Harper's Island

A limited-run weekly mystery series airing on CBS in the spring of 2009. Think of it as Agatha Christie meets Friday the 13 th.

Seven years after psychopath John Wakefield went on a killing spree on the small community of Harper's Island, Henry Dunn and Trish Wellington are returning there to get married. Soon after the guests arrive, someone begins picking them off one by one in a manner reminiscent of -- you guessed it -- the Wakefield murders. The murderer seems to have taken a particular interest in Abby Mills, the daughter of the local sheriff, whose mother happened to be one of the original murder victims.

"Abby: We should split up. Danny: Ain't no version of this that ends good."
 * Aborted Arc: A lot of the early storylines were abandoned when A) a character died or B) when the characters started noticing the murders and (rightfully so) decided that catching a murderer was more important than their personal lives. And as a result of this the show grew the beard.
 * Acting in the Dark: Karim Zreik, co-executive producer of Harpers Island, had the job of informing the actors in this death-laden 2009 Mini Series just when their time was up. The actors, who were not informed ahead of time, gave him the nickname "Karim the Assassin''.
 * Hell, "Karim The Assassin" used to be the original title for the trope.
 * Adult Fear: When  To make matters worse,
 * All There in the Manual: The character pages on their website gives information about the characters you'd otherwise never know about. Such as Lucy going to law school. Likely a way to give otherwise Living Prop characters more depth.
 * Anyone Can Die: At least one character per episode. It's amazing no one notices anything is wrong until episode six.
 * Artistic License Geography: The show claims the island is "37 miles off the coast of Seattle". If you check a map, you will be surprised to find that 37 miles off the coast of Seattle is... more land.
 * Asshole Victim:
 * A-Team Firing: When the wedding party finally figure out they're being attacked, they break out the guns. How many bullets actually hit Big Bad ? Over the course of the series,
 * It looks as though the Big Bad has this too. When sniping at the group, he only succeeds on giving Henry a flesh wound in the leg, which is easily patched up.
 * Attempted Rape: Subverted. It looks like  is about to have his way with , but it then reveals that they were just having an incredibly kinky rape fantasy role playing session.
 * Badbutt: JD is one trouble making rebel. Always wearing black, covered in tattoos, and causing chaos and disorder wherever he goes. And by chaos and disorder, I mean he likes to light fire crackers now and then.
 * He does get in a bar fight with Shane... Even if Shane started it by mocking his attempted suicide.
 * He also painted a message in blood on Shane's truck. That's not exactly a recipe for making sure that everything will stay well-ordered and running smoothly.
 * Becoming the Mask: It is implied that, even though
 * Beta Couple: Cal and Chloe, often pulling double duty as the Plucky Comic Relief.
 * Better to Die Than Be Killed:
 * Betty and Veronica: From the very start of the series, fans were divided over whether they wanted Henry to stay with Trish, the Veronica, or if he belonged with Abby, the Betty.
 * Big Fancy House: The Candlewick Inn.
 * Bittersweet Ending: Even though good does triumph in the end the vast majority of the characters were killed in the process.
 * Made all the more heart tugging by the last clip being video camera recordings of many of the characters giving Henry and Trish best wishes and happy thoughts for their wedding day. Just to remind the audience just how much had changed and how many lives were lost.
 * Black Bra and Panties: Part of the Fan Service. Played straight with most of the female cast, most notably Trish and Chloe who are both overt flirts. Then inverted with Abby in the last episode when.
 * Black Dude Dies First: Averted.
 * Except this isn't surprising, because there is only one black dude in the cast of thirty. Only  survive, so it's a pretty slim probability that he was first for the chop.
 * Blood-Splattered Innocents: Quite a few people get blood on them when is killed, but Trish is notably shown with blood splattered on her face.
 * This appears to be the case with when, but, in reality,
 * Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress:
 * Boring Invincible Hero: If you watch the show, when guessing who will make it to the end pick the most cliche people.
