Written by Alex Horab
Storyboarded by Diana Huh & Jacob Winkler
Storyboarded by Diana Huh & Jacob Winkler
Stuck in a blizzard, the gang seeks shelter in a nearby cabin, only for Simon to find himself reuniting with an old acquaintance.
Tropes:
- Badass Boast: Contrasting with her last encounter with the Apex, the Cat realizes that Grace and Simon don't have backup this time, and boasts that the two can't do anything to her if their entire army wasn't enough to get the job done.
- Call-Back: The Cat is still mad about Grace's actions from "The Lucky Cat Car".
- Dark and Troubled Past: Simon, age 10, met the Cat when he first arrived on the train. After a few months, she left and he was nearly killed by a Ghom before Grace saved him. The Cat implies there's more to the situation, but she doesn't deny Simon's characterization, either.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Simon confronts the Cat over her having abandoned him to the Ghom and never coming back for him. In response, the Cat can only give poignant excuses, but never owns up to her actions. This feels very much like a grown child confronting a parent who wronged and/or abused them in the past but are unable to bring themselves to apologize for those wrongs.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Simon realizes that all the snow outside is Randall, melts the snow to reveal the goopy denizen himself and asks him to stop the blizzard (aka "snowball fight") he's having.
- Foreshadowing: When Grace asks what she'd do without Hazel, Hazel grimly notes that Grace would "die until she was dead". Metaphorically speaking, as shown in "The New Apex", she's right.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Visible for a split second before Grace’s head gets in the way, there’s a picture of a smiling The Cat posing on Frank’s head hanging on her stairwell.
- Genius Loci: Randall is all the water in the entire car. Including the snow and clouds.
- Leitmotif: The music that plays whenever the Ghoms appear briefly plays when Simon is frightened by a model of one. The Cat's leitmotif also plays when she first appears.
- Moment Killer: Frank has a habit of doing this during tense moments.
- Mundane Utility: The Cat is keeping Randall on hand to use him as an animated fountain, and as a water source in general since the car doesn't naturally generate water.
- Oh, Crap!: This is Grace's reaction to her number going down.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Simon is particularly hostile to the Cat beyond his normal hatred of Nulls, and is desperate to get away from her as soon as possible.
- The Cat clearly cares for Simon, compared to her interactions with Tulip.
- Grace, who is normally composed and cheerful, becomes visibly frustrated due to her number decreasing and even worries what this means if the other Apex kids find this out.
- Shout-Out: Frank, with his open robe, sunglasses at all times and general laissez faire demeanor has more than a passing resemblance to The Dude.
- Snowball Fight: Simon throws a snowball at Grace in the snow-filled car, and everyone else quickly joins in. This gets Randall, who is actually all the water in the car, to create a blizzard trying to emulate them.
- Symbolism: When Simon gets more and more angry about Hazel talking to the Cat, she questions why she shouldn't. All the while, the tea kettle lets out a steaming whistle, reflecting the pressure building in Simon before he lets loose they shared a history once.
- Trauma Button: Simon is desperate to get away from The Cat, hostile to her when she interacts with Hazel and upset with Grace for not realizing how distressed he is. As he tells it, she abandoned him when he was ten years old and he was nearly eaten by a Ghom before Grace saved him.
- Visual Pun: The Cat first appears in the episode wearing cat's-eye glasses.
- Wham Line: Why is Simon so agitated about seeing The Cat?Simon: Because she abandoned me!
