Parker is reminiscing about the good old pre-Hood days, when he and John robbed houses together and Parker didn’t have to worry about scheduling any potential skin graft surgery. John makes a point of reminding Parker that this heist is “nothing personal,” which leads me to believe they may know the owner of this house. They’re forced to split up when a guard catches Parker raiding the safe, but John says he’ll always be with him. Only in spirit, here on out. Pour one out for a fallen G.

The heist crew memorializes “Cousin John,” as Slug calls him. Slug says they’ll miss John’s honesty. “Also, how much he loved opera.” And that might’ve been a nice character tick for us to have seen more of while John was still with us. Was he more of a Luciano Pavarotti or Plácido Domingo man?

Parker’s too busy creeping Riri out with his unwavering stare to focus on the crew’s kind words about his cousin. He finally gets his head in the game and adds his own eulogizing words about John’s loyalty: “It drove him. It defined him. It killed him.” He wants them to continue working, as John would’ve wanted it that way. And I’m not so sure that he would’ve, given how off the rails things have been going. Riri, sensing Parker’s suspicion of her, asks if he has a role for her in the next job. He says, “Yeah. I got plans for you,” in the most ominous tone possible, and if I were Riri, I’d be getting back in the lab with Natalie immediately and souping that suit up with a Parker-proof setting.

Riri and Natalie hasten their analysis of the hood swatch Riri stole at Heirlum. Natalie suggests calling Shuri for help, while I wonder if WhatsApp reaches Wakanda. If you were looking for a cameo from Letitia Wright: nothing doing. Riri’s too ashamed of all the crime she’s enabled since her visit to Wakanda to reach out to her mentor. Riri tries to consult with Joe, only to find that not only did the police beat her to his house, but the whole world now knows his real identity as Ezekiel Stane. It’s all over the news, along with his arrest for the Heirlum heist.

If she was hoping for some tearful reunion across the prison glass when she vows to get him out of the mess she caused, she’s sadly mistaken. Ezekiel calls her selfish, manipulative, and incapable of accountability. At this point, he’s not wrong. It’s clear that she has a reason for wanting to ensure that her iron suit is functional, but there’s no way that it’s worth the multiple felonies, the danger to her surviving friends and family, and the trouble she’s caused her fellow super-genius here.

Riri learns that Parker has hired another tech specialist, but in an act of keeping his enemy close, he isn’t ready to fire her yet. Riri takes that as a sign to start ramping up security at home. She gives watches to Ronnie and Xavier that can encase them in protective bulletproof bubbles.

She asks Xavier if she’s a good person, and he hedges. That would be enough to send me into a crisis of conscience. But of course, Xavier starts listing her good qualities at a time when what she needs to hear most is that she’s lost her way. Instead of helping Riri do her shadow work, Xavier nerds out over Star Trek with her. He suggests she shouldn’t care about being perceived as good. Tell that to Ezekiel (and John, who might’ve agreed with the sentiment, if Riri hadn’t left him in a room sealed off from oxygen)!

Back at home, Nat is ready for pedicures, popcorn, and boy talk. She wants to know if Riri and Xavier kissed — and maybe this is where N.A.T.A.L.I.E.’s A.I. limitations start to emerge. Read the room, Nat. It’s full of homicide fear and moral quandary! Ronnie calls Riri out on all the booby traps and secrets she’s keeping around the house and suggests that Riri could use some herbal refreshment. Not that kind, y’all. She’s thinking more along the lines of crystals and chamomile tea. Riri is suspiciously down for trying “some of that magic” Ronnie’s always talking about.

The next day, they head over to Cree Summer’s Apothecary (also known as Stanton’s Sweets, Reads & More). Cree’s daughter Zelma clocks that Riri is there, not for amethyst or sage, but to figure out the dark energy she’s carrying. That’s right: Riri brought Parker’s hood swatch to the shop for analysis. Zelma’s a semi-self-taught sorceress. She spent some time training in Nepal with Doctor Strange. So did Cree Summer (or Madeline, as the show wants us to call her) until she left after getting pregnant with Zelma. Zelma transports her mom, Ronnie, and Riri to the Upside Down of the shop, another plane beneath the showroom floor where the “real magic” takes place.

Zelma confirms that the hood originates from another plane and that the power it contains is more sinister than she has ever encountered. Madeline is pissed that Riri brought that kind of energy into their sacred space and Ronnie is mad at Riri for tricking her into getting her there, then embarrassing her in front of company. Madeline warns Riri to destroy the hood before kicking them out.

Back at the prison, Parker pops into Ezekiel’s cell to deliver his same old tired pitch. Join me if you wanna get paid and feel important, or rot in prison for the rest of your life, etc. Y’all know the vibes. I do like that Parker calls him “Zeke Stane,” though. That has a li’l swag to it. Nat and Riri pay a visit to Zeke’s bunker, where they’re prepared to break in but find a spare key under the welcome mat. No matter which of Zeke’s gadgets she tries, Riri can’t figure out how to destroy the hood swatch. And really, what would that do if the full cloak is still in Parker’s possession?

The magnitude of Riri’s situation is finally starting to catch up with her. She has a panic attack that Nat can’t pull her out of. Nat borrows the iron suit and flies off for backup. At lights out, Zeke follows a lit path to freedom and finds the heist crew hauling his tech into their space. So much for ethical technology! Xavier finds himself kidnapped by the super suit and delivered to a still-freaked Riri. At the sight of him, she confesses that she’s tired.

I know they’re going for a deconstruction of the Strong Black Woman trope here. We’re meant to empathize with the burden Riri has taken on to protect those she loves from further loss and grief. But I’m still too annoyed with the choices that have left her to this spiritual exhaustion to feel satisfied that she’s admitting that she may not be able to handle everything on her own. It’s taken her longer than it should’ve to get here, at the expense of everyone she cares about.

Unable to contain her excitement at being with her brother a minute longer, Natalie reveals herself to Xavier. She’s expecting him to share her elation, but he’s horrified, accusing Riri of using Natalie’s likeness as a “tech toy.” She tries to explain that N.A.T.A.L.I.E. has grown on her, but he tells her to delete “it.” Whew. Harsh. Nat thinks so, too, especially when Riri doesn’t immediately refuse to delete her. Devastated, she flees the scene.

Back at the heist’s headquarters, Zeke gives himself a buzz cut as a visual indicator of his evil transformation. He is like 20 times hotter. Know what else is hot? Slug’s canary yellow gel nails, as they type code into a machine that presumably electroshocks Zeke into supervillainy. Everything’s still coming up revenge for Parker, who ends the episode putting a hit out on Riri with the most brutal members of his team, the Blood Siblings: “Riri killed John. I want her head.” I would not run afoul of those two sets of fists, iron suit or no.

 The magnitude of Riri’s situation is finally starting to catch up with her.