 * Brother-Sister Incest:
 * California Doubling: The series was shot in British Columbia, not Washington. Though the environment is similar enough that you wouldn't really notice.
 * Cannot Spit It Out: The Sheriff never tells anyone that Also,
 * Also subverted by JD . He tells Abby   instead of the infinitely more useful information, like who the killer is. This probably saved her life, considering
 * Can You Hear Me Now? / Cut Phone Lines: For various reasons, once the murders start ramping up, neither the landlines or cell phones work on the island. On web series Harper's Globe, the murderer has also managed to destroy the island's internet connection. The only way the survivors manage to contact the mainland is
 * Cassandra Truth: Kelly sees . Sadly for her, no one else does and everyone believes she is insane. Turns out.
 * Cat Scare: No actual cats, per se, but it's in the same spirit. The cat launcher gets used a lot.
 * Cerebus Syndrome: The show was dark from the start to begin with, but the head spade incident halfway through was when things got serious, and the wacky storylines involving blow up dolls and strippers lessened.
 * Character Development: Most noticeably Sully. He starts off as a bit of a Jerkass and Dirty Coward but.
 * Not to mention the only reason he didn't leave was to save said friend.
 * Chick Magnet: Cal. Not only is he the boyfriend of the super-hot Chloe, but the stripper at Henry's bachelor party is also making eyes at him.
 * Dude Magnet: Chloe, appropriately enough.
 * Closed Circle: The killer enforces this through kidnapping and extortion. And then by blowing up all the boats.
 * Crazy Survivalist: Cole Harkin.
 * Create Your Own Villain: Sheriff Mills turns his wife's obsessive ex-boyfriend John Wakefield into a murderous psychopath by . Of course, it didn't help that . They both might qualify for Death by Irony.
 * Creepy Child: Madison, almost to the point of Narm.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Though she boasted about being a fearless badass in early episodes,
 * Curiosity Killed the Cast: "A series of cramped, dark, unexplored tunnels that the killer is likely using to travel around the island? Let's investigate!"
 * To be fair, their investigation of the tunnels was an attempt to save a friend, not the impulse of curiosity. In addition, nobody was killed while in the tunnels. Their friend's corpse was there though.
 * Dawson Casting: Weirdly inverted - Katie Cassidy (Trish) is four years younger than her character and Amber Borycki (Beth) is three years younger than hers. Played straight with several of the others though.
 * Played doubly straight with Madison, which is one of the reasons her character is so Narmy. She was a twelve-year-old playing a nine-year-old, which wouldn't be so bad if her character acted nine years old. She comes off more like a twelve-year-old playing a nine-year-old playing a four-year-old.
 * Death by Looking Up.
 * Death by Sex:
 * A Death in the Limelight: They were pretty heinous about this with some of the characters, once leading to the organization of a massive search party for a character whose name (Beth) had never been mentioned before, and who only looked vaguely familiar once they found her. It was downright Narmtastic.
 * Actually Abby and Sully do say Beth's name in the pool scene at the beginning of episode three...
 * Despair Event Horizon: crosses this up on the cliffs, when Abby screams that she doesn't want him, and earlier  crosses it when she sees
 * Devil in Plain Sight: Let's just say that when they want a character to seem suspicious, they aren't subtle about it.
 * Did Not Get the Girl:
 * Dirty Coward: Sully, though he does eventually become less of one. By the end of the series, he refuses a chance to be rescued to go after the killer and save his friends, while convincing the mother of the girl he was originally willing to let die to flee the island to protect her daughter.
 * Disney Death: . Subverted in that he stays dead despite his death's ambiguous nature.
 * Dogged Nice Guy: Jimmy, Henry, Cal.  Lucy's unseen boyfriend Ryan is also implied to be one of these.
 * Drawing Straws: The groomsmen decide who buries the bag of money by this method. It doesn't work at first since they forgot to cut the straws first. Poor nervous Booth gets the job.
