Line #27 Podcast/Archive81


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/archive_81_4.jpg]]
2	''[[http://www.archive81.com/ Archive 81]]'' is a horror podcast about Dan Powell, an archivist who has just started a new job reviewing and cataloging recordings made by the Housing Historical Committee of New York State. Through a series of mysterious interviews carried out by Melody Pendras, dark secrets are revealed about the building and beyond. It began on April 5th, 2016. Creator/{{Netflix}} released a television show based on season 1 on January 14th, 2022. It takes its broad premise and several names from the podcast, but otherwise [[InNameOnly has little in common.]]
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6	!!Archive 81 contains examples of:
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8	* AffablyEvil: Mr. Davenport. His folksy demeanor might be easy to see through, but he's still a downright teddy bear compared to the other managers.
9	* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: [[spoiler:After focusing on Dan for two seasons, the show's third season shifts the focus to newcomers Nicholas and Christine, who are attempting to complete a complex arcane ritual created by their late father. Dan appears in brief cameos to offer them assistance.]]
10	* ApocalypticLog: For reasons that are difficult to explain briefly, many entities in the setting thrive, grow stronger, and in some cases can only exist if they are being recorded somehow. (The effect, unfortunately, grows stronger if people then experience the recordings.) This leads to countless examples of hapless victims inadvertently recording their own demise, [[FateWorseThanDeath or worse.]] The series is actually named for a cache of such recordings held by a corporation seeking to harness the power of the beings they record.
11	* ArtifactTitle: [[spoiler:Dan escapes from the Archive 81 building at the end of season 1 and never returns.]] The title's relevance to the plot continues in the forms of the tapes themselves, which survive.
12	* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Season 1 and 2 have both ended with the primary antagonist getting what he wants. Samuel is able to complete his apotheosis thanks to Dan, and the Curator gets to keep Lou, who can never return home.]] Finally averted in Season [[spoiler:3]] where the season's [[BigBad Big Bad]] is soundly defeated.
13	* BigBadEnsemble: The story is set in a world of incredibly powerful organizations and entities all vying against one another for even more power. LMG, the Cult, and the Curator are three who directly menace the protagonists.
14	* BigGood: From the end of season 2 onward [[spoiler:Melody herself]] fills this role, providing answers and assistance to the various protagonists as well as leading a community of survivors in the City.
15	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Seems to be the norm for inhabitants of the City, who are happy to help you as long as you let them steal the color from your hair or the memories of your tenth birthday (and other things that are far, far worse.) Of course, [[spoiler:the Leviathans]] take this to even further extremes.
16	%%* BodyHorror: Season 2 takes a drastic dark turn into much more fantastical territory than the first season.
17	* TheBusCameBack:
18	** [[spoiler:Lou]], who seems doomed never to be seen again at the end of season 2, only to return for a substantial episode in season 3.
19	** [[spoiler:Patricia]] from ''The Golden Age'' resurfaces decades later, likewise having a substantial role in the events of season 3.
20	%%* CreepyMonotone: Green, Dromen, the Boat Lady, and Payphone are all noteworthy examples. So is Suit, when she is not being filled [[spoiler:and before she regains her memories.]]
21	%%* EldritchLocation: The "city" where Dan ends up following the season one finale.
22	%%* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:Dan]] himself. He gets a tape recorder implanted in his chest by the company.
23	%%* EvilVersusEvil: Season 1 and 2 end with [[spoiler:LMG battling Simon and the Cult, respectively. LMG seems to get the worst of it both times.]]
24	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Marc, a.k.a. Dromen]] who starts out sincerely wanting to help Dan, and over several years of using reprehensible means to do so, eventually becomes a high-ranking member of the Cult, albeit one who is reluctant to use lethal force.
25	* GeniusLoci: Frighteningly common in the setting. Notable ones include Visser: [[spoiler:an [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abomination]] hiding in the form of a New York tenement building,]] and Curator: [[spoiler: a living, evil museum.]]
26	* GenreShift: Season 1 is a supernatural mystery with elements of [[CosmicHorrorStory cosmic horror]]. Season 2 keeps the cosmic horror, but has more of a straight-up science fiction feel. Season 3 keeps elements of both while showing more of the [[UrbanFantasy urban fantasy]] side of the setting, with various low-level magicians skulking about the real world while trying to gain more power and trafficking in supernatural substances and services.
27	* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Dan's girlfriend believes this is what is happening to him in season 1, when he has to live at the extremely remote archive all by himself, because the tapes are supposedly too fragile to be moved anywhere he could, you know, see people. (And, to be fair, the strain ''is'' getting to him--he befriends Ratty the rat out of sheer desperation for another living being to interact with--just not quite the way she thinks.)
28	%%* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Jacob, a.k.a. Rat.]] Although he never stops being a devoted follower of Simon, his affection for Dan and his friends turns out to be sincere.
29	* KarmaHoudini: Villains rarely suffer for their crimes, which is appropriate given that most of them are powerful mages, massive mega-corporations, and [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations.]] Indeed, the only major villain to meet a satisfying onscreen death so far has been [[spoiler:Davenport.]]
30	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: By listening to the tapes and obeying Davenport, Dan enables Samuel to [[spoiler:find the location of the archive.]]
31	* OldMediaAreEvil: For reasons that no one really understands, the various horrors of the setting need some kind of sound recording in order to properly manifest in this world and cassette tapes seem to be their favorite method. It is flat out stated at one point that this is because evil loves older things.
32	* PsychoForHire: Alistair: a mercenary sorcerer whose signature move is trapping people in inescapable rooms until they die.
33	* SadisticChoice: Payphone will give you any kind of help you require, but at the cost of one of these. Typically it involves either going through a [[LifeOrLimbDecision Life or Limb Decision]] or instead causing something terrible to happen to another person.
34	* ShoutOut / TakeThat: One of the tapes describing a collection of artifacts includes an early 20th-century leather-bound book from Rhode Island, whose robust vocabulary is complimented even as the speaker describes it as difficult to read due to its habit of describing things as indescribable and its "even for the time, horrific racism." The exhibit code is [[Creator/HPLovecraft HPL]].
35	* SirSwearsAlot: Cynthia: an LMG executive who only speaks in profanity-laden streams of abuse.
36	* {{Unperson}}: The fate of [[spoiler:Jesse]] after he gets caught spying on Samuel and the Cult.
37	* WasOnceAMan: [[spoiler:Dan]], Rat, Suit, [[spoiler:Samuel]], Static Man, and [[spoiler:Dromen]] are all just a few examples of humans in the series who are horrifically transformed into monstrosities through supernatural means.

Context Podcast / Archive81