Foreshadowing, by nature, is a spoiler-heavy trope. Therefore ALL SPOILERS WILL BE UNTAGGED on this page. Proceed at your own risk!
- The Count's identity is hinted at mainly through his phone calls with his henchmen, where their second-hand reactions make him come off as having a similar personality to Nick. Also, it's repeatedly stated that he wants revenge and that he wants Nick, but never that he wants revenge ON Nick. Only Nick himself comes to that conclusion.
- The Count's henchmen wear elegant suits. A scene from the movie's early, Nick-focused version would have shown that Nick's father used to run a business named "Suitopia" - a plot element that is recycled for this story.
- The phrase crazy like a fox in particular gets used in the very first scene, albeit indirectly. The next time it's brought up is when Frost mentions it to Nick, who reacts strongly to the phrase and tells him not to use it around him again. As it turns out, it's his dad's Catchphrase.
- In Chapter 1, Nick jokingly compares the "Night Howler" junkies to the naturalists of Mystic Spring Oasis. He's closer to the truth than he realizes.
- At the end of Chapter 11, Nick vaguely hears the sound of "flapping wings" before he passes out. This is the sound of Lucy Sang coming to steal his phone.
- When Hyenandez and Delgato talk in the hospital, she gets particularly interested when he mentions he used to be a fan of lucha libre. This foreshadows that she used to be a luchador herself.
- Several in regards to Carla being The Mole:
- In her very first scene, she shows an immediate dislike towards Nick and implies that she knows someone like him.
- She prominently wears the color black and is a nocturnal predator, like most of Reynard's other top henchmammals.
- She is very defensive about anyone questioning her ability to be a cop, because she's insecure about the fact that she graduated illegitimately.
- She is shown to be protective towards her (fake) police badge, hiding it nervously when she is under threat of being searched and immediately making sure it's safe after she crashes her police cruiser. She also hangs it on her door when spending some alone time with Priscilla so the Count doesn't see, and has Wallace hold it during the wrestling match so that he does.
- She follows Nick like a hawk in the Lang Family arc, despite her clear dislike of him. When he points this out, her only response is that she needs to "keep an eye on him". Which she does, quite literally, for Reynard's plan to work.
- In the same chapter, she outright asks Nick what it was like to work for a crime lord (Mr. Big). He just tells her he did what he had to and she nods solemnly in agreement.
- When trying to get Jimmy to "mammal up", Carla utters a line that is very telling.
"What, you think failure makes you unworthy? If I had that attitude, I never would have made it through the academy! Consider it an honor to even be given that badge, don't go spitting on it!"- Her repeated insistence on fighting El Orgullo for Priscilla's honor, ignoring Priscilla's protests not to, and trying to keep her and Jimmy from coming along.
- In Chapter 22, Carla refers to Reynard as "Wilde", then admits to Jimmy that she doesn't bother to differentiate them. Indeed, try switching out "Wilde" for "Reynard" in some of her earlier POV scenes and see how they read then.
- A couple more concerning Reynard's second child, Vexey:
- In Chapter 20, he makes a Freudian Slip when he states that nothing could replace Nick "no matter how hard she tried." When Nick points this out, he quickly amends it and moves on.
- When Reynard is considering who could potentially take over his empire, he soon narrows it down to family members, saying that he only has two real options, excluding Marian. Do the math.
- When Reynard is breaking down in front of Marian, he brings up his poor relationships with his family, saying that Nick hates him, Marian is in a coma because of him, and then something vague about his "other mistake."
- While trapped in the Belfry, Carla notices the odd detail that she's been changed into a bikini between tests, which Lucy takes some disappointment in noting doesn't look good on her. While readers may at first assume the bikini is to further taunt Carla, it hints at the later reveal that the entire event is being broadcasted as a form of entertainment online.
- As for one of the longest-running mysteries, the HB Project:
- From its first appearance, it's stated that it is being built inside of an abandoned warehouse, just like Wilde Times from the original script.
- Reynard specifies that it needs to be finished by one specific day, which Fast Tony asks about. Said day turns out to be Nick's birthday, which was also foreshadowed earlier by Judy noticing a circled date on Marian Wilde's calendar.
- When asking for an update, Finnick tells him that the "giant letters" are finished, these being the letters to spell out Wilde Times. Reynard tells him to make sure he spellchecks, as he was worried about them misspelling the place as Wild Times, which they do.
- And for the final major twist of the story, Reynard's true plan during the second half:
- Starting with Reynard's big return in Chapter 26, there are a few subtle changes in his behavior. From this point onward, he gets a lot vaguer and more obtrusive concerning his motives despite the fact that the audience seemingly already knows what he's up to. He also becomes very particular with his wording, using a lot of double-meanings to imply that Nick joining him is still the plan while never again explicitly saying as much.
- He directly tells Judy during his breakdown in the hospital that he intends to target the ZPD as well as the crime lords, yet never so much as mentions this supposed goal again afterward. Something that Nick points out during Chapter 37.
- A few issues that crop up during the finale, such as Reynard running out of money to pay his henchmammals and the Lang Family ditching him en masse are completely brushed off by him despite Finnick's concerns. Which makes a lot more sense when you know that Reynard had no intention of his organization surviving the night.
- At the start of the finale itself, Nick tells Reynard that the best birthday gift he could possibly give him would be just surrendering himself. Reynard disagrees...on the grounds that he's not going to make it that easy.
"And waste all of this perfectly good build-up for nothing? Oh no, son, let's not get ahead of ourselves here! If you want to bring me down, you're gonna have to work for it!"- And when Nick suffers from a Heroic BSoD during the parking lot battle, it's the encouraging words of Reynard himself that snap him out of it.
- After revealing the Kansas City Shuffle scheme concerning the key hunt, Reynard taunts Nick that a plan relying on him misjudging his intentions is easy money. Which is more or less exactly what he's still doing on a larger scale. Nick comes close to guessing as much in the next chapter but he doesn't quite get there in time.
- During his moment of vulnerability with Dr. Hareison, Reynard bemoans that he is gambling everything he has and betting it on red. Considering that black has been the color most associated with Reynard's side since the very beginning, it becomes clear what outcome he's actually hoping for.
- Throughout the chapters that take place inside Wilde Times, Reynard's Breaking the Fourth Wall tendencies kick into overdrive with him repeatedly referring to the events as if they're currently being watched by an actual audience, which they are. In addition, his control room makes mention of a glowing red light (typically used in radio stations to indicate a live broadcast) and he mentions getting some inspiration from Lucy Sang (also concerning the broadcast). Meanwhile, the portions in Marian's apartment indicate that seeing this on TV is what sprung her into action.
- The final battle that takes place across Chapters 37 and 38 involves Reynard doing a whole bunch of in-universe Character Shilling for his son, from talking up his admirable traits to goading his closest friends into jumping to his defense. By the time he gets to Judy, he's barely bothering to hide it.
"Wait...we haven't done the bit where Twitchy talks about how great you are yet."
