Plot
Obsessed with the "three dots" she saw in her dream and in the writings of the dying resistant, Sarah contacts a Japanese computer startup with a three-dot logo and goes undercover as a would-be investor.
Derek confronts Jessie about why she has photos of the Baums. It is revealed that Riley is also a resistant from the future and that they are working together to try to disrupt the relationship between John and Cameron, as in the future the other resistants now believe that she has too much influence over him.
Ellison arrives at Zeira Corp to discover that the Turk, now known as John Henry, has killed Dr. Sherman by taking all of the building's emergency generator power for its own processes during a power cut, leaving him trapped in a sealed room with no ventilation or temperature control. Ellison finally agrees to teach the AI morality for Weaver and at the end of the episode discovers that John Henry is now communicating with the world through Cromartie's body.
Tropes
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: John Henry is not evil but dangerously immature and unaware of morality. Ellison agrees to help do something about this.
- Asperger Syndrome: Xander Akagi is strongly implied to have some kind of autism-spectrum condition. He has social problems when discussing anything other than IT and his father worries about his future when he can no longer care for him.
- The Con: Multiple overlapping examples in Sarah's plot. Sarah plans to inveigle herself into the Akagis' work by pretending to be a would-be investor, then sabotaging their plans. It initially appears that Minamoto conned the Akagis by selling them a worthless computer chip that he pretended was highly advanced. Then it is revealed that Alex Akagi (without his son's knowledge) set the whole thing up so that he could steal Sarah's money and pretend to be a fellow victim.
- Counting to Three: After discovering the photos, Derek gives Jesse thirty seconds to explain herself or be killed.
- Fantastic Slurs: Jesse uses "metal" derisively when referring to Cameron.
- Guns Akimbo: Cameron wields a pistol in each hand when she and Sarah go to try to get their money back from Minamoto.
- Modesty Towel: When Derek confronts Jesse, she's fresh out of the shower wearing only a towel.
- Muggle Foster Parents: The entirety of Riley's foster family. They genuinely have no idea that she's a Bad Future survivor and time traveller and unknowingly offend her with their obliviousness, present-day attitude and lifestyle in general.
- Obliviously Evil: John Henry accidentally kills Sherman without realising the true nature of death.
- Once for Yes, Twice for No: A variant when, before receiving Cromartie's body, the AI communicates by images and by displaying "1" for "yes", "0" for "no" and a mathematical function for "no response".
- The Reveal: Jesse's and Riley's connection and motivations.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Dr. Sherman is the first of the AI's "lessons" in humanity.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Sarah and Cameron in unusually elegant clothes and grooming when impersonating the wealthy "Gale" family.
- Shout-Out:
- Sarah says that she learned the Japanese phrase "domo arigato" from Styx (a reference specifically to the song "Mr. Roboto").
- Sarah uses the alias "Sarah Gale", in another reference to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
- Smart People Play Chess: Subverted. Xander, the programmer, doesn't play chess. Instead he plays the Japanese board game Go.
- The '80s: Discussed, including a Call-Back to the photo of Sarah with layered hair and a sweatband.
- Title Drop: "Strange things happen at the one-two point" is supposedly a proverb in Go to describe an unstable situation where usual tactics do not help.
- Wham Shot: John Henry greeting Ellison through Cromartie's body.
- Yakuza: Alex Akagi claims that Minamoto is a yakuza to try to intimidate Sarah out of pursuing her missing money. It fails because he doesn't know that the Connors are experienced terrorists and killers who see the Yakuza as less scary than metal.
