Kilgrave has escaped, but in doing so he has revealed something he didn't want Jessica to know—she is immune to his powers.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The normally unflappable Hogarth is reduced to sobbing and begging for mercy as Wendy starts slicing her.
- All for Nothing: Jessica's efforts to clear Hope's name, including her refusal to simply kill Kilgrave when she gets the chance, come to nothing when Hope takes her own life.
- Attack the Injury: When Kilgrave confronts her in her apartment, one of the way that Jessica responds is by putting pressure on the gunshot wound he suffered.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Jeri wanted to use Kilgrave to make her divorce go her way. Now that her ex is dead, she no longer has to worry about the divorce. She has other problems now.
- Death of a Thousand Cuts: Metaphorically, what Wendy feels Jeri has done to their relationship. Literally, what Kilgrave tells Wendy to do to Jeri. She gets to about thirty cuts before she's stopped.
- Dies Wide Open: Wendy, with her head impaled by the corner of a glass coffee table.
- Driven to Suicide: In the past, Jessica was on the verge of suicide, psyching herself up for it, only for Kilgrave to interrupt her. In the present, Hope succeeds.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: What Jeri learns this episode. Her attempt to make a deal with Kilgrave leads to him mind controlling her, forcing her to bring him to her ex's place, and then causing said ex to subject her to a nearly-literal Death of a Thousand Cuts. Despite holding up her end of the bargain, she's left bleeding on the floor with her ex dead and her girlfriend, now charged with murder because of Jeri's actions, leaving her.
- Exact Words:
- On his way out in the previous episode, Kilgrave told Trish to put a bullet in her skull. Luckily, the revolver was empty of rounds, but she tries to push a fired bullet into her head. Jessica is able to stop the compulsion by having Trish put a shell casing in her mouth, which also counts as in her skull.
- Kilgrave casually saying to Jeri, "Tell me something I don't know," which wasn't even meant as an order, leads to her confessing that Hope was pregnant with his child and had an abortion.
- Fighting from the Inside: In the flashback, after her interrupted attempt at suicide, Jessica demonstrates that, even under Kilgrave's control, she wants nothing to do with him.Kilgrave: Why don't you listen to me?
Jessica Jones: Because I don't want to.
Kilgrave: If you won't listen to me, what do you have ears for?
Jessica Jones: To listen to someone else.- She also takes several seconds to follow each of his orders, whereas everyone else always obeys immediately.
- Heroic Suicide: Hope kills herself so that there's nothing stopping Jessica from killing Kilgrave the next time she gets the chance.
- Hope Spot: No pun intended. Kilgrave's father successfully developed an antidote to his Mind Rape powers. It works for all of two seconds.
- Imagine Spot: In the flashback, Jessica imagines jumping off the building, getting on a white horse, and riding away as she gathers the emotional strength to commit suicide.
- Ironic Echo: In an earlier episode, Jeri mused on how a guy with Kilgrave's abilities would be useful on "our side." Now, she learns the hard way why Jessica was saying that such a monster should never be used by anyone. Can never be used by anyone.
- Last Chance to Quit: Kilgrave offers this to Jessica. He promises to stay out of her way and arrange for Hope's release, if she in turn will turn his father over to him and promise to stay out of his way too.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Simpson goes full Knight Templar, killing Detective Clemons and burning his body so he can go after Kilgrave himself.
- Meaningful Echo: Hogarth echoes Kilgrave's "I didn't tell you to, you chose to do it."
- My God, What Have I Done?: After Wendy nearly kills Jeri while under Kilgrave's control, and then is accidentally killed by Pam, Jeri's left sprawled on the floor and bleeding from several cuts, staring at her wife's corpse, horrified by what her self-serving actions have ended up causing.
- Mythology Gag:
- Simpson's American flag lighter is a reference to the American flag tattoo his comic book-counterpart has on his face.
- Jessica standing on the ledge when preparing to jump in the flashback is similar to a moment in the comics where Kilgrave made Karen Page do the same thing.
- No, You: While getting sewn up by Wendy after being brought to her house by Hogarth, Kilgrave gripes to her about Jessica's reaction to his restoring her childhood home; just as Wendy is about to explain a Noodle Incident about a trip she took Jeri on to Paris...Jeri Hogarth: Shut up, Wendy.
Kilgrave: No, you shut up! - Oh, Crap!: When Malcolm realizes Robyn heard everything he said about disposing of Ruben's body.
- Pet the Dog: Jessica has been nothing but rude to Pam the entire season, but here she apologizes to the secretary and makes it clear that Wendy's death was not Pam's fault.
- Pretty Little Headshots: Simpson puts a bullet in Clemons's head, leaving only a small entry wound and an explosive exit wound (not shown).
- Retirony: People have mentioned repeatedly that Clemons is only two years from retirement.
- Scars Are Forever: Jessica has one behind her ear, from when Kilgrave ordered her to cut it off before stopping her.
- Self-Serving Memory: Kilgrave's. He remembers a situation where Jessica willingly kissed him after the twelve hour period his orders work for. What actually happened was that Jessica played along to get him to go inside from their rooftop terrace, then tried to jump off (either to kill herself or escape him), but Kilgrave caught her in time and nearly had her cut her ear off with a knife.
- Tap on the Head: A fatal case (Pam to Wendy, which knocks Wendy's head into a glass table edge-on) and a knockout-only one (Robyn to Jessica).
- Title Drop:
- Twice. The first time is when Jeri's wife asks how she could possibly get enough revenge to make up for her death by 1,000 cuts ("All the little slices over the years, then the final stab, the secretary"). The next time is when Kilgrave orders her to go ahead and give Jeri a literal death by 1,000 cuts—she keeps count.
- Also one for the Working Title of the episode, when Robyn refers to the support group as a "kumbaya circle-jerk."
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Although Jessica had a lot on her mind, not showing any sympathy toward Robyn causes her to be suspicious of Jessica even more. After overhearing Malcolm talk about Ruben's death, Robyn then blames Jessica for Ruben's death and leads the support group's rebellion against Jessica, knocks Jessica out, and then takes the duct tape off from Kilgrave (who she assumed was a victim). This leads to the support group and herself nearly being hanged on Kilgrave's command, along with Kilgrave's escape, Hope's suicide, and the abduction of Kilgrave's father.
- Wham Episode: Will Simpson goes insane and murders Clemons. Pam is arrested for the death of Wendy, whom she killed defending Jeri, and then abandons Jeri for her manipulations. Hope commits Heroic Suicide, prompting Jessica to promise she will not simply arrest Kilgrave, but kill him.
