afterMath
"You wanna have some fun?"
Written by Melissa R. Byer & Treena Hancock
Directed by Scott Peters
Directed by Scott Peters
"Caitlin, I did the best I could out there. All right? Please, let's just try and salvage something from this. This can't have been for nothing."
— John Proudstar / Thunderbird
The Mutant Underground struggles to protect the rescued mutants while trying to figure out the Inner Circle's plan, Andy bonds with Rebecca, and Jace joins the Purifiers.
Tropes:
- Almost Dead Guy: Sadly, Michael is too injured to be rescued.
- Big Damn Kiss: Rebecca and Andy share one after the latter manages to connect with her.
- Bloody Murder: The rescued mutant Michael has highly corrosive Hollywood Acid for blood and all other bodily fluids, which makes treating his wounds a tad difficult. This is especially problematic when they have to hide him from the Purifiers, as he keeps melting the needles being used to keep his collapsed lung from suffocating him.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Naturally, a lot of the slogans used by the Purifiers are very similar to those used by actual hate groups, like "They will not replace us!"
- Don't Create a Martyr: Jace talks the Purifiers out of doing a counter-protest against the mutants because one wrong move against a mutant caught on a cell phone would make them look like the bad guys and give the mutants further credibility. He instead has them investigate the mutant friendly free clinics in an attempt to find the escaped patients, so they'll be enforcing law and order.
- Flashback: At the beginning of the episode, showing Jace as a rookie officer who hasn't developed an outright hatred against mutants yet.
- Heroic Sacrifice: To keep John from exposing the Mutant Underground, Michael allows himself to die from his collapsed lung while convincing Caitlin to say he's improving so John won't feel pressured to attack the Purifiers.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: Andy takes great offense to the Frost sisters constantly referring to Rebecca as a weapon instead of treating her like a person. This attitude ultimately allows him to bring her out of her shell, getting their plans back on track.
- It's All My Fault: Both Caitlin and John blame themselves for how bad things have gotten.
- Light 'em Up: Glow, one of the mutants freed from the mental facility, has the power to emit flying orbs of light.
- A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: Rebecca is so traumatized by the torturous experiments she went through, that even the Frost sisters recoil in disgust when reading her mind.
- Mind over Matter: Rebecca has the power to turn objects inside-out.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Clarice accuses Erg of being no better than the Inner Circle. Erg resents the comparison, as he wants nothing to do with the Hellfire Club or the Mutant Underground. He just wants to have his community live in peace.
- Police Brutality: A flashback shows Jace as a rookie cop with an older partner. His partner sees a mutant loitering at a convenience store and decides to aggressively question the mutant on his activities before tasing him unprovoked, rationalizing it as necessary because there's no telling what a mutant is capable of. Jace reluctantly arrests the mutant at his partner's insistence.
- Rabble Rouser:
- Jace is shown watching a show called "The Ryan Hour", where the hosts make hateful tirades against mutants.
- Officer Ted Wilson also makes a speech against mutants at the Purifier assembly and wants to organize a counter-protest against the mutant groups emboldened by the attack on the hospital.
- Right-Wing Militia Fanatic: The Purifiers violently search every possible safe place for mutants, like clinics.
- Token Good Teammate: Jace is this to the Purifiers, convincing them to apply their manpower more constructively and balking at the violence some of the more racist members display.
"We're gonna hit them where they live."
