Death Valley: Difference between revisions

** The documentary crew keeps filming in numerous certain-death situations, [[Deconstructed Trope|but their panic and fear often means that the footage is shoddy and they are screaming/cursing/praying throughout it]].

** When attacked by a werewolf on the set of an adult film, the camera operator following the UTF drops his camera and the "insert guy" picks it up and continues to film the action.

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: When Carla was ambushed by a vampire [[Dirty Harriet|while undercover as a vampire prostitue]] John-John shot the vampire ''through the wall'' to save her.

* [[Bi the Way]]: Julia, Carla's girlfriend, is bisexual.

* [[Continuity Nod]]: In the season one finale, Billy questions whether it is smart to give the vampires the location of the UTF headquarters. Stubeck points out that, not only is their address public knowledge, but the vampires have ''already'' attacked the building, and actually blew it up only two weeks ago. Billy grins sheepishly and admits that Stubeck was right and, considering what had already happened, it was pretty dumb of himself to raise the point.

* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: Honestly, the entire UTF acts pretty weird much of the time. Yet when it comes to doing their job, they do it well.

* [[Deconstruction]]: Despite its comedy status, the series often takes a serious look at how a real zombie/vampire/werewolf outbreak would impact (and be impacted by) the real world. This includes questions of disposing of the bodies of zombies, keeping track of who is infected by the werewolf virus, the political ramifications of police actions, etc. Even the mockumentary nature of the series is explored as members of the crew are exposed to scenarios that no camera crew is prepared to encounter, with a detriment to their ability to film the show.

* [[Destructive Saviour]]: Captain Dashell needs to remember that Animal Control is a specific organization for a ''reason'', and catching a rat really is different than catching a zombie. When he tries to impress Kirsten by helping out a couple who called the police, thinking they had a zombie in their attic, he winds up destroying their house before getting the rat.

** Natalie, the Captain's niece, describes {{spoiler|when she was turned}} as being invited over to a male friends house, discovering that he had many other men with him who forced her to drink, and then attacking her when she was drunk and only climbing off her when his girlfriend came home. The entire scene, including the questions Kirsten asked, was a standard depiction of rape disclosure.

* [[Dual-Wielding]]: When the squad runs out of weapons and ammunition during the zombie siege of their office, Kirsten carries ''two'' clubs when everybody arms themselves with melee weapons.

* [[Ethical Slut]]: The actors of "Two Girls, One Cop," who are just normal people and entered the adult film industry for the good pay and because they enjoyed the sex.

* [[Everyone Can See It]]: When John-John admits that he has a crush on Carla [[The Not-Secret|everybody in the UTF comments they had figured it out]].

* [[Fight Clubbing]]: Zombie Fights, where two zombies are made to fight over a piece of meat, are an on-line event, specifically compared to Bum Fights. {{spoiler|John-John discovers his father is a zombie when he sees him in one of the fights}}.

* [[Fix It in Post]]: After Billy flirts with a news reporter, on camera, she informs him that he is confusing her with a different reporter that had been killed earlier in the episode. Billy [[Completely Missing the Point|continues to hit on her]] until Stubeck makes him realize the situation, whereupon Billy himself turns to the camera and asks if they can fix it in post.

* [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot]]: Though John-John is disappointed [[Incompatible Orientation|that Carla will never respond to his flirting]], he is also ecstatic when he meets her girlfriend. He explains that a man can imagine ''many'' things in the fifteen minutes since he learned a woman was a lesbian.

* [[Gorn]]: Zombie kills can get quite messy.

** When the documentary crew tells John-John that he swears too much [[Gosh Dang It to Heck|he starts self-censoring what he says]], using the term "[[Meet the Fockers]]" instead of "motherf***er."

** Billy points out that one of the zombies he and Stubeck encounter looks like Mickey Rourke in ''[[The Wrestler]]''.

* [[Sincerity Mode]]: When one of the sound guys announces to the squadroom that he donated blood earlier in the day, Captain Dashell turns to him and sarcastically remarks that he has a lollipop in his desk. Later in the episode, the sound guy reveals that Dashell really did give him a lollipop (two, in fact).

* [[Sound Effect Bleep]]: The characters on the show swear extremely frequently, all of which is obscured by standard "bleep" effects. John-John swears ''too'' much and the documentary crew asks him to tone it down, since they can only bleep so much, [[Gosh Dang It to Heck|so he begins self-censoring what he says]].

* [[Straight Man]]: Joe Stubeck, who treats everybody he encounters (Including vampires) with courtesy and an honest will to help. This includes trying to get the people he arrests to turn their lives around instead of continuing their cycle of crime and incarceration.

* [[Sunglasses At Night]]: When Billy is [[Quip to Black|posing for the in-show cameras and making jokes]] he puts on a pair of sunglasses, but Stubeck points out that this is idiotic since it is dark out and he will not be able to see.

* [[Vegetarian Vampire]]: {{spoiler|Natalie}}, after revealing that she has been partially turned into a vampire, explains that the process apparently will not be complete until after her first kill. She says she could never kill anybody, then emphasizes that she ''really'' means that; she cannot even bring herself to kill a moth.

* [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?]]: Carla reasonably points out that while Kirsten combat moves are nice, she would save herself a lot of trouble and effort if she would shoot first instead of chasing down things that want to eat her.

* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]: It seems that Billy looks up on his partner, Stubeck, as a mentor and father figure. In "Zombie Fights" he resents when Stubeck unintentionally takes credit for his idea, and eventually admits that he is looking for appreciation of the work he does and respect as a cop.

* [[Wham! Episode]]:

* [[Worth It]]: When the UTF discovers that their ammunition has been stolen in the middle of a zombie siege, Captain Dashell instructs them to make sure every single shot counts. Carla, annoyed by the continuous beeping of a smoke detector, wastes a precious bullet to end the noise. She comments that it was worth it.

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: At the funeral for the two LAPD officers that were killed in the tenth episode, Captain Dashell is approached by the leader of the vampires, whose son the UTF had killed. The vampire pays his respects to the two slain officers and invites Dashell to attend the funeral of his own son as a gesture of respect and potential opening to peace negotiations.

** When John and Carla are being swarmed by zombies, having run out of ammo and trapped in a van, John recalls when they agreed to have sex if it ever looked like they were going to die. Carla points out that ''he'' said that, [[Subverted Trope|and she never agreed to any such thing]]. However, when it looks like John has found a way to save their lives, [[Double Subverted|Carla says she might just reconsider]], [[Zig Zagged Trope|until he fails and the entire affair is dropped]]. [[Parodied Trope|The documentary sound guy, stuck with them, offered to do "man stuff" if they could just all be gotten out alive]].

** In a [[Call Back]] to when they were trapped in a van by zombies, when the UTF station itself is attacked by zombies Carla tells John-John that she will book a hotel room if they do manage to survive.

* [[You Were Trying Too Hard]]: Captain Dashell only correctly pronounced Kirsten's name, after trying for five episodes, when he was too busy with paperwork to notice what he was saying.

* [[Zombie Gait]]: The characters [[Discussed Trope|discuss]] the way zombies move. Zombie's that have been dead for a long time are termed "slow walkers," since their rotting bodies means they move in a slow, shuffling manner. Newly-dead zombies, however, are described by the officers as being like attack dogs, since they are fresh enough to run at a frightening pace.

 

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