Seven years after the fall of Rehoboam, humanity is still chugging along. Meanwhile, Charlotte's replacement of William is making his own moves, bringing Maeve out of hiding.
Tropes:
- And You Thought It Was a Game: Christina is a writer for a game company, but a mysterious stranger tells her that she's been writing his life and he wants her to change it. When he commits suicide as part of her supposed narrative, a man who looks like Teddy is shown to be watching over her.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: William offers the cartel an (implied to be) generous offer for the dam data storage facility, with the warning that if they don't accept the offer today, they'll turn it over for free tomorrow. When the cartel frontman refuses, William somehow forces him to kill his bosses and deliver the deed before slitting his own throat.
- Armor-Piercing Question: While discussing Rehoboam's fall and the riots that followed, Caleb's coworker asks him, "Is your life any different than it was seven years ago?" Caleb, still working a menial job, doesn't give an answer.
- Assassin Outclassin': Several hired guns are sent to kill Maeve at the isolated cabin she's been hiding in since Season 3. She responds by showing them how good she is with a rifle and an axe.
- Big Damn Heroes: When one of William's assassins tries to kill Caleb and his daughter Frankie, Maeve arrives in the nick of time by stabbing the would-be assassin in the back with her katana.
- Boom, Headshot!: Maeve kills the assassins with headshots where torso shots probably would have done.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Somehow, exposure to the flies found in his closet causes the cartel man to kill his bosses and turn over ownership of the business to William, before killing himself. There are just enough clues to indicate that these actions are not being carried out willfully.
- The Bus Came Back: Rebuilt versions of Colonel Brigham and Old Walter are sent after Maeve and Caleb, respectively.
- Call-Back: Christina's roommate asks her to choose between two pairs of high-heeled shoes, one black and one white; it's similar to William's arrival in the park, when he's offered a black or white Stetson hat. Like William (at least at first), Christina chooses white.
- Can't Stay Normal: Caleb has settled down into a normal life, but is constantly paranoid that someone is going to come and kill him for his past. Similarly, Maeve has gone into hiding, and one blackout caused by her technopathy draws assassins looking to kill her, one of them also targeting Caleb later.
- Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Caleb is about to be shot by an assassin when Maeve shows up to stab the mook with her katana from behind.
- Darker and Edgier: In-universe, Christina's boss wants her to start designing darker games, claiming her previous ones were too saccharine.
- Driven to Suicide: After being somehow coerced into murdering his bosses, the cartel frontman hands the business over to William before slitting his own throat. Later, Christina's stalker throws himself off a building, blaming her for controlling his life with her stories.
- Expy: Christina's boss clearly invokes Seizmore, being obnoxious and believing that their customers prefer more violent and sexual elements in a story, specifically citing the one story she wrote that he liked where a man suffered a Sanity Slippage, stalked a girl, and had an Everybody Dies ending.
- Flies Equals Evil: The cartel frontman notices some flies in his closet and then, he's confronted with a swarm of them. Whatever those flies did to him, it made him kill his bosses.
- Great Offscreen War: Season 3 ended with Rehoboam's demise and the beginning of the war to liberate humanity which Caleb and Dolores started. However, the actual war happened between Season 3 and 4 offscreen. This episode takes place sometime after all that, with everything having settled into a new normal except that Caleb is suffering from PTSD.
- Identical Stranger: Christina looks like Dolores except her hair is auburn. It's unclear who or what exactly she is. In the episode's behind-the-scene interview, Evan Rachel Wood claimed that Christina is human.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: When William sent an assassin to kill him, Caleb realizes that he and his family no longer feel safe. So, he tells his wife, Uwade, that he must leave with Maeve to stop William from hurting his family. Uwade is distressed because he might end up getting killed.
- Job-Stealing Robot: Inverted. Automation has actually gone in reverse in response to the destruction of Rehoboam, with Caleb's coworker noting that it got them both steady employment.
- Last Day of Normalcy: This episode shows Caleb having a normal day, working on his job, and spending time with his family. That all ended when William sent an assassin to kill him.
- Long Last Look: At the end of the episode, Caleb takes a long last look at his sleeping daughter before taking off with Maeve.
- Off with His Head!: Maeve decapitates Brigham with a hatchet.
- Papa Wolf: Caleb shields Frankie from one of William's hitmen who tries to shoot them until Maeve arrives and stabs him.
- Properly Paranoid: Caleb keeps his family's home stocked with guns and stresses the importance of being ready for attacks to the point where his wife worries about his mental health. Then an assassin attacks them at their home.
- Psychic-Assisted Suicide: It looks like the nano-flies have something to do with the cartel man committing suicide by slashing his own throat.
- The Reveal: Though only implied, the data storage facility at the dam is seemingly where the Sublime was sent. William wants access to it, but doesn't have the keys to decode it, which currently reside with Bernard.
- Time Skip: According to Lisa Joy, Season 4 starts seven years after the destruction of Rehoboam.
- Undisclosed Funds: William makes the cartel frontman an offer over an unknown but high sum for the dam's storage facility which in his words is a "pretty good return on your investment".
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Downplayed with Woody, a friendly shopkeeper who gives the assassins directions to Maeve's cabin. She doesn't blame him since he didn't know any better, they had already detected her general coordinates by the blackout, and Woody's vague description may have bought her some time to get the upper hand. It still ends with Maeve having to burn her cabin down and going on the lam again.
- Wham Shot: After Christina wishes for a story with a happy ending, there's a man outside her apartment looking up at her. Then, the scene slowly shows his face which looks like Teddy Flood, Dolores' love interest.
