Recap / Criminal Case: World Edition - Case 36: Out of the Blue

And no giant gorillas in sight.

The Bureau sails towards an uncharted island in the middle of the Indian Ocean where SOMBRA has been overseeing their "Next Level" program for the past 30 years, hoping to stop them and receive more answers about their plans. Unfortunately, the island proves to be entirely devoid of life when Jack and the player set foot on it, only finding the body of Professor Marshall Metcalf on the beach with a syringe sticking out of his nape.

Tropes:

• Ambiguously Evil: Throughout the case, Jack and the player have their doubts about Brice's business in the island, believing he's a SOMBRA agent while he claims to just be a treasure hunter who stumbled onto the SOMBRA base. In the end, he turns out to be a good guy who had to kill Prof. Metcalf in self-defense.
• Asshole Victim: It's really hard to feel sorry for Metcalf's death after all the dangerous and unethical experiments he performed for a dangerous multi-national crime organization. Even when he became an informant for the Mossad, the harm had already been done, and so they tasked Asal with killing him.
• Back for the Finale: Asal Hawaa, Baxter Fraser, Ruby Armstrong, Brice LeBeau, and Michelle Zuria all return as suspect in this case, which is the last one set in Oceania.
• Batman Gambit: Michelle tells you that the reason why she implanted the bomb on the SOMBRA shipwreck but refused to blow it up was because she knew you would assume it was something important and therefore investigate it, discovering about SOMBRA's island without Michelle needing to reveal it.
• Beware the Skull Base: As seen in the picture above, the SOMBRA hideout has an ominous skull-shaped rock sitting atop of it.
• Bizarre Human Biology: According to Angela, Prof. Metcalf's body was something else due to him being a Professor Guinea Pig.
  Angela: <Player's Name>, Metcalf's cadaver is fascinating. His self-experiments resulted in so many pathologies, they'd fill a PhD thesis!
• Chekhov's Volcano: The island's volcano ends up erupting in the last stretch of the case, sinking the island completely at the end of it. Chief Ripley even implies SOMBRA purposefully made the volcano blow up somehow to Destroy the Evidence.
• The Climax: For Oceania.
• Collapsing Lair: The last stretch of the case has the Bureau investigating the murder and later the Additional Investigation while the island is crumbling apart due to a volcanic eruption. At the end of the case, it ends up sinking entirely.
• Continuity Nod: While interrogating Asal, Jack recalls how this wouldn't be the first time she has killed a possible SOMBRA informant.
• Contrived Coincidence: Brice just happened to find the SOMBRA island by pure coincidence, which led to almost getting killed by Metcalf when he believed Brice was an assassin sent to eliminate him, forcing Brice to kill him instead. Jack even remarks how, of all people, the one who dispatched Metcalf was also the one with least motives to do so.
• Deserted Island: By the time you arrive to the island, SOMBRA and its assassins have already left, with only Metcalf's body and a handful of suspects remaining in there.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Michelle is an Amoral Attorney who doesn't mind helping and defending SOMBRA when the opportunity arises, but she draws the line when she discovers they're conducting human experimentation.
  Michelle: When I found out SOMBRA was experimenting on young people, I couldn't go on defending them. They weren't paying me enough to turn a blind eye to that!
• Foreshadowing: When you inspect Metcalf's archives detailing how he fears SOMBRA is going to kill him, he also mentions "The Bureau" with no further explanation for doing so. Seems like he discovered something about the team you're not supposed to know yet...
• Gaining the Will to Kill: Baxter decided to travel to the island and kill Metcalf in retaliation for all the things he did not only to him, but to the other SOMBRA recruits as well, believing it was his destiny to do so. Too bad someone got the upper hand and dispatched Metcalf first though.
• Good All Along: A weird example. This case reveals that Michelle and X are the same person after an entire region of you doubting both of them due to their possible connections with SOMBRA. In addition, it's revealed that Michelle/X was also part of SOMBRA, but performed an off-screen Heel–Face Turn before she even contacted the Bureau. and decided to remain anonymous to see if you were worthy of receiving her help.
• Guest-Star Party Member: At the end of the case, Chief Ripley decides to bring Michelle along the Bureau due to her valuable information regarding SOMBRA, bu abstains from making her an official member as she's still not entirely trusted.
• Heartbroken Badass: Asal breaks up with Jack in this case after she tells him their jobs are getting in the way of each other, leaving Jack distraught for the rest of the mission.
• Heel–Face Turn: Michelle did one of these a long time ago after she discovered SOMBRA was performing human experiments, and so decided to become an informant for the Bureau when they arrived to Oceania.
• He Knows Too Much: Metcalf kidnapped Ruby when she entered the Volcano Lair for this reason.
  Ruby: But then, a man appeared! He overpowered me, tied me up, and said I knew too much to leave this island alive! His skin was blue, and he was shouting like he was INSANE!
