Plot
Cameron fears that she may be physically or mentally deteriorating when she unintentionally kills a pigeon. Sarah, Cameron, and John worry that Riley's increasing instability may draw unwelcome attention to the family, and Sarah suspects John of telling Riley too much about the future when she hears about Riley's "bleached skulls" meltdown. When Jesse, impersonating a social worker, pours petrol on the flames, Riley begins to worry about exactly what her role in Jesse's plan is.
Tropes
- Body Horror: Cameron graphically cutting her arm open to examine the workings of her skeleton.
- Cat Fight: Averted. The final fight between Jesse and Riley is one of the most savage ones between two female characters ever broadcast on a mainstream US TV network, including strangulation with both a cord and hands, the use of broken glass as a weapon, and eye-gouging.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Jesse unsuccessfully tries to persuade Riley that death at Cameron's hands will be one.
- I Cannot Self-Terminate: Cameron's continued uncertainty about her own ability to control her actions following the damage to her chip prompts her to build a self-destruct device. She gives this to John, saying that she can't self-terminate, so she'll trust him with the device in case she goes rogue again.
- Ironic Echo: Cameron says "What am I going to do with you?" a total of three times, first to the pigeon before she kills it, and then twice to Riley when she becomes uncharacteristically indecisive about whether to kill her or not.
- Jailbait Taboo: When impersonating a social worker, Jesse pretends to Sarah that she is afraid of a sexual relationship developing between Riley and Derek.
- Kryptonite Ring: Fearing that she may become dangerously unstable, and unable to self-destruct if it begins to happen, Cameron plants an explosive charge in her head and gives John a locket containing a remote control to detonate it.
- Mistaken for Gay: When Derek turns down an approach by a hooker at the bar, she offers to introduce Derek to her friend "Davy".
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Derek spends the episode on a mission to capture and interrogate a lawyer involved with the company that owned the "Heat And Air" factory, which turns out to be a complete waste of time as Jesse doesn't turn up to take part, because she's too busy having a fight to the death with Riley.
- Shout-Out:
- To the first film. Cameron slices open her arm and works on the circuits inside, to determine why she has a glitch.
- The episode title is the usual English translation of Sinn Féin, the name of the political party associated with militant Irish nationalism. This may be an allusion drawing an analogy between Jesse's plans for Riley to die, and her final attempt to manipulate her into sacrificing her life, and the theory that the Easter Rising was deliberately suicidal and intended to inspire future Irish rebels.
- Social Services Does Not Exist: Riley is in the foster system, yet it takes a long time for anything to happen when she drops out of school, goes to Mexico without permission, attempts suicide, and has a neurotic meltdown in front of her foster family.
- Took a Level in Badass : Riley, who has so far been The Load and The Scrappy, and mostly screams and cries in the face of violence. It's jaw-dropping when she picks up a nearby blunt object and starts beating the crap out of Jessie. She only loses the fight because Jessie has a gun stashed in a drawer, within reach.
- Wham Episode: The tension between John and his family about Riley comes to a head, Riley realises that Jesse intended for Cameron to kill her, and Jesse kills Riley.
