Noah and Saskia

A 13-episode Australian-British co-production, revolving around two teens who meet on the internet, whose friendship changes both their lives. We begin our plot with Saskia, a 14-year-old aspiring musician who is infuriated when her music is stolen online and used as the background music for an online comic, run by a man called Max. Taking on the identity of "Indy", Saskia ventures out into cyberspace to get revenge. What she finds surprises her. Max quickly charms her, and convinces her to help work on the comic, getting equal credit. Such begins the friendship of Indy and Max.

However, Max is not all he seems either. His name is Noah King, a 14-year-old computer nerd who doesn't fit the expectations of his oblivious, but well meaning father or Thuggish older brother.

Oh, and one last detail: Noah lives in London, and Saskia in Australia.

Tropes used in Noah and Saskia include:

• Annoying Younger Sibling - Eddie is actually Noah's cousin, but apart from that he pretty much exactly fits the trope.
• Attention Whore - Eddie, due to being shunted around from family member to family member his whole life, not really wanted. Hence all the faked illnesses and allergies.
• Better as Friends - Saskia and Ernesto
• Big Brother Bully - Phil to Noah. He gets better later.
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine - Clive (boke) and Noah (tsukkomi).
• Breaking the Fourth Wall - Saskia does this all the time.
• British Brevity - one series of thirteen episodes.
• Bumbling Dad - Bryce.
• Call Back - The final episode features an almost exact parallel of the first: Saskia threatening Stemple to get her into Webweave during school, while Renee panics about her school record in the background.
• Cerebus Syndrome - Not too severe, but the earlier episodes are a lot more self-contained and the problems are a lot more easily solved, and the characters more straight-forward.
• Child Prodigy - Ben, Saskia's guitar teacher
• Deadpan Snarker - Saskia's "mouth is a weapon of mass destruction." Although the effect is somewhat dampened by living in a World of Snark.
• Did Not Do the Research - Not too severe, but in the final episode, Saskia is said to be approximately 14 and 4-5 months. However, she has a job. In Australia, one has to be over 14 and 9 months to be employed.
• Does Not Like Men - Deb.

Deb: (suggesting a question for Saskia to ask Noah) If you had to step in front of a bullet for me, would you step to the side, thereby minimising damage to yourself but presenting me as a greater target, or would you just die like a man?

• Friendship Moment - Renee giving Saskia her birthday music to use for the fiftieth episode of Max's show.
• Her Codename Was Mary Sue - Max Hammer is very much an idealized version of Noah as he wishes he really was. The villains tend to be caricatures of his family.
• I Coulda Been a Contender - Noah's dad was a potential professional football player before a crippling knee injury, and as a result, is a touch too involved with the game.
• I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham - Saskia makes a big deal about the perils of casual day in episode five, but when she gets there, it's not so bad. Much later, Noah gets more willing to actually do physically activity, and becomes willing to play football.
• Insistent Terminology - "It's not a crush, it's LOVE!"
• What the Hell, Hero? - Both a minor character, and Saskia/Indy to Noah in "Will the Real Max Hammer Please Log On?"
• Jerk Jock - Phil
• Just Friends - Or, as it is put, "buddies."
• Latin Lover - Ernesto.
• Life Embellished - the comic is more or less this to Noah. In his own words: "well, maybe I exaggerated the amount of barbed wire."
• Lovable Alpha Bitch - Renee has many of the classic Alpha Bitch traits, but is Saskia's best friend.
• Master of the Mixed Message - Noah. He steals Saskia's music, says some rather unusual things to win her to his side, draws pictures of her avatar and talks about her a little creepily, spends awhile running to her for everything, falls victim to She Is Not My Girlfriend and gives her the "buddies" speech, but still treats her like she's special including a borderline anniversary celebration, gets insanely jealous when she starts dating someone else, lies to her to sabotage her new relationship and almost sells the comic, claims not to miss her when other events cause her to break off the friendship, but then arranges the whole Q&A session.
• New Media Are Evil - AVERTED. The series has been praised for dealing with internet friendships in a more realistic and three dimensional manner.
• Odd Friendship - both Noah and Saskia's "real life" best friends seem to have little in common with them.
• Poor Communication Kills - Rather frequently, not helped by the anonymity of the internet. Including Phil, Clive and Eddie all impersonating Max and making Saskia furious enough to break the friendship off, and Saskia later thinking Eddie was Max all along. Non internet related, Renee accidentally manages to convince Ben that Saskia is in love with him.
• Romantic False Lead - Ernesto
• Running Gag
  • Noah, Clive and Eddie's inability to remember Ernesto's name.
  • In the last episode, Saskia tells us to rewind very far to get the whole story.
  • "She is NOT my girlfriend!"
• Serious Business
  • Casual Day. Saskia does not approve.
  • Theresa takes the work at the Chicken Coop very seriously.
  • Football, to Bryce.
  • To Ernesto's father, fish.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend - Noah, oh so very much. Worth noting is Episode 4, in which everyone is under the impression Indy/Saskia is more, including Indy/Saskia herself.
• Stalker with a Crush - Stemple to Renee.
• Stalking Is Love - As espoused by Clive:

Noah: I've wasted all my money, got bags full of food that I don't eat, and, she thinks I'm a stalker!
Clive: So? It's not until they actually call the police that you give up.

• Ted Baxter - Oh, Clive.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech - Noah gets two of these, very close together, in the twelth episode. He kind of deserves it though.

Lizzie: I was wrong about you, Noah. You're not like Kurt. As least Kurt has an excuse. You're just a bully. A mean, arrogant bully.

• Tomboy and Girly Girl - Saskia and Renee.
• Took a Level in Jerkass - Noah in the second last episode, where he tries to bring the Max Hammer persona into the real world, and the flashes of him in Saskia's episode before that (where he lies to her about what he thinks of Ernesto's actions to break them up)
• "Well Done, Son" Guy - Ernesto, given how disappointed his parents were with him for dropping out of school.
• World of Snark