Badass Normal: The bald thug guarding Kimiko's assassination target puts up a surprisingly good fight against an opponent that usually tears through non-Supes like paper. And this is after his boss is already dead.
Became Their Own Antithesis: Kimiko sees Butcher as no different than Little Nina or the Shining Light, just someone using her and Frenchie as tools.
Betrayal by Offspring: It turns out that Victoria has conspired with Homelander and unexpectedly turns against Edgar at a press conference. However, Homelander presents her with evidence that her foster father would have done the same to her.
Breaking the Fellowship: When it looks like Kimiko is about to succumb to her wounds, M.M. bluntly tells Butcher that there is no more team for Marvin to look after, and that it's Butcher's fault that they fell apart.
The Chain of Harm: Homelander berates Ashley for not informing him about Neuman's upcoming press conference in time with the line "Is your idiot brain getting fucked by stupid? It's not rhetorical." Later we see Ashley insulting a subordinate of hers with the same line.
Chest Blaster: Thanks to the Soviet experiments performed on him, Soldier Boy is now capable of unleashing waves of nuclear flames from his chest. Said flames are also capable of De-powering supes.
The Coup: Homelander takes control over Vought. First he eliminates Edgar through legal ways, providing Victoria with incriminating data, then he murders Supersonic as a warning against Starlight to not oppose him.
Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears: Kimiko covers her eyes with her hands when Hughie is left naked after teleporting, and Soldier Boy poses naked in front of her.
Cutting the Knot: When Billy decides to smash a transformer with a crowbar to cut the power to the building where Soldier Boy is held.
Darkest Hour: At the end of the episode, Kimiko has been depowered and is mortally wounded. Butcher and Hughie have alienated the rest of the team for their actions. Meanwhile, Homelander has ousted Edgar from the company, learned about Maeve and Starlight's plans against him, and killed Supersonic as a warning to Starlight.
Death Seeker: Maeve fully expects to die in her coming fight with Homelander, and believes that she deserves to.
Starlight: You really care that little about yourself? Maeve:I got it coming.
Dramatic Irony: Edgar bluntly tells off Homelander for ousting him from control of Vought, warning him that the world will see Homelander for who he really is. While Edgar views this as "a pitiful disappointment", it's very clear that Homelander is something far worse.
Did Not See That Coming: For all his cunning, Edgar is completely taken by surprise by Victoria's betrayal.
Enemy Rising Behind: Done with the V-infused hamster as Frenchie is fighting a guard. The guard has the misfortune of being the one who's closer and not looking.
Horrible Judge of Character: Supersonic lets A-Train in on the plan to fight Homelander, thinking that he could be trusted due to his disdain for Homelander. Homelander states that A-Train betrayed him and kills Supersonic.
Hypocrite: When Victoria learns of Edgar collecting evidence about her, she is visibly shocked and can't accept it at first. This is after she stabbed him in the back herself by betraying him to Homelander. That said she feels great sorrow in this and only did it after direct duress to her own daughter's life, whereas what Homelander brings up about Edgar appears much more calculated.
Improvised Weapon: Kimiko takes out a gang of Russian mobsters with an arsenal of Seven-themed dildos.
Kick the Dog: When Supersonic joins the team, Homelander brings in Taco Bowls to mock his hispanic heritage.
Killed Offscreen: Homelander makes an example of Supersonic as a way to threaten Starlight, showing her his mangled corpse.
Killer Rabbit: The Russian facility that holds Soldier Boy features a V-infused hamster that makes brutal short work of a security guard.
Kimiko kills a bunch of Russian mobsters with dildos under the orders of Little Nina. In the comics, Little Nina used dildos as weapons.
This episode isn't the first time the words "bad product" are said. At the comic's end, James Stillwell spoke these words after realizing superheroes weren't marketable anymore after Homelander's failed coup of the country ruined their reputation, resulting in his mental breakdown. Unlike Stillwell, Edgar won't be having a meltdown anytime soon, considering he's sure Homelander would screw everything up now that he had no one to cover for him.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The Boys went to Russia looking for something that could kill Homelander, and now there's another virtually unkillable asshole Supe loose in the world. Good job, Butcher.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Maeve has been pretending to be neglecting training, being hungover, and spending most nights having sexual escapades. In truths, she's been sober for months, and training to fight Homelander when the time comes.
Oblivious Mockery: Ashley as the new CEO of Vought sits with Cameron Coleman and complaints about a script that she feels must have been written by a roomful of chapped-ass monkeys. Coleman comments that he was the one who wrote it.
One Last Job: Frenchie and Kimiko decide to leave the team after Butcher sends Kimiko on an assassination. But since M.M. and Hughie still need them, they decide to wait until after this last mission. No points for guessing that Kimiko gets fatally wounded when the mission goes south.
Power High: Hughie smiling and obsessing with his newly gained Healing Factor while ignoring a severely injured Kimiko that can't heal for some reason is very uncharacteristic of him, especially considering how he has been supportive of her in the previous episodes. It could be a sign of Hughie becoming Drunk with Power.
Piss-Take Rap: Soldier Boy's cover of Blondie's "Rapture" perfectly captures every White dad ever singing along to a rap song.
Power Nullifier: Whatever experiments the Russians did on Soldier Boy, they gave him this along with some sort of energy blast, since after being blasted by him, Kimiko seemingly loses her Healing Factor and Super-Strength.
Edgar: The company is yours, no one left to stand up to you. But I think. You'll. Come. To sorely regret that. Homelander: And why is that? Edgar: Because there's no one left to cover for you either. Eventually, probably soon, the world will recognize you for the pitiful disappointment you are. You are not worthy of my respect, you are not a god. You are simply... Bad product.
Soviet Superscience: A Double Subversion; the Boys' whole reason for coming to Russia was finding the Soviet weapon that killed Soldier Boy back in Nicaragua. While they don't find such a weapon, they do find Soldier Boy himself, who now has the ability to De-power supes with his chest blast.
Take That!: A-Train's energy drink commercial blatantly mocks the infamous Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad.
Homelander serves his colleagues "the best taco bowls". This is a nod to a frequently ridiculed Donald Trump tweet in which he praises the taco bowls served at Trump Tower to celebrate Cinco De Mayo.
Taking the Bullet: Kimiko jumps in front of Soldier Boy's energy blast, assuming her Healing Factor will protect her. Unfortunately, it turns out his attack also negates her powers.
Targeted to Hurt the Hero: After A-Train rats out Starlight's plan to take on Homelander, Homelander kills Supersonic and shows his badly maimed corpse to her on a rooftop, warning that the same thing will happen to Hughie if she keeps trying to take him down.
Transhuman Treachery: Homelander invokes this after Victoria conspires with him against her foster father.
Homelander: I'm glad you chose your own kind.
Villain Has a Point: While Homelander did kill Supersonic in a horrific fashion, he points out to Starlight that his death could've been avoided had she not told him about her coup which led to him telling A-Train about it, and then A-Train would later tell Homelander about it.
Homelander takes Starlight to a rooftop to show her a "magnificent view"... and shows her Supersonic's mangled corpse. He's found out about her attempted alliance against him.
What the Hell, Hero?: The other members of the Boys are understandably shocked at Billy and Hughie for injecting themselves with V24. However, Hughie gets it worse, unlike Billy, as he swiped the V24 from Butcher without permission. Also, the Boys see him as the team's heart, and the revelation that he's going down a road similar to Butcher's disappoints them all.