 * Driven to Suicide: Part of JD's backstory. He made a suicide pact with his girlfriend a few years prior. Henry was able to save him in time, his girlfriend wasn't so lucky. Not to mention
 * Dumb Blonde: subverted. Chloe and Lucy at first appear like this, but it soon shows that there is a lot of depth to Chloe. And Word of God says that Lucy had recently started attending law school.
 * Dwindling Party: One of the defining parts of the show's premise was the fact that there would always be atleast one person killed in each episode.
 * Enforced Method Acting: Even though they knew it was coming, and they did multiple takes of it, when the seagull falls on the bridesmaids table during the first episode, their screams of fear were genuine. No matter how many times you drop a bird on their faces, they never get used to it.
 * Et Tu, Brute?:
 * Executive Meddling: aside, the original ending featured  The writers had to change it because the show needed a happy ending.
 * Expy: Sheriff Charlie Mills has an uncanney resemblance to another character named Charlie who is also the sheriff of a small town in the Washington state peninsula, who also has a daughter protagonist who is cold and distant with him.
 * Eye Scream: gets a memo holder through the eyeball.
 * Falling Chandelier of Doom: is killed by one of these. OK, it's with the head spade in it, but it's close enough.
 * Fake Nationality: Averted with Cal, who is played by a British actor. Abby is played by Irish actress Elaine Cassidy.
 * Faking the Dead: in the final episode.
 * Death Faked for You: at the same time as the above.
 * Family-Unfriendly Death: Lots of 'em.
 * Fan Service: Hoo boy. The majority of the female cast end up in their undies or bikinis at least twice before episode five and lots of the men get their shirts off. The fanservice drops considerably post-headspade, but there's still a couple of Black Bra and Panties incidents past there.
 * Final Girl:
 * Flat Character: Beth and Danny never really had anything particularly special about them, besides being the extra friend in the bride and groom's respective friends list.
 * For the Evulz:
 * Freudian Excuse:
 * Genre Blind: Shane; doesn't he know how the Jerkass in a slasher movie always ends up?
 * Genre Savvy: Danny.
 * Flat Character: Beth and Danny never really had anything particularly special about them, besides being the extra friend in the bride and groom's respective friends list.
 * For the Evulz:
 * Freudian Excuse:
 * Genre Blind: Shane; doesn't he know how the Jerkass in a slasher movie always ends up?
 * Genre Savvy: Danny.
 * Genre Savvy: Danny.
 * Genre Savvy: Danny.


 * ...and then they do it anyway. D'oh!
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: Henry. Take a drink every time he punches someone or something.
 * Half the Man He Used To Be: . Also.
 * Heroic Sacrifice / Redemption Equals Death:
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Bobby is Abby's dad, the sheriff on the island. Also Ruby is Trish Wellington, the bride to be.
 * Hollywood Nerd: Booth.
 * Honorary Uncle: Uncle Marty declares that for the entire week, everyone on the island must call him Uncle Marty.
 * I Just Shot Marvin in the Face:
 * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Crackle. Thwack. Gurgle.
 * The sounds made in deaths in the episodes, according to The Other Wiki.
 * Idiot Ball: Abby picks it up for the final third of the series and never lets it go.  Also Madison,.
 * Then  in the second half of the last episode, in which
 * The Immodest Orgasm: Trish and Henry, in the first episode; notable in that it's used for a false scare.
 * Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:.
 * In the Back: literally and figuratively stabs both  in the back. Unusual in that
 * I Owe You My Life: Spoken by Abby when she remembers how    never told her because he didn't want to make her think she owed him anything.
 * Jack the Ripoff: If the killer isn't actually John Wakefield... "Then someone's doing a hell of a job imitating him!"
 * Jerkass: Shane.
 * Hunter Jennings.
 * Richard Allen.
