Steve's life is in an odd balance. On the one hand, police officers have recently been found dead of apparent suicides, which Mark reads to possibly be the work of a Serial Killer. On the other hand, he is dating the lovely reporter Lynn Conklin, who is herself covering the story as well. Little does Steve know that the killer hunting down police officers and the woman he is falling for are one in the same, and he may just be next...
"Love is Murder" displays symptoms of the following tropes:
- Asshole Victim: The four cops Lynn killed that gangraped her. The others she killed aren't known enough about to judge this, but the hitchhiker Lynn kills to fake her own death certainly doesn't qualify.
- Boom, Headshot!: Lynn kills her victims by blowing their brains out with their own sidearms.
- Blind Mistake: At the end of the episode, Steve bumps into the doorway of the room he's being examined in, but then says he did that on purpose to mess with Mark.
- Call-Back: While trying to learn how to use his new coffee maker, Mark is wearing his "Bach to the kitchen" apron.
- Faking the Dead: After Steve survives her attempt to kill him, Lynn is exposed and drives down to the beach and thinks. She comes across a hitchhiker looking for a ride, and while she at first refuses, she soon notices the young lady matches her build. All of a sudden, she does give the girl a ride after all. One that ends in a fatal car crash.
- Cop Killer: Police officers are Lynn's preferred victims, considering her backstory.
- Ironic Death: At the end, Lynn gets shot dead by Steve, the police officer (and to her, the only one) who cared about her the most.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: The four cops who gang-raped Lynn and got acquitted, only for her to hunt them all down.
- Make It Look Like A Suicide: This is initially Lynn's MO, but she stops trying to do so when she kills Frank.
- Rape and Revenge: The turning point of Lynn's life was when a group of police officers gang raped her as a college student and were acquitted. Once they were killed, Lynn moved onto other cities and other cops.
- Reverse Whodunnit: Lynn kills her latest victim during the Cold Opening, with most of the rest of the episode focusing on Mark, Steve, and Jesse's efforts to find out the identity of the Cop Killer.
- Serial Killer: Lynn is one who kills policemen.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Mark leaves Steve home alone to claim an award, shortly before Lynn covertly arrives to kill Steve.
- Temporary Blindness: Steve briefly loses his sight after jumping through Lynn's window. Mark attributes it to his occipital lobe swelling.
- Together in Death: Lynn intends to kill Steve and then herself in a murder-suicide, when it becomes obvious that he isn't about to let her off the hook for her crimes.
- Written-In Absence: Early on, Norman mentions having granted Amanda a vacation, so that she could see her husband in Hawaii.
- Yandere: Lynn gradually gets more possessive towards Steve, especially after she fakes her death to throw him, Mark and Jesse off her trail and stalks him at his home.
