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Nothing Much to Do is a 2014 New Zealand YouTube webseries based upon Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare. It takes the form of a Vlog Series, updating the plot and setting of the original play to modern day New Zealand.

The series comprises three YouTube channels:

  • Nothing Much to Do - Beatrice and Hero's channel
  • benaddicktion - Benedick's channel, though frequently hijacked by Pedro
  • Watch Projects - hosts extra videos that supplement the plot: projects by Ursula, songs by Balthazar and the vlogs of Dogberry and Verges ("The Watch").

The complete playlist of 79 episodes (plus the series trailer) in chronological order can be found here.

A sequel loosely based on Love's Labour's Lost called Lovely Little Losers began filming in February 2015, and began airing on 16th July 2015. A channel for Pedro was created for the sequel.


Nothing Much to Do provides examples of:

  • The Ace: Pedro 'All Round Great Guy' is popular, gets good grades, is captain of the football team, successfully runs for student president and looked up to by his friends. Deconstructed later when he wrongly helps accuse Hero of cheating and it's revealed the whole plot came about because his brother hated him and Pedro never noticed. By the epilogue he's still the character struggling to deal with the fallout and forgive himself, and tells Ben not to call him an all round great guy anymore.
  • Adaptation Expansion: John's motivations are more nuanced than the original's For the Evulz: he spent his whole life jealous of Pedro's success, feeling like he was stuck in the background of his brother's life, and the scheme was meant to have Cora quickly exonerate Hero, making Pedro look bad. He actually deeply regrets that Hero was the one who was hurt the most.
    • They also include a silent scene between John and Hero where it's implied that he apologizes to her.
    • Also includes a scene where John returns and, much to his shock, Pedro embraces him, relieved he's come back.
    • Claudio and Hero's relationship also get's more focus. At the beginning of the series they've been crushing on each for a while and take quite a few episodes to get together. They also film an adorable couple video which goes a long way with getting fans invested in their relationship and making Claudio more sympathetic.
    • Beatrice and Benedick's enmity is also explained. In the original play Beatrice just dropped a few lines hinting at past history. Here it's revealed they were close friends and developed feelings for each other when they were fourteen, but Ben freaked out and pushed Bea away which is why she's so hostile towards him.
  • Adaptational Heroism: John gets to repent and be forgiven just like Claudio.
  • Adaptational Sexuality: Pedro is bisexual, letting Benedick pay him back by arranging for him to get together with Balthazar.
  • Adaptation Name Change: Surprisingly averted for most of the characters, but there are a few.
    • Borachio is now Robbie Borachio, referred to by his first name.
    • Margaret is now referred to as Meg (thought it's confirmed in Lovely Little Losers that this is a nickname of Margaret).
    • Conrade is now Cora.
    • Leonato is now Leo Duke and is Hero's brother instead of her dad.
  • Adults Are Useless: In addition to all of the teens being Free-Range Children, there's no adult intervention until the very, very end of the story when the Duke and Donaldson parents make everyone have dinner together and by then everything's mostly resolved anyway.
  • Aerith and Bob: The characters are named Hero, Claudio, Benedick, Beatrice, Ursula, Balthazar and… John.
  • All Love Is Unrequited: Seemingly set up like this at the beginning, as Balthazar is in love with Pedro, who seems to like Beatrice, who previously had a crush on Ben, who once "rejected" her. Subverted when it's rather obvious Ben did - and does - like Bea back and she overcomes her pride for them to get together, while Pedro happily goes for Balthazar instead.
  • Amazon Chaser: Ben is clearly a fan of Bea's feisty, tomboyish attitude. When she threatens that she's coming for Claudio and will kill him, Ben watches with an expression that falls halfway between supporting and adoring. Bea also gets into a physical play fight with him early on (which she claims to have won) and is the only girl to play football with the guys.
  • Anger Born of Worry: When Pedro hacks Ben's channel to post a video to John after the latter's disappearance, although some of his anger is directed at John because of his Manipulative Bastardry, this trope is also obviously in play. Pedro appeals on behalf of their parents, clearly upset that John is making them worry, and he is visibly worried himself.
