Shaken by Mariah's latest act, Luke combs the city for the sole survivor and witness of the massacre. Flashbacks reveal a fateful encounter between the Stokes and McIver families. Bushmaster makes his recovery.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Call-Back: Misty responds to Luke's attempt to address her in the midst of her visually recreating the Rum Punch Massacre from the crime scene photos by saying, "You broke my concentration." She said the same thing to Scarfe in season 1 when he interrupted her while reconstructing the events of the junkyard massacre.
- Continuity Nod:
- Deputy Chief Ridley mentions that Karen Page is trying to get a statement about the Rum Punch Massacre. Later, when Misty is holding a press conference, another reporter mentions that he's heard from Karen about there being a survivor, which is a question that tips off Mariah and Shades to Ingrid being out there.
- Mariah strikes a deal with Hai-Qing Yang, the Chinese triad boss that Danny and Colleen met in Iron Fist season 1, to get heroin flowing through Harlem.
- Dead Person Conversation: Mariah gets into an argument with imagined spectres of Mama Mabel and Pistol Pete in her office at Harlem's Paradise.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Mama Mabel's idea of responding to Quincy's widow trying to get her share of her husband's estate is to burn Gwen's house down... with Gwen inside... while Gwen's son watched.
- Dude, Not Funny!: In-Universe, Misty dislikes the media nickname of the "Rum Punch Massacre", feeling it makes light of an absolutely horrific incident.
- Dwindling Party: Mariah ends up losing two of her biggest allies as Shades and Tilda decide she's crossed too many lines.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Shades finds Mariah's murder of innocent bystanders not involved in the gangster business appalling enough to cut all ties with her. Mariah thinks he's hypocritical and counters by pointing out that he killed Candace. Shades retorts by explaining that Candace was fair game because by taking their bribe money to lie to the police, she dirtied her hands and became someone 'in' the game. Anansi and his friends at the restaurant, on the other hand, were only guilty of being unlucky enough to be distant associates of Bushmaster's.
- Hai-Qing Yang is surprised that Mariah has decided to get involved in drug dealing, as this breaks with her family's decades-long aversion to the drug trades. He points out that he's old enough to remember Mama Mabel and Buggy's glory days, and remembers that Mama Mabel never approved of drug dealing. Just to demonstrate how out of touch Mariah is, he takes offense at Mariah referring to heroin as "China white", pointing out that that name fell out of use long ago.
- It's All My Fault: Luke feels the massacre at the restaurant is his fault, as none of it would have happened had he just let Mariah burn beforehand.
- Kick the Dog: In the flashbacks, when Gwen makes Mama Mabel visit to legally get her share, the latter just sets her home on fire, burning her alive and then mocking her son's emotional pain. Later, Pistol Pete visits Kingston just to kill the young John McIver.
- Media Scrum: Ridley has Misty thrust in front of the cameras at a press conference to assure the public that there is no reason to panic.
- Moral Event Horizon: In-Universe everybody considers the "Rum Punch Massacre" to be the most evil and disgusting thing the Mariah has ever done with Shades turning his back on Mariah, Tilda disowning her mother and even Luke saying that he "should have let the bitch burn."
- My God, What Have I Done?: Shades catches up to Ingrid, but as he prepares to shoot her, he suddenly finds himself unable to go through with it, on account of the massacre and Ingrid reminding him of Comanche's mom, and instead leaves her unharmed.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Even without appearing, Karen Page accidentally endangers Ingrid's safety. By passing the word that someone survived the massacre, Ingrid almost gets killed, and it's only the fact that Shades has grown a conscience (and Ingrid reminding him of Comanche's mother) that keeps her from dying.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Pistol Pete attempting to murder John McIver is the only reason he got exposed to nightshade in the first place and gained access to his powers, to come after the Stokes family decades later. If they had left well enough alone, Bushmaster would've never become the threat he is in the present.
- Not Quite Dead: Ingrid played dead after getting shot, and has hidden out in a cash-only clinic (which, being cash only, makes it harder for either the police or for Mariah to find her).
- Not Worth Killing: After taunting Shades one too many times about Comanche's death, he tries to strangle Mariah, but ultimately relents, telling her that she isn't even worth the effort.
- Offered the Crown: Not a classical example, but Sugar encourages Luke to become the King of Harlem to bring back order.
- Pet the Dog: Bushmaster once again lets Tilda leave, despite having learned about the massacre her mother committed, being thankful that she saved his life.
- Power at a Price: Tilda warns Bushmaster that the latest Nightshade cocktail she's concocted to save his life has now poisoning his internal organs and that he is running on "credit" which will expire if he takes anymore.
- Replacement Goldfish: Mariah now seemingly has replaced Shades with Alex.Shades: [catching her getting very flirtatious with Alex] Well that was quick.
- Rich Bitch: Young Mariah, telling the young John to get her a drink before she tells the adults he has been eavesdropping.
- Sanity Slippage: Mariah is so far gone that she starts hallucinating, talking to imaginary versions of Mama Mabel and Pistol Pete.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Mariah's decision to kill innocent bystanders at Gwen's has proven the final straw for Shades and he doesn't just abandon her, he also goes to Misty and turns himself over, offering to help her in bringing down Mariah.
- Scrubbing Off the Trauma: Shades is so shaken by the Rum Punch Massacre that Mariah orchestrates that he's trying to wash non-existent blood off his hands and eventually turns himself over to Misty.
- Tranquil Fury: Tilda quietly snarls "Goodbye, mother" after Mariah proudly reveals the extent of her involvement in the Rum Punch Massacre.
- Truth in Television: Yes, a handwritten business contract on a cocktail napkin (with both men's signatures) can be leveraged as legally binding after they're both dead... especially when a witness to the signing of said contract is still alive. The only thing missing for such a document is that it was not formally notarized (and many 'handshake' business arrangements never are).
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: We see Cornell as a nice and jolly kid in the flashbacks, and Mariah outright tells the illusion of Mama Mabel that she corrupted him.
- Villain Episode: The episode focuses heavily on John McIver's past through flashbacks, showing the full extend of his families relationship with the Stokes and the tragedies they inflicted upon him which eventually led him to become Bushmaster.
