When the former student of an inner city school becomes a teacher there and finds new clues towards the murder of the teacher who inspired him, the gang reopens the case of said teacher, 22-year-old Laura McKinney, a white woman whose murder was mistaken for a carjacking.
Tropes:
- Drowning My Sorrows: Carlton the security guard is last seen drinking in his car, knowing that he provided the weapon which killed Laura.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Renaldo, the troubled student who showed promise and whom Laura encouraged and stood up for, was expelled once she was murdered, and descended into unemployment, crime, and prison stints. By the time the murder was resolved, Renaldo can be seen studying for his GED, trying for another chance.
- Inner City School: Where Laura took a job, wanting to make a difference in the lives of the students there.
- It's All My Fault: Ronaldo thinks he’s responsible for Laura’s death because she got killed for standing up for him.
- Jaded Washout: Kenny Yates. He started out just like Laura, a Wide-Eyed Idealist who wanted to help the inner city schoolkids. But as time wore on, he lost hope, getting tired of trying to do so much on so little. He eventually became a drug addict to cope, using students to get him drugs.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: When Laura found out Kenny was using Ronaldo to get drugs, she tried to save Ronaldo by confronting Kenny and insisting he resign before he do any permanent damage to the students. When Kenny refused, Laura told him she would turn him in, so Kenny shot her.
- Pet the Dog: The Jerkass teacher who looked down on Laura for being a wide-eyed idealist is seen smiling at Darnel, a former student who Laura inspired, as the man passes out newspapers as textbooks to give his students an edge, just like Laura had done when he was in her class.
- Save Our Students: What Laura was trying to do to for her students. She helped them by having them use newspapers in place of the worn-out textbooks that there were not enough of to teach them about history, linking the past to the present. She took them on field trips and pushed them to reach their potential, while other teachers just stopped trying.
- She Knows Too Much: Laura was shot by fellow teacher Kenny Yates because she found out he was using students to get him drugs, and was either going to force him to resign peacefully or turn him in.
- Student/Teacher Romance: Averted. Darnel had feelings for Laura and gave her cute gifts, but she nipped it all in the bud when she realized his motives.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Ronaldo’s life philosophy.Ronaldo: “They say I steal, I don’t. They say I deal drugs, I don’t. Everyone’s always saying I’m bad. I stopped tryin’ to prove them wrong.”
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Laura was a Harvard graduate who passed up on a high-powered career to teach at an inner city school. She believed in students when no one else did, pushed them to do the best, and never gave up on any of them, inspiring students to reach their potential. She barely got to really get through to her students before she was shot.
- White Savior: Laura was this for a lot of her students. She inspired Darnel to become a teacher at the same school himself, and probably could have helped Ronaldo reach his full potential if she hadn’t been murdered.
