I got a call from Deep Throat, our informant inside The Order. She told me that the Ceremony is today at 4 pm...
—Daniel, the description of the first video
Date Posted: August 3, 2007
The big day arrives. Daniel is notified by Deep Throat that the Ceremony will be taking place, and the gang rides out to rescue Bree.
"1 of 12 -- 8 am"
: Daniel announces that today is the day they have to help Bree, but the journey gets off to a rough start as the boys and girls start arguing with each other.
"2 of 12 -- 9 am": The TAAG tries to crack the message Daniel received, and they continue to argue with each other.
"3 of 12 -- 10 am": The Watcher has gotten in a car, and the gang desperately tries to lose him.
"4 of 12 -- 11 am": Realizing they can't hide in a small room in the warehouse all day, the TAAG tries to make a break for it.
"5 of 12 -- 12 pm": Nikki Bower and her pal Jerry go to the warehouse to rescue the TAAG from the Watcher.
"6 of 12 -- 1 pm": The TAAG finally reaches the meeting spot with Deep Throat, but another complication arises.
"7 of 12 -- 2 pm": The TAAG goes the location Deep Throat gave Daniel, which turns out to be an empty hangar. Or is it?
"8 of 12 -- 3 pm": The TAAG find themselves in an underground hospital beneath the hangar, trying to find Bree.
"9 of 12 -- 4 pm": Taylor brings Jonas to an out-of-the-way room to hide briefly.
"10 of 12 -- 5 pm": The gang gets Jonas patched up, then moves to save Bree. They don't get there in time.
"11 of 12 -- 6 pm": The TAAG, now at the beach, try to process the day's events.
"12 of 12 -- 7 pm": Alone with Spencer on the boardwalk, Jonas listens to a delayed voicemail he just received from Bree.
Tropes:
- Abandoned Area: Subverted by the hangar in part 7, which appears to be empty but actually has a hidden trapdoor leading to a secret underground hospital.
- Abandoned Warehouse: The TAAG is forced to hide in one of these for a few hours after their car gets wrecked by the Watcher.
- Armor-Piercing Response: After Taylor and Sarah insist to Jonas that chasing after Bree is a dumb idea and start walking off to head back home, Jonas explains himself and manages to get them back into the fight.
- Jonas: Wait a minute, wait a minute, stop. Listen, listen, okay, I'll tell you why I'm not giving up, because this Deep Throat person might be bullshit. Alright? But it's all we got, alright? And I can't possibly quit on her when there's just little bit of hope. How could you ask me to do that? Seriously, I mean, what if it was you?
- Artistic License – Biology: In part 10, Spencer reassures Jonas that he's going to be okay by telling him that the knife hit a rib, and "all the bleeding's come from an artery in [his] skin". First, if the bleeding were actually coming from an artery, he would've already been dead. Second, there are no arteries in the upper skin layer in that region of the body
- Big Guy Rodeo: Spencer jumps on the back of the thug who stabs Jonas in part 8, restraining him until Daniel stabs the thug in the chest.
- Black Cloak: One is worn by the goon who stabs Jonas, and by the Shadow in the operating room in part 10.
- Car Fu: In part 3, the Watcher rams into Jonas' car repeatedly, which eventually causes him to lose control the vehicle and roll over.
- Catapult Nightmare: In part 1, Daniel mentions that he kept waking up screaming from his recurring nightmare last night.
- Cat Scare: The gang wonders in part 10 if someone from the Order is about to find them when they start hearing strange noises... but it's just Sarah finally returning.
- Come Alone: Jonas states this was a condition of Daniel meeting with Deep Throat in part 6.
- Conflict Ball: Daniel gets mad at Spencer in part 6 for the horrible act of... keeping a backup vial of the serum at the lab, which can't possibly have a downside for the TAAG, but he gets mad about anyway.
- Curse Cut Short: Sarah cuts herself off before she finishes saying "Oh shit" early in part 3, and a video cut interrupts Daniel saying "Holy shit!" later on.