  • Ascended Extra: Balthazar has a far more central role than in the original play, including getting together with Pedro in the end.
    • Meg and Ursula to a lesser extent, with Meg's friendship with Bea and Hero and on-off relationship with Robbie getting some attention, and Ursula being friends with Verges and Dogberry.
  • Bad "Bad Acting": Hero, Meg and Ursula when they stage the conversation about Benedick being in love with Beatrice.
  • Batman Gambit: John’s plot to discredit Pedro by breaking up Hero and Claudio and forcing Pedro to take the blame for it relies on the exploitation of both Claudio and Pedro’s character flaws, and people behaving/reacting exactly as he expects them to. And it works.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Beatrice and Benedick.
  • Berserk Button: Benedick is already angry at Pedro and Claudio after their treatment of Hero, but the final straw for him is them insulting Beatrice.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Leo towards Hero just preceding her relationship with Claudio. Bea calls him out on it as misogynistic because he’s implying Hero can’t make her own decisions.
    • Subverted painfully after Claudio accuses Hero of cheating on him, and Leo refuses to believe in his sister’s innocence (despite not having any of the “proof” that even Claudio had when he made his accusation).
    • Bea has a Big Sister Instinct for Hero (despite them being cousins) and unlike Leo vehemently defends Hero with Claudio accuses her of cheating. Including threatening to rip Claudio's heart out and eat it. Ouch.
  • Big Man on Campus: Pedro. He’s handsome, gets good grades, successfully runs for student body president, is a star football player, and is lauded by his many friends as an “all around great guy” so much that it practically becomes a title. Surprisingly he’s the only main character not to have a Love Interest until the epilogue (though Episode 26 implies that he is be an Unlucky Childhood Friend harboring unrequited feelings for Beatrice).
  • Birds of a Feather: Benedick and Beatrice up to eleven. They're both snarky, dorky know-it-all's who love the sound of their own voices and are violently opposed to relationships. They're also the only two characters who are sensible enough to know Hero would never cheat and that Something Is Up. It's possible Ben's obsession with birds is actually an allusion to the phrase.
  • Bluff the Eavesdropper: As in the original play, Beatrice’s friends attempt to make her realize her feelings for Benedick by staging a conversation about his supposed feelings for her, which they know she will overhear. It’s implied that Ben’s friends do the same for him, though he doesn’t capture it on camera so it is discussed rather than shown.
  • Bookworm: Ben generally has at least one pile of books lying around during his vlogs and Bea geeks out about both Frankenstein and Games of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire. Hero is also introduced reading a book and hinted to be a fan of Pride and Prejudice.
  • Break the Cutie: Occurs offscreen with Hero after her 16th birthday.
  • Brief Accent Imitation: In one of his Q&A videos, Ben does a series of these, including Scottish (which he is very good at), Irish, Russian, New Zealander, and American (which he is terrible at).
  • Brits Love Tea: Ben is originally from Britain and often teased by his Kiwi friends about the extreme depth of his love for tea.
  • Buddy Cop Show: Dogberry and Verges’ vlog show.
  • Buffy Speak: Benedick, while drunk vlogging from a bathtub.
  • Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Claudio, Pedro, Ben, Balthazar... even John, when he isn’t lurking in the background looking sinister and creepy.
  • Celeb Crush: Beatrice has one for Benedict Cumberbatch. The irony of her liking a British man named Benedict is lost on no one.
    • A common game that Benedick and Claudio play. See Shout-Out below.
  • Celebrity Paradox: John dresses as Hamlet (complete with skull) for Pedro's costume party.
  • Celibate Hero: Beatrice and Benedick, you are both trying way too hard to stay single.
  • The Chessmaster: John Donaldson.
  • Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends: Discussed by Ben in the second-to-last episode, when he promises to find Pedro a girlfriend. Pedro promptly asks out Balthazar, thus cleaning up his own “loose ends.” Averted when Ben subsequently tells John he doesn't have any energy left to find him a girlfriend, but John is totally fine with that.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Dogberry is even more of one than in the original play, since here he's just a random guy insisting that he solve mysteries that are mostly in his own head.
  • Commitment Issues: Ben when he was fourteen: He developed feelings for Bea, basically freaked out and pushed her away. He still has shades of this in the present, championing a life of singleness but it's clearly a denial tactic.
  • Costume-Test Montage: Hero, Beatrice, and Meg in Episode 20, “Preparing For Pedro’s Party.”
  • Crazy Jealous Guy: Claudio, who is very possessive of Hero even before they are actually dating.
  • The Cutie: Oh Hero.
  • Delusions of Eloquence: Dogberry and Verges. Dogberry leans towards Obfuscating Stupidity, whereas Verges’ speech is peppered with Malapropisms.
  • Department of Redundancy Department: Dogberry and Verges fall into this from time to time, with lines like “We come to you with a very important announcement of great import!”
  • Driven by Envy / The Resenter: John, who drives the plot’s main conflict when he sets up a farfetched Batman Gambit designed to discredit Pedro, of whom he is insanely jealous and whom he feels looks down on him.
  • Easily Forgiven: John.
    • Subverted with Claudio and Hero when a video shows the two of them talking about "forgetting about it and moving on," in which Claudio promises never to hurt Hero again—but the video's description clarifies that the two are not back together as a couple.
  • Everyone Can See It: Well, half the main plot is most of the cast trying to trick Ben and Bea into admitting their feelings for each other.
    • The characters also occasionally mention Balthazar’s feelings for Pedro—which are treated as an obvious fact, except by Pedro, who appears to be oblivious. At one point Balthazar literally writes him a third-person romantic ode, and Pedro treats it like it’s a hilarious joke from his bro trying to cheer him up. The second-to-last episode implies that Pedro actually was at least somewhat aware of Balthy’s feelings, and started to return them at some point, but was not prepared to come out as bi.
  • Fan Boy: Dogberry and Verges are ones for Sherlock.
    • Most of the kids are ones for Doctor Who, most notably Ben.
  • Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: This is Hero’s attitude towards Claudio at the end (a twist on the original play’s more pat Easily Forgiven ending). She says she has forgiven Claudio and they are shown to be friends, but they do not get back together romantically and Hero warns Claudio that Bea will “eat his heart” if he ever hurts her like that again. It’s also worth noting that Claudio, while accepting Hero’s forgiveness, has also not forgotten and seems to be developing a bit of The Atoner mentality.
  • Formulabreaking Episode: Both of the videos filming Hero’s birthday, as well as most of Ursula’s “project” videos, which depart from the usual vlog format where the characters talk directly to the camera and instead are just straight footage of an event, either entirely unedited or heavily edited with overlaying music. There’s also Balthazar’s occasional music video.
  • Four-Girl Ensemble: The four main girls, Beatrice (The Deadpan Snarker), Hero (The Ingenue), Meg (The Sexy One), and Ursula (The wise one).
  • Free-Range Children: All of the kids. It's at least explained in Hero and Beatrice's case but the kids in general have a lot of freedom. All of the adults also seem fine with people staying (and even spending the night) at the parentless Duke home and there's no adults at Pedro's costume party.
    • Dogberry and Verges hold Cora and Robbie captive in a garage and nothing is ever done about it.
  • The Friends Who Never Hang: Verges and Dogberry, who are clearly accepted as part of the friend group despite that we never see them spend time with anyone other than Ursula, and even she seems to have only a superficial relationship with them.
  • Good-Times Montage: Episode 71 (aptly titled “Project VI - Montage”), created by Ursula to showcase a day of her friends having fun and enjoying each other’s company, having mostly made up with one another after all the conflict and drama.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Hero, who is a pretty blonde with nearly the sweetest and most forgiving demeanor possible.
