Previously on...
A recap of 2020. In it, Adrian decides to quit at the end of the year; Diane defends Julius in court, where he is accused of taking bribes; Lucca is offered a job in London by Bianca; Marissa decides she wants to be a lawyer; Jay contracts Covid.
Tropes:
- Artistic Licence University Admissions: Marissa gets into Chicago Kent law school without ever applying — she asks Lucca for advice, Lucca makes a call without telling her, and the university calls Marissa to tell her she's been admitted. * The Cameo: Michael Bloomberg appears as himself.
- Cassandra Truth: Despite Lucca's constant talk, Marissa refuses to believe she's in London, even saying "I'll drop by your office later."
- Continuity Nod: Liz points out that Diane was a name partner before Liz even started working at the firm.
- Elevator Failure: Subverted. When Adrian and Diane try to enter an elevator, it's not even there — they almost fall down the elevator shaft. The failure in question was that the doors opened anyway.
- Exact Eavesdropping: Adrian just happens to walk by Charlotte's bedroom while she's having a zoom call with someone prosecuting Julius.
- Flashback Episode: The episode is filmed like this, but is only this from the perspective that 2020 is in the past.
- From Bad to Worse: Diane gets Judge Hazelwood (Adrain's girlfriend) to recuse herself, only for her to be replaced by Judge Mullaney (the guy appointed by Trump).
- Hallucinations: Jay isn't quite as surprised to see Frederick Douglas in his hospital room as most people would be.
- Hypocrite: Diane treats the election like a sports match, acting like stuff she does at home will affect the results. Kurt points out that she's just as superstitious as she has accused conservatives of being.
- My Life Flashed Before My Eyes: Invoked by Jay when he realizes he's hallucinating hair products. He figures his death isn't preceded by his life flashing, just old "Soul Train" commercials flashing.
- Non-Indicative Name: The episode doesn't actually contain a "previously on", it just summarizes the plot of episodes 8-10 of the previous season, which were never made because of the Covid-19 virus.
- Ripped from the Headlines:
- Covid happens. Jay contracts the virus and spends months recovering. Everyone wears masks.
- It comes as a shock to both Lucca and Diane when Ruth Bader-Ginsburg dies.
- The 2020 election, the death of George Floyd and subsequent demonstrations, and the January 6 Capitol riot all affect the plot to various degrees.
