Directed by Seith Mann
Written by Tyler Bensinger
When they discover new evidence to suggest that her death was not an accident, the team reinvestigate the 1996 case of Lauren Williams, a wealthy woman who had drowned in the pool during a blackout caused by a snowstorm. As the case progresses, they discover that she had a very acrimonious relationship with her family.
Tropes:
- The Alcoholic: Lauren's blood-alcohol-level when she died was .24 (three times the legal definition of intoxication). In the scene where she died, she only seemed lightly buzzed. It would have taken a lifetime of non-stop drinking to develop that level of tolerance.
- Alliterative Name: Matt Merriman.
- Asshole Victim: Lauren, who drove her family apart with her cheating, ruined Stan's upcoming marriage by revealing his new partner's children, and made attempts at grooming her grandson Matt just like she did to her own son Tad. By the time her murder is solved, her ghost looks at the pool alone and mournful.
- Bait-and-Switch: When the detectives hear that Lauren accused her husband of being a pedophile, the detectives naturally assume that this was the case and that he abused his daughter, only for it to turn out that she was.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Williams by far. Stan makes no secret of his hatred for his ex-wife Lauren and wish for her death, while Lauren lies about Stan being a pedophile while grooming her own son and tries to do the same to her grandson.
- Bittersweet Ending: Ginny is arrested for the murder of Lauren, but her brother Tad and son Matt both embrace her, knowing about the grooming and abuse Lauren engaged in.
- Bottle Episode: The flashbacks take place over one night within the same house.
- Buried Alive: Stan counters any thought of him being the killer of Lauren by pointing out drowning was too humane for her. If he had his way she would've been this trope instead.
- Control Freak: Lauren was obsessed with how her children lived their lives, forcing Ginny to put her grandson Matt into a school she preferred, and Tad to stop photographing war crimes. And that doesn't even go into how she grooms the boys.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Lauren was utterly convinced that Ginny was just jealous of the attention her mother got from men, including Matt and Tad, incapable of understanding that Ginny is disgusted with what her mother did to her brother and was trying to do with her own son.
- Expy: Laruen is one of Abby Cunningham of Knots Landing - another Manipulative Bitch who uses her good looks and feminine charms to get what she wants, and also played by the same actress, Donna Mills.
- Freudian Excuse: Ginny notes that her mother was the most unhappy person she ever knew, and the only way she could find pleasure was by making everyone else miserable.
- Hate Sink: Lauren Williams spent her every waking moment making her own family detest her. Her ex-husband Stan was accused by her of being a pedophile and bankrupted him in their divorce, Tad hated how she nitpicked how he lived his life, tried to manipulate her daughter through her finances, and Matt grew to hate her after she hypocritically tried to molest him like she did with Tad. This last part is what got her killed when Ginny realized what she was trying to do to her son.
- Hypocrite: Lauren accuses her ex-husband Stan of being a pedophile for dating a younger woman—when she was the one who molested her son and tried to do the same thing to her grandson. Lauren also mocks Stan's new partner for being from the poor part of town, when she herself wasn't exactly born into wealth.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: It was assumed that Lauren simply drowned after drinking too much champagne.
- Mama Bear: Ginny drowned Lauren in anger after she tried to start sexually grooming her son Matt.
- Mrs. Robinson: Lauren prefers younger men, including her own son and grandson.
- Parental Incest: Once Matt admits that his grandmother made advances to him, the detectives realize that his uncle Tad was a victim too.
- Proud Beauty: Lauren was a former beauty queen and took a lot of pride in her appearance well into old age. She mocks Diane and Ginny for being "plain".
- Red Herring: Everyone present in the house is presented as a reasonable suspect in Lauren's murder before turning out to be innocent. Stan especially makes no secret of his hatred of his ex-wife, wishing that she died a more painful death.
- Too Dumb to Live: Lauren decides that the perfect time to taunt her daughter was when she fell into a pool while the latter was trying to get her out, bragging about wanting to groom her son. Ginny then drowns her in a rage.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: All of the falling out and the eventual murder could have have been avoided had Ginny not invited her estranged mother Lauren to Matt's birthday party out of formality.
