Asuka decides to kill some time (and nearly kills Shinji in so doing).
While investigating NERV, Kaji attends a wedding along with Misato and Ritsuko. Later, Shinji meets Gendo at his mother's grave, and experiences his First Kiss with Asuka.
Although Misato and Kaji rekindle their old romance, the former realizes that he is a double agent, sent as a spy by the Japanese government. After apologizing to Misato for his actions, Kaji lets her in on a shocking revelation...
Tropes in this episode include:
- Awkward Kiss: Because of their respective neuroses colliding head-on into each other, Asuka and Shinji's kiss ends up as one great entangled mess of misunderstood intentions.
- Call-Back:
- In the second half of "Moment, Heart, Together", Misato kisses Kaji at an elevator. Here, they kiss out in the streets after the wedding party.
- Also in "Moment, Heart, Together", Asuka tries to kiss Shinji out of loneliness. In this episode, Asuka finally decides to kiss him on her own accord.
- When Asuka kisses Shinji, she wears the same outfit used by Misato back in "Unfamiliar Ceiling."
- *Click* Hello: At the end of the episode, Kaji hears Misato's gun click at the back of his head, alerting him to her presence.
- First Kiss: Asuka dares Shinji into kissing her out of (what she claims is) boredom. The results are rather disastrous.
- Foreshadowing: The Japanese Government is covertly investigating NERV and its affiliates. They don't trust the agency and have suspicions — suspicions that will be manipulated with bloody consequences come End of Evangelion.
- Full-Name Ultimatum: Misato, who normally refers to Kaji by his last name, says his full name as she confronts him with being a Double Agent.
- Hidden Eyes: Subtly done with Asuka, after her and Shinji's disastrous First Kiss, Foreshadowing the fact that the whole thing bothered her on a much deeper level than she claimed it did.
- In Vino Veritas: As Kaji walks her home, he and Misato starts reminiscing about their past. Misato at first grows notably morose about the subject, before finally drunkly confessing that when she broke up with him back then, she was lying to him when she said that it was because she had met somebody else — rather, it was because she realized that he reminded her of her father, and that idea freaked her out so much that she couldn't deal with the relationship any more, even though she still very much loved him. She breaks down and starts berating herself for doing something so foolish and then only being able to tell the truth when she is drunk. Kaji, upset at her insulting herself, first pleads with her to stop, before finally planting a "Shut Up" Kiss on her.
- Like an Old Married Couple: When Misato criticises Kaji for being late for the wedding party, then for not having shaved recently, before finally correcting his loose tie, Ritsuko snarks that they act they're married. Kaji is amused at this, Misato is not.
- Makes Us Even: When Misato confronts Kaji about his Double Agent activities, Kaji apologizes for keeping his spying a secret from her. Misato replies that she forgives him, saying that it makes them even for him seeing to it that she got home safely while she was drunk.
- Non-Dubbed Grunts: A well-trained ear can tell that the 2019 Netflix English dub doesn't dub in Asuka's gargles as she is rinsing out her throat from kissing Shinji. Stephanie McKeon's voice sounds remarkably similar to Asuka's original voice actress, Yuko Miyamura. Oddly enough, Tiffany Grant dubbed in the gargles in the 1996 ADV English dub.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Rei of all people gets utterly shocked when Shinji compares her to a mother.
- Misato gets one when she enters Terminal Dogma to discover the First Angel, Adam.
- "Shut Up" Kiss: Kaji plants one on Misato to make her stop drunkenly insulting herself.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: It looks like Shinji might actually have a chance to reconnect with his father.
- Tongue-Out Insult: Misato shoots this at Kaji after he teasingly suggests that her bathroom break is just an excuse to run away from him.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: Downplayed. While a short cutaway shows Misato throwing up in an alley after drinking too much, her and Kaji are rendered in silhouette and seen from a distance.
- Wham Episode: The reveal of "Adam" being kept in Terminal Dogma.
