Line #20 Series/HapAndLeonard


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hap_and_leonard_100_james_purefoy_michael_k_williams_700x384_2.jpg]]
2
3	''Hap and Leonard'' is a Sundance Channel drama series based on the characters Hap and Leonard, created by novelist Joe R. Lansdale and adapted from his series of novels of the same name.
4
5	Set in the late 1980s in the fictional East Texas town, it focuses on the titular characters (respectively played by Creator/JamesPurefoy and Creator/MichaelKWilliams). Hap Collins, a white working class laborer who spent time in federal prison as a young man for refusing to be drafted into the military and serve in the Vietnam War and Leonard Pine, a gay black Vietnam vet with serious anger issues.
6
7	Cancelled after 3 seasons.
8	----
9	!!Tropes used by the series:
10
11	* TheEighties: Season 1 is set in 1988. Most of season 3 takes place from Christmas Eve 1989 through New Years.
12	* ActorAllusion: [[Series/TheWire Not the first time Michael K. Williams has played a main homosexual character.]]
13	* AdaptationalCurves: While no particular mention is made in the novel about Trudy's bust, her role is played by the very buxom Creator/ChristinaHendricks.
14	* AdaptationExpansion: While the first season is mostly an adaptation of ''Savage Season'', minor elements of ''Mucho Mojo'' are included.
15	** Likewise, elements of ''Two-Bear Mambo'' shine through in ''Mucho Mojo,'' as well as a quick nod to ''Bad Chili.''
16	* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: In Season 3, Hap and Leonard have to find Florida Grange. In the end, despite their best efforts and even finding her, she is killed by getting impaled on some debris.]]
17	* AteHisGun: [[spoiler: Reverend Fitzgerald commits suicide via shotgun when cornered by the police and Hap & Leonard. The irony? They were there for Hap.]]
18	* AxCrazy: Jesus, Soldier and Angel play this trope '''EXTREMELY''' well.
19	* BadassPreacher: Reverend Fitzgerald is quite the boxer, able to keep up with Hap in a charity boxing match, [[spoiler: although Leonard beats him quite handily in a serious engagement.]]
20	* ButtMonkey: Chub, poor Chub!
21	* BerserkButton:
22	** [[spoiler: Chub went tranquil bananas after Soldier called Leonard the N-word until out of blue, [[BoomHeadshot Paco shot him down.]]]]
23	** Hap tells Uncle Chester in no [[AssShove uncertain terms]] he will not abide anyone calling Leonard the f-word.
24	** Threaten [=MeMaw=] and Reverend Fitzgerald in front of T.J. at your own peril.
25	** Don't give drugs to Ivan, or else Leonard will burn down your house. In fact, messing with children and Leonard finding out about it is tantamount to suicide.
26	** Hap is anywhere from vindictive to outright hostile to anything relating to Beau Otis. To be fair, [[spoiler: Otis did kill his father.]]
27	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Hap is polite and rather gentlemanly, if a bit of a pervert. If you try to hurt Leonard, however, he will ''destroy'' you.
28	* BreakTheCutie:
29	** Slow burn in the case of Hap. [[spoiler: His father was killed by a drunken teenage Beau Otis, present day county judge in Laborde. Hap suffers with the psychological damage inflicted upon him as a child, while Otis prospers and barely gives thought to that fateful night.]]
30	** [[spoiler: [=MeMaw=] literally dies when given the news that not only are her grandchildren dead, but the ones responsible for the string of child murders in Cooperstown.]]
31	* CartwrightCurse: Being romantically involved with Hap Collins is not something that comes with a long life. [[spoiler:Trudy and Florida both suffer from it.]]
32	* ChekhovsGun: In the first episode, Leonard mentions how Switch, one of his dogs, will attack anyone he thinks is doing Leonard harm. Sure enough, come episode five [[spoiler: Hap and Leonard use this as a ploy to incapacitate Soldier and Angel.]]
33	** [=MeMaw=]'s childhood run-in with the Klu Klux Klan at her church, and in a way [[spoiler: [=MeMaw=] herself. Her grandsons, Reverend John Fitzgerald and T.J., are behind the series of grisly child murders in Cooperstown. And her old defunct church serves as the burial grounds for Fitzgerald's victims.]]
34	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Paco sold this trope two times.
35	* CruellaToAnimals: [[spoiler: One of Leonard's dogs was killed by....of course....Soldier, who went on to taunt Leonard about it.]]
36	* CruelTwistEnding: The end of season 3. [[spoiler:They finally manage to find and rescue Florida, but then a flood just comes in out of nowhere and sweeps her away, impaling her on some debris and killing her anyway. It has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, and serves no purpose other than to deny the series a happy ending.]]
37	* CulturalRebel: Leonard is a double example; his [[GayConservative political leanings]] puts him at odds with his boyfriend, and his uncle has all but disowned him for being openly gay.
