Tropescilloscope: Early Installment Weirdness

The early episodes of a series are vastly different than the later installments. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Evil Plan Big Bad Not What It Looks Like Reckless Gun Usage The Sociopath Composite Character Death by Sex Authority Equals Asskicking Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Imagine Spot Comically Missing the Point Drives Like Crazy Distracted by the Sexy Mooks The Big Guy Kids Are Cruel timeperiod Pimped-Out Dress In the Back Sequel Escalation Time Skip Hate Sink And I Must Scream Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Product Placement Never My Fault Red Eyes, Take Warning Big Fancy House Body Horror Film Series O.O.C. Is Serious Business Christmas Movies Index Smoking Is Cool Outrun the Fireball Rape as Drama Adaptational Villainy Bunny-Ears Lawyer Artistic License – History Italian Films Overprotective Dad Leave the Camera Running The Chessmaster The Cameo Deconstruction Bullying a Dragon As Himself Needs Wiki Magic Love Older Than They Look True Companions Cowboy Cop Crapsack World Token Minority Betty and Veronica Fanservice Better to Die than Be Killed Big Applesauce Ax-Crazy Ghost Fiction La Résistance Plucky Comic Relief I Want My Beloved to Be Happy The Stoic Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Cool Shades Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Action Prologue 20 Minutes into the Future What the Hell, Hero? Extreme Doormat Big Brother Instinct Obfuscating Stupidity Would Hit a Girl Protagonist Title Greater-Scope Villain Dark Reprise Ironic Echo Up to Eleven Crazy-Prepared Implacable Man Air-Vent Passageway Decoy Protagonist Call-Forward Idiot Ball Zombie Stories Not So Stoic Unreliable Narrator Neck Snap Redshirt Army Title Drop folderlabel The Vamp Armor-Piercing Question Setting Update Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Big "NO!" Bad "Bad Acting" Gorn A.I. Is a Crapshoot MacGuffin Not So Different Chase Scene Jump Scare Interrupted Suicide Vomit Discretion Shot Roaring Rampage of Revenge Captain Ersatz The '70s Those Two Bad Guys Black Comedy Rape Badass Boast Nice Hat Tempting Fate Have a Gay Old Time Laser-Guided Karma Mundane Made Awesome A Minor Kidroduction Only a Flesh Wound The Mafia All Men Are Perverts Exact Words Disney Villain Death Aside Glance Ascended Extra Funny Background Event Motor Mouth Villain Song Jerkass Has a Point Five-Man Band Riddle for the Ages The Cavalry Evil Brit Anyone Can Die Grievous Bottley Harm Mythology Gag Anachronic Order Suspiciously Similar Substitute Black Dude Dies First Diabolus ex Machina Evil Laugh Soundtrack Dissonance The Atoner Leitmotif Sanity Slippage Evil vs. Evil Becoming the Mask Meaningful Echo Heel–Face Turn In Medias Res Break the Cutie Tap on the Head For the Evulz Beta Couple Fatal Flaw Death by Irony Horror Comedy Exactly What It Says on the Tin Manipulative Bastard Depraved Bisexual Only Known by Their Nickname Take That! Get Out! Love at First Sight Awesome, but Impractical Adults Are Useless Mind Screw Actually Pretty Funny Killed Mid-Sentence Pet the Dog Easily Forgiven Death Glare Stepford Smiler Abhorrent Admirer Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Corrupt Corporate Executive Gratuitous English The Mole Ripped from the Headlines Silent Movie Damsel in Distress Reality Is Unrealistic "Well Done, Son!" Guy Naked People Are Funny Took a Level in Badass Historical In-Joke Closed Circle All for Nothing Friend to All Children Kill It with Fire Determinator Irony Music Stories Badass in a Nice Suit Scenery Gorn Catch-Phrase Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Death of a Child Index of Film Westerns Epic Fail How We Got Here Big-Bad Ensemble Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Cool Old Lady Honor Before Reason Tranquil Fury Meaningful Background Event Alliterative Name A Father to His Men Darker and Edgier Improvised Weapon The Remake Hypocritical Humor Sinister Minister Offscreen Teleportation Arc Words Kill 'em All Non-Indicative Name Film Noir N-Word Privileges Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Bar Brawl It's Personal You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Monumental Damage Anguished Declaration of Love Truth in Television Failed a Spot Check Dramatic Irony Bilingual Bonus Calling the Old Man Out Foreshadowing Vitriolic Best Buds Made of Iron Death by Adaptation Serial Killer Romantic False Lead Driven to Suicide Cloudcuckoolander Butt-Monkey Bound and Gagged Offscreen Moment of Awesome Sports