• Hostage Situation: Ruby got taken hostage by Prof. Metcalf before the Bureau arrived there, and barely managed to ask for your help so you could come rescue her.
• Island Base: The case takes place in one, which is where SOMBRA has been overseeing "The Next Level" program and shipping off assassins to different parts of the world.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: A written example, as Metcalf was killed while texting a message.
  Elliot: Well, the only thing I could retrieve was a draft text message that read: "I must leave the island, SOMBR-". Metcalf didn't finish the message. You can guess why.
• Kill on Sight: Asal's reason for being on the island is because she was ordered to kill Prof. Metcalf after he stopped being of utility to the Mossad.
• Killing in Self-Defense: Brice was forced to kill Metcalf when the latter attempted to murder him first due to his paranoia leading him to believe that Brice was an assassin sent to dispatch him. For this reason, Chief Ripley assumes that he'll get a 5-year sentence at most.
  Brice: As soon as ze blue man saw me on ze beach, he ran at me, yelling like crazy, that I wanted to kill him! I said non, monsieur, pas du tout, I'm just here to dive!
  But he wouldn't calm down, he kept trying to stab me! I had to defend myself! What was I supposed to do? He was blue! And angry!
• Lured into a Trap: Lars fears that the Bureau is being led into a trap when Elliot informs you that X knows about the island, though he's later proven to be wrong as X was entirely on your side this whole time.
• MacGuffin-Person Reveal: Michelle, the person you've been butting heads with all over the region, turns out to be the Bureau's Mysterious Backer X.
• Mad Scientist Laboratory: Metcalf had one inside of a volcano, no less.
• Mistaken for Betrayal: Subverted. When you find Metcalf's body, the circumstances lead to the Bureau to believe he was X and therefore was betraying SOMBRA, but later you find out he wasn't actually X... instead, Metcalf was acting as an informant for the Mossad.
• The Mole:
  • Michelle performed a Heel–Face Turn while still working for SOMBRA, opting to take them down from the inside by helping the Bureau as their informant X. However, it takes Elliot analyzing some files to truly prove Michelle is who she's claiming to be.
  • Prof. Metcalf was also acting as an informant for the Mossad for unknown reasons, but his increasing paranoia regarding SOMBRA and what would happen to him if they found out made him quite useless by the end according to Asal.
• Murder, Inc.: What SOMBRA is revealed to be doing in the uncharted island: building groups of trained assassins to send all over the world and use them to assassinate their enemies.
• Obliviously Evil: Ruby tells you she was the one who build the Volcano Lair on the island, but the ones who requested her to do so never informed Ruby who they were, leading to her indirectly helping SOMBRA without knowing about it.
• The Paranoiac: Prof. Metcalf had become increasingly paranoid due to acting as an informant for the Mossad, since he knew very well what would happen to him if SOMBRA found out. His paranoia is what made him assume Brice was an assassin sent to kill him, and was murdered for his troubles.
  Asal: Between us, Metcalf was mentally unstable. He thought my sunscreen was poison, and that I was plotting to kill him with. His paranoia made Metcalf a totally useless informant.
• Playing with Syringes: Prof. Metcalf had started to carry a syringe filled with poison for self-defense in case SOMBRA tried to murder him, which is what Brice used to kill him when Metcalf attempted to do it first.
• Race Against the Clock: Once the ground starts shaking due to the imminent volcanic eruption, Ruby only gives you two hours to finish what you have to do on the island before it blows up and sinks, possibly killing the entire Bureau in the explosion.
• Screw Destiny: SOMBRA indoctrinated its recruits so they would blindly follow their ideals and nothing else, but Baxter refused to comply and instead shaped his own destiny: to kill Metcalf and stop the human experimentation performed by him.
  Baxter: Don't let appearances fool you, <Player's Name>. There's a lot that you don't understand. I came back to take destiny into my own hands!
• Shout-Out:
  • The case's setting resembles Skull Island.
  • In the Control Desk scene, there is a picture of Albert Einstein with glasses added.
• Surprisingly Sudden Death: While this isn't an uncommon occurrence in the series, Metcalf's death is still worth a mention due to his status as the main antagonist of the region. Whereas every other Arc Villain in the season had acted as the killer/mastermind of The Climax in their respective Story Arc, Metcalf is instead the victim of the final case.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: According to Baxter, every person brainwashed by SOMBRA was just a regular kid before falling in their hands.
  Baxter: Remember Riaja! And Veronica! They were sweet, kind girls before SOMBRA turned them to assassins!
• Volcano Lair: Prof. Metcalf's Mad Scientist Laboratory is located inside of the island's volcano.
• Wham Line: One by Michelle when she does her MacGuffin-Person Reveal.
  Michelle: <Player's Name>, it's time for me to come clean. I'm your informant, X.