 * Kill'Em All: Of 25 main characters and several minor ones,  make it out alive. There are   deaths on screen.
 * Let's Split Up, Gang!: There were always moments of the wedding party splitting up, whether for wedding games or running for their lives.
 * Libation for the Dead:
 * Living Prop: If they weren't the main characters, or blatant obvious suspects, then most of the characters sort of just stood around doing nothing until they die.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: Necessary with a body count this high.
 * Location Doubling: The fictional Harper's Island is played by an island in Canada, with various locations on it in the Vancouver area.
 * Loners Are Freaks: JD and Kelly.
 * Love Freak: Uncle Marty, when he wasn't being the wild party animal, constantly reminds Henry about how fantastic love is. And flat out states to Mr. Wellington that he takes pride in defending true love for those that truly deserve it.
 * Love Makes You Evil: John Wakefield.
 * Luke, I Am Your Father:.
 * Mama Bear: Shea Allen won't let anyone so much as talk to her daughter Madison about the goings on, even though Maddy can clearly see what's happening around her (and, furthermore, almost seems to be getting quite a kick out of it).
 * Man On Fire:.
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Chloe seemed to be this for Cal.
 * Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: For the first few episodes it gave off hints that there might be something supernatural on the island, and that Madison might have something to do with it.
 * Brought to the max in the episode "Bang" where half the plot consisted of a fortune teller freaking out and giving Abby cryptic messages of doom.
 * The Medic: Cal, who patches up the others' wounds but tragically turns out not to be a good fighter.
 * The Mole:
 * Motive Rant: gets a fantastic one, frequently punctuated with You're Insane! comments from.
 * Mrs. Robinson: reversed with Mr. and Mrs. Wellington; she's roughly the same age as her step-daughters.
 * Never One Murder:
 * Never Suicide:.
 * Nightmare Fetishist: Chloe is very fascinated by serial killers, and knows a lot about John Wakefield. She would rather go off to the forest to find his gravestone than go to an open bar with the boys.
 * No Medication for Me: Henry mentions that JD needs to take pills regularly for his mental illness, but sometimes goes without them because it makes him feel foggy.
 * Not Now, Kiddo: Maddy tries to warn the adults that the killer is approaching. Their brushoff allows the killer to get the drop on them and cash out.
 * Not Quite Dead:
 * Obnoxious In-Laws: Thomas Wellington is quite your typical wealthy man who disapproves of his future son-in-law.  But in the episode Thwack, he shows to give in and be happy for his daughter.
 * Of course Henry's family members are pretty obnoxious too, Uncle Marty's party animal nature, JD's pranks,
 * Odd Friendship: Madison and JD share a penchant for nasty pranks, but they do seem to genuinely care about one another as well.
 * Turns out she also has a friendship with.
 * Jimmy and Shane are also kind of an odd pair, but their friendship also seems to be genuine.
 * Jimmy also has a unexpected friendship with Abby's dad. Despite the fact that the sheriff hated him when he was dating her. These days though they have breakfast and chat over coffee every week. Much to Abby's discomfort.
 * Offscreen Teleportation: Not abused to the extent of Friday the 13 th and its ilk, but this trope is still there. Justified to some degree by the fact that the killer uses Prohibition-esque tunnels to move unobserved about the island.
 * And even with that consideration, the trope pops up. At one point the gang, running from the killer, huddle in the church, in a group, in a wide-open area, with all of them clearly visible. Two or three seconds later: "Where's Chloe?" They discover that she'd been snatched into those tunnels; however, the trap door leading to said tunnels has a large pew parked on top. And in Beth's disappearance, the killer takes her into the tunnel system and manages to replace a trolley in front of the door after they've gone.
 * Also Justified in that.
 * Only a Flesh Wound: Subverted with poor, who accidentally shoots  . Played straight later when Henry is hit in the leg and, after being patched up, suffers no ill effects.
 * Open-Minded Parent: Abby's mom allowing her to secretly go off "camping" with Jimmy as a teenager was essentially sending her daughter off to get laid.
