Inside Job

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Inside Job is a 2021 animated show on Netflix. It is created by Shion Takeuchi. Alex Hirsch of Gravity Falls is a producer on the show.

Reagan Ridley should be on top of the world. She's primed to become the next successor of Cognito, Inc. Her father Rand founded the company and got ousted after he tried blowing up the sun in a bid to cure skin cancer. Now the Ridleys have divorced, and Rand has moved in with Reagan. To make matters worse, her boss J.R. says that she's great at the science and conspiracies, not so much at the team management. He hires a co-leader, a smiling Nice Guy named Brett, to help Reagan earn her promotion to Cognito, Inc. CEO. Reagan hates that Brett gets along with everyone but doesn't have an ounce of evil -- or tech smarts -- in his body. But as they become friends, and deal with shenanigans that may destroy the planet, Reagan may realize this dream to rule the world has a tainted source.

Part one of season one, which came out in November 2022, deals with the fallout of first part's finale. Reagan has lost her promotion, and sense of identity. Brett tries to provide emotional support as a new leader at Cognito, Inc. seeks to declare war on the Shadow Council. Reagan may find an unlikely ally from a salty Illuminati assassin.

Inside Job is Spoilered Rotten as a series, so be warned, Spoilers may be unmarked.

Tropes used in Inside Job include:
  • Adaptational Villainy: In addition to the celebrities who are secretly Reptoids who plan to conquer the world and (might) prey on humans, there is Buzz Aldrin (who murdered Neil Armstrong and became a cult leader) and the Flat Earth Society (who are an actual terrorist group).
  • An Aesop: Reagan's arc with Ron has this in season one, part two: sometimes no matter what you do, your relationship is going to spiral out of control and it's not completely your fault. She puts in 110 percent effort to make him feel welcome at Cognito Inc. via a Halloween party, and convince him that he won't have to wipe memories ever again. It's partly because of that effort that the party backfires. Reagan's attempts to help Brett get along with Ron causes all the guests to become infected with a friendship virus Love Potion; the only way to stop it is for Ron to wipe his potential coworkers' memories. Tamiko then hits the nail in the coffin when, while walking away from Rand, she tells Ron that everyone who works at Cognito, Inc. goes insane and he shouldn't work here. While Ron knows that it was never Reagan's intention to traumatize him, he says he needs some time to think about their jobs and their future.
  • Aesop Amnesia: Parodied in the Season 2 election episode; Brett has a panic attack when all his efforts to sabotage his own political campaign have backfired and either his family will disown him or Rand will be mad at him. Reagan suggests they do Ghost Protocol with Brett, that his fake his death to make everyone happy and reveal the ruse after his brother is elected Senator. ROBOTUS rolls his eyes and reminds Reagan that she did Ghost Protocol before, and it went horribly. Plus, isn't it recycling a scheme? Reagan retorts no time to ponder the recycling because they're out of ideas on how to save Brett from lifetime anxiety and further familial trauma. Sure enough, the ruse doesn't go well with Brett's fanbase of conspiracy theorists.
  • The Alcoholic:
    • Rand has been drinking so much that he regularly gets organs from the cloning department at Cognito, Inc. Episode 2 features him blackmailing J.R. to get more livers. Reagan does ask why not cut back on drinking.
    • According to Bear-O, Reagan's alcohol index is at high levels. She gets it from her dad. We know that things are going to suck in season one, part two when Reagan rants drunkenly in the morning in front of the White House, throwing up in front of a tour group of children the way that Rand was in the season one opener.
  • Ambiguously Human: The "robes" have never been seen without their masks, so it is uncertain whether they are human or not underneath - Staedler even questions this in "Appleton". The end of that episode seems to confirm that they are not human, though this does nothing to reveal what they are.
  • Ancient Conspiracy: Cognito works for a cabal of secretive folks who claim to have ruled the world from the shadows since, as they put it "the dawn of time". This isn't as easy as it used to be, so they founded Cognito to act as intermediaries.
    • And the season 2 premiere shows Cognito is one of six such cabals, the others being the Reptoids, the Atlanteans, the Catholic Church, the Juggalos ("for some reason") and Cognito's rivals, The Illuminati. All of them are just as stupid as the governments everyone knows about.
  • Averse Adept: The episode where Rand makes Brett run for senator against his brother shows that Brett is a great politician. The only problem? Brett's parents ordered him to drop out of the race or they'd disown him. So Brett tries to sabotage himself with the classic political scandals, only for dumb luck and his naturally nice personality to elevate his accomplishments. He talks with a hooker about how dangerous sex work is when planning to get caught in bed with her, and accidentally legalizes unionization efforts for sex work. An attempt to get photographed snorting cocaine with a Canadian drug lord causes him to kill the drug lord with a Sneeze of Doom, leading to Mounties congratulating him for a sting operation and he negotiates a water deal while high off his ass. Reagan herself is astonished that Brett can't be damage his public image if he tried, until he reveals a lifelong dream to become a puppeteer.
  • Bad Boss:
    • J.R. downplays this; he has never been known to murder his employees (at least not onscreen), but he does a lot of other things that make him detestable. For example, he gives Brett the job of making a ceremonial toast at a gala because he was the only one who did not physically or sexually assault anyone at the meeting where it is announced (JR was part of said meeting), pleads with the Reptoids not to cut their funding as he “has mistresses to feed”, tries to provoke a kraken into wrecking his yacht (while passengers are on it) so he can collect on insurance, and possibly worst of all, steals the entire employee pension fund, and then buys a Supervillain Lair to act as a tax haven. In an episode where Reagan is happy because of J.R. promotion (because that means he's leaving) and feels like celebrating, he offers to "erase" someone for "funsies" by sending him to the Shadow Prison. For a while, he gets what’s coming to him in the season 1 finale where the "cloak guys" send him there, although he somehow escapes later, turning into Rand's lickspittle.
