Directed by Tim Hunter
Written by Pam Veasey
"Creatures of the Night" is the second episode of Season 1. It originally aired on September 29,200
Synopsis:
A man shot dead in an alleyway, but the bullet that killed him is missing. After a woman is found raped and beaten in Central Park with only a peony leaf on her clothing and no memory of the crime, Stella and Flack have the daunting task of trying to find the man who raped her.Tropes for the episode:
- Motor Mouth: The exterminator brought in to deal with a large number of rats in the ceiling of a bodega jabbers on and on about his technique, as well as describing in detail how the specific rat they're after would've choked on the bullet it ate. Mac keeps trying to get a word in edgewise and ultimately resorts to loudly interrupting the guy:Mac Taylor: The rat, Karl. What about the rat? Can we please just catch the rat?!"
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: The assault on the woman is so severe it makes her go into shock and not remember what happened. She blocks it out so much that she walks to an event where she was to meet her father and, limping and covered in torn, blood-stained clothing, she apologies to him for being late and then collapses in front of him.
- Shower of Angst: Stella is so frustrated over the fact that the semen sample they collected has no sperm, and thus no DNA, and all the other pieces of evidence have led to dead ends, that she heads for the shower before leaving work.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: A variation. An exterminator puts poison in scrambled eggs to attract and kill a hoard of rats because one of them ate a bullet the investigators need to retrieve in order to identify the man's shooter.
- The X of Y: The episode title, "Creatures of the Night" fits this format.
