History Recap / ColdCaseS5E10Justice

** Done wordlessly when Mike's ghost appears to Vera with a look on his face that says WhatTheHellHero. Vera just sneers at him as if to say IRegretNothing, and Mike's ghost fades away.

* ShutUpHannibal: When Mike tries to antagonize his rape victim's younger brother by mentioning how much fun he had ravaging his older sister, the brother cuts him off with a livid "SHUT UP!"
** Done wordlessly when Mike's ghost appears to Vera with a look on his face that says WhatTheHellHero Vera just sneers at him as if to say IRegretNothing, and Mike's ghost fades away.

* GratuitousRape: One of Mike's victims insists that his act was this, as she did have a crush on him and would have willingly slept with him under non-coerced circumstances.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Lily isn’t wrong to point out how unprofessional it would be of them to let the perpetrator walk just because the [[SerialRapist victim]] was [[AssholeVictim a terrible person]]. On the other hand Vera is also correct when he points out that moral responsibility aside, by having the team investigate a decades old case that has very few leads and isn’t connected to any other investigations, Lily is wasting both their time and resources.

* PoliceAreUseless: Officer Maggie Lafferty wanted to stop Mike but as she grimly notes, the sex crimes department she worked in back in the '80s was a joke that nobody took seriously. Even after a victim of Mike's killed herself, Maggie was still unable to open an investigation or get the DA to prosecute him due to insufficient evidence. That's why Maggie decided to give a gun to Tessie and inform her that justifiable homicide existed, since the system wasn't going to protect her or anyone from Mike.

* TooDumbToLive: Mike decides that a small boy pointing a gun at him was the perfect time to [[PostRapeTaunt brag about how great his sister was in bed.]]

* BigBrotherInstinct: Inverted. Jimmy, Tessie's younger brother (and twelve at the time of the event) is the one who blows away the rapist creep his sister could not bring herself to shoot.

* ChekhovsGun: Policewoman Maggie gave Tessie a gun to protect her self from future rape attempts. She uses it to confront Mike but is unable to pull the trigger and tosses it. Then Tessie's brother Jimmy finds the same gun and confronts Mike again, only for the latter to be shot dead.

* DirtyCoward: Mike [[BringMyBrownPants wets himself]] when confronted by people he knows really want to kill him and brought a gun for the deed [[ISurrenderSuckers which, combined with the typical reflexive begging for his life, is enough for said people]] to decide he is NotWorthKilling and let him go. The reason he stands defiant against Jimmy (who points a gun at him a couple of minutes later) is that he seriously thought [[YouWouldntShootMe Jimmy didn't had the guts]].

* PoliceAreUseless: Officer Maggie Lafferty wanted to stop Mike but as she grimly notes, the sex crimes department she worked in back in the '80s was a joke that nobody took seriously and even after a victim of Mike's killed herself, Maggie was still unable to open an investigation or get the DA to prosecute him due to insufficient evidence. That's why Maggie decided to give a gun to Tessie and inform her that justifiable homicide existed, since the system wasn't going to protect her or anyone from him.

* DirtyCoward: Mike [[BringMyBrownPants wets himself]] when confronted by people he knows really want to kill him and brought a gun for the deed [[ISurrenderSuckers which, combined with the typical reflexive begging for his life, is enough for said people]] to decide he is NotWorthKilling and let him go. The reason he stands defiant against Jimmy (who points a gun at him a couple of minutes later) is that he seriously thought [[YouWouldnttShootMe Jimmy didn't had the guts]].

* DirtyCoward: Mike [[BringMyBrownPants wets himself]] when confronted by people he knows really want to kill him and brought a gun for the deed [[ISurrenderSuckers which, combined with the typical reflexive begging for his life, is enough for said people]] to decide he is NotWorthKilling and let him go. The reason he stands defiant against Jimmy (who points a gun at him a couple of minutes later) is that he seriously thought [[YouWouldNotShootMe Jimmy didn't had the guts]].

* BreakTheCutie: Mike does this to all his victims, who start out as trusting and confident, until he takes advantage of them. His youngest victim is the most severe example. She was only 18, and even her father slut-shamed her for what Mike did, [[DrivenToSuicide driving her to commit suicide in her dorm room]].

* DisapprovingLook: Mike's ghost do this to Vera in the ending, when the detective is bringing back Mike's evidence box in the vault. Vera just ignores him.
* DrivenToSuicide: One of Mike's victims wasn't believed even by her own father and ended up killing herself. The other victims decided this was the [[MoralEventHorizon last straw]] since she was a teenager.