    • In season 2, Rand is far worse, using Cognito's resources for petty (and often perverted) reasons, including greed and revenge. He does execute at least one employee for simply criticizing him. When "the cloaks" finally fire him, he goes truly insane, attempting to use Project Reboot to create a Cosmic Retcon and give himself godlike power.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: The Juggalos are one of the six organizations that secretly rule the world; even they do not know why.
  • Both Sides Have a Point: In "We Found Love in a Popeless Place", this comes up when Reagan and Gigi discuss that Reagan's hookup with Ron has gone beyond a coping mechanism in Anon-Anon, and Reagan wants to become official. Reagan thinks that Ron would be fine if she asked in the closet, where they have done most of their sexy times. Ron later reveals that he would have been fine with that. Gigi says that if Reagan wants to show she means it, she should do something romantic with Ron and put in more effort than a casual closet fling. Reagan considers, and decides Italy will be the perfect place to set up a nice date with alcohol and loving before she asks to make their relationship official. Ron later reveals that he was planning the same thing, albeit by getting "Italian Ice" and surprising Reagan with it. When they finally talk it out in a confessional booth, Reagan says she really wanted to guarantee that Ron wouldn't reject her. Ron said he wouldn't have rejected her; he was worried she would reject him for being a mess.
  • Conspiracy Kitchen Sink: The whole point of the plot. All conspiracies are real, and a select number of corporations manage them. The Illuminati is Cognito, Inc.'s biggest competitor.
  • Cruel Mercy:
    • Season 2 has Rand keep Reagan as a Cognito Inc. employee, having security Taze her rather than fire her for her drunken insubordination. Note that in the pilot that J.R. fired Reagan for accusing Brett of being a mole, and Rand is sending Cognito Inc. dissenters to Shadow Prison. It's justified; he genuinely does want to reconcile with her, but because of his No Social Skills, Never My Fault and "smartest people in the room don't need friends" asshole attitude, Rand cannot accept that Reagan no longer wants him in his life. Firing her would be the kindest option, so that Reagan could get a clean break and a fresh start.
    • Also in season 2, after JR escapes from the Shadow Prison (or rather, escapes after being taken out of there to be used as a sacrifice at the Power Struggle competition) Rand is willing to give him a job back at Cognito - as an unpaid intern and his lickspittle. To be fair, seeing as JR broke into Rand's office and literally shit on his desk to spite him, that may be sort of generous.
  • Deconstruction: Rand Ridley serves as this for Rick Sanchez of Rick and Morty fame, and actually manages to be worse than him. (Not en easy achievement, by the way.) Like Rick he believes that being the smartest guy in the room is an excuse to be an antisocial asshole and do whatever he wants. They both walk all over their daughters in their initial appearances after moving in with them. The difference, however, is that Rick had some lines he wouldn't cross, and he never used Beth as a pawn in his various schemes. Rand seems to have no lines, complete with wiping Reagan's memory and ruining her childhood purely so he'll always have job security at Cognito, Inc. Note that Rick has never done such a thing to his daughter.
  • Dramatic Irony: While they're both attending Anon-Anon, Ron accuses Reagan of being upset over a little bit of waiting that "Ms. Nepotism" had to do. Considering that her father stole her promotion of Cognito Inc. and expressly shaped Reagan's life so that she would be job security for him at the company he founded, that's a very cruel thing to say and Mothman, who knows the circumstances, tries to get Ron to shut up.
  • Driving Question: Seasons/parts one and two pose this question: what does Reagan actually want in her life? She says that she wants to run Cognito, Inc. and use its conspiracy resources for good, to encourage recycling and reduce social media abuse. Yet life confronts her with the reality that running Cognito, Inc. was not her dream but her father's, and he groomed her as his successor for all of her childhood; even her narcissistic mother Tamiko has enough perspective to encourage Reagan to fight for her happiness rather than conform to other's expectations. When Reagan was a kid, she seemed to want normal friendships and to be an astronaut, according to Bear-O and flashbacks of her real memories. "Appleton" has Reagan make the hard choice that while she wants a life with Ron as he prepares to wipe his memories for good, she can't join him in his new normal identity where he won't remember their relationship. Ordinary people are not stupid or helpless, but idiots run the world, endangering innocent lives. Reagan knows it would be wrong to leave Cognito, Inc. in the hands of an incompetent successor, where they could kill Ron and any new lover he finds, let alone any kids he may bring into the world. She says goodbye to him as he sleeps, tearfully ordering him to find someone that will make him happy, and turns her back on finding out what she wants.
  • Even Evil Has Standards:
    • When the Reptoids hear about how Rand caused Reagan to have a violent response to hugging-- he built a killer robot named Bear-O to give her hugs, whether or not she wanted them-- they all agree that Rand is a terrible father.
    • ROBOTUS snarkily says that Reagan shouldn't be avoiding her problems when she opts to make a robot duplicate of her supposed soulmate Bryan rather than actually go on a date with the guy. After she messes things up with Bryan once and for all thanks to said robot duplicate making a Robo-Reagan who proceeds to go on a date with Bryan, ROBOTUS shows that her dating algorithm changed because she decided to grow as a person by confronting her insecurities-- and herself-- head-on.
