Driven to the edge, Dex loses his way until he's offered a lifeline by Fisk. Matt comes to Karen for help, which she agrees to give—on one condition.
- Anachronic Order: The episode is told slightly out of order. The scenes with Foggy telling Nadeem about Matt's terms of surrender and about Jasper Evans take place before the scene of Matt and Karen going to Jasper's drug den. Karen takes Jasper straight to the Bulletin while Matt detours to the church to dress accordingly for his surrender to the FBI.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Dex breaks into the Bulletin offices in a Daredevil suit and kills and hurts a bunch of people, Ellison included, defeats Matt in their fight and leaves him badly injured, kills Jasper Evans before he's able to talk, and escapes from the FBI agents who try to arrest him. He successfully frames Daredevil for all of this by wearing his costume.
- Big Damn Heroes: Matt in his black Daredevil outfit arrives just in time to stop a baton thrown by Dex-as-Daredevil from hitting Foggy.
- Boom, Headshot!: How Dex kills Jasper, using Karen's own gun.
- Combat Pragmatist: Dex is not as good of a fighter as Matt, but he knows how to use office supplies as weapons to even things out.
- Commonality Connection: Fisk reveals to Dex how he murdered his father at a young age, knowing from his confidential files that Dex had issues with his parents abandoning him and that he also committed a murder at a young age. Fisk promises Dex that he will never abandon him.
- Clear My Name: Matt, Foggy, and Karen plan to use Jasper Evans's testimony that Fisk arranged his own assassination attempt in prison as a way to expose Fisk's criminal activities and get Matt cleared of the allegations Fisk's made against him. Unfortunately, Jasper is killed by Dex before he gets the chance to state anything more than his name for the record.
- Cruel to Be Kind: Fisk claims this is the reason why he indirectly destroyed the chances of Dex and Julie getting together, as she wasn't the right choice for him.
- Darkest Hour: Any chance of Matt clearing his name and getting Fisk back into prison seems destroyed and on top of that Fisk managed to lay the blame at Daredevil's feet.
- Deadline News: Happens at the Bulletin right as Karen and Ellison are beginning their interview with Jasper Evans. Dex, disguised as Daredevil, breaks into the office and kills or seriously wounds most of the reporters there as a way to discredit Daredevil, fights and defeats the man himself when Matt suits up to try to stop him, and after stabbing Matt and knocking him out, comes into Karen's office and disarms her, knocks out Foggy, injures Ellison, and kills Jasper.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Karen at the beginning, throwing some pills into the mix as well.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: When Matt and Karen question Jasper in his house, he's reluctant to give up what he knows about Fisk because of what Fisk might do to his son.
- Evil Mentor: Instead of Julie, Dex accepts Fisk as his "true North".
- Frame-Up: Dex puts on a Daredevil costume to pin the blame of the Bulletin massacre on him.
- Good is Not Nice: When Jasper refuses to talk, Karen threatens to publish an article to make it look as if he talked anyway, so Fisk will have him killed. Even Matt looks surprised at this ruthless streak.
- Hallway Fight: Dex, while disguised as Daredevil, has to beat up several of his FBI coworkers in a stairwell while escaping the Bulletin.
- He Knows Too Much: Downplayed with Jasper Evans. Matt, Foggy, and Karen all know what he does about Fisk arranging his shanking in prison, and do get to tell other people like Ellison and Nadeem about this; however, Dex does break into the Bulletin office and kill him before he's able to officially record anything more than his own name on tape.
- Hope Spot: Just when it seems like Matt will be able to clear his name and get Fisk back in prison in the process, it goes From Bad to Worse.
- Improbable Weapon User: When it becomes clear that Matt is a better hand to hand fighter, Dex evens the odds by using his Improbable Aiming Skills with office supplies.
- Interrupted Suicide: Fisk calls Dex just when he is about to blow his brains out. Given he's gotten access to hack into security feeds, suffice to say, he probably has a camera in Dex's apartment, since the timing of Felix Manning's knock at the door can't be coincidental.
- Killed Offscreen: Fisk's mother died while he was in prison.
- Luxury Prison Suite: Fisk's penthouse appartment is slowly becoming one, as he is now moving personal belongings into it.
- Manipulative Bastard: Dex works out that Fisk arranged for Julie to be employed as a bartender at the Presidential Hotel, but even that doesn't stop him from being herded in the direction that Fisk wants, to the extent that he's gone from respected FBI agent to Fisk's personal assassin in the course of a single episode.
- Meaningful Echo: Sister Maggie cites the line from Karen Page's article in "A Cold Day in Hell's Kitchen". Some bloody their fists trying to keep the Kitchen safe.
- The Mole: The sheer amount of coincidence indicates Fisk has one in the FBI.
- My Greatest Failure: Maggie's greatest regret is not coming to Matt's help back when he was having a nightmare as a child. Since then, he has always pushed everybody away.
- No-Sell: Dex barely reacts to Foggy punching him.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Fisk tries to do this with Dex, claiming that they are both individuals with a hard past who won't be accepted for what they are by society.
- The Pen Is Mightier: Dex utilizes multiple thrown pens and pencils during his fight with Matt.
- Pinball Projectile: As we saw in the previous episode, Dex is a master at this. He uses numerous office supplies as projectiles to hurt Matt by bouncing them off the walls or other surfaces. He also does this to disarm Karen of her gun after entering her office.
- Sanity Slippage: Dex is slowly losing his sanity after getting suspended, with him finally Jumping Off the Slippery Slope by massacring the Bulletin staff on Fisk's orders.
- Secret Test of Character: Karen's reaction to Matt showing up in-costume at Jasper Evans' drug den, more specifically, the timing of him showing up to subdue Jasper's guards just as one of them was about to grab Karen, is to ask him if he was waiting for her to show up.
- Shear Menace: One of the many items Dex hurls at Matt is a pair of scissors.
- Turn in Your Badge: Dex has to turn in his gun and badge after the news of the investigation into his shooting the Albanians is anonymously leaked to the press, undoubtedly by Fisk.
- Wham Episode: All of the main trio's efforts to clear Matt's name and get Fisk thrown back into prison are for naught, as Dex breaks into the Bulletin office to kill their vital witness before he can talk. Dex murders or maims most of the reporters there, defeats Matt, and almost kills both him and Foggy. He does all of this while wearing a Daredevil suit, ensuring that the latter will be blamed for all of this and discredited in the eyes of the public.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Karen in tears tries to get Foggy to say she is a bad person after admitting to emptying seven bullets into Wesley. He refuses.