  • Has a Type: Bea's celebrity crushes are Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tenant, Jude Law, Tom Hiddleston, JJ Feild and Andrew Garfield...All lean, dark-haired, snarky British guys. Hmm, who we know like that Bea?
  • Heel–Face Turn: John, though we don’t really get to see his transformation on camera, goes from Manipulative Bastard to awkward, yet apparently genuinely nice and thoughtful, guy in the last few episodes – likely due to the fact that Pedro forgave him and the friend group opened up to him for the first time after he apologized to Hero.
  • He-Man Woman Hater: Like in the original play, Ben puts on a pretty good show of this until push comes to shove — at which point he turns against his best friends and sides with someone he allegedly hates (Bea) to defend Hero because he knows she would never cheat.
  • Hidden Depths: Ben is initially presented as the most immature of the boys and scathing about Beatrice, Hero, relationships and girls in general in comparison to Pedro and Claudio's more respectful attitudes. Flip forward to Hero being framed for cheating, and Pedro and Claudio publicly slut-shame her while Ben remains level-headed, argues Hero is too good a person to ever cheat and openly stands against his best friends to defend her.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: Pedro, mostly because he’s too trusting overall. John exploits this flaw in order to break up Hero and Claudio and discredit Pedro.
  • I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: I Can't Believe A Girl Like You Would Notice Me: More "I can't believe a girl like you would notice me for anything else but insults" with Ben's shock at Bea liking him, thanks to her hostility. However he admits that even at fourteen when they were close friends, he still freaked out about liking her because he "never thought you would like me the way I liked you."
    • Claudio also admits that Hero dating him felt unbelievable and too good to be true.
  • I Have This Friend: "Charlie's" serial bird killing in "BIRDS."
  • Insecure Love Interest: Claudio is revealed to be this after Hero's innocence is proved, admitting that he always believed her wanting to be with him was too good to be true and that's why he was so possessive.
    • Ben has hints of this. He pushed Bea away when they were fourteen partly because he couldn't imagine she'd like him back. (Though his immaturity and Commitment Issues was also to blame). His scared reaction when he's tricked into believing she's in love with him is also very telling.
    Ben: Have you met me?! You spend every lunchtime glaring at me! You should know I am not the person to fall in love with!
  • Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: A version strictly Played for Drama rather than comedy with Episode 52. Ursula uploads the video of Claudio tearing into Hero at her birthday party to her YouTube account. Although Ursula did it in order to give an unedited, unbiased look at what had happened in the hopes that it would dispel some of the rumors going around, Beatrice is furious and fears that having Hero’s moment of pain and humiliation open to thousands of viewers will only make it worse. It doesn’t strictly go viral, but since it is a real video, you yourself can look at the view counter – over 17,000 hits as of the end of the project.
  • Ironic Echo: "All round great guy" becomes this in "CONFESSION".
  • Irony: Ben and Bea both abhor dating and are determined to stay single compared to the others more romantic views. They're the two characters who succeed in building a happy and stable relationship. They even do a couple advice video!
    • In "WORDS" during Ben and Bea's video to Claudio, Bea comments that she actually thought he was a great guy with a "tough exterior, kind heart." You know who actually fits that description? Ben.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ben may act insensitive and cocky but doesn't hesitate to do the right thing, even if it puts him in an uncomfortable position. He also proves to be an adorably sweet, song-writing boyfriend to Beatrice. Likewise Beatrice appears rather belligerent but it fiercely loyal and caring concerning those she cares about, particularly Hero.
  • Kissing Discretion Shot: In "NYEEH" and "PROJECT VI - MONTAGE", the video cuts out (or is covered by flamingos) when Benedick and Beatrice kiss. We don't get a proper snog until "BLEURGH." It's worth the wait.
    • A variant occurs in Meg and Robbie’s first appearance, when Bea pans the camera away from their makeout session in the middle of the football game. No one actually says “Get a Room!”, but it’s pretty clear that’s the feel of the shot.
  • Known Only by Their Nickname: Balthazar and Pedro. Pedro’s real name is Peter, while Balthazar goes primarily by his middle name (Word of God said, and Lovely Little Losers confirmed, that his first name is Stanley).
