Jessica finds a weakness to use against Kilgrave, as she and Luke Cage discover each other's secrets and grow closer.
Tropes:
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Jeri Hogarth has a hard time believing in mind control when weirder things like aliens invading New York have taken place, while she knowingly works with a woman with Super-Strength. Jeri later reveals that she believes in Kilgrave's power, but wanted Trish to make the argument for her on air, so she wouldn't come off as the crazy one. The idea of superpowers is still a hard pill for many in the public to swallow.
- Asshole Victim: Given Reva's role in the Seagate experimentations, on some level, her death qualifies as this.
- Bait-and-Switch: After Jessica injects the sufentanil into Trish to pass her off as dead, she charges Simpson, looking like she's trying to stop him from escaping. In actuality, she's just slipping Trish's phone into Simpson's pocket so that she can track him.
- Batter Up!: One of the guys at Kilgrave's apartment attacks Jessica with a baseball bat.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Jessica's original plan was to use the general anasthetic on Kilgrave—she winds up using it on Trish to help her play dead, in quite the literal sense.
- Jessica installs a location tracking app on her phone and Trish's early in the episode. Later in the episode, she plants Trish's phone in Simpson's pocket so she can follow him back to Kilgrave.
- Continuity Nod:
- Luke uses the word "gifted" to explain his and Jessica's powers, which is a common term in the MCU.
- Luke also refers to "The big green dude and his crew."
- Trish counters Jeri's claims about Hope having a psychotic break by pointing out that the city was attacked by aliens, so Hope's claims should be logically believable.
- Jessica briefly hears a radio program about superbeings while buying beer at a convenience store. One of the callers comments about "those guys who quote 'saved' the city."
- Dark and Troubled Past: Kilgrave not only brainwashed Jessica, he also had her kill Luke's wife.
- Destructo-Nookie: Luke and Jessica again, this time driven by how they realize, at long last, each has a partner who can take their full strength and can cut loose. First they do it at Jessica's place and hit a wall hard enough to break a window, then another wall, knocking out a pipe. After a late night meal, they go to Luke's place and destroy his bed.
- Dude, Not Funny!: After her bed-breaking sex with Luke, Jessica is buying bourbon from an all-night deli. The clerk is listening to a call-in radio show talking about Hope Shlottman, and one of the callers comments, "Ever since those guys quote, 'Saved the city', people have been making up stories about more super folk out there. Now some kid is pinning her murder on one? Have you ever heard a more made-up name than Kilgrave? I mean come on. Give me a break." The clerk laughs at the guy mocking Kilgrave's name, causing Jessica to glare at him and say, "What, are you trying to drive customers away with that shit?"
- Exact Words: Realizing that Simpson is under Kilgrave's orders not to stop until Trish is dead, Jessica claims that he killed her in his attack. Believing his job done, Simpson leaves, allowing Jessica to comfort the merely unconscious Trish before chasing Simpson. Happens again later when Kilgrave commands Simpson to jump off the roof. Since Kilgrave never specified for Simpson to kill himself, merely to just jump, Jessica is able to snap Simpson out of it by knocking him out, taking him down to street level, and when he recovers, explain to him that a pile of trash bags broke his fall.
- Face Your Fears: The fact that Jessica is actively hunting Kilgrave obviously sits well with her. She's not having any more panic attacks.
- Manipulative Bastard: Hogarth knows Trish will defend Hope vigorously, getting the word out there about Kilgrave's mind control without having to risk her own reputation.
- Mr. Fanservice: Jessica rips off Luke's shirt. The camera lingers on his bare chest.
- Mythology Gag:
- Luke uses his famous Catchphrase "Sweet Christmas".
- Trish (short for Patricia) used to be called "Patsy" when she was a teen model and had red hair like her comic book counterpart.
- One of the items dropped by Trish's fan is Issue #26 of the Patsy Walker comic.
- No, You: When Jessica sees her neighbor Malcolm. In fairness, she's entirely correct.Malcolm: The elevator went too high.
Jessica: You're too high. - Oh, Crap!:
- We get our first good look at Kilgrave's face with one of these expressions, as Jessica has tracked him down before he was ready to deal with her directly.
- Jessica's reaction when she hears Trish's tirade against Kilgrave, because she knows exactly what kind of response this will provoke from him.
- Doubled down when she hears Kilgrave's voice as he calls in to the show.
- Properly Paranoid: Exemplified by Jessica's reaction to Trish insulting Kilgrave by name. She panics, Trish looks at her in disbelief...then Kilgrave calls in.
- Running Gag: A caller to a radio show starts the trend of people making fun of Kilgrave's name as soon as they hear it.
- Shame If Something Happened: Trish launches into a tirade, insulting Kilgrave on her show. Jessica steps in, trying to cut Trish's mike, knowing the Kilgrave is listening in. Sure enough, he calls into the station merely moments later.Kilgrave: First time caller, long time listener. Trish, I want to applaud your courage. You've always been a hero to the downtrodden. Self-preservation be damned. It's admirable. But my question is, if there really is a man with the abilities you've described, someone who could make anyone, anywhere, do whatever he wanted them to do, seems to me that insulting him would be wildly dangerous. Or, let's just say it, stupid in the extreme. Everyone has feelings, even, um, how did you put it? Sadistic, corrosive men? Are you worried he might, I don't know, make you kill yourself? Or worse? I'll take my answer off the air.
- Shout-Out:
- The baseball-wielding assailant's outfit, and the choreography of his fight with Jessica, are straight out of The Raid 2: Berandal.
- After helping Jessica get Malcolm back into his apartment, Ruben tells Jessica that "everyone's a little racist".
- Speak of the Devil: Trish starts defending Hope and attacking Kilgrave on the air, hoping that some of his victims will call in. Kilgrave himself immediately calls in and delivers a thinly-veiled death threat.
- Shown Their Work: On one of the podcasts Jessica listens to, the host compares Hope to David Berkowitz, the serial killer known as Son of Sam who terrorized young women in New York City in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As the host accurately points out, Berkowitz claimed that his crimes were inspired by his neighbor’s demon-possessed dog, who, in his words, "demanded the blood of pretty young girls."
- Title Drop: Trish realizes that having the threat of Kilgrave trying to kill her hanging over her head is causing her to become increasingly paranoid and nervous. She asks Jessica how she have been able to put up with living this on a daily basis, and Jessica snarks "It's called whiskey" in response.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The episode gives no clue as to what happened to the family Kilgrave brainwashed the previous episode. However, knowing what Kilgrave's abilities are, any outcome is not great for them.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Believing Trish to be dead, Kilgrave orders Simpson to leave by the roof.
