Directed by Greg Yaitanes
Written by Tyler Bensinger
The Cold Case team is asked by a girl to investigate the murder of her parents, who were thought to have been killed in a burglary.
Tropes:
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Zigzagged. Brad Atwater is this to an extent. Although the foreman is earlier described as an unfair boss to his employees who exploited illegal immigrants and even stole work visas from some of them, he's initially introduced as a friendly sort who has a family of four and an ailing wife he cares about, and only committed crimes because was driven to provide for them. But later, it's revealed that not only is he unfaithful to said-wife, he makes the wives of his Asian employees service him sexually by licking his boots. And later, when the wife offers some evidence, Atwater denounces her as crazy and even claims her illness is probably 'made up'.
- Broken Ace: On the surface, Channary comes across as the kind of person Kara remembers: the cool mom who was graceful, beautiful, confident, and wise. And perhaps, at some point earlier in her life, she was. But Daryl knows the real Channary: a broken opium addict who struggled with the trauma and depression of leaving her home and losing her royal status.
- Commonality Connection: Daryl and Channary bonded over their drug addiction and past traumas.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Daryl is implied to have both seen and done terrible things in the Vietnam War (Stillman mentions that his company was brought up on war crime charges).
- Dead Person Impersonation: Sen and Channary were pressured to take the real Dietts' identities, likely dooming them to death back in Cambodia. This is explained by the fact that Kara would have been sent back with them and also executed, making Sen's actions at least somewhat understandable.
- The Dog Bites Back: Brad Atwater is undone when his wife (who he's been implied to have been abusing) not only confirms that he left the house on the night of the murder, but reveals where he hid the murder weapon.
- Family of Choice: Although Kara was taken in by her aunt and uncle when her parents died, they normally didn't have time for her. Booker was the closest thing to family (and a father) she ever had since her parents' deaths. In the epilogue, she embraces Booker when she's elated to have her bracelet back.
- Fatal Flaw: In life, Channary refused to think of herself as anything other than royalty, always holding herself up high, despite how it would give the wrong impression that she was rich. It also attracted cat-callers (Atwater included) whenever she visited the construction site to drop off lunch for her husband.
- Foreshadowing:
- A flashback of Kara's has her running outside for help. Booker can clearly be seen loitering nearby, looking at his watch. We later learn that he was waiting for his drug dealer to bring him heroin for Channary.
- The dirt on the corner of Channary's mouth seemed suspicious to Booker at the time. Turns out, she got that dirt on her mouth from licking Atwater's boots.
- Upon learning that her Aunt Mei was forced by Atwater to orally service him, a livid Kara claims he should be shot for his vile actions. Not five minutes later, Booker has Atwater at gunpoint.
- Freudian Excuse: Kara's aunt Mei had hated Channary, but not because of Channary's troublesome pride or her husband taking the real Dietts' green cardsnote . She hates Channary because of her being indirectly at fault for Atwater making Mei orally service him in Channary's place.
- Hate Sink: Brad Atwater is a construction site manager who works with a corrupt INS agent to take advantage of poor undocumented immigrants, giving them fake working visas for a cut of their paychecks. He then began to lust for Channary, the wife of one of his workers, Sen, and even broke into their residence to force her to have sex with him by threatening her husband. He ends up accidentally shooting Sen, and kills Channary just to cover his tracks.
- If I Can't Have You…: Rush accuses Booker of having killed Channary because of this. In reality, Atwater did.
- Informed Attractiveness: Nearly everyone comments on how beautiful Channary was.
- Interchangeable Asian Cultures: Atwater snidely refers to Channary as "Miss Saigon", but she icily informs him, "Saigon is in Vietnam. I am from Cambodia."
- It's All My Fault: Kara thinks her bringing the bracelet to show-and-tell as a child was what lead to her parents' deaths, as it could've been the robber who murdered them.
- Junkie Parent: A flashback reveals that Channary was a heroin addict. Booker's alibi for hers and Sen's murders turns out to be that he was buying drugs for her. He's refused to tell the cops this for years, even though it's caused him to remain under suspicion, because he doesn't want to upset Kara with this information.
- Knight in Sour Armor: While Booker is a little gruff and has his dark past, he wholeheartedly believes in being an upstanding father figure to Kara. He nearly kills the murderer of Sen and Channary before the police intervene.
- Lying to Protect Your Feelings: Booker convinces Lilly not to mention to Kara that he knew Channary because that would mean bringing up some ugly history that Channary was an opium addict.
- Mistaken for Romance: Lilly is clearly skeptical that Kara and Booker's relationship isn't sexual, but it's not.
- Meaningful Echo:
- "You don't exist!"
- Booker mentions to Rush that Kara needs a father figure in her life, justifying why he watches over her. Later, Lilly uses these same words to talk down Booker and keep him from shooting Atwater.
- Never My Fault: During the murder scene, Atwater blames Channary for 'making him' kill Sen, despite that he wouldn't be dead in the first place if he hadn't brought that gun to threaten them.
- Papa Wolf: Booker sees Kara as a daughter and will protect her as best as he can. Whenever Lilly brings up something that troubles Kara, he makes it his business to call her out on needlessly upsetting the young lady.
- Parental Substitute: After Kara's parents died, Booker took it upon himself to watch out for her as best as he could. Without letting anyone know he personally knew Channary, he guards Kara's relatives' restaurant from anyone who would make trouble. He also acts like a father figure to her, believing she needs one.
- Please Wake Up: In the prologue, young Kara tried to wake her dead parents as they laid on the floor unresponsive.
- The Power of Legacy: Daryl kept the secret of Channary's drug addiction and depression because he didn't to destroy Kara's fond memories of her mother.
- Princess in Rags: Channary, literally. Once a member of the royal family, now reduced to working as a seamstress with only one nice dress and bracelet that she hangs onto as a reminder of her past.
- Red Herring: Kara asks the team to reopen her parents’ case when she finds her mom’s bracelet being sold online. As fate would have it, the theft and the murder are unrelated. Regardless, it does serve one purpose: it lead to her parents' case being reopened.
- Riches to Rags: Kara's parents used to be royalty, but they had to forgo their wealth and status during a regime change in their country.
- Scarpia Ultimatum: Atwater propositions Channary in exchange for not reporting the couple to the INS. She refuses, but he simply turns his attention to Mei.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: The reason for Atwater's obsession with Channary.
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Kara's aunt may seem cold on the outside (to the point that even Kara thought she was uncaring). But in reality, she carries the secret that Atwater made her orally service him in order to protect Sen and Channary.
- Spotting the Thread: Daryl figures out that Brad is the killer once he learns about Brad's fetish for women licking his boots. He'd never known why Channary had dirt on her mouth when he found the bodies, and Brad being a sexual sadist who likes forcing women to lick his boots (as well as the fact that he'd forced Channary's sister to do it) answers the question.
- Tragic Keepsake: The gold bracelet belonging to Kara's late parents. It was stolen when she was a child, and she doesn't get it back until the end of the episode.
- Villainous Crush: Atwater had one such crush on Channary.