 * Overprotective Dad: Mr. Wellington.
 * Pinball Protagonist: Abby, who has little bearing on the events for the first twelve and a half episodes.
 * Plucky Comic Relief: Cal and Chloe were the amusing light hearted characters that kept the show from getting too melodramatic at first with all the mysterious soap-opera plots going on.
 * Promotion to Opening Titles: Jimmy and Sheriff Mills get one in Episode 5, having previously been credited as guest stars.
 * Red Herring: at least one per episode, usually more.
 * Cole Harkin's entire existence seemed to be one big red herring.
 * Red Herring Mole: Only are explicitly made suspects, but the very premise of the show is that one of the 25 main characters is the killer.
 * Retirony: : "Will you marry me?" *ghack!*
 * Also
 * Rich Bitch: Lucy, complete with accessory dog.
 * Although averted somewhat in that she is actually a nice person who gives Trish good advice.
 * Room Full of Crazy: Sheriff Charlie Mills has an attic dedicated to information about John Wakefield, the man who murdered his wife 7 years earlier before being shot,  It's full of boards covered in newspapers clippings and photographs and boxes of police files, and creeps the hell out of Abby when she finds it.
 * Rule of Scary: Why did someone put Abby's mom's obituary on her bathroom mirror, why did she get those two random calls playing "Ave Maria"? Well... no reason, really. But it sure was creepy wasn't it?
 * The Starscream:
 * Self-Made Orphan:
 * Serial Killer: John Wakefield.
 * The Sheriff: Charlie Mills.
 * Shirtless Scene: A few of the hotter guys get a few of these. Most notably Jimmy, Sully, and JD.
 * Shoo Out the Clowns:, it's pretty much a given that there will be no more light hearted moments from here on out.
 * Smug Snake: Richard
 * Soaperizing
 * Developing Doomed Characters
 * Sleight of Tongue:
 * Soundtrack Dissonance: During the end of Thwack, cheerful organ music playing the bridal chorus goes on while it shows
 * Spanner in the Works: 's uncanny knack of surviving No One Could Survive That situations.
 * Spotting the Thread: Abby realises that is lying when  Sadly, it's a bit late at that point.
 * Spoiled Sweet: Trish Wellington comes from a wealthy family, but despite her socialite status, she falls in love with the guy who cleaned her dad's boat, and she seems to be a genuinely nice person.
 * Stab the Scorpion: The show used this trope nonstop all the way up until the last episode. And it only stopped by then because they ran out of characters to fool us with.
 * Stalker with a Crush: Hunter Jennings appears to be one, but he's really just a jerk out for money.
 * Tar and Feathers: Sully gets covered in honey at a spa and promptly coated in feathers as a prank in one of the first episodes, causing him to run after the assailants wearing only the feathers.
 * Tattooed Crook: JD who is covered in spooky tattoos all over his body. To a slightly lesser extent, Kelly, who has several tattoos about John Wakefield as a sign that she is unstable.
 * Tempting Fate: : "He's after you, it has nothing to do with me!" *urk*
 * Also Sully ("Life's too short to be guarded!"), although his hasn't caught up with him yet.
 * Tears of Fear: Chloe, who despite her fascination with serial killers and John Wakefield, becomes one of the first to lose it when things go down.
 * The Tease: Chloe likes doing some suggestive dancing with Uncle Marty, and she is frequently almost-flirting with Sully during early episodes, but she is still absolutely devoted to her little Englishman.
 * Ten Little Murder Victims: In bikinis, to correct Radio Times reviewer Alison Graham's description of the show as "Poirot in bikinis" (Poirot's not in that novel)
 * They Were Holding You Back:
 * This Is Gonna Suck: Sully says this in episode 11. Generally, it's the reaction everyone has to everything.
 * Together in Death:.
 * Token Wholesome: While the other women don't go out of their way to sleep around, Abby is clearly this.
