This episode leads to the creation of a spinoff series, The Zeta Project.
Tropes:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Zeta went rogue because he couldn’t deprive a man of his family, despite the guy being a possible key to unraveling a terrorist scheme. The NSA believes he’s malfunctioning and refuses to believe that he has become sentient.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: At one point while holding Max hostage, Zeta holds her face in his hand and asks her about everyone she knows at school.Zeta: Now, let's go over everyone you know at school again, and this time, be more thorough.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Zeta here is vastly different from his appearance in his own series, although it might be explained by Zeta trying to use a more humanoid exoskeleton.
- Foreshadowing: After Zeta creates his unique appearance, Max hugs him and a Freeze-Frame Bonus shows her arm phasing through his hologram's arm instead of around the hologram's torso. This foreshadows when a skier accidentally stabs him with her skis, which gives away that he's Zeta in disguise.
- Gender-Blender Name: What almost blows Zeta's cover at school to Dana: misidentifying a student's gender by name alone.
- Good All Along: Given that Zeta actually kidnapped her, Max is naturally surprised when he visits...with her favorite sandwich. Max wonders where his inexplicable kindness is coming from, to which he responds it's not inexplicable. Although he's clumsy with being warm or kindly, he wasn't malicious to begin with.
- Impostor Forgot One Detail: Zeta throughout the episode.
- As the science teacher, he merely reads from the textbooks rather than giving his own words on the matter
- When talking with Dana as Max, he gets the gender of one of their friends one, though he realises this blunder and presses Max for more details on her classmates afterwards.
- Terry figures out his deception when "Max" fails to catch onto his hint about being Batman.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Zeta apologizes for his morally questionable actions, since he doesn't know how to go about things in a different way.
- Kidnapper's KFC: While holding Max captive, Zeta brings her a sandwich from her favorite deli, even making sure it has her favorite filling.
- More Dakka: Zeta and then Terry, while using a PCB making laser as a high-powered, enormous minigun.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Zeta overpowers Agent Bennett and has him at gunpoint, but displays mercy and destroys the gun. Agent Bennett repays this sentiment by having him and his men shoot Zeta down as soon as his back is turned.
- Not Helping Your Case: As Terry notes, Zeta has trouble avoiding use of violence and other questionable methods such as kidnapping, which can accidentally kill someone if he’s not careful, thus proving to the NSA that he really is just a malfunctioning robot rather than a sentient being.
- Pet the Dog:
- Zeta may have kidnapped Max to impersonate her, but he never meant her any harm and even brings her food in case she's hungry.
- Convinced Zeta is good, Terry lets him escape and fakes evidence of his destruction to buy him time to get out of Gotham.
- Poorly Disguised Pilot: Averted, as the idea of spinning off the concept into The Zeta Project did not arise until after the episode had already been produced.
- Shout-Out: One of the NSA agents insults Zeta by calling him "Tin Man", which fits rather well considering Zeta's motivation.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: The NSA refuse to let Zeta walk free because he's too valuable of a weapon to let go. They're convinced that he's just broken rather than having become self-aware.
- What You Are in the Dark: A minor example. The titular robot has the man who is hunting him cornered, with a gun on him. Zeta destroys the gun rather than shoot his tormentor.
