When Mo goes missing, Howard and John, Sr. see their chance to prove their loyalty to Victor.
- Bad Boss: Victor kept the discovery of Howard’s dead family a secret, due to knowing the desire to find them was driving Howard and made him a more efficient employee of the Tower.
- Being Evil Sucks: Howard learns for the last time that serving a capricious, ruthless, and power-hungry man like Victor leads to nothing but suffering, doing things you don’t want to do, and ultimately, the demise of either your character or your actual life. John, Sr. also learns this when he tries to win a place at Strand’s side.
- Call-Back: In “The Beginning”, Grace swore to Morgan she couldn’t bear to see another loved one succumb to radiation sickness since it’s a long, ugly death. In this episode, we see Charlie is slowly decaying and succumbing to her sickness in the same way.
- Character Death: John, Sr. throws Howard off the Tower to his death. Later, John sacrifices himself to the moat walkers.
- Covered in Gunge: Discussed. Wendell asks John why he won’t cover himself in walker guts for his trip through the horde, but John protests that it could risk infecting Mo, and that they don’t have time (John recording a song cover with Grace suggests otherwise on the latter part).
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Charlie is slowly, painfully dying of her radiation sickness.
- Devoured by the Horde: John’s ultimate fate after seeing he’s been bitten (and knowing he’s already dying of radiation burns).
- Et Tu, Brute?: Howard is in disbelief that Victor would distrust him after having been his first and most loyal follower.
- Heroic Sacrifice: John first marches through the moat to get Mo to safety with Morgan, getting himself a bite in the process. After he gives Mo to Morgan, he then goes into the horde to be eaten to distract them while Morgan escapes.
- Karmic Death: After helping throw so many people to their deaths to please Victor, it’s only fitting that Howard meets the same fate. John even points out that he has done this to people for far less.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: Victor’s pitting Howard and John against each other has disturbing parallels to Hitler’s playbook for his subordinates. He truly doesn’t care for either man, but allows both of them to hear what they need to in order to drive them and perform their best for his own benefit. This way, the men will be too busy setting each other up to ever poise a threat to Strand’s rule.
- The Reveal: June, Wendell, and Grace have indeed been serving as a resistance within the Tower.
- Sole Survivor: With John Sr.‘s death, June is the last surviving member of the Dorie family through her marriage to John, Jr.
- Wham Episode: Major characters John Dorie, Sr. and Howard both die as Mo is returned to Morgan, clearing the path for the attack on the Tower. Wes completes his Face–Heel Turn as he begins gunning for the now vacant position as Victor’s right hand.
- Villain Has a Point: As Strand points out, Howard had to find Mo to earn Strand’s forgiveness. As Dorie, Sr. and June clearly found the baby, Howard lost his deal.
- Your Days Are Numbered: John reveals he was infected by the same radiation that infected Charlie despite being careful and quick. He gives his life to go through the moat to deliver Mo to Morgan since he’s dying anyway, and gets bitten on the shoulder, so he willingly goes into the horde to die.
- Zombie Infectee: John is bitten on the shoulder while fighting through the horde.