- Dead Man Writing: Bree's voicemail in the final video, which is only heard after she's died.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: Sarah believes that the only reason Daniel is going to save Bree is because he's still in love with Bree, which makes her very jealous, at least during the first couple hours.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Daniel's dream in the first part ends up foretelling Bree's death in part 10.
- Daniel: Kept having this same dream over and over. I'd wake up screaming. But, I can't really remember much. I just remember I was losing something... something very important to me.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The full titles of each video all start with "lonelygirl15 Season Finale", which... well, it is.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Taylor outright says in part 11 that she knew they wouldn't be able to save Bree.
- Taylor: I know it sounds awful, but... I knew that we couldn't save her. Whatever we had on our side, it was never gonna be enough - I mean, we're just a bunch of kids!
- Film the Hand: Sarah smacks the camera to try to get Spencer to leave her alone before she walks off in the final segment.
- Flatline: An audio-only version in part 10, as you can just barely hear the heart monitor Bree's hooked to beep rapidly, then start flatlining a few seconds later.
- The Hero Dies: Bree dies in part 10.
- Heroic BSoD: Daniel and especially Jonas are clearly in the grip of this in part 11. Daniel breaks down crying and even lashes out at Jonas briefly. Jonas, for his part, says absolutely nothing and just stares blankly.
- Heroic Sacrifice: The final video reveals that Bree willingly underwent the Ceremony to relieve her friends of the burden of being chased by the Order.
- Honor Before Reason: Taylor tries to leave the bathroom at the end of part 4 to find her sister, but Daniel and Jonas stop her because they can't risk being caught by the Watcher.
- Improvised Weapon: Two of them in part 5:
- Nikki uses a fire extinguisher to subdue the Watcher.
- Taylor throws a roll of toilet paper at Nikki when she thinks she's the Watcher.
- Inelegant Blubbering: At one point, Daniel lashes out at Jonas, claiming it's his fault Bree's dead... then breaks down sobbing on Jonas.
- It's All My Fault: In part 9, Jonas express this sentiment to Taylor, apologizing for involving her in all this. Taylor replies that she doesn't regret her involvement and that she wasn't as happy as Jonas thinks she was in her old life.
- Jitter Cam: To a much stronger degree in part 3 than in the rest of the series, especially after the car flips over.
- Jump Scare: A very effective one in part 8, when a thug comes out of nowhere to stab Jonas.
- Just a Kid: Jonas pulls this on Taylor in part 1, which gets lampshaded immediately:
- Jonas: Taylor, look. I'm sorry but you're only sixteen years old.Taylor: Bree was only a year older then me. You think she was handling it better?
- Kick the Dog: From part 2:
- Daniel: I'm not even sure why you're here still. Really, why did you come?Sarah: So I could see you fail.Daniel: Oh... whatever!
- Leave the Camera Running: Played for Horror in part 8, as we're treated to a lovely shot of the thug Daniel stabbed bleeding to death on the floor.
- The Lost Lenore: Discussed by Sarah in part 11, who believes that Daniel will view Bree as this.
- Sarah: The memories that you and Daniel have... they're... they're yours forever and, um, you know what? They're just, they're pure and they're innocent, like a child that never grew up. But I'm still part of this fucked up world, and you know what, it's not perfect like the one that you and Daniel had. So, I'm just gonna stop trying to compete with you.
- Mood Dissonance: The incredibly depressing part 11 is intercut with scenes of children having fun at a nearby amusement park.
- Mysterious Informant: Deep Throat returns, giving Daniel information on the Ceremony and where Bree is. She also kicks off the journey by giving him a meeting location.
- No Fourth Wall: Taylor directly appeals to the audience for help in part 3, asking them to contact Nikki Bower and get her to help them somehow.
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Defied by Spencer, who specifically states that he keeps a backup of everything he does. Fortunately for the gang, this includes the serum.
- Not So Stoic: In part 11, even Sarah breaks down in tears over how depressed Daniel is about Bree's death.
- No, You: In part 2, when Daniel says that they don't see Sarah along if she doesn't want to be there, she immediately claims she doesn't need him either.
