Walters]], former Colorado Senator Gary Hart, Senators UsefulNotes/TedKennedy of Massachusetts, Alan Cranston of California and Bob Packwood of Oregon and Nicaraguan Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega.
15	* AssassinationAttempt: The novel and miniseries begins and ends with one on Terry Fallon.
16	** The story begins when Senator Fallon and Col. Octavio Martinez are shot (in Martinez's case, fatally) by Rolf Petersen during a routine ceremony giving Martinez an award for his work leaving the Nicaraguan contras.; though it's ultimately revealed that Fallon planned that shooting in hopes of rising from unknown Senator from Texas to possibly becoming the nominee for Vice-President.
17	** The story ends when Sally Crain, following a VillainousBreakdown upon Fallon firing her and leaking a story tying her to a Washington sex ring in response to being shown B-roll footage indicating Crain gave the signal to open fire, assassinates Fallon after Fallon gives a speech publicly denouncing her.
18	* AssassinsAreAlwaysBetrayed: Rolf Petersen's identity as having assassinated Col. Martinez and wounding Sen. Fallon shortly before Petersen is killed in a police shootout[[note]]Nick Mancuso also happens to be present, but angrily notes that he wanted to get Petersen alive[[/note]]
19	* BecauseDestinySaysSo: Terry Fallon adopts this as his motto after being shot at the beginning:
20	--->'''Terry Fallon''': Events chose me, fate chose the place. But I was ambitious, and I was prepared and I survived.
21	* BrandX: One of the newspapers used has the name of The Washington Star. This was also the name of a real-life UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC afternoon paper published until its closure in 1981.
22	** Another newspaper example is the Houston Post, established as the paper Sally Crain worked for before moving to the Washington Post (which the former paper's editor called the "[[StrawmanPolitical Pravda on the Potomac]]" when interviewed by Mancuso). Interestingly, the Houston Post was still in existence in 1988 and continued to be printed until it was absorbed into the better-known Houston Chronicle in 1995.
23	* ConspiracyThriller
24	* FakeAssassination: Senator Terry Fallon arranges for the assassination of contra leader Colonel Martinez and for himself to be wounded in the same attempt in order to secure the nomination for vice-president.
25	* FemmeFatale: Sally Crain, overlapping with TheVamp.
26	* GoodIsNotNice: While ultimately a good guy who blows the various conspiracies apart; Nick Mancuso is shown clearly having a lack of people skills and also acknowledges having placed bugs in hotel rooms used by UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr.
27	* GoryDiscretionShot: While looking at a replay of Sally shooting herself to avoid arrest during the fictional [[AlphabetNewsNetwork UBS]] bulletin covering Sen. Fallon's assassination, the camera cuts to a horrified Stevie stepping away, [[VomitDiscretionShot apparently about to throw up]].
28	* GovernmentConspiracy: The one involving Terry Fallon and Sally Crain; as well as a separate conspiracy involving the CIA injecting Col. Martinez with AIDS prior to the events leading to Martinez’s assassination.
29	* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Mancuso has Sally Crain serve [[WeNeedADistraction as a distraction]] to the Secret Service agent attempting to find dirt on Sen. Fallon before he figures it out, leading to the agent being [[GunStruggle killed in a struggle with Ross]] after the agent attempted to kill the young FBI agent.
30	* TheIdealist: Dave Ross is this in [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism contrast to]] [[KnightInSourArmor the more cynical Nick Mancuso]].
31	* IdiotBall: Vice-President Eastman takes full possession by ordering two Secret Service agents to dig up dirt on Fallon in violation of federal law; which [[FromBadToWorse culminates]] in one of the agents being murdered.
32	* ImportantHaircut: During the overnight period after Sally Crain's involvement with a Washington sex ring was leaked to the media by Senator Terry Fallon, the signal that indicates her VillainousBreakdown prior to assassinating Fallon later that morning.
33	* KissOfDeath: Sally's final kiss of Dave Ross comes shortly before Ross is stabbed to death.
34	* NoPartyGiven: Whichever party President Baker; Vice-President Eastman; Senator Fallon and Charles [=MacDonald=] belong to is never explicitly stated, nor is there even a reference to the opposing party’s candidates.
35	* {{Omniglot}}: Col. Octavio Martinez, as in response to Sally Crain asking what language he spoke as he arrived at the ceremony with Terry Fallon, he answered with "All of them", though he has an easier time with some languages than others.
36	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: There are occasional references to then-recent political scandals such as the Iran-Contra scandal as well as the sex scandal that torpedoed Gary Hart’s hopes of becoming President in 1988.
37	* RousingSpeech: Terry Fallon's speech after being wounded in the shooting that killed Col. Octavio Martinez.
38	* TakeThatAudience: Lou Brenner, while defending the actions he and CIA director Admiral William Riker had undertaken earlier, laments that most of the audience (and by extension, the American public at large) wouldn't even bother to vote on Election Day[[note]]again, note that the conclusion of the mini-series adaptation aired one week before Election Day 1988[[/note]]
39	* TheManBehindTheMan[=/=][[TheManBehindTheMan The Woman Behind the Man]]:
40	** Sally Crain, who is Fallon’s press aide and also lover, had puffed Fallon dating to her days as a reporter for a UsefulNotes/{{Houston}} newspaper and Fallon’s campaign for City Council a decade earlier.
41	** Additionally; Chief of Staff Brenner attempts to be this to President Baker, going so far as to lie to FBI director Henry O'Brien about the order to assign only Mancuso and Ross to the Martinez case coming from President Baker.
42	* TransparentCloset: Chris Van Allen, another top aide to Sen. Fallon. While it's not confirmed that he's gay until [[spoiler:the latter part of the 3rd part of the miniseries]]; Van Allen's mannerisms strongly hint at his sexuality well before that disclosure.
43	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Terry Fallon. Fallon is introduced as a charismatic hero after making a speech after having been wounded by a sniper who succeeded in assassinating UsefulNotes/{{Nicaragua}}n contra leader Col. Octavio Martinez, instantly making the previously little-known Senator a national figure who is recommended by the staff of President Sam Baker to have Fallon replace incumbent Vice-President Daniel Eastman due to polls suggesting such a move was the only chance Baker had to win re-election. As the book and series go on, it's later revealed that Fallon had not only cheated on his wife; but had habitually [[DomesticAbuse maritally raped]] her (including once on their honeymoon) and had her committed after she refused a three-way with Fallon and a friend[[note]]later revealed to be his press aide, Sally Crain[[/note]], proves to be an avowed fascist (which [[spoiler:turns Baker off from picking Fallon]][[note]], ultimately - after Eastman broke with Baker and decided on a last-minute nomination challenge - picking [[TakeAThirdOption House Speaker Charles [=MacDonald=]]][[/note]]) and is implied to have, if not orchestrated, known about the assassination attempt on Col. Martinez[[note]]later revealed to have been infected with the AIDS virus by the CIA in a separate GovernmentConspiracy[[/note]], with his being wounded a complete accident. However, Fallon's true nature is not revealed in-universe, as Fallon [[spoiler:is assassinated by Crain following a VillainousBreakdown after a network producer friend leaks word that Fallon threw her under the bus by leaking a story about her frequent sexual encounters with other men]].
44	* VillainousBreakdown: Sally Crain when she discovers Fallon — having been shown BRoll footage suggesting Crain issued a signal to open fire — threw her under the bus by leaking a story involving her sexual relations with several other men; ultimately setting the stage for Crain assassinating Fallon.

Context Literature / FavoriteSon