Jefferson pays Tobias a visit and warns him to stay away from his family.
- Appropriated Appellation: After Anissa calls Grace's outfit "wild", the latter decides to use it as her superhero name (spelled "Wylde", like her former surname).
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Inverted. While in a bar, Jefferson badmouths himself as Black Lightning, causing all other customers to speak up for him.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: A heroic version. When Jefferson speaks up at a bar on "what has Black Lightning done?" a young man stands up to talk about how Black Lightning not only saved his life but told him how to get back to school and off the streets. Jefferson's expression makes it clear he doesn't remember this at all but is moved by how he changed this man's life for the better.
- Catapult Nightmare: Jefferson wakes up like this from a dream about being attacked by Tobias.
- Dropped a Bridge on Her: Jennifer seemingly overloads with energy and explodes.
- Dream Intro: The episode once again opens with a dream of Jefferson that has Tobias kill him.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Jefferson is seen drinking heavily again.
- Hypocrite: Both Lynn and Jefferson once again accuse each other of secret keeping while doing so themselves. Though at the end of the episode, they finally apologize to each other.
- Internal Reveal: Jennifer and TC find out that Jefferson has been doing underground fights and Lynn learns of it shortly afterwards too.
- Jerkass Realization: At the end of the episode, both Jefferson and Lynn finally realize how bad they have treated each other and apologize. Jefferson also tries to apologize to Jennifer, but she doesn't respond.
- Mayor Pain: Billy Black, who rejected Tobias Whale's offer just one episode ago, now comes crawling back to him and accepts his support. Not that it saves him.
- Mind over Matter: Tobias's right-hand man Red apparently has telekinetic abilities, as he demonstrates with a coin.
- The Mole:
- Deputy Chief Robinson turns out to be one for Lala.
- Jefferson also proposes that Lynn should act as one for them working for Tobias.
- New Era Speech: Mayor Black tries one shortly before he is gunned down.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Jefferson beats his cage fight opponent so bad that Devonte has to pull him off of him.
- No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Tobias invites Jefferson to dinner to gloat.
- Popcultural Osmosis Failure: TC has never heard of Fight Club, while Jennifer in turn doesn't know what Punch-Out!! is.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Lala asks Jefferson to stop fighting. Not out of concern, but because he doesn't want to risk scrutiny in case Jefferson dies in his ring.
- Pretender Diss: Jefferson calls Red and Val Seong "knock-off Joey Toledo and Syonide".
- Ripped from the Headlines: People being abducted into unmarked vans in Portland is being mentioned.
- Sabotage to Discredit: TC and Gambi put a design flaw into the DEGs to delay the rollout. It buys them a few days.
- Shout-Out: Tobias compares the Pierces to the Incredibles.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Chief Ana Lopez blames the Mayor's death on Grace, Anissa, and Jennifer, despite their involvement obviously saving more lives.
- Unwitting Pawn: Tobias deliberately fed Lala the information of when and where he'll be, so he can use the shootout to discretely get rid of Mayor Billy Black as payback for turning him down one episode earlier.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Inverted. Jeff has been on a violent bender for the last four episodes, raging in despair that he can't save everyone. While he's sat in a bar, drinking, a Fox News expy calls his daughter a liar and a violent criminal, prompting some fellow patrons to start talking about Black Lightning. One praises him as "old school", a real hero who wouldn't get caught up in fame tiktok nonsense, while the other says he's just old. Jefferson loses it and rants a bit that "Black Lightning" never managed to do any good and things are terrible. Then another patron slams his non-alcoholic soda on his table and say, essentially, "The fuck is wrong with you? Black Lightning saved this city from a hostile occupation by fascistic US agents and an invasion by a fascistic foreign government at the same time." He then praises BL for saving his life as a kid and giving him a second chance. Oh, that patron also happens to be the detective who's been pushing back against Tobias's tame chief of police.BL Defender: So when you talk Black Lightning, you put respect on that man's name. [salute with drink, rest of bar responds in kind]
Jefferson: [Ashamed and moved]
