Wolverine is targeted by his former teammates of Alpha Flight.
This episode provides examples of:
- Agony Beam: The "probe" thing they use to detect Wolverine's skeleton apparently hurts really bad. Why exactly it does isn't explained, though a possibility is it electrifies his metal skeleton, as it makes an electrical-sounding noise.
- Batman Gambit: Alpha Flight and Department H exploited Wolverine's loyalty to Heather to lure him to Canada, where it'd be much easier to subdue him than if he was anywhere near the X-Men.
- Beast Man: Wolverine became one as a result of the trauma of being experimented on by the Weapon X project. James and Heather Hudson found him in this state and rehabilitated him.
- Sasquatch is a more explicit example of this trope.
- Bittersweet Ending: Wolverine is safe, but he permanently severs ties with his old friends and colleagues.
- The Cameo: During Jean's efforts to find Xavier, viewers see Domino and Archangel.
- Captain Patriotic: Vindicator's costume is based on the Canadian flag and he's the leader of Canada's version of The Avengers.
- Clothes Make the Superman: Vindicator's powers (flight, energy blasts, and protective forcefield) stem from his suit.
- Deadpan Snarker: Wolverine has his share of moments while in custody:Chasen: All right, Vindicator, I want that skeleton now!
Wolverine: What's a matter, old pal? Forget your pocketknife? - The Dog Bites Back: This is the first episode we see of Wolverine's backstory, and it shows the process in which adamantium was bonded to his skeleton. The director who oversaw several experiments on Logan boasts of making the ultimate living weapon, but once Logan realizes that it also gave him metal claws, he immediately breaks free from the containment, chases after the director, and rampages across the laboratory, leading to the destruction of the compound.
- Don't Make Me Destroy You: Wolverine has no problem going at it with the other members of Alpha Flight, but due to Shaman's more peaceful nature, he warns him to get out of his way.Wolverine: I'm warnin' you, medicine man. Don't make me move you.
- Early-Bird Cameo: During Jean's efforts to find Xavier, viewers see several characters who will be more important in later seasons:
- Nightcrawler, who gets his own self-titled episode in Season 3 and reappears in Season 5's "Bloodlines."
- Cannonball, who won't get a major role until near the very end of Season 5 in "Hidden Agendas."
- Psylocke, who will be one of the targeted mutants in Season 4's "Beyond Good and Evil" four-episode arc.
- Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch appear together. Quicksilver will appear with the rest of X-Factor for the fight scene in Season 3's "Cold Comfort," while Scarlet Witch joins her brother for Season 4's "Family Ties."
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Ultimately, Chasen wants to remove Wolverine's skeleton to learn how to recreate the experiment. Heather is outraged and quits the department in protest.
- Chasen told Alpha Flight they were simply recapturing Wolverine so he could be on the team again. The team rebels when they learn that was not Chasen's intent and that he's gonna go as far as to kill Wolverine.
- Subverted with Vindicator. He claims to be Wolverine's friend and that he's only acting as an antagonist to bring him back into the fold. When Chasen suggests a procedure that'd kill Wolverine, however, Vindicator doesn't offer even the slightest protest.
- Flashback: Several interspersed throughout the first half or so: the experiment that gave Wolverine his adamantium skeleton, what he went through after his escape, and going to work for Department H.
- Foreshadowing: Xavier and Magneto are confronted by the first of the Savage Land Mutates, Vertigo, who says they follow a new master.
- Friend to All Living Things: In the flashback, Logan attacks James and Heather because he thinks they're going to kill a deer instead of simply studying it.
- Green Thumb: Shaman, as a result of his Magical Native American abilities.
- I Lied: Chasen doesn't want Wolverine back in Alpha Flight; he wants to unlock the secrets of the adamantium skeleton. Vindicator and Heather know that, but the rest of Alpha Flight sure didn't.
- I Owe You My Life: Zig-zagged. In the past, Logan truly appreciates what James and Heather did for him and was happy to join Department H to return the favor. That has, obviously, changed by the present.Vindicator: We saved you. We gave you back your life! How could you leave us?!
