The Sloans get a new neighbor on their beach in the form of Vicki Fox. Not long afterwards, Vicki is found dead on the beach. The investigation leads into a shocking part of Vicki's past.
"All-American Murder" displays symptoms of the following tropes:
- Absence of Evidence: Amanda says the lack of water in Vicki's lungs shows she did not drown after hitting her head on her surfboard as was initially believed, but rather that she was Bludgeoned to Death.
- Artistic License – Law: In saying how he looked into Vicki Fox and finds she didn't exist until recently, Steve says he ran her through NCIC, or the National Crime Information Center. NCIC doesn't work like that, as it is a database, not an enforcement agency. Law agencies can certainly use NCIC to run people, but the NCIC themselves can't.
- Artistic License – Military:
- Private Hansen often comes down to The Barracks bar with others. If he was in the middle of basic training like other Marines, he wouldn't be allowed a centimeter off base.
- Drill Sergeant Baker refers to Hansen as "soldier", which the Marines are not referred to (that title is one reserved for the Army). On the flipside, Hansen refers to Baker by "sir", which is a term reserved only for officers.
- Bluffing the Murderer: Mark brings Leo back to The Barracks and tells Donna that Leo heard her voice as she argued with Vicki. Donna effectively confesses soon after. The end of the episode shows that Mark was only bluffing, as Leo didn't actually hear them fight.
- Boulder Bludgeon: Vicki was killed by a blow to the head with a rock.
- Really Gets Around: According to Hansen, Vicki certainly did.
- Sobriquet Sex Switch: The name Victor Reynard became Vicki Fox upon her transition.
- Tuckerization: Leo Penn's character name in the episode is "Leo Popper".
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: The team soon discover after her death that Vicki was a post-op trans woman, To the show's credit, the victim was portrayed as a sympathetic character and none of the main characters freaked out about the reveal. The killer turns out to be Vicki's heterosexual ex-girlfriend, who couldn't accept that she transitioned.
