A so-called time traveler warns Major Crimes about a bomb threat, Charlie and Rex are enlisted to protect a prominent political figure at risk of assassination.
Tropes:
- Batman Gambit: After having a bomb strapped to him against his will, Charlie manages to foil the bomber's plan by sneakily instructing Rex to track their location instead of Fulford's, their intended bombing target, via the scent on the bomb vest.
- The Cloudcuckoolander Was Right: While the Major Crimes team is rightfully skeptical of Ted Kaczmerek's claim of there being an upcoming bombing attempt on Fulford, they nonetheless decide to have Charlie and Rex act as security for Fulford. Sure enough, Fulford narrowly survives being killed by a time bomb, and Ted is taken a bit more seriously from then on, putting aside his claims of time travel through tunnels and lack of any sources for his intel. He is also proven correct about there having been a listening device in Reilly's hotel room.
- Cuteness Proximity: Karla Fulford is very fond of Rex, as she dotes over when he's nearby. After the case is solved, the Major Crimes team even muses over the possibility of Fulford adding dogs into her political campaign.
- Death by Falling Over: When Charlie hurriedly warns Fulford and her supporters to get away from a car carrying a time bomb, he has to help Reilly as she stumbles while she is running. As a result, Reilly and Charlie are sent flying into gravel by the explosion blowback, but Reilly died from the impact.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: The bomber eventually turns out to be Carina Wheeler, Brandon's mother-in-law who infiltrated the hotel as a janitor. The few hints that she was involved at all is the possibility of the bomber having any living relatives, and her brother Ramsey having supplied stolen semtex for a bomb, and she wasn't included among the established suspects.
- Doing In the Wizard: At the end of the episode, it's revealed that Ted isn't a time traveler, but actually affected by the Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. His supposed ability to see future events is the result of him having pieced together various rumors and interpreted them as facts.
- Drugs Are Bad: Brandon and his wife once became addicted to drugs, with the latter dying from an overdose and the former getting arrested, and Quinn having to be raised by Carina for five years. As a result, Carina has a serious grudge towards Brandon for having introduced drugs into her daughter's life, and plotted to undermine Fulford's party when she learned that it was going to showcase him as a reformed criminal.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Despite having a low-profile presence at the hotel, Ramsey, who is Carina's brother and partner-in-crime for the assassination attempts, is bumped into by Jesse while trying to leave after the crime is solved. Jesse wastes no time in turning him over to the authorities.
- Morality Pet: Exploited by Charlie in regards to Carina's granddaughter Quinn, whom she earnestly cares about. Charlie brings her up to Carina in order to calm the latter down and get her to drop her guard, so that he can have Rex disarm her into dropping her detonator.
- No Party Given: It's not explicitly mentioned what parties Karla Fulford and her opponent Arthur Charland represent in the upcoming election.
- Opportunistic Bastard: Cameron Sanchez, Fulford's campaign manager who once worked for Arthur, and only works for whoever he thinks is going to win solely to have a cushy high-ranking position. He even freely admits to Charlie that he has no loyalty to anyone.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Karla Fulford, the Minister of Justice. She gladly grants her permission to have the SJPD personnel act as her bodyguards, and is perfectly willing to listen to Charlie's stance on serving the law and the application of justice, and consider his ideas of positive changes for it.
- Recovered Addict: Brandon Keillor had previously gotten his wife addicted to drugs, leading to her death, and was charged with five years of prison over his own addiction. He later was scouted out and hired by Fulford for her political campaign, since both had lived at a street in Quidi Vidi at separate points, and wanted to make him an example of how criminals can fully reform.
- Red Herring Suspect: Brandon, Cameron, and Arthur are set up as potential suspects, who all seem like they would want Fulford dead for political reasons. But it turns out that none of them is the bomber. The actual culprit is Carina, Brandon's mother-in-law, seeking revenge for her daughter's death as a result of his negligence.
- Sadistic Choice: After Charlie has a bomb strapped to his chest by the bomber, the latter tells him of the following outcomes: a) if he ends the bomber's call, he gets blown up, b) if any people evacuate the hotel, he gets blown up, c) if he calls the bomb squad, he gets blown up, and d) he leaves the bomb where Fulford will make her speech, she gets blown up.
- Sinister Surveillance: Justified example. The bomber is depicted as able to keep a close eye on Charlie's movements, because they tapped into the camera system of the hotel they're currently at.
- Strapped to a Bomb: The main source of this episode's tension occurs when Charlie is knocked unconscious, and sees that someone strapped a bomb to his chest when he comes to.
- Tap on the Head: While in the middle of a call to Sarah, as Charlie and Rex drop the search for a listening device that was removed from Reilly's hotel room to pursue a suspect into the basement, Charlie is knocked out via a hit to the head with a lead pipe. Thanks to Rex, he recovers quickly enough to see that someone strapped a bomb to his chest.
- This Is Gonna Suck: A variant. After Ted informs Jesse that he has the ability to travel through time, the latter remarks that his bosses are going to hate hearing about it.
- Two-Act Structure: Most of the episode involves investigating a political assassination attempt, due to a tip given from a supposed time traveler. A little odd, but otherwise business as usual...Until Charlie gets hit at the back of his head with a pipe roughly midway through. When he wakes up, he has a bomb strapped to his chest, and the bomber forces him to follow their instructions, otherwise said bomb will be detonated. From that point onwards, the initial subplot is almost entirely dropped as the team must safely remove the bomb and stop the culprit.
- Villainous Breakdown: At the climax, Carina only drops all of her aggression when Charlie reminds her that the safety of her granddaughter Quinn is still the most important thing to her. She gets so emotional about it that she breaks down crying, leaving her defenseless enough that she doesn't resist against Rex when he is ordered to tackle her.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Stephanie Reilly, Fulford's assistant, is killed by the blowback of a time bomb explosion by the end of the Cold Open, and she is mourned after the fact.
