"People who are born into wealth as you were... they often seek comfort in the face of adversity. Perhaps it's time for you to feel uncomfortable."
— The Adjudicator
Winston plots to eliminate Cormac and take his place as the head of the Continental.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation: Did Cormac really vouch for Tom to the conservatory, or was he just showing off his knowledge? Was his fury that Tom would leave without asking him, or that he asked Charon to leave as well?
- Ambiguously Gay: Charon's relationship with the Tom, the cellist, reads as a careful courtship, with the two spending time together on the roof, alone, with Tom serenading Charon as the latter writes a letter to his father, including compliments to the cellist. Tom even asks Charon to run away with him, leaving the Continental behind.
- Ax-Crazy: Cormac reveals his true colors, not merely as a sadist, but as a true monster, when he beats Tom to death with a putter for ambiguous reasons.
- Big Brother Is Watching: The Adjudicator learns within minutes that Cormac has beaten Tom to death on Continental grounds.
- Blind Without 'Em: A minor example, but Gene's performance as a sniper is definitely starting to slip due to fading vision. Though he hates to admit it, he still has prescription glasses to correct the issue.
- Briar Patching: Miles goes to recruit Gene, but acts like he doesn't want his help. Gene practically jumps at the job, so Miles allows it. After a moment, Gene realizes he's been played and compliments Miles.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Cormac beats Thomas the cellist to death simply for suggesting that Charon could broaden his horizons.
- Even Evil Has Standards: We're introduced to Miles' and Lou's Uncle Gene on the roof of a building with a sniper rifle. He looks at a child's birthday party, scanning the crowd until he comes across an unassuming man offering a boy a soft pretzel, and he shoots the man in the head. Then we see the "Wanted!" Poster he's carrying, declaring the man a Boston resident who's being sought for "harassment, sexual misconduct, sex abuse of a child less than twelve years of age".
- Facial Horror: It isn't shown, but Cormac is very disturbed by the Adjudicator's face after she removes her mask.
- Fingore: KD forces the coroner's assistant, who broke the rules and cremated Frankie in exchange for a wad of cash and a nice watch, to tell her all about it by slamming a file cabinet drawer shut on his hand.
- Friendly Sniper: Gene is polite, affable, and can pop a skull at 300 yards.
- Golf Clubbing: Cormac uses a golf club to bash Thomas's head in, then goes ballistic on his corpse and cello.
- Insane Troll Logic: Cormac brutally murders Thomas the cellist for trying to "steal" Charon from him. In reality, Thomas was leaving soon and was just being a friend to Charon, advising him to do the same in order to expand his horizons and seek out new opportunities.
- It's All About Me: Winston describes Cormac as only caring about himself, and only helping others to the extent it helps him. He demonstrates this by telling Charon the story of how he met Cormac. Cormac complained about his ragged shoes and sent a burly guy to his class to deliver a new pair, as Cormac only cared about how Winston's appearance reflected on him. When Charon returns to the Continental and finds Thomas dead, Cormac finally agrees to bring Charon's father to America, but only because his father is a violinist and Cormac perceives that he would be more loyal as a family member.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Gene is introduced sniping a wanted pedophile.
- Pragmatic Villainy: The Adjudicator is informed that Cormac violated the Truce Zone by killing Thomas and on those grounds could have him eliminated at once, but she orders it be kept secret because she believes there's a better chance the coin press will emerge by allowing the small fish to eat each other rather than clean house.
- Race Against the Clock: Cormac is given three days to find the coin press or be replaced.
- Shame If Something Happened: As Charon walks in on the horror of Tom's corpse, Cormac walks down the stairs making a speech about loyalty and says the next resident musician should be an international figure who will nevertheless fit in like family: Charon's father.
- Title Drop: Thomas plays a piece from Don Giovanni, the theme of which is "loyalty to the master".
- Underestimating Badassery: Charon takes the Internal Reveal of Tom's death and Cormac's threat against his father in stride. He confesses to Cormac that "a team approached me, plotting against you, they asked me to join them". Cormac doesn't realize that Charon is playing him, staying close to his side and earning his trust while plotting against him.
- The Unreveal: The Adjudicator removes her mask, but we don't get to see it. Judging by Cormac's expression, it's quite disturbing and puts him off his dinner.Charon: What do we do now, sir?
Cormac: Now? I'm still trying to get over her face. - Wham Line: After Lou threatens the Orphan Master.Orphan Master: Nail those chicken feet to that door. [in Chinese] Boogie Man will be coming.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Yen is furious that Winston had Frankie cremated without consulting her.