Wolverine: So, I could be your weapon? Sorry, James. - Insane Admiral: General Chasen. Restarting a project on human experimentation via bonding indestructible metals to their skeletons is, at best, highly unethical. But trying to have the one success who served in your superhero team vivisected is going into crazypants territory.
- Magical Native American: Shaman invokes the trope by being a native American with mystical powers over plant life.
- Mythology Gag:
- When Wolverine joins Department H, the proposed codename is Weapon X.
- Chasen alludes to some "less than encouraging" attempts to recreate the experiment that led to Wolverine.
- Noodle Incident: The exact circumstances of how and why Wolverine left Department H to join the X-Men.
- Redemption Equals Life: Ironically, it's not the target himself, but by proxy: Once Chasen decided to have Wolverine vivisected, Heather is appalled and quits Department H in protest, and blocks the apparatus that could presumably do it. She tries to appeal to her husband's better judgment for him to see how wrong the whole thing is — but it takes him as long as when Wolverine is about to escape, and he still tries to prevent him from leaving Alpha Flight again. Wolverine defeats Vindicator but Heather pleads that he spares the latter's life. Wolverine complies, but it's implied that had Heather not drawn a line in the sand and tried to stop Chasen, he would've dealt Vindicator a coup de grace.
- Reluctant Mad Scientist: Heather Hudson did lay a trap to get Wolverine back to Canada to study how he survived the adamantium bonding process, but from the way she went about it, if she could help it, she would've left Wolverine alone — and that at least with her the experiment would be done humanely. Once it became clear that Wolverine's life was at risk — she canceled the project and refused to be a part of the whole thing (or allow it to continue) if it meant that this was what Department H was prepared to do.
- The Reveal: The woman (Vertigo) Xavier and Magneto encounter on a bridge in the Savage Land was created by Magneto. The latter refuses to elaborate to Xavier, presumably out of shame and the belief that they were going to meet their end anyway.
- Say My Name: The episode begins with Wolverine shouting Heather's name.
- Shirtless Captives: After being captured by Alpha Flight and Vindicator, Wolverine is seen strapped to a table, stripped of his shirt, being inspected and interrogated by government scientists.
- They Would Cut You Up: Chasen, dissatisfied with the lack of answers from the probing, orders the removal of Wolverine's adamantium skeleton. Heather, however, is sickened upon hearing this and quits on the spot.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: All Alpha Flight really wanted was for Wolverine to come back and rejoin their team. Since he's loyal to the X-Men now, he can't very well say yes, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be open to occasional team-ups, assuming Department H wasn't going to use him like a weapon again. Sadly, they chose the most irrational way to go about convincing Wolverine to join them again: By tricking, attacking, and capturing him for their General Ripper, unaware that said General Ripper was plotting to experiment on and potentially kill him. Though Heather and the rest of the Alpha Flight members (sans Vindicator) redeem themselves by helping to save him in the end, Wolverine still cuts ties with them for what they did. He makes it very clear that if they come after him again for any reason, he won't show any mercy.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Snowbird can transform herself into different arctic animals.
- We Used to Be Friends: Wolverine and Alpha Flight argue it both ways. He also takes Heather's participation in all this particularly hard, saying she betrayed him. In the end, he warns all of them to leave him alone or else.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Wolverine gets this constantly for abandoning Alpha Flight for the X-Men. By the same token, he's not too happy with how he was used before and forcibly recaptured.
- You Are Not Alone: In the flashback, a berserker Logan frees himself from being restrained from being tied down to a bed in the Hudson household, and advances toward Heather with murderous intent. Heather tries to calm him down, and Logan finally breaks down over what happened to him in the Weapon X project. Rather than run from the room for help, Heather comforts and embraces Logan, promising to help him.
- You Fool!:Wolverine: You heard her, Vindicator! You'll pay!
Vindicator: Shut up, you fool!
