Mark is having himself a celebration being honored. And what a better way to do that than by having a roast with some of the best comedians and comediennes in town? The party has itself a crasher in the form of crass comedian Andy Baxter. Things become even less funny than the guy makes things when the lights go out and come back on as he has a knife in his back. Who is the one who decided to kill the good mood?
"The Roast" displays symptoms of the following tropes:
- Absence of Evidence: Mark figures that Liz didn't take off her heels to sneak up on Lou because the backstage floor is filthy while her stockings are clean.
- Asshole Victim: Andy Baxter does come off as an obnoxious tool.
- Artistic License: The killer activates his blackout by replacing a 120 amp fuse with a 60 amp one so that when the spotlight is activated, the whole club would lose power. However, fuse boxes are designed to prevent blowouts, so this would hurt the power earlier than the killer wants. If he really wanted to accomplish his goals, he'd have to replace the fuse with a higher amp, not a lower one.
- Breather Episode: After the Season 6 finale focused on the difficult topic of death by medical assistance, this season opener lightens things up considerably with the murder of two comedians during a roast, with plenty of actual comical moments throughout.
- The Bus Came Back: Tim Conrad returns from his episode in season 4.
- The Killer Was Left-Handed: The trope almost gets used here when Mark determines the killer must be right handed. This lets the left handed man off, until it's revealed that everyone is innocent. Since someone must be guilty, it turns out the lefty is ambidextrous.
- Lights Off, Somebody Dies: The fuse box blows as the spotlight activates, and when they come back on, Andy has a knife in his back and falls down dead.
- Murder by Mistake: The killer was trying to stab Lou to death in the dark, but Andy's back so rudely got in the way.
- Spanner in the Works: Andy showing up and getting killed screws the killer over even further.
- Trophy Violence: Lou Summers gets the final punchline when the killer bashes him on the head with Mark's award.
- Who Murdered the Asshole: A partial example. Practically none of the other comedians had any fondness for Andy before he gets murdered, while Lou, for all his faults, is genuinely missed by his wife after getting killed.
