London is attacked through the Rift by an emotion-eating alien entity called the Lankin, which creates lures on the end of its multitude of tentacles in the form of people's dead loved ones. Tanya turns out to be its main target, as it creates a lure in the form of her dead father Jasper on the second anniversary of his death. Ram is visited by a lure based on his girlfriend Rachel, but flees in terror and teams up with April. They don't actually achieve much, but April confides in him about her family's tragedy and they end up kissing. Miss Quill is visited by an apparition of her sister, and is not impressed. Meanwhile, Matteusz turns up on Charlie's doorstep after being kicked out by his homophobic father.
Eventually, Tanya tricks the Lankin into trying to consume her, but poisons it by feeding it the "anger" part of her reaction to bereavement instead of her grief. While it is distracted, Miss Quill smashes its main tentacle with a stolen double-decker bus, forcing it to withdraw through the Rift.
Tropes that appear in the episode:
- Affectionate Nickname: Jasper called Tanya "Puddle" due to an incident when she was a child and jumped into a horse's urine, thinking it was a puddle.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: The Lankin morphs into deceased loved ones in order to ensnare people.
- Alien Kudzu: Being a vine-like creature, it infests the planet's environment and begins reproducing itself rapidly.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Quill drives through the main tentacle with a bus, forcing the Lankin to retreat, as cutting the other tentacles didn't work.
- Cain and Abel: Quill mentions her sister Orla'ath tried to kill her in the nest, but apparently all Quill sisters do that.
- Car Fu: Miss Quill smashes the Lankin's tentacles with a stolen double-decker bus.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Miss Quill attempts this on the Lankin construct of her sister, with Charlie and Mateusz's somewhat disturbed help, but the entity quickly withdraws.
- Combat Tentacles: The Lankin's tentacles, which ensnare people.
- Dead Person Conversation: The Lankin tricks people into thinking this by appearing as deceased loved ones.
- Dead Person Impersonation: The Lankin's tentacles appear as dead loved ones, claiming they have been brought back.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Miss Quill is clearly angry about the kids' failure to thank her for, or show any sign of being impressed by, her destruction of the Lankin's tentacle.
- Emotion Eater: The Lankin feeds on grief.
- Evil Laugh: "Jasper" gives one after telling Tanya she has weakened him... but not enough.
- Family Annihilator: April confides in Ram about how her mother's disability is because her father tried to kill all three of them by crashing a car when she was little.
- Hydra Problem: When one of the Lankin's tentacles is cut through, it reattaches.
- I Have No Son!: Matteusz is kicked out by his father for dating another man.
- Impaled Palm: Miss Quill persuades Charlie to do this to the lure based on her sister, with a screwdriver.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Nobody else remembers the Lankin after it is defeated. Quill lampshades how convenient this is, though Charlie responds the Lankin probably does it so it can come back and feed again.
- Lured into a Trap: The reason the Lankin takes the form of a loved one, in order to entrap people.
- Must Be Invited: As the Lankin impersonating Tanya's father puts it, they can reach out, but the other person has to reach back.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "Lankin" is one variant form of the name of a character sometimes also called "Lambkin" or "Lamkin" from British folk song, who is sometimes depicted as an ordinary human murderer and sometimes as an evil member of The Fair Folk.
- Plant Aliens: The Lankin tentacles resemble vines and it acts rather like a plant.
- Relationship Upgrade: Mateusz moves in with Charlie after his parents kick him out for being actively gay. April and Ram also kiss.
- Squeaky Eyes: The Jasper created by the Lankin makes a squelching sound when it blinks.
- Take That!: When Tanya mentions that her mother used to worry about her policeman husband not coming home from work, the Lankin impersonating him retorts, "This isn't America.".
- Tentacle Rope: Various people are seen wrapped up in tentacles.
- Title Drop: April talks about a folk tune her father played called "Nightvisiting", which refers to legends of dead people appearing at the windows of the bereaved, which usually is not a good thing.
- Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: Tanya weakens the Lankin by giving it the "anger" part of her emotional response to bereavement instead of her grief. Cue its Screw This, I'm Outta Here exit.
- Two Scenes, One Dialogue: Quill and Tanya's conversations with their Lankin tentacles:Quill's Lankin: You have to come the rest of the way.Quill: Why?Tanya's Lankin: Because souls never be forced, they can only be persuaded.Tanya's Lankin: What can I say to make you believe me?Both Lankin: Won't you take your father/sister's hand?
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Lankin tentacles morph into deceased loved ones in order to ensnare people.
- Where Does She Get All Those Wonderful Toys: Discussed when Ms. Quill reappears with a bus.