- Oh, Crap!: Sarah, and then everyone else, has this reaction in part 2 when she sees a Watcher approaching right after the coded message from Deep Throat gets cracked.
- Out of Focus: Downplayed. Spencer inexplicably does not appear in either part 1 or part 10, but shows up in the other ten videos. Lampshaded in part 1 when Jonas angrily asks where Spencer is and nobody knows.
- Recurring Dreams: Daniel mentions in part 1 that he was having the same nightmare over and over the previous night.
- Say My Name: Taylor shrieks Jonas' name when the thug comes around the corner and stabs him.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Subverted in parts 1 and 2, when Sarah and Taylor threaten to leave, but stick around anyway (part 1) or get talked out of it by Jonas (part 2).
- Season Finale: As the title would suggest, this series of episodes serves as the Season 1 finale.
- Songs in the Key of Lock: The secret trapdoor in part 7 is opened by Spencer using his phone to play a series of musical notes that they were given by Deep Throat.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Spencer discovers in part 6 that the serum's been ruined, as its container broke. Which is exactly what you'd expect from a glass container that went through a violent car crash.
- A gang of high school-age kids take on a rescue mission against a vast cult with immense resources... and they fail.
- Tap on the Head: In part 5, Nikki manages to sneak attack the Watcher with a fire extinguisher to the head while he's distracted with Jerry.
- Tempting Fate: Jonas claims near the beginning of part 3 that he's going to get the gang out of the car chase with the Watcher. He does not.
- This Is No Time to Panic: In part 3.
- Sarah: Okay, you know what, freaking out is not gonna help the situation, so can we calm down?
- Wet Blanket Wife: In part 1, Sarah insists that Daniel not go off to save Bree because it's not smart, she loves Daniel, and she says Bree doesn't love him. Taylor does this as well to Jonas to a lesser extent.
- Wham Episode:
- Part 10: Bree is Killed Off for Real, sending a couple characters into a Heroic BSoD.
- Part 12: A delayed voicemail from Bree reveals that she was Not Brainwashed and willingly underwent the Ceremony to spare her friends from being chased by the Order.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Where was Sarah hiding after she got separated from the rest of the gang? Nobody knows, because she abruptly rejoins the group after they get out with no explanation.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- In Part 1, Daniel and Jonas are understandably pissed at Sarah and Taylor for bailing on them and trying to talk them out of their mission at literally the last minute. Daniel in particular chews Sarah out for it.Sarah: Alright, I don't want you to go.Daniel: Why are you doing this now?!Sarah: Because this whole thing is just stupid! Okay? I don't care about Bree! I care about you and I care about my sister!Jonas: Well, then don't—Sarah: You know what? Just give me a minute. Screw Bree and screw you too!Daniel: Fine then, screw us! Whatever.Sarah: Just listen to me. Don't you get it? Bree doesn't care about anybody but herself. She's manipulating you. Daniel, she doesn't love you. You're the "best friend".Daniel: You're the only manipulative person out here! And you're wasting my time! (to Jonas) Let's go.
- In Part 2, Jonas calls Sarah and Taylor both out for asking him to give up on trying to save his friend, asking what they'd do if it was their friend.
- In Part 1, Daniel and Jonas are understandably pissed at Sarah and Taylor for bailing on them and trying to talk them out of their mission at literally the last minute. Daniel in particular chews Sarah out for it.
- With Catlike Tread: Both variants get played straight in part 5. The Watcher fails to hear Nikki and Jerry talking despite the massive echo, but then they get seen by him anyway thanks to standing right out in the open without getting to cover until they'd already seen the Watcher.
- Yank the Dog's Chain:
- In part 4, the TAAG find an exit to the warehouse after cutting through some offices... but it's locked, forcing them to find another hiding spot.
- Lucy shuts the door on the TAAG right before Daniel and Jonas can enter the room, as if she was waiting for that exact moment to do it.
- You Did Everything You Could: In part 11, Daniel and Taylor both say that they did everything they could to try and save Bree.
"Always know that I love you. I love you with all my heart... okay? I... I, um, I better go now. Good luck, guys. Bye."
