Alphas/YMMV


 * Adorkable: Gary.
 * Anvilicious: Alpha terrorism can't be solved with "more money, more guns, or even a bigger prison," but "an end to secrets," which "will hold both sides accountable for the actions." Does This Remind You of Anything??
 * For stupid viewers; massive secretive spending + heavily-armed secret police + torture-heavy secret prisons = The War On Terror. Rosen's saying that yes, terrorists are bad, but the solution is not to sink to their level but to force them to a higher one - treat them like common criminals subject to due process, not cold-war supervillains who need to be slaughtered wholesale. Terrorists want terror, and few things are more terrifying than that which is purposefully kept unknown. Stanton Parrish was expecting a secret war that would enable him to manipulate his enemies through fear - forcing the conflict into the light shows that Alphas are often just as pitiful as they are terrifying. Just like how the majority of terrorists are pathetic losers who happen to have guns. While terrorists are swathed in secrecy, they are comic-book supervillains. Strip them of their mystique and they're starving criminals.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: The theme song.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Gary.
 * Follow the Leader: It has some similarities to The 4400.
 * Spiritual Successor: They're both by Ira Steven Behr (though Behr is stepping down as showrunner after season 1).
 * Fridge Horror: Anna's DDoS attack on Gary was basically the equivalent of tasing his brain. No wonder he collapsed in sheer agony.
 * If you pay attention to the screen, it was actually a Sensory Overload that she performed. Still Fridge Horror, but much worse because imagine what he deals with daily. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people every day use phones, laptops, TVs, and other such devices that he can detect and still function with minimal harm. Yet one laptop instantaneously caused worse pain than a satellite dish did over a couple days.
 * It's the difference between living half a mile from the airport for 10 years, or standing on the runway right behind a 747 as it takes off. The former is annoying, but bearable; the latter, not so much.
 * Tear Jerker:, capped off by him proceeding to beat the living hell out of one of the armed troops in his sheer, unadulterated anguish.