Why They're Here
Red Team and Blue Team establish their bases in Blood Gulch.
This episode has examples of:
- Dramatic Irony: Sarge actually likes Grif in this episode for reporting Simmons' "insubordination" to him and says he thinks they're going to get along just fine. Anyone who has seen their standard relationship in any other episode in the show knows that won't be the case.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Upon assembling everyone at Blood Gulch, Agent Florida muses that the conflict could last for fourteen seasons. When Vic asks what he means, he laughs it off and explains that he meant actual seasons.
- Once More, with Clarity: It is revealed that the incident Church recalled on Sidewinder was a bunch of Fake Memories Flowers told him.
- Prequel: Final episode of the prequel trilogy.
- Revision: Back in Season 1, Church reminisces about his supposed time on Sidewinder, where he witnessed Tex take out a legion of soldiers, including his friend Private Jimmy. This scene, in particular (in addition to one from Out of Mind), was contradicted by the later revelations about the Alpha's creation and posting at Blood Gulch in Seasons 6 and 10. This is finally explained here, revealing that Private Jimmy is Church's original host body, and was lobotomized during the implementation surgery on Sidewinder. Church filled the gaps in his memory with some influence from Flowers, replacing the Freelancer personnel Tex fought during the crash with the blue army and either Carolina or the Meta with Jimmy himself.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In this episode, Project Freelancer had a list of operatives who would take over if anything happened to Capt. Flowers, AKA Agent Florida. However, Flowers tripping over a cable caused Vic's circuits to scramble, swapping the list out for recruits from Blue and Red Teams and turning Vic into the idiot he is. This ended up having major impacts on the show's timeline and would launch the downfall of Project Freelancer, since it reveals it leads to Caboose, Donut, and Sister coming to Blood Gulch.
- Wham Line: Captain Flowers' speech to the cobalt soldier he's brought into Sidewinder ends with a name that completely changes what the audience has come to expect from Captain Butch Flowers, painting the scene in a whole new light:Flowers: The world will never forget Private Jimmy.