    • More like Well-Intentioned Extremist has standards, but Bear-O maintains the same belief about Rand being a terrible father. After he thinks he got rid of Reagan's team sans Brett, one source of her unhappiness, he goes after Rand. When the team comes back and attempts to stop him from ostensibly killing Reagan, he tells them that Reagan is not his target.
    • Used as an off joke in one episode where a realtor who claims to have been in the "evil real estate business" (meaning she sells Supervillain Lairs) for 15 years calls J.R. (her current customer, whom she just required to sign his name on the deed with his own blood) a "psycho".
    • The only line that Rand will not cross is leave Reagan alone with a confirmed murderer. He's genuinely freaked out when realizing that Buzz Aldrin killed Neil Armstrong and realizes Reagan is alone with Buzz on the moon.
    • When Reagan attends an Anon-Anon, Mothman specifies that it is a safe space. Ron violates that by showing No Sympathy towards Reagan and challenging her to actually overthrow her father, rather than whinge about it. When she says that's a good idea and storms off to do that, everyone in the group glares at Ron, including Slenderman. The same guy that preys on children in canon. Mothman also looks pretty angry, as does a deposed dictator that comforted Reagan.
    • Another "off joke" example, when the "robes" decide to show Reagan their history in "Appleton":

Reagan: You aren't going to sacrifice me to Cthulhu are you?
Robed Leader: Oh hell no, that guy is fucking nuts!

  • Fate Worse Than Death: Played for laughs at the end of Season 2 - the Shadow Prison is clearly a Hellhole Prison but for Rand and JR (who have utterly despised each other from the day they met) it's worse because they have to be cellmates there. This also counts as both an Ironic Hell and Self-Inflicted Hell.
  • Foil: Ron to Reagan, while they're both sent to Anon-Anon. In Reagan's case, she decided to go after Brett suggested it, albeit after considering that repeated Tazing would be preferable to therapy. She at least to give it a go, respecting the established boundaries that Mothman sends. Ron reveals he was sent under protest, and believes there are no safe spaces, while outright insulting Reagan after she gets vulnerable and opening up about her current problems. He reveals that it's because he nearly overdosed on a vat of memory-erasing liquid and the Illuminati doesn't allow agents to forget what they've done. Ron also reveals that he chose this life after being a conspiracy theorist in college, which is why he resents Reagan for her alleged nepotism. Reagan was never given a choice about who she wanted to be, thanks to Rand grooming her and wiping her memories.
  • Foreshadowing: Season two has many hints that Reagan and Ron won't work out as a couple:
    • Ron makes a bad first impression on Reagan by insulting her for being hurt that her father mind-raped her and stole her promotion, accusing her of having nepotism. "Appleton" has him suggest to her that they both wipe their memories to start a new life, without considering how traumatic that would be for Reagan.
    • Gigi convinces Reagan to make an effort to show Ron she wants their relationship to become official. Reagan plans a Grand Romantic Gesture via a date at a nice restaurant in Italy, wine and all. Ron apparently had the same idea... and it was to grab Italian ice, which he finds out is a bag of ice. He admits it's very underwhelming.
    • When meeting Brett for the first time, Ron spends most of the time inadvertently insulting him. Brett actually loses his temper, making Ron feel guilty. Brett's subsequent attempts to like Ron via a Love Potion friendship virus goes horribly, and Ron himself has to admit that he's not a likable guy.
  • Genre Savvy: In "Clone Gunman," Brett admits to Reagan that he accidentally created an Akira situation to stop the runaway clones. He then checks that she knows the movie. "Of course, I've seen Akira! Anime is very mainstream right now!" It ends up being an apt summary of the situation.
  • Godzilla Threshold: ROBOTUS nearly destroyed the world in the pilot when Reagan shows him how things really are. Thus, it's a really big deal in the season finale when the team determines that, with Reagan AWOL, they should release him and give him the means to fight Bear-O.
  • Good All Along:
    • Both the pilot and season one finale have Reagan suspect that Brett is pretending to be a nice, easygoing people pleaser to hide his ulterior motives. In the first one, they work together to stop ROBOTUS, while in the season one finale he ends up accidentally finding the password to Bear-O's failsafe.
    • Rather, reaching the Heel Realization eventually all along. The episode "Project Reboot" shows that while Rand is a pervert, neglectful parent, and a complete jerk, his true goal all along was winning back his ex-wife so they and Reagan could be a proper and loving family. In the end, his one request to his daughter before turning himself in is to not make the same mistakes with Staedler that he did with her mother.
      • Evil All Along: JR, on the other hand, is truly evil, and while that was obvious from the start that JR, "Project Reboot" shows he is far more evil than Rand; he claims he wants to stop Rand from Rewriting Reality, when in truth, JR wants to do so for his own benefit. He may even be more petty than Rand, his most obsessive goal being to have his work published in the Harvard Review.
  • The Gump: Assuming their word can be trusted, the Order of the Black Robes has been behind many important human events, many of them done as a Necessary Evil. The Black Plague was done to cull overpopulation, the ensuing quarantine giving Isaac Newton the time he needed to develop his theories. The Titanic was sunk because it held an Atlantean invasion fleet. The deforestation of the Amazon was done to halt an army of carnivorous tree monsters. And of course, there was the aliens who "impregnated" JFK; in "Appleton", Noels says he saw an alternate timeline where he failed to kill him, and millions of innocents died as a result.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: Glenn Dolphman, another member of the main cast. While in the army, he volunteered for a Super Soldier program, and ended up turned into a human-dolphin hybrid. Likely not what he expected, but he has absolutely no regrets.
