Sam Rosser, who was in prison for murder by using mail bombs, has escaped, and has threatened to get back at the person who sent him to prison, Dr. Mark Sloan. Mark, however, is going on with his work at the hospital, including trying to prevent it from being sold to a company which would destroy it, dealing with patients (including Constance Lockwood, who makes a DNR request in the presence of her lawyer and friend, Vanessa Sinclair), and an intern named Brian Haywood who wants Mark's recommendation for residency (and is ultimately refused due to not reading patients' charts, including Constance's DNR). And when Norman gets injured opening a mail bomb intended for Mark, and Amanda is slightly injured when scaffolding falls on her when Mark is near, Steve insists on escorting Mark out of the hospital. Then Mark heads over to the car, and it explodes.
"The Murder of Mark Sloan" displays symptoms of the following tropes:
- Amoral Attorney: Vanessa seems to be a perfectly decent attorney, including telling Mark he should not be the one to disconnect Constance from the machines because he's the executor of her will. However, at the end, it turns out that she was responsible for the car bomb, and that after Mark's apparent death she killed Constance in order to gain access to Constance's money.
- Did Not Die That Way: Constance did not die from her various medical conditions, combined with her DNR request being followed. She died from exposure to flowers, done intentionally by Vanessa.
- Faking the Dead: Mark makes everyone, including the audience and excluding Steve and Jesse, think he died in the car explosion.
- Frame-Up: After two attempts on Mark's life by Rosser, Vanessa sets up his car to explode, expecting Rosser to be blamed for this.
- Never Trust a Title: Mark Sloan is alive and well at the end of the episode.
- Weaponized Allergy: Vanessa murders Constance by sending her flowers, which Constance is allergic to.
- You Got Murder: Rosso went to prison for murder via mail bombs. Having escaped from prison, he attempts to kill Mark by the same method.
- You Killed My Father: Subverted. Steve makes it his duty to catch Sam Dosser, who he believes was responsible for the car bomb. However, we eventually find out that Mark is still alive and Steve is aware of this.
