When they find a body with an old airline pin in the Republican Hotel, the team reopens the 1960 murder of Ally Thurston, who caused quite a ruckus after becoming a stewardess for Golden West Airlines.
Tropes:
- Abortion Fallout Drama: Helen got an abortion to keep her job, but since it was the sixties, the procedure was botched, and left her infertile. Her fiancé left her because of it. This tragedy only motivated her best friend Ally to fight for better rights for them and their fellow stewardesses.
- All for Nothing: Gloria killing Ally to ensure she could marry Hughes was this as not only did Hughes refuse to leave his wife, but even if he did, in the present day, he remains an unpleasant piece of shit.
- Chekhov's Gun: Gloria's book which she reads to children. It turned that she used the author TC Bromley's name as her alias when she checked in to the hotel room where she killed Ally.
- Did I Mention It's Christmas?: Both the current day and when Ally was murdered take place in December; Christmas decorations are seen in the background.
- Double Standard: What Ally was fighting against in her work environment.Ally: Pilots are allowed to be married and have families. Pilots are allowed to be over thirty-two.
- Finally Found the Body: Allison "Ally" Thurston's skeletal remains are found at an abandoned hotel, nearly 50 years after her appearance. The condition of the remains and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance show that she was murdered.
- The Lost Lenore: Downplayed; even though there are no big scars, Dean Landon keeps Ally with him by amassing a collection of trinkets from around the world, something she did when she was a stewardess.
- Love Makes You Evil: It certainly did for Gloria; she didn't want Ally to speak up about the poor working conditions or mistreatment of stewardesses at the airlines simply to continue her affair with Captain Hughes, so she murdered Ally in order to keep him after Ally rallied her coworkers to get him fired and refused to take back her complaint.
- Manipulative Bastard: Captain Roland Hughes. He was stringing Gloria along, making her think he would leave his wife for her, so he could continue having her as his side-chick until she aged out.
- Old Maid:
- Ally is surprised that a fellow stewardess is getting fired for reaching the age limit, since she’s still a knockout. Dean tells her rules are rules. The sad part is, they really did to this to stewardesses who aged out, no matter how good they looked.
- What Gloria was desperate not to become, which is why she did everything she could to hold onto Captain Hughes.
- Quitting to Get Married: Averted. Ally knows that she will be fired if she gets married, while pilots get to do the same and keep their jobs, and does not want to have to be forced out because she pursued something like marriage. As much as she loves Dean, Ally refuses to marry him until stewardesses have the same work rights as pilots.
- Remarried to the Mistress: What Gloria thought would happen eventually.
- Small Town Boredom: Ally became a stewardess to avoid this.
- Tap on the Head: How poor Ally was murdered: with an old-school rotary telephone (which were much heavier back in 1960).