  • Handicapped Badass: Andre is a druggie to repress really bad Tourette's and OCD, while performing surgery on his crew and serving as the team medic. As shown in "My Big Flat Earth Wedding" and "Inside Reagan", he can be dangerous if it means his team is in danger.
  • Heel Face Turn: ROBOTUS started as a president impostor that nearly blew up the United States in the first episode. In season one part two, he actually admits that it's nice to have a team and in the finale helps Reagan not only track the variant timelines but encourages her to face her father.
  • Hidden Agenda Villain: As the end of "Appleton" shows, the Order of the Black Robes have some secret agenda and are likely up to no good, as they are using Reagan as an Unwitting Pawn, but just what it is, for now, remains a mystery.
  • Horrible Hollywood: Many A-list male actors are vampires, their unholy feeding keeping them eternally young - which for such a profession, is very profitable. Members of this group include Nicholas Cage, Bradley Cooper, Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves, and the most bloodthirsty of them all, Leonardo DiCaprio. This comes as something of a surprise to Reagan, as supernatural-themed conspiracies are the Illuminati's area of expertise.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: The "cloak guys" who Cognito answers to; putting J.R. in charge was bad enough, making an idiot like Rand his replacement is even worse. Especially since Rand says the new goal of Cognito, Inc. will be to overthrow the cloak guys.
    • It is eventually revealed that making Rand the replacement was intended as a Secret Test of Character for Reagan, the true candidate for leader of Cognito. They wanted to see is she could handle the stress of working for her incompetent father and realize he was not worth her love. She passes with flying colors.
  • Ignored Epiphany: As Rand admits in "How Reagan Got Her Groove Back," he misses his ex-wife and Reagan despite hurting the latter so badly that she never wants to speak to him again. He proceeds to take it out on the Cognito, Inc. employees, including a sloshed Reagan. She lampshades that the world may end due to his mid-life crisis. "Project Reboot" has him face the reality that there is never a timeline where he could win them back with money and power.
  • In Spite of a Nail:
    • A really tragic one in "Project Reboot"; Rand was trying to create a timeline where Reagan and Tamiko never left him. Despite his many changes to the world and people's lives, they still leave and end up hating him. After trying about fifty times and holing up with alcohol, Rand is forced to face that one factor remained the same: his assholery and selfishness. He always pushed his family away with his manipulations.
    • More Played for Laughs but in Brett's better timeline, even if he fulfills his dream of being a puppeteer, his "business friend" fellow puppeteers will give him no respect and dismiss him the way his family does. The poor guy can't win.
    • Then in "Appleton", ROBOTUS helps Reagan make an informed decision about either retiring with Ron or staying at Cognito, Inc. He reveals he tracked all the possible timelines using the programming she gave him to track Rand's anomalies, and allows her to live through them in the holodeck. It's revealed that she will become like Rand, pushing Ron away with lies or focusing on her job, whether or not they are Cognito. If she settled in Appleton, she would work on science behind his back and cause domestic spats; if he did take the cushy job at Cognito Inc., she'd casually cut him down. Two timelines show their marriage ending in divorce, another timeline even implies that she drives Ron to suicide, causing her to scream in horror. There's even a timeline (lampooning Star Wars) where the two become mortal enemies, battling with lightsabers, Reagan in the Sith Lord's position. All of this occurs because Reagan, despite Ron's wishes, would never wipe her memories after what Rand did to her; the sheer act would be too traumatic. The only good timeline that Ron has is one where Reagan lets him go into a new life, to find love with someone else. She resolves to find her own happiness later on, after she finds out how the Robes want to maintain the world.
  • Irony: The season one finale had Reagan's team turn against Rand when they uncovered evidence that he was probably the Mole. He wasn't, but Yes-Man Brett told Reagan that her father wasn't trustworthy and the second part proved how right he was. Season one part two opens with a drunk Reagan trying to turn the team against her father, the new CEO of Cognito, Inc. and not even Brett is willing to stand up to him. Reagan is especially hurt by this and calls Brett a traitor for siding with his father over her.
  • It Gets Easier: Brett in season one is very hesitant about the morally ambiguous parts of being co-leader with Reagan. He can't handle the thought of firing someone or making them upset. Season one part two shows him more attuned to being deceitful, like when he infiltrates Leonardo DiCaprio's old posse of washed out actors to get to Leonardo. Brett is still Brett, though; when he reveals the ruse, he tells the posse they don't need to follow people blindly and are wonderful individuals. He advises them to do what makes them happy.
  • Living Emotional Crutch: Season one part two implies that Ron was this for Reagan following the aftermath of the part one finale. While Ron is a self-admitted douchebag who doesn't want to understand Reagan's trauma, they do have a lot in common about how their shadow governments screwed them over. On realizing they have chemistry and similar feelings about their bosses, the two hoop up with Reagan being fine with Ron being a "coping mechanism" in Mothman's words. She stresses in "Project Reboot" when Ron doesn't respond to any of her texts, feeling like the fate of the world and her relationship are going up in flames.