  • Like an Old Married Couple: Pedro describes Beatrice and Benedick as such in-universe.
  • Lovable Jock: Most of the guys are on the football/soccer team.
  • Love Confession: Surprisingly averted with every couple in the series. Claudio and Hero get together offscreen, and any confession of love is deliberately and noticeably edited out of the video where Bea and Ben discuss their feelings. (That a Relationship Upgrade happened is obvious in subsequent videos, but never discussed on camera.)
  • Love Triangle: A very mild version with Pedro —> Bea <— Ben early on. Pedro likes Bea enough to try asking her out, while Ben clearly has some feelings buried in the mass of denial, vitriol and long-standing enmity. However a proper stand-off never develops, as Bea unequivocally turns Pedro down and it's gradually revealed she and Ben developed feelings for each other back when they were fourteen so it's clear Pedro never had a chance. He bows out before Ben and Bea's romance really kicks off.
  • Make-Out Kids: Robbie and Meg.
  • Malaproper: Dogberry, in almost every line. Often he actually ends up saying the exact opposite of what he means.
    (speaking of Cora and Robbie, whom he has captured and tied up for interrogation): “We have retained two auspicious persons—”
  • Manipulative Bastard: John.
  • Meaningful Background Event: Just watch Episode 52 a few times and focus on different characters. Obviously the main event is Claudio yelling at Hero, but you can see Pedro egging on bystanders to film it, and John lurking around grinning maniacally and preventing Ben from intervening when Claudio calls Hero a “fucking slut”. Later, these are clues about John's manipulation of the whole thing.
  • Meaningful Name: Hero's name is given the In-Universe explanation that she survived a life-threatening lung condition as a child, resulting in her name.
  • Messy Hair: Bea's hair is often pretty tangled and not well-brushed, keeping with her Unkempt Beauty and tomboyish personality.
  • Mirror Character: Throughout the series Benedick and Beatrice tend to have similar opinions on things, down to both being fans of Game of Thrones, hating the hill by their school, and thinking that holding hands is stupid.
  • Mistaken for Cheating: The second main plot of the story: Hero is set up by John and Robbie (with some unwitting help from Meg) to force Claudio into breaking up with her.
  • Motif: Birds.
  • No Ending: In the final video, Benedick promises to get back to us with more updates on the group, the joke being that he gets so wrapped up in his relationship with Beatrice that he never does.
  • Oblivious to Love: Once they’re a couple, Ben admits to Bea that this was why their friendship was ruined back when they were fourteen—he was oblivious to both to Bea’s feelings for him and his own feelings for her, resulting in him pulling back and becoming so standoffish in an attempt to sort of out what was going on that the friendship died.
  • One Head Taller: Claudio to Hero.
  • One Side of the Story: Claudio, Pedro, and even Leo are quick to believe John’s story that Hero cheated on Claudio without ever asking Hero if it’s true.
  • Only Sane Man: Despite their weirdness earlier in the story Benedick and Beatrice are the only two main characters to believe Hero would never cheat and there's something going on, while everyone else loses their heads and turns on her.
    • Ursula and Balthazar are implied to have kept their sanity during that event, as well.
  • Pair the Smart Ones: Bea and Ben, as in the original play. Although some of the others, (particularly Hero and Pedro) are clearly intelligent and do well academically Ben and Bea are by far the wittiest of the group, geek out about fandoms and apparently read scientific studies on mangoes in their spare time.
  • Poor Communication Kills: To get around the fact that Benedick and Beatrice could easily find out what's going on by watching the others' vlogs, both of them get fed up with the other's videos and declare they're never watching the channel again. The rest of the crew even hide the announcement of the Zany Scheme by starting it with footage that'll drive them away.
    • Not to mention the whole plot is based on the miscommunication between Claudio and Hero.
    • Discussed by Bea and Ben in "BLEURGH."