Stories Guile Hero Male Gaze Bring My Brown Pants Ungrateful Bastard Establishing Character Moment Manly Tears As Long as It Sounds Foreign Villain Opening Scene Humans Are Bastards Video Credits Bloody Hilarious Lighter and Softer Politically Incorrect Villain Make It Look Like an Accident One-Word Title Fainting Eureka Moment Badass Longcoat Hypocrite Blood from the Mouth Fan Disservice Men Are the Expendable Gender Daylight Horror Author Avatar Retired Badass Conspicuous CG Those Two Guys Mercy Kill Star-Crossed Lovers Advertised Extra In Name Only Real Life Writes the Plot Parental Abandonment Rewatch Bonus Batman Gambit Large Ham The Faceless Badass Normal Tagline Enemy Mine Gilligan Cut Award-Bait Song Spanner in the Works Cain and Abel Informed Ability Dark Is Not Evil Belligerent Sexual Tension Expository Hairstyle Change Girl-on-Girl Is Hot He Knows Too Much She Cleans Up Nicely Animated Credits Opening Determinator aka: The Determinator The '80s Paper-Thin Disguise Rule of Three Bloodless Carnage Ship Tease Historical Hero Upgrade Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Homage Dual Wielding Dramatic Gun Cock Beauty Is Never Tarnished Meet Cute Trailers Always Spoil Blood Knight Man on Fire Romantic Comedy Punny Name Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Well-Intentioned Extremist Real Life Contrived Coincidence Handicapped Badass Malevolent Masked Men Visual Pun British Films Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Costume Porn Mr. Exposition Hollywood Darkness Straight Gay Papa Wolf Madness Mantra Hoist by His Own Petard Every Car Is a Pinto Kick the Dog Worthy Opponent Curse Cut Short Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Bait-and-Switch Last-Name Basis Shut Up, Hannibal! Leaning on the Fourth Wall Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Ominous Latin Chanting Sealed Evil in a Can Drill Sergeant Nasty The End... Or Is It? Heterosexual Life-Partners Only in It for the Money Rule of Symbolism Early-Bird Cameo Call-Back The Oner Half the Man He Used to Be Deus ex Machina Destination Defenestration Expy Deal with the Devil You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Line-of-Sight Name Cool Guns Hooker with a Heart of Gold Deadpan Snarker Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Black and Gray Morality Sassy Black Woman Say My Name Those Wacky Nazis Accidental Misnaming Rousing Speech Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Rule of Funny Retcon Toplessness from the Back Dirty Coward Insult Backfire Mood Whiplash Auto Erotica Knight Templar Wham Line Cool Car Match Cut Bond One-Liner Not So Above It All Asshole Victim Sequel Hook Sci-Fi Horror Show Within a Show Pragmatic Villainy Scenery Porn "The Reason You Suck" Speech No Name Given Loophole Abuse The Voiceless Suddenly SHOUTING! No Celebrities Were Harmed Twist Ending The Film of the Book Creative Closing Credits Revenge Artistic License – Military A God Am I "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Death Seeker Word of God Villainous Breakdown Dissonant Serenity Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Mama Bear The Reveal Happily Married Arranged Marriage More Dakka Military and Warfare Films Adaptational Badass Mighty Whitey Bowdlerise Shower Scene She's Got Legs Spell My Name with an "S" Manchild Properly Paranoid Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Chekhov's Gunman Works Set in World War II Creator Cameo Didn't Think This Through Chewing the Scenery For Want of a Nail Artistic License – Gun Safety Same Language Dub Shipper on Deck The Casanova Fun with Acronyms Amoral Attorney Lock and Load Montage Heroic BSoD Intrepid Reporter The Hero Parental Substitute Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Blatant Lies Cruel and Unusual Death Drowning My Sorrows Celebrity Paradox Final Girl Poor Communication Kills Fantasy Films Drugs Are Bad Bare Your Midriff Deliberately Monochrome Pretty Little Headshots Pragmatic Adaptation Plot Hole Adorkable Improbable Weapon User Love Triangle Only Sane Man Light Is Not Good Obstructive Bureaucrat Fingore Fat Bastard May–December Romance Storming the Castle Country Matters Broken Aesop Important Haircut An Arm and a Leg Reasonable Authority Figure Double Entendre Obviously Evil Big Damn Heroes Fantastic Racism Pyrrhic Victory The Dog Bites Back Off with His Head! Scary Black Man Adaptational Heroism Stealth Hi/Bye Martial Arts Movie Genre Savvy War Is Hell Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Be Careful What You Wish For Car Fu Reality Has No