  • Married to the Job: More than one episode shows that Reagan's attempt at a social life is marred by her work, with a little of The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life factoring into it. Not helping is that when you know idiots run the world, you feel obligated to clean up their messes or mitigate the damage. It's Played for Drama in "Appleton" where Reagan is torn between retiring with Ron or accepting her position as Cognito Inc. CEO, and uses ROBOTUS's recordings of different timelines to find out if there is a third option, or if she would be happy being a normal person with willful ignorance. The answers to both are no: Reagan would never wipe her memories even for love, and she would keep working on inventions behind Ron's back, causing them to fight.
  • Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate: Dr. Andre Lee, one of Reagan's colleges. Whether he is a doctor at all is debatable, his job is to create diseases whenever Cognito needs a plague (which seems disturbingly often). He is also a neurotic mess who uses drugs to cope with his OCD, drugs which include chemtrails. Ironically, the Reptoid doctor who appears at the end of "Blue Bloods" seems much nicer.
  • Mushroom Man: Myc, part of the main cast. He's a mushroom-like creature with psychic powers, a dry, sarcastic wit, and a foul mouth. Also something of a pervert.
  • My Master, Right or Wrong: While Rand is hated by everyone at Cognito, none of Reagan's colleagues are willing to help in her plot to overthrow him, and cooperate with his schemes (petty and absurd though they are) without question, though it's far more out of fear than any sense of devotion. When Reagan assumes command in "Appleton", they show the same loyalty to her, though in that case, it's out of genuine adoration.
  • Necessary Evil: In the first episode, Brett asks Reagan directly if Cognito Inc is evil - she doesn’t deny it, but claims they are no more evil than Facebook or Starbucks, stating, “At least here I develop tech to prevent war with Atlantis.” One seminar instructor, when asking recruits if there are any questions, discourages anyone from asking about ethical concerns.
  • Never My Fault: This is basically Rand's M.O.; he did nothing wrong in the parenting, husband or job department so he doesn't know why he got disowned, divorced, or fired. Season 2 has Tamiko call him out for this; she says the reason that they divorced is that Rand never thinks about what others want, including her and Reagan. It's rich coming from Tamiko, who is as narcissistic as he is, but she is also correct. When Rand uses ROBOTUS to seduce Tamiko and convince the pair to reconcile, ROBOTUS reveals that he fell for Tamiko for real and was able to give her the romance that she wanted. ROBOTUS calls out Rand for how he takes people for granted, when Tamiko does deserve better.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Defied. Some examples:
  • Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Brett is not stupid by normal standards; J.R. mentions that he's a Yale graduate, which is not an easy thing to accomplish even as a personal trainer. He also has great people skills, as shown in the pilot. It's just that compared to Reagan's super-genius that he's an idiot who lacks the qualifications to co-lead a team that manages conspiracies.
  • An Offer You Can't Refuse: Implied in "Appleton"; although the Robes said they would give Reagan time to think about their offer, they have a chopper ready to pick her up in the titular town. Seems like even if she had gone through with wiping her memories, they would have intervened. Reagan's not surprised after having helped wipe Ron's memories, and giving him a new life without her.
  • Only Sane Man:
    • While Brett has his issues, like his compulsion to please everyone and ignore his own needs or other people's red flags, he's definitely the most normal person working at Cognito, Inc. He admits that Reagan is right to be suspicious of him because he is underqualified for the job as her co-leader, calls her for help when ROBOTUS goes haywire, and later tries to guide her gently when J.R. orders them to choose someone to fire. While he thinks something is wrong with him in season one part two about not liking Ron as a person, he actually picked up early on that Ron is a bit of a Jerkass, something Ron himself admits, and won't work out with Reagan in the long run.
    • Mothman is the only HR person at Cognito, Inc., and very beleaguered because of it. He fails Myc and Andre in sensitivity training with the Reptoids because they keep asking about the orgies, sanctions J.R. for failing when J.R. caused the PR crisis, and is horrified when Reagan panics and punches out Brett for trying to hug her. Season one part two shows that he runs Anon-Anon on a volunteer basis for different conspiracy members, and encourages Reagan to open up about her problems with no judgment. Later, when Reagan and Ron hook up, he says that he can't stop them, but warns them that they're using each other as a coping mechanism. Reagan is perfectly fine with that.
    • Among the Reptoids, Judy seems to be this, being the only one who seems a rational and Reasonable Authority Figure. But then, she is The Judge.
  • OOC Is Serious Business:
    • If Rand is actually scared for Reagan's well-being rather than being a dick to her? Yeah, be afraid. Very afraid.
    • Druggie Andre becoming retrospective? That is a sign that things are going to go off-the-rails. During "The Brettfast Club," he waxes eloquent about the racism preserved in Still Valley due to everyone thinking they're still in the 80s.
    • If Brett stops smiling or actually stands up to people, things get serious for this people-pleaser. Case in point, during "The Brettfast Club", he's actually hurt that Reagan thinks 80s nostalgia is stupid and doesn't want to indulge him while they go undercover in Still Valley to locate a missing Myc.
  • A Party - Also Known as an Orgy: The Reptoids are infamous for their gatherings (not just parties) turning into this. They're perfectly okay with humans participating, but after Andre does so he winds up with no less than five Reptoid-originating STDs, plus another from Myc.
  • Pet the Dog
    • In her twisted way, Tamiko keeps trying to encourage Reagan to be happy and live for herself. She's a narcissist and emotionally abusive, but if Reagan is actually in danger? Tamiko will go Mama Bear and attempt to rescue her. One of the reasons that she runs out on Keanu Reeves is that she got a Jerkass Realization that she was dating a man willing to hurt her daughter, even if Reagan was the instigator and Keanu actually held back during the fight.
