Line #11 Recap/AlteredCarbonS01E10TheKillers


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alteredcarbons01e10thekillers.jpg]]
2	->'''Title from:''' ''Film/TheKillers'' (1946)
3
4	Everything is revealed as Kovacs confronts Reileen for the last time, and Lizzie faces the Bancrofts.
5	----
6	!!Tropes in this episode:
7
8	* AlasPoorVillain:
9	** When Laurens is arrested, he looks less like a CorruptCorporateExecutive and more like a small child who realized he actually did something bad.
10	--->"I thought I was a decent man."
11	** Same with Miriam, at least in Laurens' eyes; upon hearing she drugged him into the rage-induced [[KilledOffForReal Real Death]] of two prostitutes as vengeance for his philandering, he is genuinely remorseful.
12	--->"... We've ruined each other, haven't we?"
13	** There's also the death of Rei. By the time of her death she's almost completely unsympathetic, but it's hard not to have some pity for her given her past and her psychotic devotion to her brother. That same brother kills her because he knows she'll never stop trying to kill the people he loves. They share one last HeadButtOfLove before he shoots her stack, then cradles her body and cries. For a moment they're even briefly transformed into the innocent children they were rather than the people they are now. Kovacs wonders if she felt relief in her final moments, or if she realized what kind of monster she became.
14	* AssholeVictim: Lizzy kills the pervert guard in cold storage who immediately tries to rape her, as well as a deranged customer who just killed two sleeves for his satisfaction.
15	* AutobotsRockOut: "Future Starts Slow" by The Kills plays when Lizzie goes on her RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the "monsters" holding her family.
16	* BigDamnHeroes:
17	** Lizzie Elliot, who uploads her consciousness into a synth body on ''Head In The Clouds'' so she can save her parents and work with them to crash the ship.
18	** Ortega comes charging in just when Rei is about to [[EyeScream cut out the implant in Tak's eye]] and destroy his Elias Ryker sleeve.
19	* BigElectricSwitch: What the Elliot's use to CutTheJuice and bring down Reileen's hovership.
20	* BittersweetEnding: Reileen is defeated, and her organization dismantled. The senior Bancrofts face justice for their crimes, with the more moral son Isaac taking over their empire. The Elliot's are reunited, as are Ortega and Ryker, and Takeshi is left a wealthy man. Also, Amendment 653 is passed, meaning Mary Lou and many of Reileen's victims can be resurrected. But a lot of people are dead, including Mickey, Poe, and Ortega's entire family. Takeshi is left once again alone, having been forced to kill his own sister, on a possible wild goose chase searching for Quell, and possibly loved Ortega to boot and had to let her go.
21	* BondOneLiner: Lizzy in her new role.
22	-->'''Customer''': I didn't dial for the S and M package. Although, maybe I'll just take it anyway.
23	-->'''Lizzie''': (stabbing him in the head) It's on the house.
24	* BorrowedCatchphrase: When Ortega finally takes down the Ghostwalker, she delivers his own catchphrase to him.
25	-->''"Are you a believer, motherfucker?"''
26	* CameBackStrong: Lizzie already gained some combat skills thanks to Poe but she gets even stronger in the real world by uploading her mind to a synthetic body, complete with super strength and VoluntaryShapeshifting.
27	* ChekhovsGun:
28	** Literally. The gun that Rei drops at the start of her fight with Kovacs comes back later, when he uses it to kill her permanently.
29	** As shown with [[Recap/AlteredCarbonS01E05TheWrongMan Carnage]] and the synth-stripper performing for Kovacs in the first episode, synthetic sleeves have the ability of VoluntaryShapeShifting, changing their appearance at will. Lizzie, after needlecasting into one of Head in the Clouds synthetic sleeves (the same one being fondled by the guard in the previous episode) morphs from a generic female into her original appearance.
30	* ColonyDrop: Averted. Luckily Head in the Clouds was orbiting above the former San Francisco Bay, meaning there were no casualties from the impact save those already in the satellite. Though given Lizzie's PrescienceByAnalysis, luck probably wasn't involved.
31	* CradlingYourKill: After killing Rei and damaging her massive hovership [[CollapsingLair so that it starts to fall from the sky]], Takeshi chooses not to escape and instead cradles her body because she's his little sister. As he does so, we get a brief glimpse of both of them transformed back into the children they were when first separated.
32	* DarkestHour: The start of the episode: Takeshi and Vernon are captured without weapons, Ortega is trapped in virtual torture, Ava is kidnapped, and Poe and Mickey are both KilledOffForReal. It's not looking good for the heroes.
33	* DeathIsCheap: A final example. Kovacs dies together with his sister in dramatic fashion but is alive and kicking in the next scene.
34	* DesignatedGirlFight: Averted; the climactic fight is between Ortega and the Ghostwalker and between Kovacs and Rei respectively.
35	* DidYouActuallyBelieve: Rei's reaction when Tak tries to shoot himself with her gun, as she didn't trust him enough to give him one with bullets.
