Tensions are running high at Titans Tower after their most recent encounter with Deathstroke. Kory attempts to learn more about Conner, and Rose tries to help Jason cope with his near-death experience, while the old Titans keep getting mysterious reminders of a past they’d rather forget. As Dick sets out alone to track down Deathstroke, a familiar voice begins to haunt him – taunting him and attempting to guide him back to being the leader the Titans need. With all the strange ongoing happenings and Dick’s continuing to keep the team in the dark, both Jason and the Titans reach a potential breaking point.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Ability Mixing: Kory and Rachel use their powers together in order to safely expose Conner to radiation equivalent to the sun. Kory lets loose her solar power to charge Conner and Rachel uses her power to contain it.
- Accuser of the Brethren: The OG Titans accuse Jason of messing with their things, despite not having any evidence against him.
- Bathtub Scene: Dick and Wintergreen have a conservation while the latter is sitting in a bathtub.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Mercy didn’t wait to see if her shot had killed Conner, instead she shot him and left. This allows the Titans to bring him back to Titan Tower and save his life.
- Burlesque: Dick finds himself in a Burlesque Bar to get Wintergreen’s location from his former girlfriend.
- Character Title
- Converse with the Unconscious: Kory does this with Conner, while he is poisoned by the kryptonite bullets.
- Driven to Suicide: Unable to cope with the unending dysfunction and mistreatment from the other Titans, Jason tries to jump off the roof of the tower, until Dick talked him down.
- Eye Beams: With the help of Eve, Krypto uses his heat vision to break a kryptonite collar.
- Fanservice: The escorts that Dick finds in Wintergreen’s hotel room are topless.
- Female Gaze: The scene where Conner awakes reveals he's been naked all along during the process, showing his bare ass for a few seconds.
- Firing Day: Eve is fired from Cadmus after helping Conner escape in the previous episode.
- Flight: What Krypto uses to escape Cadmus with Eve.
- Guilt Complex: The episode revolves around Dick’s guilt of keeping his Dark Secret from the rest of the team. His guilt manifests as an apparition of Bruce Wayne that follows him around and snarks at him.
- Hallucinations: Dick begins to hallucinate Bruce Wayne, effectively trolling him wherever he goes. It stems from Dick's guilt and inability to tell the others the truth about Jericho.
- Held Gaze:
- Between Rose and Jason, just before they kiss.
- Between Kory and Conner after she uses her power to recharge him.
- Internal Reveal: Jason finds out that Rose had a brother who was killed by Deathstroke.
- It's All My Fault:
- On one hand, Jason believes that Dick thinks that it’s his own fault that he got taken by Deathstroke and nearly killed.
- On the other hand, Dick believes that the attack on Jason boils down the Dark Secret he’s been keeping from the team.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: When talking to Eve about Conner, Mercy refers to him as “it”. Eve corrects her.Mercy: A thing made from even a little of Lex Luthor's DNA? That's super. Have you met our boss? There's no good end to that story. The world's better off without it.Eve: Conner.Mercy: What?Eve: He's a person. He has a name. His name is Conner.
- Kiss of Distraction: Rose seems to kiss Jason in order to distract him from getting lost in his own head.
- Knowledge Broker: Dick uses an old contact to get information on the location of Deathstroke. When the broker has nothing, Dick asks for information on Wintergreen.
- Jerkass Ball: Rachel, Hank, Dawn and Donna all grab this when they accuse Jason of quietly trolling them with items from their past.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Rose, of all people, is right when she notes to Jason that his friends would rather quarrel with each other all day than chase down the bad guy.
- Living Battery: Eve snaps that there's no way to help Connor as the only possible solution would be to fly him up the sun and there's nothing on Earth that can replicate that level of solar power. Cue living solar-powered battery Kori smiling "Well, why didn't you say so?"
- Mating Dance: Between Rose and Jason.
- The Medic: Dawn and Kory seem to play this role towards Conner.
- The Mole: Someone has been working with Deathstroke and leaving Tragic Keepsakes around the tower for the Original Titans to find, to fracture the team. This person has also been able to help Deathstroke surveillance the going ons inside the Tower.
- Motherly Scientist: Eve is this to Conner. She allows him to call her "Mom".
- Mythology Gag: Amongst the many dance moves "Bruce Wayne" busts out in the Burlesque scene is the infamous "fingers across the eyes" known to fans as the Batusi.
- Naked First Impression: The first time Rachel sees Conner awake, he is completely naked.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: By helping Conner escape and not bring him back to the labs, Eve is fired from Cadmus and is told to leave immediately.
- Not Me This Time: When the Original Titans and Rachel start to try and pin the blame of all the Tragic Keepsakes they’ve found the Tower, Jason is insistent that he hasn’t been messing with anyone.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Rose sees Jason and herself the same, as they have both been tortured by Deathstroke.
- Out of Focus: Though not absent, Gar has a lesser presence than usual, only speaking two lines and owing his absence to sleeping in.
- Percussive Pickpocket: Eve bumps into another Cadmus scientist and lifts their keycard.
- Pistol-Whipping: Dick does this to Wintergreen when he asks if Dick is okay after seeing him talk to hallucination Bruce.
- Reality Has No Subtitles: When Conner and Kory speak to each other in Kryptonian there are no subtitles on the screen.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Rachel’s eyes glow red when she confronts Jason about the crucifixes drawn on her bedroom walls.
- Running Gag: Throughout the episode people keep asking Dick how long it’s been since the last time he had seen Slade. Every time Dick says the wrong time frame, Hallucination Bruce would get increasingly angry, constantly correcting Dick by telling him it was 5 years. When Dick finally says 5 years for first time, hallucination Bruce says thank you.
- The Scapegoat: Jason is this for Hank, Dawn, Donna and Rachel.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Eve was fired and told to leave Cadmus; instead she breaks Krypto out of containment in order to try and find Conner to save his life.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Jason does this when Rachel is accusing him of drawing crucifixes on her bedroom wall. He intends to leave the Tower but is held up when Rachel follows him to the kitchen and brings the Original Titans into the fight.
- Shirtless Scene:
- Conner has this while he is lying in the Titan’s medbay.
- Hank is seen walking around his room shirtless after his shower.
- Shoutout: When Jason is staring off into the distance, Rose calls out “Earth To Major Tom” a shout-out to Space Oddity by David Bowie.
- Super-Senses: Without knowing where Conner is, Krypto is able to track him down and lead Eve to him.
- Super-Strength: Conner grabs Kory’s arm hard enough to hurt her.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Jason spends a lot of time staring out his window, reliving his Near-Death Experience free-fall.
- Tragic Keepsake: Throughout the episode someone is leaving items around the tower that are to cause discord throughout the team.
- Hank finds an unopened bottle of bourbon.
- Donna finds a bottle of orange soda that Garth and her drank the night he was killed.
- Rose finds Jericho’s old vinyl in Jason’s borrowed collection.
- Dawn finds the picture of Ellis she keeps on her dresser, out in the kitchen.
- Rachel finds crucifixes drawn all over her bedroom.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Hank, Dawn, Donna and Rachel fall under this when they all gang up on Jason for the Tragic Keepsakes they have been finding, with no actual proof that he has done any of it.
- Wham Shot: The photos on the altar table confirm that Deathstroke has been stalking the Titans... from within their own home.
- Wham Line:Dick: I killed Deathstroke's son.
- Your Worst Memory: Jason keeps reliving the moment he was free-falling, over and over again.