    • In "My Big Flat Earth Wedding," there are a few examples:
      • Myc normally pokes Reagan's buttons. He offers to do telepathy to ease her stress about planning her mom's wedding.
      • J.R. freaks out when a kidnapped Reagan is in mortal danger, thanks to Harold the Flat-Earther making her drive to the "edge of the Earth" aka the portal to inner Earth. He orders Glenn to get in the ocean, swim for it, and rescue her!
      • Harold thanks Reagan for "fulfilling" his dream of seeing the edge of the world. Excusing that he kidnapped her to do that, it was his only decent moment.
    • When it seems that Reagan has met her leadership goals, J.R. gives her the promotion as promised. It's not his fault that Rand manipulated the situation with the Mole to steal it from his daughter.
    • Every conspiracy leader on the planet gives Reagan unanimous approval as Rand's successor, and gift baskets. This was after Dietrich said that Rand was his nemesis and wanted to humiliate him; he gifts Reagan with a new throne that is pretty comfy. The pope says he will ensure Reagan goes to VIP heaven, while the juggalos cheer her on for making the world better.
  • Power Perversion Potential: Cognito has a holodeck-like room that is specifically used for this purpose. J.R.'s sex-deck history (which Reagan and Brett can't resist looking at) includes something involving a "pay pig".
  • Reality Ensues:
    • It doesn't matter if it's part of your job or cover, lying is a deal-breaker for many people in a romantic relationship:
      • Reagan thanks to bribing ROBOTUS for an algorithm finds a guy that might be her soulmate, a Nice Guy named Bryan. Due to her social anxiety and fear of screwing up her only perfect match, however, Reagan ends up making a robotic duplicate of Bryan that she dates instead when her trial run with him goes wrong. The shenanigans lead to an overly confident Robo-Reagan taking the real Bryan on a date, and the real Reagan has to fill him in on the situation while rescuing him. Then she drums up the courage to ask him on a proper date. Bryan politely turns her down because finding out she made a robot duplicate of him who made a robot duplicate of Reagan that hit on him is overly creepy. Reagan sadly sends him for a memory wipe extraction, accepting his refusal was more than fair.
      • It seems that Keanu Reeves is a good influence for Tamiko and can provide the emotional stability she craves. Then Reagan finds out that he's a centurion-old vampire that has drunk the blood of young women to keep his good looks. She doesn't know how to tell her mother, but Tamiko spots her having a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fistfight with Keanu Reeves during Tamiko's movie premiere. Tamiko seems to be okay with it when she finds out, only to run away after the other Hollywood vampires nearly drain her blood out of pettiness and Keanu declares he wants to grow old with her. While she says it was because he was too old for her and a vampire, a part of her was hurt that Keanu lied to her and endangered her daughter.
      • Ultimately, this is why Ron and Reagan's relationship founders, though in this case it wasn't her fault this time (mostly). She tries to sell him on working at Cognito Inc., using her connections to get him a cushy job where he could do anything and everything he wanted and never have to wipe a mind again. Ron can sense it won't go well when he inadvertently insults Brett on meeting him, but at least tries to make it work by meeting Reagan's coworkers at a Halloween party she throws. Brett can't make himself like an Innocently Insensitive douchbag willingly, so he asks Andre to infect him with a friendship Love Potion. It goes horribly wrong and infects everyone else at the party causing them to chase Ron like a love-hungry mob. When he finds out what Brett did, he gives him a What the Hell, Hero? about if he's actually that unlikable and asks Reagan if Cognito, Inc. is actually as friendly as she portrays it. While Reagan wasn't the one who did the lying or the manipulations this time, she was still responsible, and she realized it was the beginning of the end when Ron said he needed some time to think.
    • "Project Reboot" and "Appleton" have a consequential one: J.R. shoots off Reagan's pinky finger on her right hand, necessitating medical treatment after Brett stops J.R.. Cognito Inc. has a liquidated cloning department, but because Reagan hasn't had time to go there, she has to wear prosthetics and keep her hand bandaged. She lampshades that J.R. crimped her style.
  • Really Gets Around: Tamiko combines this with Horrible Judge of Character; her former boyfriends and lovers include Buzz Aldrin (who is a villain on this show), Keanu Reeves (who is a vampire on this show, but not a villain), the guy who cleans her swimming pool, Richard Branson, and the entire Cirque du Soleil (at the same time). Her daughter has tried to be the voice of reason to her every time (causing resentment from her mother for not being supportive) although one would argue all of them are better than Rand, whom she nonetheless almost reconciled with in one episode.
  • Redeeming Replacement: Despite expecting Reagan to essentially be an obedient clone that will do his bidding -- Rand admits in season one that he manipulated her DNA to ensure she got more genetics from him than from Tamiko and that's why Reagan is coded white and not biracial-- Reagan proves time and time again that she is not Rand. Sure, their alcohol habits and potty mouths are similar. She's able to trust Brett in the pilot when he calls her for help to take down ROBOTUS, while Rand maintains barely-veiled hatred of his former business partner J.R. Reagan's plans for Cognito, Inc. included drastic improvements for employee accommodation; Rand sends dissenters to Shadow Prison after putting spy cameras in the lady's bathroom. And in the end during "Appleton", Reagan is able to do what Rand was never able to do: let go of someone she truly loves. Most of season one, part two two features Rand obsessively pursuing Tamiko despite her clearly having moved on and trying to get Reagan back on his side after committing the worst betrayal. Reagan also pursues Ron after learning they have chemistry and a lot in common, but realizes that he would never be happy even if he ruled by her side at Cognito Inc. So when he makes the decision to wipe his memories, she gives him an identity that will allow him to fly under the radar and orders him to find someone who will make him happy, that won't be her.