36	* DiesWideOpen: Combined with DueToTheDead. On board of the Head in the Clouds, Lizzy closes the eyes of two sleeves who died with open eyes, murdered by a sadistic John.
37	* DisneyDeath: Takeshi, grief-stricken over being forced to kill Rei, stays behind as Head in the Clouds crashes. Luckily, his stack survives and he has a convenient back-up body in the form of his clone.
38	* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Poe uses his last moments to transmit Lizzie to Head in the Clouds.
39	* EarnYourHappyEnding: The Vernon family survive, and Ava gets pardoned and her proper sleeve back, though Lizzy elects to keep her synthetic sleeve. One of the Ryker sleeves survives also, so Ortega can be reunited with him now that he's been acquitted.
40	* EnemyMine: After Rei and Tak stab each other, Rei says they can still make it to the escape pods if they work together. [[AvertedTrope Tak refuses.]]
41	* EngineeredPublicConfession: The recording implant Takeshi installed in Ryker's sleeve survived the destruction of Head in the Clouds, and he and Ortega use it to broadcast her confession of the conspiracy directly in Sun Touch house during a party the Bancrofts are throwing. It's complete with the crimes of Laurens and Miriam.
42	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Averted; Reileen reveals that she now despises her mother for being weak, and is determined never to be like that herself.
43	* EvenEvilHasStandards:
44	** Laurens is horrified with Miriam's torture of Lizzie, having never intended any harm to come to her and completely ignorant of his wife's actions.
45	** However it's also subverted, as the fact that Laurens had standards gave him the illusion that he was a [[ByronicHero fundamentally decent man with some Byronic flaws]]. His HeelRealisation strips away this illusion.
46	** Many of the other Meths are openly shocked when they hear what Miriam did to Lizzie.
47	* FaceDeathWithDignity: Poe, AI to the Raven Hotel, calmly stares down the Ghostwalker and declares him to be an inhuman monster. While in VR, he sends Elizabeth Elliot away to save her life and allow her to exact revenge on those who destroyed her. He even quietly recites poetry as death overtakes him.
48	* ForWantOfANail: The entire present day events of the series are revealed to have been kicked off by Lizzie's pregnancy.
49	* HeelFaceTurn: Tanaka and Prescott are both finally faced with too many atrocities from the Meths to ignore.
50	* HeIsNotMyBoyfriend: Even with Tak risking everything to save her, this trope still comes up.
51	-->'''Rei:''' ''(to Tak)'' You think you love her, don't you?
52	-->'''Ortega:''' I can't stand this fucking asshole!
53	* GroundhogDayLoop: Combined with ForcedToWatch. Leung forces Ortega to continuously relive the scene of her entire family's murder in virtual reality. ForTheEvulz.
54	* HandicappedBadass: Vernon's leg wound considerably slows him down, but doesn't stop him once he sees that Lizzie has made it to Head in the Clouds.
55	* HologramProjectionImperfection: Poe's holographic image averts this trope throughout the season but it starts flickering when he dies.
56	* IfICantHaveYou: Rei eventually decides that killing Kovacs is a better alternative than him locking her stack up and staying with his allies and love interest.
57	* IHaveYourWife: Rei's final bargaining chip with Tak. She claims to have Quell's DHF backed up in a hidden location, and will only tell him the location if he helps her escape. He refuses.
58	* ImperiledInPregnancy: Miriam is shown in a flashback as she kicks Lizzy in the stomach [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown who is lying on the ground screaming]], leading to a miscarriage.
59	* InterrogationMontage: A brief version with the two Takeshi's getting the same information from two different UN investigators in a virtual interrogation room.
60	* InThatOrder: Lizzy has become {{transhuman}} enough to predict the future (in a MadOracle manner) which she sees as "Salvation...death...retribution." Poe quips, "Perhaps you could tell me in what particular order?"
61	* IronicNurseryTune: Tak sings "The Patchwork Man" to Rei as he cradles her lifeless body, the same story he read to her as a child.
62	* {{Irony}}: Ortega is only able to defeat Leung because of her super strong new arm, with him being responsible for the loss of the original.
63	* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: Kovacs learns that the gun Reileen handed him was not loaded when he tries to kill himself.
64	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Kovacs gives up Ryker's sleeve so that Ortega can be reunited with her lover...regardless of how he feels about her.
65	* IWillFindYou: Kovacs leaves at the end of season one to find Quell's stack and resurrect her.
66	* KarmicDeath: Several:
67	** Lizzie kills a guard who had immediately tried to rape her when she re-sleeved into a synthetic sleeve.
68	** Ghostwalker/Leung is KilledOffForReal by Ortega, with the same weapon that he used to kill her partner and her family.
69	* LockDown: Tak is trapped on the wrong side of a door with his sister.
70	* MutualKill: Tak and Rei's duel climaxes with them stabbing each other. Although, as they are both Envoys and MadeOfIron, they don't die.
71	* NeckSnap: Lizzy kills the guard in cold storage this way.
72	* NeverGoingBackToPrison: When Kovacs tells his sister that she will stand trial, she replies that she will never go back on ice.
