A Day In The Lime Light: The episode focuses mainly in the aftermath of Maddy and Cassie's broken friendship and Nate's newfound freedom after his father left, with Rue (albeit still as the narrator), Jules and Kat becoming secondary characters.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: This exchange between Kat and Maddy, via a phone call, when the latter ponders on how she wants to kill Cassie as revenge for her affair with Nate.
Maddy: I think I actually wanna murder her.
Kat: I get it.
Maddy: No, like, actually plan a murder and carry it out.
Kat: I get it.
Maddy: Like a grisly murder. One that shocks the nation.
Kat(casually) : ... I think that's more than understandable.
Broken Pedestal: Cassie becomes this for everyone around her, including her mother Suze and Maddy after her affair with Nate is exposed.
Disappointed in You: When Kat tries to manipulate Ethan to break up with her, he sees through the ploy and walks away. He doesn't say it outright, but it's clear that he's very upset and irritated moreso than angry.
Kat: Wow. Wow, wow. I didn't see that one coming. Hm. (chuckles)
Ethan: I didn't either. (stands up and leaves)
Kat: (sarcastically) Bye!
Also, when Cassie keeps on complaining that no one knows Nate like she does and Lexi deduces that her love for Nate is what led her to tell on Fez to Cal for beating him up, Lexi seals the argument with the fact we already know about Nate regarding Cassie's sexual past:
Lexi: Yeah, 'cause you fell in love with someone who spent years making fun of you. It's sad.
Downer Ending: Despite Nate genuinely apologizing to Jules for all he put her through before and giving her the disc back (as his first selfless act) and Ali providing some food and if not a little joy to the Bennetts, the episode still ends on a sad note. Cassie is no longer the sweet and innocent girl she used to be, having cut off her family and friends from her life, all because she's madly in love with the very same person who's made everyone's lives a living hell in every possible way, to the point of even moving into his house. Also, Leslie finally gets a response from the rehab center, only to be told that there is no room for her daughter at the moment, causing her to tearfully beg them to reconsider, to no avail, believing that Rue will kill herself without the aid.
Driven to Suicide: Played for Drama. Cassie attempts to kill herself with a corkscrew just so to have Lexi and Suze's full attention over the Nate debacle. They are not fooled by this and Suze takes it away from Cassie.
Easily Forgiven: Rue accepts that she said something potentially unforgivable to Ali, but he forgives her almost immediately. Justified, as he's been where she is.
Gaslighting: Kat attempts to do this when she breaks up with Ethan. First she lies about having a fatal disease, feigns offense at his incredulousness, and then accuses him of trying to break up with her. Ethan sees right through this and dumps her.
Hypocrite: Kat accuses Ethan of gaslighting and manipulating her during their break up when that's exactly what she was doing, lying about a terminal illness and then accusing him of being paranoid and mistrustful when he saw through it and trying to use that reaction as a way to make him the bad guy.
Cassie tries to make herself look innocent by acting like it was Maddy who betrayed her and shunned her because she slept with Nate since they were broken up, but in the flashback to the previous episode it's revealed that she knew about Maddy's breakdown to her and the hell she went through. And again when she frames and accuses Rue as a horrible, manipulative and selfish person who uses and discards others for her own benefit when in reality, Cassie was doing the exact same thing throughout this season. It could also be because Cassie was offended and angered by Rue exposing her affair with Nate and is one of the people she blames for her life going wrong and losing everything.
Marsha tells Nate she is happy he broke up with Maddy and didn't get her pregnant because according to her "she's the type to keep it just to spite you", which is incidentally more or less what happened with her and Cal, with her deciding to keep their child put an end to his romance with Derek and possibly a life outside the closet. Although, in this case it's unclear how aware Marsha is about his relationship with Derek.
Kick the Dog: Kat breaking up with Ethan and claiming that she has a brain tumor before gaslighting him that she's not lying — when she clearly is and then trying to manipulate the conversation to make him look like the guilty party. He even tells her he doesn't mind being dumped, just how she is going about it.
Cassie refuses to acknowledge that, by sleeping with Nate behind Maddy's back, she did nothing wrong when both Suze and Lexi call her out on her actions when she repeatedly attempts to justify them with the fact that Nate and Maddy were broken up, yet Suze reiterates that it breaks the girl's code: "Never date your best friend's ex". Suze even dispels the comparison of Rue's behavior to hers by pointing out that, while Rue has her own flaws, is deep down a good girl who is able to learn from her mistakes.
Kat tries to manipulate her breakup with Ethan to make him the guilty party, twisting everything he says and accusing him of bad behavior, a fact he calls her out on and even she seems to recognize as wrong.
Out of Focus: As stated above, Rue, Jules and Kat are reduced to secondary characters in the episode's plot. As usual, Rue still acts as the narrator and elaborates on how sorry she is for all the terrible things she said and did to her family and Ali, as well as Maddy planning what to do with Cassie after her relationship with Nate is exposed, Nate's newfound freedom ever since his father left the house and Cassie's melodramatic breakdown to Lexi and Suze, who are understandably upset at her for betraying Maddy. However, when the focus is on Jules, Rue outright refuses to talk about her or Elliot. "Fuck them", she says, still angry at the two for spilling the beans to Leslie about her relapse, thus leaving the audience to figure out by themselves what Jules has been up to and Elliot himself is absent in the episode.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Since Suze and Lexi won't defend her about sleeping with Nate (and rightfully so), she decides to move out of the house and stay with him for the time being.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Marsha points out to Nate about the angel he used to be as a kid, before he "darkened" at the age of 9. She highly doubts that his hostility is completely aimed at his father Cal.
What the Hell, Hero?: Ethan rightly calls out Kat on trying to manipulate their breakup to make him look like the guilty party so she won't have to feel bad afterwards, bluntly telling her that he doesn't mind being dumped, just how she is trying to do it. He simply walks away from her afterwards, more disappointed in her than angry, and even Kat recognizes that she messed up.
Rue apologizes to Ali for cruelly commenting about how he was beating his wife and was not there for his children. Ali forgives with a tearful Rue wondering why she's forgiven like that with Ali commenting that "the hour is certain to come."
Rue apologizes to Ali for cruelly commenting about how he was beating his wife and was not there for his children. Ali forgives with a tearful Rue wondering why she's forgiven like that with Ali commenting that "the hour is certain to come."