Subtitles Fish out of Water Not Using the "Z" Word Grey and Gray Morality The Ghost Punctuated! For! Emphasis! NO INDOOR VOICE Faux Affably Evil An Axe to Grind Evil Sounds Deep Hollywood Law Heroic Sacrifice Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Not Quite Dead The Brute Spiritual Successor Pay Evil unto Evil Cassandra Truth The Smart Guy Green-Eyed Monster Combat Pragmatist Peek-a-Boo Corpse Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience All Girls Want Bad Boys Almost Kiss Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Villain with Good Publicity Mugging the Monster Horror Films You Have Failed Me Stuff Blowing Up Canadian Movies Off-into-the-Distance Ending Unspoken Plan Guarantee Apocalypse How Dutch Angle Chiaroscuro No Ending Shoot the Shaggy Dog Ugly Guy, Hot Wife The Ditz Berserk Button The Un-Reveal Ms. Fanservice Covers Always Lie All There in the Script Creepy Child Re-Cut Manic Pixie Dream Girl BFG Our Vampires Are Different Posthumous Character Cluster F-Bomb Superhero Woman in White Spared by the Adaptation Camera Abuse Random Events Plot Disappeared Dad You Killed My Father Woman Scorned Heel Realization Black Best Friend Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies No-Sell Left the Background Music On Does Not Like Shoes Character Development Domestic Abuse Facial Horror Stealth Pun Dies Wide Open Famous Last Words Anachronism Stew Oh, Crap! Chekhov's Gun Affably Evil Amusing Injuries French Films The Bad Guy Wins Disproportionate Retribution Very Loosely Based on a True Story Overly Long Gag Fate Worse than Death No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Casting Gag Yandere Male Frontal Nudity Break the Haughty Playing Gertrude Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Earn Your Happy Ending Gender Flip Smug Snake My Greatest Failure Skewed Priorities Back from the Dead Evil-Detecting Dog The X of Y "Shaggy Dog" Story Downer Ending Vacation Films Department of Redundancy Department Rich Bitch Hair-Trigger Temper Laughing Mad Red Herring Dressing as the Enemy Slasher Movie Beard of Evil The Ace The Alcoholic Victoria's Secret Compartment Wicked Cultured Gory Discretion Shot Not Even Bothering with the Accent Humiliation Conga Small Name, Big Ego I Have Your Wife I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Translation Convention Henpecked Husband Ambiguous Ending Rasputinian Death Improbable Aiming Skills Eldritch Abomination Villain Ball Red Oni, Blue Oni The Lancer Artistic License – Law Catapult Nightmare Broken Pedestal Genre Shift Unresolved Sexual Tension Adaptation Expansion Insane Troll Logic Ambiguously Gay Freeze-Frame Bonus Market-Based Title Animal Title Index Defiant to the End Adaptation Dye-Job Running Gag Novelization An Aesop Artistic License – Geography Black Comedy Bad Boss Dark and Troubled Past Abusive Parents Artistic License – Biology Foil Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Faking the Dead Karma Houdini World of Ham Your Head A-Splode Maybe Ever After Sacrificial Lion Major Injury Underreaction Red Right Hand Kick the Son of a Bitch Dark Action Girl Deliberate Values Dissonance Due to the Dead Mistaken for Gay Morality Pet I Need a Freaking Drink Antagonist Title And the Adventure Continues Adaptation Distillation Continuity Nod This Is Gonna Suck Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Action Genre Heroes Want Redheads The Load No OSHA Compliance Annoying Younger Sibling Jerk with a Heart of Gold Artistic License – Physics Documentary Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Stalker with a Crush Together in Death Good Is Not Nice Unwitting Instigator of Doom Card-Carrying Villain Chekhov's Skill Cool Old Guy Television Movie Index Babies Ever After Only One Name Gold Digger Central Theme Naïve Newcomer Bi the Way Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Darkest Hour Lampshade Hanging Corpsing Unusually Uninteresting Sight One Steve Limit Credits Gag As You Know Whole Plot Reference Training Montage Race Against the Clock Does This Remind You of Anything? "Awesome McCool" Name Dull Surprise Mexican Standoff Japanese Films One-Man Army Wounded Gazelle Gambit Anti-Hero I Did What I Had to Do Made of Explodium Serious Business Cold-Blooded Torture Never Trust a Trailer Evil Is Petty Stock Footage The '50s Femme Fatale Did Not Get the Girl Room Full of Crazy Bolivian Army Ending Captain Obvious The Dreaded Bavarian Fire Drill Shell-Shocked Veteran Eyepatch of Power Film Noir Index Actor Allusion Foregone Conclusion Bittersweet Ending Crazy