  • Revenge Before Reason: Reagan realizes in the season 2 premiere that while she could sabotage Rand, and actually manages to make him think that Illuminati head is doing the sabotaging, it's not making her happy after she drunkenly talks with Ron. Rand certainly deserves it for what he did to her, but it's not fulfilling and Reagan is pursuing revenge for selfish reasons. She can let Rand fail on his own while finding her own happiness.
  • Rewriting Reality: JR and Rand's attempt to create a Time Machine instead created a device that does this, changing small events in the past that change the time line and alter the present. Before they used it, Earth had two moons, Rand had a mustache and The Berenstain Bears were originally called The Berenstein Bears. Unfortunately, too much use of this device (as Rand foolishly does in season 2 after "the cloaks" fire him) could cause a Time Crash and The End of the World as We Know It .
  • The Rival: The Illuminati is this to Cognito. According to Rand, they're rather petty for an evil organization, pulling pranks like TPing Cognito's office. Every year they had a Power Struggle competition where the leader of the losing team has to literally kiss the winner's ring - JR always lost, and Rand's first order of business is making this rivalry personal.
  • Sassy Black Woman: Gigi Thompson (Cognito Inc's Head of Media Manipulation and Subliminal Messages) another member of the main cast; sassy and snarky.
  • Sequel Hook: "Appleton" the season one, part two finale has a few:
    • Although Brett stops Air Bud from causing a Bad Future where dogs enslave humans, Air Bud starts walking on two legs and developing opposable thumbs. Brett waves it off that they won't have to worry about it; he may have a point since ROBOTUS was also a threat.
    • Even though Reagan decides to let Ron go, by giving him a new life and seeing the best version will be with someone that isn't her, she also sits on the porch outside the house thinking. Reagan knows that she now has to find happiness without Ron, after learning the plan to save the world.
    • The Robes reveal, after promising Reagan that there are no more secrets, that it is time to initiate a new plan. One that she won't see coming.
  • Ship Tease: It's not confirmed, but "The Brettfast Club" hints that Brett has a crush on Reagan, and that's why he gets really hurt when she refuses to play along with his 80's fantasies in Still Valley. Reagan's tech skills and ability to solve a crisis definitely impress him, as he praises Reagan for ROBOTUS being tough enough to kick his ass in the pilot. The Cold Open features him running a simulation of his fake family where his mother asks him if Reagan is more than a friend at work. "Appleton" has him consider making Air Bud the new Reagan in the office, and mimes the dog saying, "I love you, Brett! Platonically!"
  • Skewed Priorities: Happens a lot. The episode "Project Reboot" even has a short montage that shows most of the cast slacking and/or goofing off while Reagan is screaming, "The fate of the world is at stake!" because it is. Of course, Reagan is no better; to give one example, in "We Found Love in a Popeless Place", she is more concerned with her plans for a romantic holiday in Rome with Staedler than she is with the Pope going insane and turning the city into an animatronic facsimile of Hell on Earth. (It Makes Sense In Context, really, it does.)
  • The Starscream:
    • In season 2, this seems this is Rand's intent, at least, though he never takes any direct action against the robes, using his position for selfish and petty reasons. When they actually take notice, he proves to be all talk.
    • Also in season 2, JR becomes this to Rand after escaping the Shadow Prison and becoming Rand's errand boy. While JR accepts this humiliating demotion suspiciously fast, it is not surprising to learn - in "Project Reboot" - he is waiting for a chance for revenge.
    • Reagan starts this way towards her father in season 2, before realizing that he will probably get himself fired. When forced to take him down in "Project Reboot", she is ultimately successful.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: Reagan and Staedler are this in season 2. Because Cognito and the Illuminati are rivals, they try to keep their relationship secret, using the Anon-Anon meetings to be together. Unfortunately, it is an Open Secret at least to the other members of Anon-Anon and to Cognito, at least, and Ron keeps saying that he wants to leave their terrible jobs behind. Reagan's attempt to properly introduce him to her colleagues was a disaster, and the season ends with Reagan sacrificing their relationship in order to give him the perfect life he wants.
  • Tin Foil Hat: In this reality, this is recommended safety gear when using a Time Machine; according to Rand, it preserves the freshness of the space time contingency (as in, prevents a Butterfly of Doom) in much the same way it preserves the freshness of food. In the episode where this is stated, the main cast uses them to give themselves Ripple Proof Memory while they try to halt Rand's attempts at Rewriting Reality
  • Token Good Teammate:
    • In season one, Brett is the only Cognito Inc. employee who doesn't have a malicious bone in his body. He's so darn nice that the thought of firing someone makes him throw up. Season one part two makes him a bit more cynical, willing to deceive people for Cognito Inc while still being nice to them.
    • Compared to the other organizations that run the world, the Juggalos are this. They aren't sure why they are with the other conspiracy leaders, but are actually very nice to their "rivals", giving Myc and Glenn pep talks after they are shunned from the festivities.
    • Shockingly, it's revealed that Myc is this compared to the Hive of mycelium aliens that live in the center of the Earth. Yes Myc is rude, crude, verbally-abusive and bad-tempered; he also doesn't hate anyone on Earth, let alone his own team, enough to plan to take over and wipe out humans the way that his Hive School classmates do. Myc admits that he actually likes working at Cognito, Inc., and he respects Reagan more than he admits.