38	* TheDeterminator: Both Hap and Leonard fit this bill. Once they resolve to solve the Cooperstown Murders, they do not stop. Even the love-starved Hap isn't distracted by the prospect of a booty-call with an ex-girlfriend, or a rendezvous with Florida Grange.
39	** Trudy's will is nothing short of iron in the face of psychopaths like Soldier and Angel.
40	** Angel herself is no slouch either, when it comes to keep on fighting despite multiple incapacitating wounds.
41	* DiscoDan: Soldier enjoys mocking Howard and Trudy over how the carefree idealism of the 60s is dead and buried.
42	* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: Paco died, engulfed in flames!]]
43	* DisproportionateRetribution: Softboy [=McCall=] is murdered in prison by another inmate because he took the last piece of cake.
44	* EveryScarHasAStory: Paco's extremely noticeable disfigured face was [[spoiler: from an accidental explosion decades prior.]]
45	** [=MeMaw=]'s burns on her arms come from trying to put out a church fire when she was a child.
46	* EvilBrit: When she's not being TheQuietOne, Angel is this.
47	* EvilIsHammy: Soldier and Angel.
48	** Played straight with Reverend Fitzgerald in the penultimate episode of ''Mucho Mojo.''
49	* FemmeFatale: Trudy is guilty of this.
50	* {{Fingore}}: [[spoiler: In "War", Trudy's hand literally nailed into the table by Soldier.]]
51	* {{Flashback}}: Both to Hap and Leonard meeting in the 50s, and the breakdown of Hap and Trudy's marriage in the late 60s.
52	* FourEyesZeroSoul: Again, Soldier.
53	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Despite only one half being heterosexual, Hap and Leonard have each others backs no matter what.
54	* HisNameReallyIsBarkeep: Hap is indeed Hap's legal name as shown in the flashback to Hap receiving his call up papers to serve in Vietnam.
55	* GladToBeAliveSex: Hap and Trudy engage in this after nearly becoming gator chow.
56	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:[[spoiler:Florida is fatally impaled on a log when the dam flood sweeps her away.]]
57	* LetThemDieHappy: [[spoiler: When Angel is fatally wounded from the arrow Hap fired at her throat, Soldier comforts her with visions of their future living off the loot in Acapulco.]]
58	* NameAndName: Hap and Leonard
59	* NeckSnap: To [[spoiler: Angel]], courtesy of Leonard.
60	* NiceGuy: Hap. He's a polite, mellow, and all-around friendly guy who is unconditionally loyal to the people close to him. Leonard flat-out compares him to a puppy dog at one point.
61	* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: Angel!]]
62	* NWordPrivileges: Hap seems to have them with Leonard.
63	* OddCouple: Hap is white, liberal, and heterosexual. Leonard is black, conservative, and ManlyGay. They fight crime!
64	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: [[spoiler: Soldier]] enjoys using the N-Word.
65	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: When Hap refuses to be drafted, the recruitment officer tries to advise him to go to Canada or claim to be a conscientious objector, instead of going to jail.
66	** He may be a hard-ass following false assumptions and incorrect leads, but Marvin Hanson will follow every possible lead and is willing to give the benefit of the doubt.
67	** Despite having an appearance of an AmbiguouslyEvil SmallTownTyrant, Sheriff Otis Valentine in Season 2 [[GoodAllAlong proves himself to be]].
68	* SecretKeeper: Subverted with Chub.
69	* SequelHook: [[spoiler: The last shot of the first season is the child skeleton that kicks off the plot of ''Mucho Mojo'']].
70	* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler:The hunt for Florida. After an arduous adventure to find her, she and Hap are reunited for barely 5 minutes before she's washed away in the dam flood and fatally impaled on some debris.]]
71	* ShootTheDog: Soldier. No, he literally shoots a dog in a cage.
72	** [[spoiler: The circumstances by which T.J. is killed by Detective Charlie [=LeBlanc=]. He didn't need to die, and he was just as much a victim as any of the boys his brother killed.]]
73	* ShoutOut: Soldier shouting, "Hap and Leonard, [[Film/TheWarriors COME OUT AND PLAY!]]
74	* SmallRoleBigImpact: Softboy [=McCall=] indirectly causes the entire plot of the first season with his botched robbery, but he dies in the first episode over a petty dispute while still in prison.
75	* SophisticatedAsHell: Then and there.
76	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Leonard regularly eats vanilla cookies.
77	* TruthInTelevision: Chester's homophobic attitude toward his nephew Leonard's homosexuality is very common in the African American community.
78	* UnskilledButStrong: T.J. in combat doesn't amount to more than a few wide haymakers and clumsy grapples, but he's strong and sturdy enough that knee and joint strikes don't bring him down, and he's able to fight both Hap and Leonard to a draw.
79	* VitriolicBestBuds: Hap and Leonard more often than not suffer misery for knowing the other, and will insult each other the entire way. But they're still friends.

Context Series / HapAndLeonard