Famed rock singer Shanda is in town, and with her comes a series of threats from someone only going by the name of "Patrick". The threats have been coming in for a while now, and Shanda is at her wits end with worry. Luckily for her, Dr. Mark Sloan is available to investigate. But as things progress to murder, it seems there is more at play than a crazed stalker...
"Shanda's Song" displays symptoms of the following tropes:
- A Sinister Clue: Mark figures Patrick did not kill himself as the bullet wound was to the right side of his head, and Patrick shot Claire using his left hand.
- Chekhov's Gun: Mike tells Mark of a trip Shanda once took. Mark deduces that this trip was where Shanda had a polyp removed from her neck that damaged her vocal cords and left her unable to sing again.
- Gangland Drive-By: Patrick shoots Claire dead from his truck.
- In the Back: Claire's swan song comes in via two shots to the back. It helps with the Murder by Mistake angle Shanda was trying to invoke.
- Make It Look Like A Suicide: Once Claire is dead, Shanda shoots Patrick in the head to make it look like he killed himself. Mark sees through it pretty fast when he finds out which hand the gun was found in.
- Murder by Mistake: Claire is shot instead of Shanda herself, as Claire was facing away from her killer when he shot her. As it turns out, Shanda was deliberately trying to invoke this appearance.
- She Knows Too Much: Shanda had to kill Claire (or at least she thought she did) because Claire was aware that Shanda couldn't sing anymore. As Mark says, she could have gotten anyone to replace Claire's singing voice, but she couldn't risk the secret getting out.
