Jessica and Trish go on a road trip to dig into Sallinger's past and unearth a horrifying discovery.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Aesop Amnesia: Jeri once again betrays Jessica by trying to use a murderous psychopath she was trying to get in jail to her own ends- apparently forgetting how that went when she tried the same thing with Kilgrave.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Sallinger drops his cool when Jessica asks him if he used the same move to kill Nathan. Doubles as Berserk Button.
- Attention Whore: Trish struggles throughout the episode with her contributions having to remain secret, only to finally decide that she can't take it and arranging for her superhero persona to be caught on camera.
- Bad "Bad Acting": Trish throws a tantrum as a distraction for Jessica to rob Sallinger's file, by turning on her car alarm and pretending to having lost her keys, then feigning a breakdown. It's extremely over-the-top, but works.
- Becoming the Mask: Trish notes the existence of this trope, and finds it particularly disturbing since her own mask is that of a Dumb Blonde dysfunctional diva.
- Chekhov's Gun: The wrestling trophies shown earlier come back big time, as it turns out Sallinger resented his "best friend" for being "gifted" at wrestling, and murdered him for it.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: After an initial surprise attack, Jessica completely flattens Sallinger in front of his class. To add insult to injury, the kids all cheer on her instead of seeing her as a "cheater", as Sallinger hoped.
- Fantastic Racism: Apparently, not only Sallinger hates powered people in his hometown.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Jessica, after Sallinger slanders her.
- Internal Reveal: Zaya finds out that Malcolm knows the masked vigilante and let her get away with confidential data.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Subverted. Jessica and Trish go to Sallinger's home town to prove that he staged the accident his brother died in, but the more they look the less likely it seems. On the other hand, they do find evidence that he was guilty of another murder.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Downplayed but clearly Ronnie's reaction when Jessica's discovery that Salinger had the body of his first victim buried all these years in the backyard of the boy's parents makes her realize she's been defending a psychopath.
- Never Found the Body: Nathan's body was never found, and his father seems not to have entirely given up hope. It turns out that it was never found because Sallinger buried it under the family's gazebo.
- Noble Bigot with a Badge: Chief Ronnie Velasco is pretty bigoted against Jessica (or powered people in general) and threatens to shoot her, but ultimately thanks her for her help.
- Oh, Crap!:
- The cop threatening Jess with a gun, telling her to stop digging for Nathan's body has a big one when Jess unearths Nathan's body in his own back yard. Even worse, because Nathan's own parents are there for it and she was giving Jess shit as a super.
- Zaya gets a big one when, reviewing security footage, she sees Malcom first fighting then having a friendly chat with the vigilante that broke into their law firm and stole information that let said vigilante assault their clients.
- Put on a Bus: Erik is mentioned to have left town with Berry to lay low for a while.
- Scenery Porn: The trip Trish and Jess take upstate is basically New England porn.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Malcolm decides to help Jessica and Trish, not being able to accept that Hogarth is defending a serial killer.
- Straw Feminist: Sallinger tries to make Jessica out to be one, implying that she's just going around beating up single white men now.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Without hard evidence, Sallinger is free to walk after spending one night in prison.
- Malcolm, having decided to help Jessica and Trish, barges into Alias Investigations to see Jessica's files. Naturally, his successor is unwilling to just hand them over without Jessica's approval.
- Sallinger may have been able to seriously injure Jessica when he got the drop on her, but he proves to be no match for her in a one-on-one brawl.
- Villain Ball: Sallinger's arrogant insistence that he's better than everyone drives him to antagonize his own attorney, a top-notch lawyer with a massive and well-earned reputation.Sallinger: I take issue with unfounded arrogance. So start proving you're as good as you say you are. You need me more than I need you.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Sallinger has not only kept his legal record spotless, but people in the town he grew up in remember him as a sweet kid. He is also a very popular wrestling coach. That attitude quickly changes when the discovery of the body of his first victim is found.
- We Need a Distraction: Jessica has Trish stage a meltdown in front of the police station so she can rummage through their files.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Both Malcolm and Jessica are very unhappy about Hogarth defending Sallinger.