73	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Prescott hitting RockBottom only means she has nothing to lose by turning on her former employers.
74	* PetTheDog: Laurens faces his arrest with dignity, and hands over his business empire to Isaac, admitting that [[IShouldHaveDoneThisYearsAgo he should have done it long ago]].
75	* RedAlert: Averted; Rei orders Leung not to sound the alert as it will tip off Kovacs' friends that their intrusion has been discovered. Instead she sends Leung to the Raven to kill or capture everyone there.
76	* SadisticChoice: Rey orders Kovacs to RD either Ortega, Vernon, or Ava. If he doesn't comply all three will be killed. He chooses to TakeAThirdOption to try to blow out his own stack, but Rei points out ItWorksBetterWithBullets.
77	* SaveTheVillain: Averted; Rei tells her brother that if they work together, they have a chance of making it across the hull to the {{Escape Pod}}s. Instead Tak shoots her in the stack, knowing that Rei will continue to be a threat to his friends as long as she lives.
78	* SeeYouInHell: A DefiantToTheEnd Poe says this to the Ghostwalker. Ortega sees he ends up there.
79	* ShooOutTheClowns: Poe and Mickey are both killed.
80	* ShoutOut: Poe quotes from his namesake's "Annabel Lee" as he's dying.
81	* SwordFight: Combined with KatanasAreJustBetter. How Tak and Rei's final battle plays out. It helps she has a collection of Katanas in her office.
82	* ThatManIsDead: Rei about herself.
83	-->'''Kovacs''': Rei-chan...
84	-->'''Reileen''': Don't call me that. I'm not that pathetic little girl anymore. I killed her...and became something stronger.
85	* ThereCanOnlyBeOne: The U.N. representatives that run the investigation into the destruction of Head in the Clouds manage to save Kovacs' stack from the reck, but Ryker's sleeve is killed on impact. They also apprehend his clone, place them both in virtual, and make them choose who will survive, as legally there can only be one DHF of a person at a time. They both accept the terms, and end up doing RockPaperScissors to determine. In the end, original Tak wins and lives, complete with Ryker's 3D printed sleeve.
86	* TheReveal: Miriam Bancroft is responsible for Lizzie's madness. Laurens had impregnated Lizzie as one of her johns, and Lizzie visited Sun Touch House to tell him. Instead she found Miriam, who attacked her and forced a miscarriage when Lizzie refused to be bribed into an abortion. (As she would later admit, while she could begrudgingly tolerate affairs, she couldn't bear the thought of him having a child with anyone besides her.) She then had Prescott reach out to Reileen to "fix the problem", and Reileen then had Lizzie kidnapped and tortured at the Wei Clinic, which resulted in Lizzie being DrivenToMadness. Reileen then blackmailed Miriam with the information, forcing Miriam to drug Laurens with Stallion. Laurens, in his addled state, murdered a prostitute at Head in the Clouds. Mary Lou witnessed the murder, and tried to escape by jumping from the base, gambling that she would be re-sleeved. Reileen had planned to blackmail Laurens into stopping the Neo-Catholic legislation, but he committed suicide out of guilt so that his backup wouldn't remember the murder.
87	* StopOrIShootMyself: On being handed a pistol with one round and told to ShootYourMate, Takeshi aims it at his own stack, knowing his own life is the only thing that Rei values. But it turns out [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets the gun isn't loaded]].
88	* TragicKeepsake: The necklace that Rei wears belonged to her and Takeshi's mother, before their abusive father forced her to relinquish it and then murdered her. Subverted as Rei coldly tells Takeshi that she only wears it so that she won't be 'weak' like their mother was.
89	* VillainsWantMercy: Once Ortega has the Ghostwalker on the ropes, he starts desperately pleading for her not to kill him. She does it anyway for what he did to her family.
90	* WatchingTroyBurn: Ortega watches in horror from the safety of a police FlyingCar as ''Head in the Clouds'' burns up and falls into San Francisco Bay, knowing that Kovacs is still on board.
91	* WouldHurtAChild:
92	** Tak calls out Rei for [[MakeAnExampleOfThem killing two innocent siblings]], just like they used to be. This only angers Rei that he would bring up her 'weak' past.
93	** For all her talk of loving her children, Miriam only loves ''her'' children, and won't accept Laurens Bancroft having a child with anyone else, which might usurp her position.
94	* WouldYouLikeToHearHowTheyDied: When the Ghostwalker has Ortega at his mercy, he tells her that her mother prayed to God when she died. "[[WhereIsYourXNow Where is your God now?]]" Ortega makes a point of reminding the Ghostwalker of this before she Real Deaths him.
95	-->'''Ortega:''' [[IronicEcho My mother prayed to God, and He put you in my arms.]] So tell me; are you a believer, motherfucker?!
96	* YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo: A variation; Rei orders her men to take away Tak's friends rather than insist he kill them, but she's not letting them go, just holding on to them until Tak is willing to kill them himself.

Context Recap / AlteredCarbonS01E10TheKillers