Directed by Nathan Hope
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn & John Dove
"Misconceptions" is the 5th episode of Season 9 and the 185th overall. It originally aired October 26, 2012.
The prime suspect in a 20-yr old cold case returns to the scene of the crime and is murdered there. Flack has the day off and spends it with his sister and grandmother, who gives him a box of mementos from their deceased father. Christine confronts Mac about a problem he's having, which prompts Mac to warn Jo to stay out of his private life.
Tropes for the episode:
- Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie: Among the items from his father, Flack finds a letter addressed to him and Sam. He spends the rest of the episode convincing her to help him carry out their father's last wish...for his ashes to be spread at Yankee Stadium.
- Clear My Name: Keith Milner gets murdered on the 20-year anniversary of Tommy's disappearance by Tommy's killer, whom he is confronting in an effort to prove his innocence before his own child is born.
- Crying Wolf: The teenaged Keith told his parents that he saw Tommy getting lured into his killer's basement and heard him being murdered, but he had previously lied to and manipulated them so many times, they didn't believe him. They died sometime in the intervening years, still believing he had killed Tommy.
- Death of a Child: The cold case is that of 8-year-old Tommy Lewis. He was killed the day he went missing and his body is finally found at the end of this episode.
- Easy Amnesia: Averted. Mac has been dealing with speech aphasia ever since his recovery period in the hospital, which began approximately eight months earlier.
- Eye Contact as Proof: Christine becomes suspicious of Mac's memory problems and asks him to look her in the eye and tell her nothing's wrong. He can't, and doesn't, so she starts giving him the cold shoulder.
- Hiding the Handicap: Mac refuses to tell anyone, even Christine, about his memory issues.
- Impossible Pickle Jar: Exploited by Flack's grandmother. One of the ploys she uses to get him and his sister to come over for dinner is claiming she can't open her jar of pickles.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Speech aphasia is a real condition in which patients who've had loss of oxygen to the brain can have trouble coming up with names of everyday objects; in Mac's case, colors, foods and his cell phone.Mac [to one of his doctors about the phone]: I know what it does. I know how to use it. I just can't tell you what it's called.
- Manly Tears: Mac briefly breaks down at the end of the episode, finally realizing that if he doesn't swallow his pride, apologize and open up to Christine, he's going to lose her.
- Obliviously Evil: After confessing to molesting and killing a young boy which led to yet another murder being committed as well as a number of lives being ruined, Mitch Ventri still insists that he is not a bad guy.
- Remember That You Trust Me: Jo gets suspicious about Mac's condition and brings up the subject with Christine, who doesn't let on to her but later asks Mac point blank if he trusts her. He says he does, but still doesn't tell her what's going on.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The cold case is based on the 1979 disappearance of Etan Patz.
- Silent Treatment: Christine reacts to Mac not letting her in on his issues by not answering or returning his calls or texts.
- That One Case: Although he was a rookie detective at the time and not in charge, the cold case has remained in the back of Mac's mind because he didn't think it was investigated thoroughly enough.
- Through His Stomach: Flack's grandmother invokes the maternal version with him and Sam. Along with her pickle jar trick, she lures them to her place with pleas for help with a (non-existent) leak under her sink, then plies them with homemade Italian food until they can't eat any more...and continues to offer them more servings.
- Villain with Good Publicity: To the people of the neighborhood, the culprit is a nice man who is friends with nearly everyone, including the young boy's parents. This is how he is able to get away with the child's murder for 20 years while blame is put on the local troublemaker.
- Voiceover Letter: The fade-in/fade-out version. After Lindsay begins reading a suspect's journal entry, the man's voice takes over, then she finishes it up with the last sentence.
- Was Just Leaving: While Christine confronts Mac about his issues, Sheldon knocks on his open office door and steps inside, talking about the case. Realizing he has interrupted a personal conversation, he apologizes and offers to come back later. Mac tells him to say and, glaring at his girlfriend, adds firmly, "Christine was just leaving." She does so, frowning, but without another word.
- You Have to Believe Me!: Keith Milner, suspected of killing Tommy Lewis, had repeatedly protested his innocence, but nobody, even his own parents, had believed him.