* ISurrenderSuckers: When the girls are ready to give Mike a VigilanteExecution for what he did to them, he literally pisses himself in fear and begs for forgiveness, which makes them decide he is NotWorthKilling and let him go. About two minutes later, he has composed himself and makes clear to Tessie's brother that he is unapologetic and willing to continue his raping spree. [[BullyingTheDragon That gloat was the last thing he ever did]].

* NoMeansYes: Mike is incapable of believing anything else. When held at gunpoint by Tessie's little brother, he insists all girls are like this.
* PoliceAreUseless: Officer Maggie Lafferty wanted to stop Mike but she was unable to take legal action and she grimly notes that even the sexual department she worked in was a joke that nobody took seriously and even when a victim of Mike killed herself, she was still unable to open an investigation. That's why Maggie decided to give a gun to Tessie and informs that justifiable homicide existed as the system wasn't going to protect her or anyone from Mike.

** Maggie, the policewoman who was unable to take action through the department due to date rape not being taken seriously, decides to give Tessie a gun taken from the evidence room to protect herself.
*** When Kat and Lily confront her about giving the murder weapon to Tessie. Maggie pretend that's she doesn't remember that period of her life well and bluntly informs them that she isn't going to testify against Tessie or whoever killed Mike.

* SisterhoodEliminatesCreep: Subverted. Tessie and the other raped girls wanted to blow away Mike, but he [[ISurrenderSuckers played the coward card so well]] when they were pointing a gun at him that they decided he was NotWorthKilling and let him go.

* ThatOneCase: Mike's series of date rapes and her inability to do anything to stop it clearly marked Maggie for life. Decades later, she still bitterly remember how she was unable to help Tessie through legal means.

** Maggie, the policewoman who was unable to do anything through the department due to date rape not being taken seriously, decides to give Tessie a gun taken from the evidence rom to protect herself.
** Jeffries, currently in charge due to Stillman's suspension, decides to let Tessie's kid brother off scot-free and actively ''stops listening'' to his confession, believing that the then-12-year-old boy shot the 6'3" athletic rapist in a justifiable homicide.[[note]] Had Stillman been there at the time, given his "ByTheBookCop" status, he likely would have been charged regardless of the circumstances[[/note]]

* ChekovsGun: Policewoman Maggie gave Tessie a gun to protect her self from future rape attempts. She uses it to confront Mike but is unable to pull the trigger and tosses it. Then Tessie's brother Jimmy finds the same gun and confronts Mike again, only for the latter to be shot dead.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Jeffries, currently in charge due to Stillman's suspension, decides to let Tessie's kid brother off scot-free and actively ''stops listening'' to his confession, believing that the then-12-year-old boy shot the 6'3" athletic rapist in a justifiable homicide.[[note]] Had Stillman been there at the time, given his "ByTheBookCop" status, he likely would have been charged regardless of the circumstances[[/note]]

As they try to work together as a team in the aftermath of Lt. Stillman's suspension, the detectives take a second look at the unsolved [[TheEighties 1982]] homicide of a popular jock whose grave had been recently defaced with the word "Rapist".

* {{Irony}}: Mike giving a valedictorian speech quoting [[UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr Martin Luther King, Jr.]] Aside from the fact that he's not worthy to quote his words, he tells the students to "[[{{Hypocrite}} be brave, be fearless, and most importantly, be compassionate]]". Not only does he [[DirtyCoward cower]] when his victims have him at gunpoint, but Tessie (the one holding the gun) is the one who opts against killing him and shows compassion, as opposed to how he [[LackOfEmpathy mercilessly treats his victims]].

* PostRapeTaunt: During her talk with the detectives, present-day Tessie soberly shares how Mike had the gall to kick her while she was down with a cruel "You know look pretty when you smile". The fact she's remembered for 20 years speaks volumes of how badly his nasty remark left an impression on her.

* {{Irony}}: Mike giving a valedictorian speech quoting [[UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr Martin Luther King, Jr.]] Aside from the fact that he's not worthy to quote his words, he tells the students to "[[{{Hypocrite}} be brave, be fearless, and most importantly, be compassionate]]". Not only does he [[DirtyCoward cower]] when his victims have him at gunpoint, but Tessie (the one holding the gun) is the one who opts against killing him and shows compassion.