  • Too Kinky to Torture: Brett reveals in the pilot that he did 38 weeks of hazing at Yale to get into all the fraternities. As a result, he can handle large amounts of physical pain, and even seems to welcome it.
  • Tyrant Takes the Helm: The season one part two opener shows that Rand is undoing all the positive changes that Reagan promised to her employees, and he's even worse than J.R.. He's put spy cameras in the women's bathrooms and sends those who protest to Shadow Prison. Then he announces that they're going to set the world on fire, and prepare to take back the world's ex-wife and daughter. Reagan snarkily says that this mid-life crisis may cause the apocalypse.
  • Undying Loyalty: Brett demonstrates this in "Project Reboot"; despite Reagan making him enter the new timeline where he can find happiness, he's the first to gather everyone in their timelines and save Reagan from J.R.. While he found out puppeteers are catty by saying his sewing was "fine," reading the notes that he put on his tinfoil poster made him realize that reality was in danger of falling apart.
  • Unperson: J.R. claims that anyone sent to the Shadow Prison is "erased from history". It is implied he has done this to employees simply For the Evulz.
  • Villainous Breakdown: "Project Reboot" has a quiet, devastating one from Rand. Reagan is prepared to go Doc Ock on him to save the universe, only to find him obsessively staring at the machine and playing home videos with a young Reagan on loop. Turns out Rand was trying to create a timeline where Reagan and Tamiko never left him, but no matter what he did, he couldn't change that variant. Tamiko and he divorce, and Reagan disowns him. Rand reveals to Reagan that he tried at least fifty times to fix things, but the reboot machine can't grant him the happiness he wants. He has to face the reality that they didn't leave because of factors beyond their control; they left because Rand was an asshole who would never change. It was always him. Reagan convinces him to turn off the machine and restore it to the prime timeline.
  • Villain Has A Point: J.R. in "Project Reboot" does have one legitimate point when turning on Reagan and Rand just as Reagan convinces Rand to turn the reboot machine off: Rand is an asshole that always relied J.R. to clean up his messes and took him for granted. Rand visibly can't retort.
  • Villain Protagonist: Reagan and most of the supporting cast could be considered Anti-Villain types, as they are more than willing to commit such atrocities as murder, kidnapping, and brainwashing for the greater good. Except for Brett, who could be considered the Token Good Teammate, even if he isn't very bright.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: JR and Rand were this when they were roommates in college (Harvard, something JR will never let anyone forget), due to a Slobs Versus Snobs situation (Rand was the slob, JR was the snob). As JR relates, they hated each other from the start, but each saw potential in the other, leading to them becoming business partners, and the Start of Darkness for both of them. In the present, they simply hate each other.
  • We Can Rule Together: Anti-Villain example: "Appleton" has the Robes laud Reagan as she considers resigning from Cognito Inc. and letting Brett take her place as CEO, explaining that they know she made difficult choices to take down her father and save reality. They sweeten the deal of her being head of Cognito, Inc. by offering more power. If she stays, she will not be their puppet but their partner, helping improve the world. It would not be working with evil, but keeping humanity safe. They give her time to think about it, and Reagan doesn't know what to do with Ron wanting to move to Appleton and erase their memories until ROBOTUS gives her a chance to view all the possibilities. The season ends with her taking the offer after letting Ron go, making Brett her Number Two, and promising they are done being a "stupid" shadow government.
  • We Want Our Jerk Back: Justified in "Appleton"; Reagan gets a standing ovation and welcome back party after helping stop Rand from erasing reality... because he was so awful and she can finally restore all the positive changes she made when J.R. gave her the promotion. Her team also admits, despite liking Brett personally, that they can't respect him as a leader because he is a marshmallow and too darn nice, while Reagan could strike fear into them. Brett proves them wrong by smacking them in the face for wanting him to shoot Air Bud to save the timeline as he finds another solution. Reagan does realize she needs Brett as her conscience, and asks him to be her Number Two.
  • Who Shot JFK?: In this reality, the true killer was "Grassy Noel" Atkinson, the longest serving member of Cognito Inc, and by his own account, the best assassin alive, claiming JFK was not the only Head of State he has killed. Ironically, this revelation was far less interesting than the reason why JFK was killed - JFK had been seduced by a Roswell alien and had gotten a Face Full of Alien Wing-Wong, requiring Atkison to kill him before the eggs hatched and released a Horde of Alien Locusts upon the world, something that sounds bizarre even when compared to other JFK-related conspiracy theories
  • You Get Me Coffee: While Brett is Reagan's co-leader, she notes that J.R. had hired him as an unpaid intern. It means that J.R. will occasionally use Brett for demeaning, deceptive, or dangerous tasks, like serving as the sample Reptoid that the staff has to hug in the H.R. meeting, or asking him to pose as a billionaire to convince Jeff Bezos to buy J.R.'s yacht. (It Makes Sense in Context) Brett doesn't mind the former task because he loves hugging people, and for the latter he eagerly breaks out his method acting, honorably offering himself as a hostage when the Flat Earthers take over the ship. Reagan finally promotes him to her Number Two with a paying job when she takes over Cognito, Inc.
  • You Shall Not Pass: Attempted. In the season one finale when Bear-O prepares to kill Reagan's team to make her happier, Reagan shouts at them to run while she brings out some big guns. She then fires on her trauma bot to give everyone a chance to escape.


  1. ↑ There is a German film producer named Dietrich Kluge, but this doesn't seem to be him.
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