When Batman tries to question Corso, the doctor surprises him with a sedative injection; he awakens to find the doctor and his equipment gone. Batman then sets a trap for the doctor, who breaks down and explains that he's helping the criminals because they're holding his wife hostage. He says that he put a secret shutdown to stop the criminals after they return her but won't tell Batman what it is and tries to dissuade him from attempting a rescue.
Tropes:
- Badass Normal: Terry had to be reminded that despite Bruce’s skills, he’s only human and not omnipotent.Bruce: I’m only human.
Terry: Sometimes I keep forgetting. - Bittersweet Ending: All of Bullwhip's allies have been detained, and there's a likely chance that Dr. Corso will make sure he's never heard from again. But now that leaves the question of how Dr. Corso will pick up the pieces of his life after learning of April's betrayal, or if he'll ever trust anyone ever again.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: A variation. Harold, aka Bullwhip, is armed with cybernetic whip cables that detach from his wrists.
- The Con: Dr. Corso, a surgeon specializing in cybernetic prosthetic limbs is coerced into providing some punks with weaponized cybernetic enhancements because they've kidnapped his wife April. April was working with the gang all along, and the whole thing was probably her idea. Corso eventually finds out, but the gang's leader, Bullwhip, doesn't realize he knows, and comes to Corso for repairs one last time...
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Bullwhip’s gang easily took down Batman in the first few encounters. The tables get turned in the last after Batman realized what the self-destruct password was.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Before Batman was about to get his head chopped off by one of the gang members, he realizes what the self-destruct password is, stopping him in the nick of time.
- Faked Kidnapping: It turns out that Corso’s wife was in league with the gang all along.
- Fantastic Noir: Though the villains are a gang of cybernetically augmented humans, the story features lower stakes and more moral ambiguity closer to a hardboiled pulp detective story than a superhero show, plus of a jazzy score reminiscent of Film Noir films.
- Forced into Evil: Corso is being blackmailed into helping the gang under the belief they've taken his wife hostage.
- Genre Savvy: Bruce after he learns from Terry that Bullwhip doesn't know Corso saw him with April. He has a pretty good idea of what's coming next.
- Gold Digger: Corso’s wife April happily leaves him for a gang member who can provide her with high-priced gold and jewels.
- I Have Your Wife: Bullwhip's hold on Dr. Corso. It's a lie; she's in on the whole thing.
- Karma Houdini: As April is never seen again in the series after Bullwhips gang is arrested, she is never shown to receive any on-screen consequences for her actions. Although due to her disappearance we never find out if Corso ever caught up to her.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Batman realizes that Dr. Corso can't be completely evil, since he passed up an easy opportunity to kill him or at least to discover Batman’s secret identity. He then lures Corso with a fake emergency call for medical assistance; Corso takes the bait.
- May–December Romance: Corso appears to visibly be much older than his wife April, but this is subverted as she turns out to be a Gold Digger who leaves him for a rich young criminal.
- Nothing Is Scarier: The episode ends on Bullwhip sitting down for surgery from Dr. Corso, who knows that his wife was in on the scheme and is likely taking the opportunity for revenge.
- Override Command: Corso put a secret self-destruct trigger in the gang's enhancements so that he could stop them once his wife was safe. He won't tell Batman what it is, but Bruce figures out enough hints for Terry to guess correctly.
- Shout-Out: Terrapin's armor looks very similar to that of Marvel Comic character Juggernaut.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: In the final scene, Bullwhip is back for another round of surgery, unaware that Dr. Corso knows the truth about him and April. The show ends with the doctor lowering a drill toward Bullwhip's point of view...
- Titled After the Song: "April Moon
" (described as an "old song"—it dates from 1990, putting it about a half-century before Batman Beyond's time frame) was special to Dr. Corso and turns out to be the override password on the cybernetic implants. - Title Drop: Terry realizing the Override Command to the baddies' upgrades.
- Tranquil Fury: Bullwhip goes to Dr. Corso to get fixed up and upgraded at the end of the episode, completely unaware that Dr. Corso knows everything. Dr. Corso stays completely calm to not show that he knows, straps Bullwhip onto the table, and the last thing we see is a POV from Bullwhip as Dr. Corso is pointing a drill right at his head.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Invoked in the next-to-last scene. The rest of the gang was captured, but Bullwhip escaped. Bruce says that he'll be back...until he finds out that Bullwhip doesn't know that the doctor saw him with April. With this information, Bruce concludes that maybe he won't be back.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: After "operating" on Bullwhip one last time, one has to wonder how Dr. Corso confronted April, or if he confronted her at all.
- Woman Scorned: A male example; Dr. Corso sees that April is voluntarily cooperating with the gang and carrying on an affair with Bullwhip. He flips out, alerting the gang that they've been found. It's implied Corso murders Bullwhip, though his plans for April are unspecified.
