The secrets of the popular local band Wayward are uncovered when their lead singer Denny MacPherson is found dead on the beach.
Tropes
- Accidental Murder: After Denny learned that he was inadvertently helping Vern with his human trafficking operation, he tried to put a stop to it and report him to the authorities. This led to a fight that ended in Vern accidentally killing Denny with a boat anchor trying to get him off of him and then dumped his body on the beach.
- Broken Pedestal: Lizzie Mansfield (the woman who found Denny's body) used to be one of Denny's biggest fans since her high school days until she found out he never wrote a single one of his songs. His brother Robert wrote and sang them all on MySpace three years before Wayward was formed. She wanted to confront him about it before she found him already dead, her scrapbook full of his pictures with "phony" scribbled on them in red marker.
- Cassandra Truth: Robert mentions that Denny was planning to give him ten thousand dollars so that Robert could keep his fishing boat, only to be told that he didn’t have the money because it was stolen. Robert just accused Denny of losing it all in a poker game. Denny was telling the truth, Lee was secretly the one who stole the money from him one night while he was sleeping.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Judging by the situation, Lee apparently misheard Denny saying that he was planning on leaving the band to go solo when he was actually talking about working on a solo project meant for Robert: acoustic versions of all the songs he wrote, which Robert performs at a tribute concert with Kara honoring his dead brother once the case is solved. This led to Lee stealing the ten grand Denny was going to give Robert and indirectly caused Denny’s death by making him desperate enough to unknowingly help with Vern’s human trafficking operation to reobtain his money. In short, this means that Denny’s death would most likely have been avoided had him and Lee just bothered to talk things out if Lee wasn’t already so angry with Denny for sleeping with Kara.
- Foreshadowing: At the beginning of the episode after Wayward heads to their dressing room during their latest concert, Lee makes an offhand comment to Denny about not keeping the audience waiting for his final performance, with Lee mentioning that he knows what Denny is secretly up to. Denny however, has no idea what his bandmate is referring to. Lee is talking about how Denny is soon leaving the band to go solo and leaving him and Kara behind (Denny was actually talking about finishing a solo project, but Lee misheard), which motivated Lee to steal the ten grand Denny was going to give to Robert to start his own band.
- Human Traffickers: Vern is revealed to be part of a human trafficking operation smuggling Russian migrants across the Canadian border using Wayward's tour dates as a cover. Denny was unknowingly made part of it due to needing money to save his brother's boat and once seeing what he was actually smuggling (he assumed it was just going to be a few bags of marijuana), tried to stop it.
- The Reveal:
- Denny didn't write the songs he sang, it was his brother Robert, three years before Wayward was formed and Denny's career took off.
- Kara Richards (Wayward’s drummer) was in a relationship with Lee Partrage (Wayward’s keyboardist) until Kara cheated on him with Denny. After that incident, as well as overhearing that Denny was planning on going solo, Lee stole the ten grand Denny was going to give Robert and use it to start his own band to show him up in response.
- Vern Matheson (Wayward's manager) is part of a human trafficking operation smuggling Russian migrants into Canada using Wayward's tour dates as a cover, and he's the one who killed Denny, albeit accidentally.
- Spanner in the Works: Vern involving Denny in his human trafficking operation and accidentally killing him is what caused it all to become unraveled. One of the migrants secretly witnessing the whole thing and breaking off from the group didn’t help matters either.
- Start My Own: After Denny slept with Kara and overhearing that Denny was planning on leaving the band to go solo, Lee secretly decided to start his own band to get back at his former bandmate, using the ten grand he stole from Denny that the latter was planning on giving to Robert as a kickstart. Charlie arrests Lee for grand larceny before he has a chance to leave town, finding the money hidden inside his keyboard bag.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Denny was a kind and generous young man who was willing to help anyone in need, even human trafficking victims whom he barely knew and died trying to save. Robert even lampshades this after learning the truth about his brother's death, claiming that Denny sticking his neck out for other people is just what he does.
- Tragic Keepsake: Sasha (the migrant Charlie and Rex find hiding near Robert's boat) had Denny's jacket after he gave it to her to keep warm on the boat she was being smuggled in.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Lee stealing the ten grand Denny was going to give Robert is what indirectly led to Denny's death, as Denny was desperate to replace it and decided to obtain it by assisting with Vern's human trafficking operation without any idea of what he was smuggling and died trying to stop it.
