On the hunt for escaped murderer Danny Winters, Charlie and Rex are held hostage. But when a greater threat emerges, Charlie and his captor are forced to work together if they're going to make it out alive.
Tropes:
- Chekhov's Skill: While talking to Charlie about the circumstances of Danny's conviction, Claire mentions that she regularly takes flying lessons. Wayne tries to use this as a way to escape from the police by forcing her to fly him off the island under the threat of hurting her family if she doesn't, having known that Claire was a pilot due to being one of her clients and her talking about flying at a lot of their meetings. Fortunately, he’s apprehended before they manage to make it to the airport.
- Clear My Name: Why Danny returned to the radar station, claiming to have accidentally left behind evidence there that would prove him innocent of Marcus’s murder.
- Con Artist: While investigating the circumstances of Marcus’s murder, the Major Crimes team discover that the victim was involved in a fraud scheme where he was helping to secretly steal personal information from the partygoers’ confiscated phones to gain access to and rob their bank accounts. Because of this, they suspect that whoever was working with Marcus was the one who killed him and had Danny take the fall. His partner was Wayne, who killed him when they had a falling out and framed Danny for it. When Wayne heard that Danny escaped from prison and predicted that he would go back to the station looking for proof of his innocence, he hired Kirwin to kill him and arranged things so that the gunman could take the fall for Marcus’s murder. Then when that fails and he realizes that the SJPD is coming for him, Wayne decides to try and escape by forcing Claire to fly him off the island.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: The real culprit behind Marcus’s murder is arrested, Danny is cleared of any wrongdoing and is now able to be in his wife and unborn child’s life, and his friendship with Charlie has been mended when the latter and Rex help him prove his innocence.
- Enemy Mine: When Charlie and Rex track Danny back to the radar station, the latter manages to corner them and hold them hostage, threatening to kill them if they get in his way. However, when Kerwin suddenly shows up, Charlie and Danny are forced to work together to try and stop him from killing them both.
- Frame-Up: Danny insists that he was actually framed for the murder and claims to have possessed evidence pointing to Marcus’s real killer, with only his wife Lynn believing him. He’s telling the truth. When Danny suspected something was up when he noticed Marcus messing with phones prior to the party, he secretly placed his own phone to record Marcus in the act, only to instead catch his murder. After that, Danny went to retrieve his phone and go after the killer, only for him to lose the evidence in the chaos and get framed.
- Hired Guns: Mick Kerwin, a gunman with a history of assault, aggravated assault, and extortion, shows up at the station to kill Danny. He is also claimed by Wayne to have possibly been working with Marcus on the fraud scheme, with him suspected to have been the one who killed Marcus and framed Danny. He’s not, as he was in police custody for assault the night of the murder. Kerwin was actually hired by Wayne to kill Danny after hearing that he escaped and predicting that he would return to the station to search for proof of his innocence.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Discussed by Charlie and Donovan in regards to Claire Haines’s clients. More specifically, Mick Kerwin and Wayne Needles. The former an aggressive gunman and the latter a con man who murdered his own partner and forces Claire into helping him escape the island when he's eventually discovered to be the one behind everything. Averted with Danny though.
- Miscarriage of Justice: Three months prior to the episode, a technology-free party was held at the abandoned Red Cliff Radar Station hosted by the organization Hush Hush Events, only for events to lead to the murder of one of their bouncers, Marcus Richards, with his coworker Danny Winters declared the supposed culprit due to eyewitness testimonies and the murder weapon being found in his car. Despite pleading guilty, Danny claims he was actually framed and possessed evidence pointing to the real killer but was lost in the chaos of the incident. He turns out to have been right. Wayne is actually the one responsible for everything, including being the mastermind behind the fraud scheme.
- Reformed Criminal: Prior to the episode's events, Danny had been in and out of trouble with the law until he met Lynn and gotten a job with Hush Hush Events due to being friends with the owner Wayne Needles. However, his supposed murder of Marcus landed him back in jail with his lawyer Claire Haines advising that he plead guilty in order to have a lesser sentence so that Danny will be able to be in his unborn child’s life when he gets out.
- Returning to the Scene: After escaping from the prison bus, Danny heads back to the ranger station to try and find the evidence that would prove his innocence, only for to be interrupted by Charlie and Rex arriving to arrest him and then by Mick Kerwin looking to kill him.
- Surprise Car Crash: The episode opens with Danny boarding a prison bus on the way to his hearing to know how many years he would be behind bars before being eligible for parole, only for things to take an unexpected turn when the bus flips over from a head-on collision by another driver having a seizure at the wheel, with Danny breaking free from his shackles and escaping on a stolen motorcycle. When discussing it with Charlie, Danny claims the accident to have been a message from the heavens, giving him a chance to prove that he is actually innocent in everything.
- We Used to Be Friends: Charlie and Danny have a personal history, with the two of them having known each other since they were kids, until an incident involving them stealing from a corner store when they were thirteen led to a falling out between them. Fortunately, they mend their friendship after Charlie helps Danny to prove his innocence.
