Since this is a recap, all spoilers are unmarked per policy. You Have Been Warned
When a police officer is found stabbed to death, detectives soon discover her killer, whose eventual conviction causes a strife within the prosecutor's office on if they should face execution or not.
Related tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Monica's father, who not only abused her throughout her life but also abuses his current girlfriend even after lying to Ross that he was a "former domestic abuser".
- Badass Bystander: The young man who attempted to save Officer Flynn's life, even taking a bullet to the head for his troubles. In spite of this and initially being blamed for the murder, he not only survives, but it's mentioned that the city is giving him a medal for his efforts.
- Face Death with Dignity: After being found guilty and sentenced to death, Monica takes responsibility for her crimes, hopes Flynn's husband will one day forgive her, accepts that she got a fair trial, doesn't even appeal the sentence and makes it clear that she had no part in the failed legal action taken by the two lobbying groups. In her final interview, she says that she is at peace and dies from lethal injection three days later.
- Happily Married: Officer Dana Flynn and her husband were this. In his Victims' Impact Statement, he stated how they also wanted to have children, but mutually decided not to until she had been on the force longer and more set in her position.
- Heel–Faith Turn: When Monica Johnson is confronted with the murder weapon, she breaks down on the stand, admits to the murder and becomes a born-again Christian who rejects any appeals that would prolong her time on death row.
- Hypocrite:
- Both the American Civil Rights Committee and the Christian Alliance try to subvert the rule of law and Monica Johnson's choice to accept punishment for her crimes because of her refusal to appeal the sentence note and launch an appeal that neither have any legal standing to make. The lead appellate Judge is incredulous at the arguments the two make that essentially go against everything that civil rights and the US Constitution stands for.note Their arguments quickly fall apart as McCoy argues that if a defendant uses a claim of religious conversion to get out of the death penalty, then the death penalty isn't being equably applied. At which point they may as well dust off the rack since they're going back to the Inquisition. The two groups lose their appeal.
- The Christian Alliance is the only religious rights group that gets involved and no other religion besides Christianity is mentioned at all. They also ignore the fact that Monica Johnson doesn't want to die nor is she suicidal, just that she's not going to appeal what she considers a just sentence from a fair trial and leave the matter in God's hands.
- Irony: A civil rights group and a religious rights group are trying subvert an individual's right to freedom of religion. The person who prosecuted her ends up defending her in the Court of Appeals.
- Jaw Drop: McCoy has a brief one when Monica Johnson suddenly identifies the knife as her own and confesses to the murder.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The episode is heavily inspired by the Karla Faye Tucker case.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Averted in Briscoe's case; he calls in every favor he has and even tries going to McCoy for help, but ultimately he can't help Cathy with her recent drug charge in spite of his position, to her immense chagrin.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Cathy, one of Briscoe's estranged daughters, is featured in a subplot where she's looking at going down for a drug charge unless she testifies against her drug dealing boyfriend. The repercussions will continue in future episodes.
