A tech pioneer goes to extremes to silence someone criticizing her company, but Elsbeth is quick on her case.
Tropes
- Alliterative Name: Josh Johnson.
- Bad Liar: Quinn is so terrible at covering herself that, for once, Elsbeth isn't the only one who can see through her lies easily.Elsbeth: You are very good at not telling the truth.
- Bludgeoned to Death: After she shocks Josh a few times with her cattle prod, Quinn finishes him off by bashing his head with the handled end.
- Broken Pedestal: Tech geek Detective Edwards and Quinn's staff get this at the realization that Quinn is not only a killer but stole the app idea from her partner and that Cerberus is completely based on fraudulent data, and Quinn knows willingly spreads it around for her own gain.
- Evil Cripple: Quinn walks with a cane because the mugger who attacked her shoved her in a way that damaged her foot and requires her to walk with it. Her ex-partner says this trope is actually very downplayed, as the injuries only really lasted for a couple months after and she basically just uses it for sympathy points.
- Girlboss Feminist: Quinn presents herself as an inspiring feminist heroine, breaking through the glass ceiling of tech and helping prevent tragedies like the one that befell her, who is extremely progressive and liberal. However, behind all the talk about mindfulness, accountability, and egalitarianism, Quinn is nothing more than a selfish fraud who exploits her injury (which has long since healed) and status as a pretty young white woman to make people feel sorry for her and not want to call her out, and she doesn't seem to truly care about any of the progressive ideals she preaches. Very noticeably, she stole the idea for Cerberus from her former best friend, a Black woman, and manipulates her employee Lina, who's Asian, by playing up her own fragility and trauma to get Lina to do what she wants.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: Quinn used a story of a fake dognapper on her app as a distraction for her murder. Elsbeth gives Quinn a story of a "killer clown" in an apartment building, which Quinn puts on the app with an AI-created "image of the perp." This leads Elsbeth and Edwards to realize Quinn is profiting off of the fake reports.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Implied at the end, when Lina rips all of Quinn's pictures down and sinks to sit on the floor, head in her hands. She was against reporting the dognapper on Cerberus until there was more evidence, but Quinn guilt-tripped her into it... which gave Quinn the pretext needed to murder Josh.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Quinn is a young, blonde tech pioneer lauded for a groundbreaking new technology that turns out to be based on fraudulent data, which is a key analogy for disgraced tech pioneer Elizabeth Holmes.
- Obfuscating Disability: Quinn limps around with a cane from a mugging, but when killing the reporter, she walks around easily. She was really attacked, but the injury was minor, and she just uses the cane and limp for attention.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Kaya is able to figure out that Josh's article about Quinn on the computer didn't sound like his usual writing (especially with how much it praises her), and so is able to tell that it was written by an AI program.
- Recorded Audio Alibi: Quinn sets up a Zoom call including a supposedly live presentation that's really her on a recording to commit the murder.
- The Reveal: Wagner finally learns that his charity's clothing warehouse is a sweatshop paying low wages in horrible conditions, all covered up in his name.
- Saying Too Much: Quinn's major problem, such as quoting, word for word, a line about herself that "Josh" wrote in the glowing article about her.
- Spanner in the Works: All of Quinn's planning is ultimately ruined by one dog.
- Spotting the Thread:
- Elsbeth realizes the flyers of the dogs were all faked, as the local dog walker doesn't know any of them.
- Watching the Zoom call, Elsbeth notes how Quinn never reacted to someone trying to interrupt her. Also, when she pops in at the end, somehow, her headband disappears.
- Stealing the Credit: Quinn didn't create Cerberus. Her high school friend Ellen did, but, realizing the problems with the concept, decided to end the project. Quinn, wanting to be rich and famous, took the concept to investors, presenting it as her own.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Quinn's signature move. Ellen notes that Quinn is very good at making people pity her and want to protect her—anytime things aren't going her way, Quinn easily turns on the waterworks, invokes her injury, and starts guilt-tripping.
