Directed by Matt Earl Beesley
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn & Matthew Levine
"Do or Die" is the 17th episode of Season 7 and the 157th overall. It originally aired March 11, 2011.
A very popular girl is murdered at the private high school she attends. The team wade through cliques, rivalries and an abundance of inappropriate behavior to determine who killed her and why.
Tropes for the episode:
- Backstory of the Day: Jo reveals to the team that she was head cheerleader at her high school. When they all react with variations of "You were a cheerleader?!", she looks at Lindsay and says, "Don't act like you weren't." There is no other mention of either of them being on a squad.
- Bathroom Stall of Overheard Insults: A not-so-popular girl hides in a stall while two cheerleaders who constantly berate her continue to do so.
- The Can Kicked Him: The popular girl is killed by a classmate who bashes her head against the bathroom sink.
- Murder the Hypotenuse The murderer killed the victim out of jealousy, thinking the girl was a rival for her own crush's attentions.
- Nerds Are Naïve: Before dying, the popular girl had enlisted the smartest guy in the class to help her study so she could get into her college of choice. The guy is clueless as to her motivation and falls for her, thinking instead that she asked because she liked him, too.
- Oblivious to Love: The tutor is clueless that his female best friend is actually in love with him.
- School Grade Hacking: It's learned that a nerdy student had hacked the school's computer system to obtain copies of expected tests to create an answer key for the victim so she could keep her reputation as the smartest girl in school as well as get accepted to the college of her choice.
- X-Ray of Pain: A high school student is killed in a restroom by having her head slammed on the edge of a sink. A shot of her skull cracking is included during the reveal at the end of the episode.
