Fraser encounters Victoria Metcalf, the only woman he ever loved, whom he arrested for bank robbery years ago. Finding that she is in trouble with one of her former associates, he resolves to help her and set things right.
Tropes:
- Best Served Cold: Victoria ambushes Jolly after he walks back to her car, and after he asks her if she's "come to her senses" and is ready to tell her where the money is, she pulls out her gun, says a Pre-Mortem One-Liner and pulls the trigger.
- Big Damn Heroes: When it looks like Jolly is about to stab Victoria at the public zoo's waterfall, Benton swings in from above on a cable, through the waterfall itself, to impede him.
- Brick Joke:
- In the opening sequence, Ray is so excited that Frannie and the rest of his relatives are going to Florida that he has a vintage pool table (owned by his father) set-up in the kitchen of their townhouse complex, which he intends to use for a "boys' night in" with Benton and some other friends (despite the fact it doesn't fit well in the room). Benton comments upon installing the table that it doesn't appear to be level, and a couple minutes later, after a conversation, Benton leaves and Ray tries to rack the balls — only for them all to roll over to one side of the table, much to his chagrin. Much later, we see Gardino trying to shoot the ball, only to get his cue stuck in the kitchen's radiator.
- Ray says he's going to use the money Benton owes him for the vacuum repairs to buy some snacks for the cops' get-together at his place, suggesting he's going to buy pizza and a meat platter. When Benton doesn't show up for the get-together and Lt. Welsh arrives and inquires about the food, Ray offers him a jar of capers instead.
- Fraser Sr. mentions that he had to buried with his hat partially cut off at the back in order to accommodate it on his head in the coffin, leading to much confusion from Benton. Later on, when Benton gets the flower from Victoria and goes to see her, Fraser Sr. surreptitiously takes another hat from the rack.
- Career Versus Man: An interesting gender-flipped version — Benton puts his career on the line, and his friendship with Ray and his co-workers, at risk because he's willing to skip work for an extended period of time to hang around with Victoria in his apartment.
- Confessional: Benton goes into an Irish one in order to vent about his history with Victoria, neatly dodging Expospeak by having him explain it to the priest as a way to absolve his "sin" of not letting her go when he had the chance.
- Cowboy Cop: Ray's "imminent danger" trick he uses to gain access to Jolly's apartment, which involves picking the lock to his motel room, lighting a matchbook on fire and throwing it in a trashcan just inside the door, closing it, then asking the next-door neighbour if she's seen or smelled anything odd coming from the adjoining room. When smoke begins pouring out the door, Ray kicks the door down on queue and uses the entry as justification to search the premises.
- Foreshadowing: Plenty, regarding Victoria's true motives.
- Benton and Victoria's financial situations are contrasted — he needs help paying for vacuum cleaner repairs from Ray, while Victoria is much more freely willing to give money (slipping $100 into Benton's wallet), suggesting she's much more well-off than she initially appears to be.
- During their apartment date, Victoria and Fraser are watching North By Northwest, and she comments on how Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) sends Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) to his possible death because "she had no choice". This sets up her willingness to trick Benton over the course of the next episode-and-a-half.
- When she wakes up after their first night together in Benton's apartment, Victoria goes to the window and stares for a moment at Jolly (who the viewer doesn't know about on first watch), then proceeds to oddly start washing the nearby surfaces of Benton's sink instead of washing the dishes, suggesting she's scrubbing her prints out.
- Victoria can be seen carefully eyeing a snowglobe in Ray's house when the latter allows her to stay there, suggesting she may have a purpose for it in the near future...
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: When Victoria is walking around Frannie's room, a framed photo of Benton is sitting on her nightstand (which is only visible in some HD/fanmade versions of the episode).
- Kick the Dog: Victoria shoots and wounds Diefenbaker, leading to the latter being placed at a vet for several days, and lets Benton think Jolly attacked her. This only becomes clear when she's revealed to be the owner of the gun at the end of the episode.
- Leitmotif: Sarah McLachlan's "Possession" is used as this, along with the acoustic and "rock" versions of the song. The song clearly fits the purpose of being an Obsession Song (Benton can't seem to get over his memories of Victoria, and is willing to throw everything away on a second chance with her).
- My Greatest Failure: Benton seems to treat turning Victoria in to the authorities, after spending several days surviving with her, as this (or at least, very close to it). For his part, Fraser Sr. says that Benton did exactly what he had to do - stuck to his code and delivered her to justice.
- New Old Flame: Fraser and Victoria met while he was tracking her during the middle of a snowstorm, but he turned her in after they conducted Intimate Healing to keep each other warm and stay alive. They reunite in Chicago and briefly try to downplay what happened, but their feelings towards each other eventually become clear.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Jolly is willing to stalk, threaten and even kill Victoria if it means figuring out where the missing $250k from the robbery is located. In turn, Victoria shoots him dead the moment he's outlived his purpose.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The normally-unflappable Benton is reduced to an emotional wreck the moment he thinks he spots Victoria in a crowd, leading him to spend an entire night mulling over whether he actually saw her or not.
- Pet the Dog: Despite the fact that he's an unrepentant criminal who is guilty of manslaughter and attempted murder, Jolly briefly pauses to ruffle a kid's hair during his Unflinching Walk after Victoria at the local zoo.
- The Reveal: That Victoria (unlike her previous persona) is willing to coldly murder someone, even her own partner, just to further her own plans.
- Shipper on Deck: Ray is (initially) incredibly happy to see that Benton managed to get a girlfriend, and is shown congratulating him several times when he finds out.
- Snow Means Love: Many of the scenes involving Victoria are backed by snow, even during scenes inside Benton's apartment, signifying his feelings towards her.
- Special Edition Title: The episode eschews the standard title sequence in favor of a unique scene focusing on an unseen assailant (later presumed to be Victoria) burning down Fraser's old cabin in Canada, complete with plenty of stock shots of the Canadian Rockies.
- Trash the Set: Benton's cabin in the Canadian Rockies is burnt down by an unseen assailant (presumed to be Victoria) during the opening of the episode.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Ray calls out Fraser for missing the big "boys night in" hangout he'd organized at his place with the rest of the detectives, particularly as the latter owed him money for the vacuum repair, which he intended to use to buy snacks.
