Season 2, Episode 1:
Second Chances
Kiera resurfaces after an assassination. She tries to reconnect with Alec, who has changed since reading the message from his future self. Meanwhile, Sonya attempts to kill Travis to take control of Liber 8.
Tropes present in this episode:
- Achilles in His Tent: After reading the message from his future self, Alec has cut off all contact with Kiera and moved out of his mother's house into an apartment.
- As You Know/Literalist Snarking: Between Kiera and Kellog at the bar.Kellog: Why am I here?Kiera: A time-travel device sent you and seven other terrorists 65 years back in time to foster worldwide revolution against the corporations.Kellog: Nice. I meant here in this bar.
- Boom, Headshot!: The mayor, right at the beginning of her press conference.
- Catapult Nightmare: The episode opens with Kiera in 2077 doing this. Turns out it was caused by Future!Alec downloading his message to his past self into her head.
- False Flag Operation: Kiera theorizes that the mayor's assassination was done by a gang and set up to have Liber 8 take the fall. Subverted when it turns out that it really was Liber 8, who themselves set it up to look that way.
- Klingon Promotion: Sonya empties a pistol into Travis to take control of Liber 8 uncontested. Unfortunately for her, super soldiers don't go down that easily.
- Magical Defibrillator: Double subversion. After Sonya kills Travis, doctors attempt to revive him with multiple jolts from a defibrillator. It fails, and they are calling the time of death - when a defibrillator implanted in Travis' chest fires and brings him back to consciousness.
- Ominous Message from the Future: Alec read his, and he didn't like it. Turns out it was Future!Alec telling him to prevent the Bad Future that he created the first time around.
- Once More, with Clarity: At the beginning of the episode, we see Kiera in 2077 waking up from a bad dream with a headache, and saying it seemed like a problem with her CMR. At the end of the episode, we see Future!Alec recording the message to his past self and downloading it into Kiera's CMR, causing her Catapult Nightmare.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Carlos asks if Kiera's signal will be "a big bat projected into the night sky". Kiera doesn't get it.
- Sarcastic Confession: Gardiner wants to know how Kiera survived the plaza bombing and then disappeared into thin air.Kiera: I'm a stranded time traveler from the year 2077, using technology that hasn't even been invented yet.Gardiner: That's bullshit.
- Shout-Out: Carlos compares Kiera's vigilante antics to Batman.
- Trespassing to Talk: A variation. Alec is refusing to answer Kiera's calls, so she sneaks into his new apartment and attaches a hard drive to his computer. He sees her out the window, panics, and the first thing he does is call Kiera to ask what's up.
- Vigilante Man: Kiera has been operating as this since the plaza bombing. She wants to keep doing it to avoid departmental red tape.
- You Didn't See That: A security guard is witness to an invisible Kiera beating up a group of Liber 8 mooks.Kiera: You saw nothing. Are we clear?Guard: [stutters and nods]Kiera: Then run.
