Run off the road by a man wearing a home-made superhero costume, Jeremiah and Kurdy's injuries are tended to by a woman who explains that her brother has retreated into a fantasy world. Initially bemused, Jeremiah finds he needs to join forces with Captain Iron when she is kidnapped. Meanwhile, Erin, Markus's deputy at Thunder Mountain, begins to suspect that Markus may be hiding something from her in one of the unused parts of the complex…

The power relationship in Thunder Mountain is more complex than it first appeared: there exists a "council", of which Erin is a member, that appears capable of overturning decisions made by Markus concerning the running of the place. This raises a question as to what opposition there might have been to allowing Jeremiah and Kurdy to leave with Simon's Rover and notebook of contacts. It is also not yet clear where Lee Chen is positioned in the hierarchy.

Additional - updated 4 March 2006

Some of these details were in scenes shot for the pilot but not included in the broadcast version. See the previous episode for discussion.

John (Captain Iron) knows of Valhalla Sector and is terrified of it. A brief flashback shows him as a child undergoing some kind of medical procedure.

Erin makes her first appearance. She describes herself as Markus's "right hand", and the two appear close, though probably not intimate.

Meaghan is the only character we've so far met who survived the Big Death. Although her age isn't given, that would mean she was over the age of puberty fifteen years ago. According to Markus, she was brought to Thunder Mountain when it was discovered she had the virus but was immune to its effects. Before she could be transferred to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, the disease had killed every adult in Thunder Mountain. Although ostensibly keeping her alive to conduct experiments on the disease, it becomes clear that Markus has developed a deep attachment to her, and she says she returns his love.

Jeremiah's opening narration: "Dear dad. It's been fifteen years since the Big Death wiped out everyone over the age of innocence. The end of your world. The beginning of mine."

"I have to tell you, being Death Incarnate is a real bitch some days - benefits are lousy, the pay stinks. But, I get to make my own hours." - Meaghan

Kurdy holds up a thumb: "See this? This is the only part of my body that doesn't hurt."

Jeremiah to God: "Are you happy? Are you satisfied now? I mean, that's the way it works, isn't it? You set us up. You take someone like him, you give him hope, just so you can take it away again? What did he ever do to you? What did any of us ever do to you? What did the whole fucking world do to you, that we deserve all of this? I mean, come on, the locusts and the death of the first-born wasn't good enough for you anymore so now it's the death of the eldest? The death of heroes? You know what? Fuck you. Because we're not just gonna lay down and die down here. You want to finish off the job? Come down here! Do it yourself. You send the Angel of Death, you better give him one hell of a big sword, because I tell you what, we are gonna kick his ass all the way back to the great white fucking throne. And then we're coming for you. We're coming for you."

The Native American symbol seem at the start of the episode appears to combine symbols for the sun (meaning growth/goodness) and whirlwind (signifying the cycle of life and change). The central symbol could mean "one day" (is he requesting one night's rest?)

Captain Iron's "I am a spirit of vengeance, and I will kick the ass of the unrighteous" has an echo of Commander Ivanova's speech from Babylon 5's "Between the Darkness and the Light": "I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to earth". Perhaps ironically given Jeremiah's later diatribe, Ivanova ends the speech with the phrase "God sent me".

Straczynski has acknowledged that the title is a homage to Larry Niven's celebrated essay discussing the practical problems relating to Lois and Clark's love life, entitled "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex".

The new title sequence has an opening narration by Jeremiah, adapted from one of the letters to his father from the pilot.

There is a brief animated segment when Jeremiah first encounters "Captain Iron". Presumably this is meant to show us how John sees himself.

John has a database of resources in the area stored on a laptop powered by a wind-up generator. Jeremiah takes it at the end of the episode, no doubt hoping John made some notes about Valhalla Sector in there, though given his reaction to the name this perhaps isn't likely.

Somewhat in contrast to the pilot, the scarcity of vehicles and fuel seems to have been relaxed a little - "Captain Iron" talks about bandits who run travellers off the road, and who seem to have vehicles themselves - which begs the question, is fuel more plentiful that was previously indicated, or has a new source appeared?

The comma divides the episode into two very different stories here, joined by the common theme of the power of the individual. The Man of Iron story treads a dangerously thin line between the sublime and the ridiculous - even Straczynski has described it as "a somewhat fanciful tale" - but Jeremiah's righteous fury at the conclusion tips the balance. The Woman Under Glass is probably the more worthwhile of the two, partly because it hangs a nice Chekhovian gun neatly on the wall, partly because it gives Ingrid Kavelaas plenty of material to make a good first impression as Erin.