Jealous Guy Ambiguous Disorder Historical Villain Upgrade There Is No Kill Like Overkill Dramedy Crucified Hero Shot Brick Joke My Beloved Smother Attempted Rape The Starscream Public Domain Feature Films Brainless Beauty Affectionate Parody Loads and Loads of Characters Big Eater Demoted to Extra Eagleland Precision F-Strike Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Rule of Cool Pre-Mortem One-Liner The Great Depression Hell Is That Noise No Antagonist Super Strength Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Flashback Intergenerational Friendship Broken Bird Even Evil Has Loved Ones Age Lift German Films Epic Movie Extremely Short Timespan Defrosting Ice Queen Hidden Depths Gone Horribly Right Narrator Science Fiction Films Missing Mom Rated M for Manly Immune to Bullets My God, What Have I Done? He Who Fights Monsters Let's Get Dangerous! Fourth Date Marriage Animal Motifs The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Early Installment Weirdness B-Movie Once More, with Clarity! Jerkass It's All About Me Noodle Incident Based on a True Story Here We Go Again! Agony of the Feet Disguised in Drag Scare Chord Cat Scare Children Are Innocent Badass Grandpa Taking the Bullet Sir Swears-a-Lot Empathic Environment Brother–Sister Incest Wrong Genre Savvy The Hero Dies Everyone Has Standards Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Arch-Enemy Blonde, Brunette, Redhead From Bad to Worse Groin Attack Jerk Jock Villain Protagonist Developing Doomed Characters As the Good Book Says... Hong Kong Films Ass Shove The '60s After the End Mr. Fanservice Action Survivor Blackmail Silence Is Golden Recycled IN SPACE! Red Shirt From Nobody to Nightmare Fire-Forged Friends Funny Foreigner I'm a Humanitarian The Stoner Frame-Up Put on a Bus The Lost Lenore Psychopathic Manchild Our Zombies Are Different '80s Hair Brutal Honesty Sole Survivor The '90s The Smurfette Principle Australian Movies Shirtless Scene Beware the Nice Ones Nice Guy All There in the Manual Suspiciously Specific Denial Breaking the Fourth Wall Flipping the Bird Despair Event Horizon Police are Useless Getting Crap Past the Radar Knife Nut Badass Bookworm The Bully No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Face–Heel Turn Accidental Murder Married to the Job Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Self-Deprecation Fanservice Extra Mystery and Detective Films Dirty Old Man Adaptational Attractiveness Too Dumb to Live Slap-Slap-Kiss Vampire Fiction Take a Third Option Took a Level in Jerkass Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Bottomless Magazines Really Gets Around Hero of Another Story Shout-Out Totally Radical Bond Villain Stupidity Daddy's Girl Adaptation Name Change Freudian Excuse What Happened to the Mouse? Bland-Name Product Dropped a Bridge on Him Wham Shot Danny Peary Cult Movies List Alas, Poor Villain It Can Think And Starring It Will Never Catch On What You Are in the Dark Action Girl Vomit Indiscretion Shot Throwing Your Sword Always Works Would Hurt a Child Big Bad Duumvirate The Power of Love Bury Your Gays Framing Device All Just a Dream Reality Ensues Anti-Villain Genre Throwback Camp Gay Parental Incest Stylistic Suck Aluminum Christmas Trees A Date with Rosie Palms Historical-Domain Character Demonic Possession Hero Antagonist Fiery Redhead Nothing Is Scarier The Chick Gainax Ending Psychological Thriller Eiffel Tower Effect Evil Counterpart Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Spiteful Spit Punch-Clock Villain Soft Glass The Musical Evil Is Hammy Undying Loyalty Sexy Discretion Shot Parental Neglect Alpha Bitch Karmic Death Slashed Throat Police Brutality Thriller Instant Death Bullet The Dragon Cat Fight The Alleged Car Neck Lift Coming-of-Age Story Refuge in Audacity Jitter Cam Bloodier and Gorier Fatal Family Photo Even Evil Has Standards Hope Spot Guns Akimbo Curb-Stomp Battle Taking You with Me Dwindling Party Adult Fear Bald of Evil Adapted Out Psycho for Hire Canon Foreigner Dirty Cop Wretched Hive Dogged Nice Guy Disney Death Logo Joke Moment Killer Insistent Terminology Double-Meaning Title Meaningful Name Redemption Equals Death Eye Scream Retirony Boom, Headshot! Mad Scientist Pretty in Mink Sadistic Choice Your Cheating Heart Slasher Smile The Stinger Russian Films Race Lift Book-Ends Shown Their Work The Place Kubrick Stare Dumb Blonde Names to Run Away from Really Fast Four-Temperament Ensemble Face Death with Dignity Unusual Euphemism The Quiet One Dying Moment of Awesome Fake Shemp Biopic Never Found the Body Author Appeal