 * Tragic Dream:
 * Trophy Wife: Katherine Wellington. She even admits it.
 * Unusual Euphemism: Apparently "going camping" with someone is teen-speak for sex amongst the younger islanders.
 * Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Madison Allen, who gets several people killed by going along with what Wakefield told her to do, which is . Justified in that she's only nine and can be expected to be a Horrible Judge of Character.
 * Unwitting Pawn:
 * Victorious Childhood Friend: Trish knew Henry since they were little kids. They dated through out all of high school. And now they are having a fairy tale wedding in their childhood town.
 * Webisode: Harpers Globe is a series of small videos made to show some of the weird goings on before and during the official episodes. It also showed that
 * We Hardly Knew Ye: Cousin Ben will not be forgotten for all he supplied to the show... when we can think of what exactly that was, we'll stop forgetting him.
 * Wham! Episode: Thwack. Where with all of the crazy things going wrong and the missing guests can no longer be ignored
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: A lot of weird stuff that happened in the beginning wasn't ever clearly explained. Like, who broke all the fine china? Who left the various animal carcasses lying around? Why was Madison so creepy and prophetic in the first two episodes and then suddenly an innocent normal kid again?
 * there apparently was going to be a scene explaining why no one seemed to care that she just up and vanished without any warning, which would have actually made sense, but they apparently cut it.
 * Who Is This Guy Again?: Beth. She has no story lines, almost no dialog, and her outfits manage to make her blend into the wall spectacularly. When she goes missing, people spend an entire episode looking for her, while the audience could only think, "Who the hell is Beth?"
 * Willing Suspension of Disbelief: The director, when asked how Cousin Ben could have been harnessed to a boat propeller with no one noticing, he admitted it's just easier to accept it than try to explain it.
 * Also how on earth.
 * Word of God: The night a new episode airs, the actor who got killed off would take part in an online interview with fans, in a Q and A session about the show. Seeing as how none of the actors knew what happens in the show after their characters dies, and they weren't allowed to give away any spoilers, it was mostly just for clearing up misconceptions that were already supposed to be obvious.
 * Xanatos Roulette: A real doozy.
 * Yandere:
 * You Remind Me of X: When  appears to Abby, just after hanging   says "You look so much like your mother".  this is incredibly creepy.
 * We Hardly Knew Ye: Cousin Ben will not be forgotten for all he supplied to the show... when we can think of what exactly that was, we'll stop forgetting him.
 * Wham! Episode: Thwack. Where with all of the crazy things going wrong and the missing guests can no longer be ignored
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: A lot of weird stuff that happened in the beginning wasn't ever clearly explained. Like, who broke all the fine china? Who left the various animal carcasses lying around? Why was Madison so creepy and prophetic in the first two episodes and then suddenly an innocent normal kid again?
 * there apparently was going to be a scene explaining why no one seemed to care that she just up and vanished without any warning, which would have actually made sense, but they apparently cut it.
 * Who Is This Guy Again?: Beth. She has no story lines, almost no dialog, and her outfits manage to make her blend into the wall spectacularly. When she goes missing, people spend an entire episode looking for her, while the audience could only think, "Who the hell is Beth?"
 * Willing Suspension of Disbelief: The director, when asked how Cousin Ben could have been harnessed to a boat propeller with no one noticing, he admitted it's just easier to accept it than try to explain it.
 * Also how on earth.
 * Word of God: The night a new episode airs, the actor who got killed off would take part in an online interview with fans, in a Q and A session about the show. Seeing as how none of the actors knew what happens in the show after their characters dies, and they weren't allowed to give away any spoilers, it was mostly just for clearing up misconceptions that were already supposed to be obvious.
 * Xanatos Roulette: A real doozy.
 * Yandere:
 * You Remind Me of X: When  appears to Abby, just after hanging   says "You look so much like your mother".  this is incredibly creepy.