Sharon has started helping out at the community center, and refuses to cook for Virgil since he keeps insulting her cooking. As she counsels a troubled youth named Marcus, who has anger issues, a new bang baby seems to take out Marcus's anger on innocent people.
Tropes for this episode:
- An Aesop: You don't have to resign yourself to the negative image people have of you. You always have a choice.
- Sharon points out to Marcus that it's always possible to control one's anger.
- After learning the monster was Tamara and not Marcus, Virgil and Richie learn quite a lot from the experience. That is to say, "Never judge a book by it's cover (...) always get the facts straight (...) and most importantly, bring earplugs".
- Because You Were Nice to Me: An indirect example. Although Virgil has done nothing particularly nice to Marcus beyond apologizing, Marcus accepts his apology on the basis that he's related to his councilor Sharon.
- Blessed with Suck: Tamara wants Marcus to know that she hates having her powers because it's like battling a monster.
- Bullying the Dragon: A variation. As it turns out, Marcus may not be the monster, but Virgil didn't know that at the time. So, he thought if he mocked Marcus enough, his anger would transform him and expose him as the monster. All the same, when Marcus's anger does not change him into the monster, Virgil learns too late how unwise it was to provoke someone twice his size.
- Chekhov's Gun: The bang baby is weakened by sound. Virgil then uses loudspeakers to knock her out.
- Face Death with Dignity: When confronting Tamara in her monster form, Marcus doesn't cower when she prepares to do something horrible to him as part of her revenge for their break up that led to her transformation, as he knows he's got a lot to answer for because of his troubled reputation as a gangster with a temper issue with the break up being just one of them. However, this is before Static comes to the rescue.
- Foreshadowing: Two small hints about the monster's identity. When Virgil approaches Tamara, she's wearing sunglasses with red lenses, red like the color of the bang baby's eyes. What's more, she talks about how Marcus was at the docks that night of the Big Bang. How would she know he would've been there, unless she was there herself? On top of that, when entering her boyfriend's car, Tamara tells him to turn down the speakers because of her sensitive ears. Sound familiar?
- Partway through the episode, Virgil and Richie are shooting some hoops and discussing the facts as they know them so far. When they conclude that Marcus is the monster, and plan to prove it by making him angry, Richie takes a shot and misses, a subtle way of implying that they've missed the mark with their conclusions.
- Forgiveness: Marcus forgives Virgil for insulting him since Sharon has been Marcus's counselor.
- Frame-Up: Marcus's ex-girlfriend was the actual bang baby, trying to frame him because she blames him for her unwanted powers.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: In this episode, Marcus Reed spent time in juvenile hall and wants to turn his life around, but is constantly kept short by the prejudice of others. During a talk with his counselor Sharon Hawkins, Marcus talks about how people see him as nothing but a gangster and, in a fit of self-doubt, sadly decides that's all he'll ever be. Sharon goes along with it, saying that he should give up. Surprised by her answer, he points out she's supposed to be supportive. Sharon reasons that she is supportive of him, but says that buying into that gangster label only confirms other people's preconceptions. When Marcus brings up that he did not have it easy growing up, Sharon tells him she knows and she's sorry, but that is in the past and he has to be responsible for his own actions. She tells Marcus that he has a lot of potential and he can choose to use it or he can throw it all away. Later in the episode, it's revealed that the new Bang Baby attacking people is his ex-girlfriend Tamara Lawrence, who went to the docks looking for him, hoping to get him back, but he wasn't there. As it was the night of the Big Bang, she was hit by Quantum Vapor, and gained the ability to change into a powerful monster. Hungry for revenge, she decided to frame Marcus. As she tells Marcus this, she says she tried to control her powers, but he's got no idea what it's like to live with a monster inside of you. After Tamara is defeated and taken away by the police, Marcus admits to Sharon that Tamara was wrong, he does know what it's like. Sharon tells Marcus the difference is that he can learn to control his monster and can make it go away eventually. It's implied Marcus took her advice to heart and turned his life around.
- Heel Realization: Marcus doesn't react well when he realizes that, thanks to breaking up with Tamara, he inadvertently set up the circumstances of making her a raging bang baby. Especially when he can relate to having a bad temper and a "monster" inside the way she does. This gives him the grace to accept Virgil's sincere apology.
- Hypocritical Humor: Throughout the episode, Sharon has been trying to counsel Marcus to learn to control his temper. By the end, when Virgil quips that being related to Sharon paid off, Sharon loses her temper and gives chase to her brother.
- I Can't Hear You: Virgil experiences this after turning up the carousel music up loud to defeat Tamara.
- Irony: A meta one. Frank Welker, known for voicing various monsters in cartoons and movies, appears here as the first victim of the Monster of the Week. For bonus points, said monster is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, Welker’s Poor Man's Substitute.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Virgil realizes the hard way that insulting his sister's cooking means that he gets no breakfast or lunch.
- Never My Fault: Marcus's ex-girlfriend Tamara blames him for what the Big Bang did to her and is framing him as a way to get back at him for breaking up with her. She went to the docks to find him and try to get back together, only to be affected by the Big Bang.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Marcus mentions that he, like his ex-girlfriend, knows what it's like to deal with a monster. Sharon tells him that the difference is that he has more control over his, and can make it go away eventually.
- Red Herring: Static and Gear assume that Marcus is the bang baby just because all the places it targets are places where he has a vendetta at someone. As it turns out, the monster wants everyone to assume Marcus is the culprit.
- Samus Is a Girl: The bang baby is very masculine looking so when it turns out to be Marcus's ex-girlfriend it is a surprise to the viewer.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Discussed. While in council with Sharon, Marcus talks about how people see him as nothing but a gangster and, in a fit of self-doubt, sadly decides that's all he'll ever be. Sharon goes along with it. Surprised by her lack of support, he points out she's supposed to be supportive. Sharon reasons that she is supportive of him, but it won't be enough so long as he keeps believing the negative stuff people say about him. If he resigns himself to their views of him, he ultimately defeats himself.
- Stealth Pun: Tamara not only has red eyes whenever she becomes the monster, but also wears sunglasses with red lenses. Looks like Marcus isn't the only one with a tendency of seeing red.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Marcus broke up with Tamara, in part because of his anger issues. She went to find him at the docks and got caught in the Big Bang.
- Watch the Paint Job: The bang baby messes up a nice car.
- Woman Scorned: Tamara's motivation in a nutshell.
