Owen butts heads with a long-lost macaw, while Paul receives a drastic diagnosis that could end his firefighting career.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation: At the end, Ginsberg’s actions could either be interpreted as him being a languishing pet reuniting with a prickly partner of his late owner; or, if one were to view it from a paranormal perspective, the macaw acted as a Willing Channeler for Gwyn’s spirit to communicate with Owen as much as she could before she passed on.
- Catapult Nightmare: Paul experiences multiple bad dreams, with the most recent one involving him getting crushed by the reversing fire truck while Mateo and Marjan make no move to help.
- Continuity Nod:
- Mateo tries to comfort Owen about Ginsberg’s noises, recalling his rude roommates and the group house explosion in “A Little Help From My Friends”.
- Marjan brings up Paul getting trapped in the chapel’s ruins in “Thin Ice” when his cardiologist asks what could have brought on Paul’s symptoms.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: After Paul is diagnosed with Brugada Syndrome, he doubles down on continuing his job and refuses treatment in fear of losing his career and purpose in life, much to Marjan’s concern.
- Get Out!: A hurt and enraged Paul yells this at Marjan after he learns that he’d been outfitted with a pacemaker in hospital without his consent.
- Heartfelt Apology:
- Jerkass to One: A tragic example; Ginsberg is a relatively friendly bird to TK, Mateo, and Catherine but really only shows hostility towards Owen. Eventually, Owen understands and tells Judd the reason for this happening: after the events of 9/11, he’d started drinking heavily to cope, choosing the rebuilding of the 252 fire station over spending personal time with Gwyn and TK, and becoming emotionally absent. The former ultimately lost patience with him, which was when arguments between them escalated to the point of them separating on bad terms and getting a divorce. It just so happened that around that time, Ginsberg had been listening in on most of their fights, picking up some of their angry words (and squawking quite a bit on Gwyn’s behalf) and throwing Owen’s irritated name-calling of “butt-face” back at the man.
- Jerkass Realization: Owen comes to understand that in a way, Gwyn left Ginsberg to him in her will so that he has a chance to apologize to her for his part in their failed marriage; after his talk with Judd, he gives Ginsberg a Heartfelt Apology for Gwyn’s behalf.
- Look Both Ways: A driver example. While on a FaceTime call with her military husband Javier, a woman named Norah takes her focus off of the road in surprise when he reveals he returned home from his tour early and is waiting for her at their church not far from her location. In those seconds, she swerves too far to avoid crashing into another vehicle and accidentally hits Javier, trapping his leg under her truck.
- Mood Whiplash: Just as Owen and Catherine return to his house with bird toys from the pet store, and Owen starts expressing real affection for Ginsberg, he lifts the cover of his cage and finds his lifeless body at the bottom of his perch.
- Must Make Amends: Owen admits that he’s always felt ashamed of himself for pushing Gwyn away after the events of 9/11, and wanted a chance to apologize to her. He acts on it as it leads to his above Jerkass Realization.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Norah is near-incoherent with grief and regret after she accidentally hits Javier.
- Named After Somebody Famous: The Greenwing Macaw Gwyn owned was named for the late jurist Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
- Not in Front of the Parrot!: When in the same room with Owen, Ginsberg repeats various negative phrases that include calling the man “butt-face”. This implies that most, if not all of, the arguments between Owen and Gwyn happened not only while Ginsberg was in the same room as them, but also while TK was in their shared vicinity.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: The emotional strain of Paul’s Brugada Syndrome diagnosis comes to a head when, not long after the market rescue, Paul suffers a heart attack while making spaghetti for dinner and Marjan stands by without advocating for his wishes after performing CPR.
- Repetitive Audio Glitch: Paul’s record player, which is playing “I’m a Gigolo”, starts unexpectedly playing the line “Life goes on without me…” on loop just as his heart attack comes on.
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!:
- Spiteful Will: Owen initially believes Gwyn’s terms of her will regarding him keeping her bird to be this. Considering his discontent with her terms being that Owen receive Ginsberg, and their history of vitriol, one could say she really did give him “the bird.”
- There Are No Therapists: Averted with TK, when Tommy invites him to attend one of her grief support meetings. He readily agrees, and shares a childhood story of him and Gwyn when in attendance.
- Unwanted Assistance: Paul doubles down on staying a firefighter even after learning that because of his diagnosis, any emergency call he’s part of could trigger a lethal heart attack; Marjan’s perceived inaction on his behalf after his cardiac episode causes him to push her away.