    • They also admit their enmity was caused by miscommunication when they fourteen: They both fell for each but Ben didn't know what to do with his feelings, thought Bea didn't like him back and pushed her away, while Bea dropped hints and then lashed out at him rather than saying anything outright.
  • Portmanteau Couple Name: An in-universe, non-romantic twist on this trope with Dogberry and Verges—they argue over whether to call their viewers “Dodgers” or “Vergberrians.”
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: Given the high school setting, there's no wedding in sight and Claudio accuses Hero at her 16th birthday party.
    • The plan to pretend Hero is dead would also be awkward given the setting, so instead it was never part of the plan to pretend she was dead, only very sick and in the hospital; Verges randomly blurts out that Hero's dead and (in her typical fashion) manages to convince herself it's true.
  • Precision F-Strike: Character-specific example occurs during "PROJECT V - FOR HERO" for Hero of all people!
  • Punny Name: Benedick. Obviously. It even has multiple puns attached depending on whether you’re an Elizabethan-era or modern viewer, although the characters in the show, mostly Bea, do not hesitate to bludgeon him with the more obvious ones.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Claudio and Benedick, respectively. Despite Claud being introduced as the quieter, more reserved of the two and Ben a boisterous loud-mouth, it becomes clear that Claud is actually emotional, unstable, and impulsive, while Ben is cautious and analytical.
  • Right-Hand Cat: When Dogberry’s cat goes missing at the end of the series, he and Verges suspect it was catnapped by John, who lampshades this trope:

    “Apparently evil geniuses always need evil cat sidekicks.”
  • Running Gag: Benedick vlogging from a bathtub.
    • Killing birds. Birds in general. Benedick and his love for flamingoes.
    • Benedict Cumberbatch is also referenced regularly.
  • Sesquipedalian Smith: Balthazar Jones.
  • Setting Update
  • Shipper on Deck: Team Love Gods for Bea and Ben.
    • Later on, Benedick and John perform this role for Pedro and Balthazar. Ben even calls it "Team Love Gods Part Two."
    • Pedro also helps get Hero and Claudio together, and the others despite complaining about them being Sickeningly Sweethearts are supportive. At least until the events of Hero's birthday.
  • Ship Tease: It's hinted Verges likes Dogberry.
  • Shout-Out: Claudio has a Celeb Crush on Billie Piper while Benedick prefers Catherine Tate. Piper portrayed Hero in a production of Much Ado while Tate played Beatrice.
    • Beatrice also likes David Tennant, who played Benedick in the same production as Tate.
    • When Pedro runs for class President, Beatrice encourages the viewers to "Vote for Pedro!"
    • Balthazar makes a shout-out to Mumford & Sons almost every time he appears on camera (a lovely joke considering Mumford & Sons’ song “Sigh No More” is overtly based on, and quotes heavily from, a song written by the Balthazar in Shakespeare’s original play). Some are blatant and some, like the time he dresses as a little "lion man" for Pedro's party, are quite subtle.
    • Lots of shout-outs to both the original Sherlock Holmes literature and BBC’s Sherlock series in the Dogberry and Verges segments.
    • Bea and Hero refer to themselves as "the vlog cousins."
    • There are also several to other Shakespearean plays in the second-to-last episode: Surfer-lifesaver-Tony, Other Tony who hooked up with Cleo, Olivia the med student, "a labor of love so no one will be a loser anymore" (that last is also a plug for the Candle-Wasters’ next project, Lovely Little Losers)…
  • "Shut Up" Kiss: Two instances between Bea and Ben: 

    • Once at the end of the “Project VI - Montage” video, when Bea is protesting that she doesn’t like Ben—he tells her to shut up before kissing her (though the video cuts off a split second too soon for the audience to actually see the kiss). 

    • The other instance is in Episode 73, when they’re vlogging together and Bea tells Ben to shut up. He says, “Make me,” and then she kisses him.

  • Sickeningly Sweethearts: The group's (especially Bea and Ben's) opinion of Hero and Claudio (Team Love Gods even uses this to their advantage in the "Makeup Bloopers" video). Meg thinks she and Robbie are this but they're more Make-Out Kids.
