Gamma Squad is sent to Russia to investigate a possible metahuman facility.
Tropes in this episode:
- Blatant Lies: The current warden of Belle Reve insists he has no idea how those three crooks got out of their cell. Aqualad immediately realizes this for the utter load it is.
- Body Horror: Being put in a Rocket Red suit is very painful, and most participants are knocked out for the process for a reason. We see in this episode someone not doing so and it is not pretty.
- Boxed Crook: Black Manta, Captain Boomerang and Monsieur Mallah are all criminals and part of Task Force X.
- Evil Is Petty: Granny makes Gar do a scene over and over again, banking on her good publicity making her look like the victim if Gar gets frustrated.
- Explosive Leash: All the villains on Task Force X have been given brain implants that at the very least cause intense pain should they disobey orders. As Waller puts it when Kaldur confronts her on risking the escape of so many powerful meta-criminals: "There are carrots and sticks. Very persuasive sticks."
- The Ghost: Flagg, another member of the Suicide Squad, is name-dropped but not seen.
- Internal Reveal:
- Halo remembers that Gabrielle was responsible for letting in the assassin that killed Brion's parents.
- Waller learns about The Team, clueing her into a few oddities she'd noticed over the years.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Pushkin may be one of the Rocket Reds, and so hardcore he refuses anaesthesia for the very painful surgery required to make him one, but he's also a fan of Space Trek, and Gar's character in particular.
- Meet the New Boss: New warden as Belle Reve, same old revolving doors. It's just where the doors lead to that've changed; now the Wall is sending crooks out to serve the US government's interests.
- Mêlée à Trois: Between Gamma Squad, the Suicide Squad and the Rocket Reds. The Suicide Squad having been sent to wipe out the Rockets, and Gamma Squad playing intervention, while the Rockets attack both sides.
- Mythology Gag:
- Gar had to do 52 takes on a scene.
- The clapboard reveals that the name of Gar's director is J. Anton Schwartz — a shoutout to Julie Schwartz, a well-known DC editor who helped revamp many of their superheroes during the Silver Age of Comics.
- Power Incontinence: Windfall loses control of her powers, nearly suffocating three others in a test chamber. She chooses to wear an inhibitor collar afterwards.
- So Much for Stealth: Gamma Squad is able to get in and out of the Red Rocket facility undetected, but the appearance of Black Manta, Captain Boomerang and Monsieur Mallah forces them to intervene and expose themselves. In fact, this trope is lampshaded by Beast Boy during their initial briefing for the mission, remarking that practically all of the Team's missions are intended to be recon during the planning stages, and that circumstances generally tend to result in their foregoing the subtle approach anyway.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: Said by Livewire when asked if that was her "hero name".
- They Killed Kenny Again: Boomerang to the chest for Halo, this time.
- Would Hurt a Child: While Waller doesn't directly tell the Squad they've got permission to kill Gamma Squad, which includes the teenaged Tara, she clearly doesn't care if they do.
