Amanda wins a guest role on The Young and the Restless and walks right into a murder. Various mishaps occur on the set and lead to some very close encounters.
"Death in the Daytime" displays symptoms of the following tropes:
- The Alibi:
- Bruno Gruber says he has one hell of an alibi for the attacks: being in jail for peddling at a swap meet without a license.
- Lois the replacement director was visible and away from any accidents that happened on set.
- Tahne reveals she was rehearsing a scene where her character was dying at the time.
- Anti-Climax: After winning the contest to be on the show and all the crap she goes through, all Amanda's appearance in the episode turns out to be is a few brief seconds where she doesn't say anything and only the back of her head is visible.
- As Himself: Amanda wins a walk-on part on The Young and the Restless in a contest (Victoria Rowell was doing double-duty as Dr. Amanda Bentley on DM and Druscilla Winters on Y&R). The set-up allowed for several of the popular soap's actors (Lauralee Bell, Eric Braeden, Doug Davidson, Melody Thomas Scott, Jeanne Cooper, J. Eddie Peck, Kristoff St. John and Heather Tom) to make appearances. Several of them call Amanda 'Vicki', which causes the high-strung doctor to freak out.
- Bad "Bad Acting": The way Tahne displays how her character dies in a quarantined hospital bed shows that... well, there's some precedent to the idea that she's brought onto shows to showcase her wearing skimpy outfits more than her actual acting ability.
- Call-Back: Tahne, the Ms. Fanservice from The New Healers returns here, apparently dating Steve after that episode's events. And still in very little clothing.
- Continuity Nod: Mark and Jack consider Dr. Gregory Talbot or the baby-selling operation she helped take down as potential suspects for people who want her dead.
- He Knows Too Much: Vincent Neal was trying to kill Amanda because he saw her holding Beverly's dead body, though she didn't realize it at the time.
- Identical Stranger: Amanda looks just like actress Victoria Rowell from The Young and the Restless - not surprising, as Rowell plays Amanda.
- Implausible Deniability: At the end of the episode, when Amanda finally gets a good look at Victoria Rowell onscreen on The Young and the Restless, whom she was a walk-on double for, she fails to see the resemblance.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Considering Dr. Getz was in on the plan of killing Beverly Moreland, safe to say this applies.
- Ms. Fanservice: Tahne once again isn't wearing much of anything when we see her, leading Mark to wonder if she ever acts with her clothes on.
- Red Herring:
- No-one on The Young And The Restless was being targeted, Amanda was.
- The "U.N. Owen" letters turn out not to come from a deranged stalker, but a guy who wanted Lauralee, Eric, and Melody to promote his 12-step financial program trying to get their attention and just had some bad timing.