    • Averted with Bea and Ben, whose bickering and debates continue after they get together and use insults as a way of expressing love.
    Ben: I have a feeling we can't flirt like normal people. Would that be right?
    Bea: Yes, we're far, far too clever.
  • Silly Love Song / This Is Your Song: Ben and Bea each (with some help from Balthazar) write one to admit their feelings for each other without the other’s knowledge.
  • Singer-Songwriter: Balthazar. He’s an especial fan of Three Chords and the Truth.
  • Slap-Slap-Kiss: Beatrice and Benedick.
  • Slut-Shaming: Hero gets this piled on her when she is Mistaken for Cheating by Claudio. It’s played straight but also discussed vehemently by the characters, with Bea especially being righteously angry about the situation. The conflict surrounding this concept fits right in with the fiercely feminist tone of the series.
  • Snark-to-Snark Combat: Did someone say Beatrice and Benedick?
  • Sophisticated as Hell: Ben, and to a lesser extent, Bea.
  • Stealth Pun: John points one out for Pedro. The "All Round Great Guy" goes both ways. Although John, who knew all along about Pedro, just assumed everyone else knew and that that was the joke.
  • Stylistic Suck: The Watch Project videos, made by Dogberry and Verges.
  • Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Ben, though with a good heart close to the surface.
  • There Are No Adults: Beatrice's parents have moved causing her to move in with her cousins just as their parents left on an extended honeymoon, meaning the three of them are living alone with no adults for months.
    • Hero’s parents are honeymooning and Bea’s parents are in Australia, so they get a pass for absenteeism, but except for Pedro mentioning that his parents are worried when John disappears, and at the very end when the girls’ parents return and throw an offscreen “apology party,” the parents are either neglectfully chill or really oblivious to the sheer weight of the drama happening in their teenagers’ lives.
  • Title Drop: Several times in Beatrice and Hero's videos. Bea invented the title for their channel and thinks it's a hilariously witty joke.
  • Token Minority: Ursula, the Asian in a sea of white New Zealanders.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Beatrice and Hero, respectively. Beatrice is sporty, a relatively plain dresser, loathes pink, and pokes fun at Hero for being so girly; Hero wears “lots of cute dresses”, likes to do “girly” vlogs like makeup tutorials, and loves to cook. Beatrice is also more blunt and aggressive, whilst Hero is more demure and sensitive.
  • Undying Loyalty: Beatrice will stick with Hero no matter what. As obvious events have proven.
  • Unkempt Beauty: Beatrice.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Claudio, Pedro, Meg.
  • Vlog Series
  • Voice of Reason: Benedick in "HYPOTHETICALLY."
  • Wham Episode: " HERO'S BIRTHDAY."
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: We don't see Leo after his misogynistic intrusion into Beatrice's video "Idiots" in which he insists Hero deserves the problems she has now for cheating on Claudio and asserts that Claudio is more trustworthy than Hero. Even though such a public betrayal from her own brother would be deeply hurtful to Hero and certainly infuriates Beatrice, we don't see Leo after this and no one speaks about him again for the rest of the series, with the exception of Claudio in "BROTHERS" saying Leo threw him off the team and Robbie in "The Three Seniors" when explaining why he was bitter against all of them, Leo included. Even when one of the final videos in the series discusses a dinner the Dukes and Donaldsons had with each other, Ben says that their parents noticed none of the children were talking and specifies that Pedro, John, Claudio, and Robbie have said they're sorry, but leaves Leo completely unmentioned, even though, as Hero's brother, he would have been at the dinner. Leo isn't even seen in "PROJECT V - FOR HERO," when Beatrice invited "anyone that knows her" to come to the park to film positive messages for Hero while she was "in the hospital." While it can be concluded that he probably was in on the scheme to fake Hero's illness, his complete absence from the visible story after siding against his own sister leaves everything regarding his character open ended.
  • Zany Scheme: Wouldn't be Shakespeare without one.

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