Louise and Hugh Murdoch, a married couple who were academics at a prestigious university, are shot and killed in their home. Ballistics show that there were two shooters with two different weapons; Briscoe and Green conclude Louise was the main target. A possible motive is that her research focused on misogyny within Islam. They trace Greg Landon, a recent convert to Islam. With evidence that his friend Michael Sanchez was the other killer, Michael takes a plea and implicates Greg.
Greg hires Anwar Mohammed, a Muslim lawyer, to defend him. Michael testifies that he and Greg planned to rob the Murdochs to pay for a vacation, but Greg shot Louise and ordered Michael to kill her husband. Greg rants in court about his belief that the US Government is conspiring against Muslims. Mohammed objects, so Greg insists on representing himself. He accuses a Jewish witness of prejudice against Muslims, and his own father of abuse. The judge intervenes, but Greg ignores her, saying that Islam decrees men to be superior.
Olivet believes Greg is drawn to extremist Islam because he feels threatened by women. So McCoy has Southerlyn cross-examine Greg. She lures him into admitting he killed Louise because he saw her as sinful; she had an abortion and served alcohol at parties. McCoy realizes Greg knew Louise personally, and the prosecutors discover that Greg used to date Louise's student Jennifer Taylor. When Jennifer broke up with him, he blamed Louise. Rather than have Jennifer testify that his actions weren't motivated by religious faith, Greg accepts a plea.
This episode contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Greg's mother was constantly emotionally abusive towards him.
- All Psychology Is Freudian: Dr. Olivet is able to pinpoint Greg's radicalism to his impotency and overall feeling of invalidation from Western expectations.
- American Title: Of the subversive variety.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Greg does this when he's told that Jennifer is prepared to testify against him.
- The Bus Came Back: Dr. Olivet returns for the first time since the season 10 episode "Killerz."
- Calling the Old Man Out: Greg does this by calling his father as a witness and then accusing him of being neglectful.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Jennifer Taylor first appears early in the episode while Briscoe and Green are investigating the case. Jennifer attended Louise's discussion groups and helped her do research. Jennifer appears again after Southerlyn asks if any of Louise's guests also went to Strickland Academy, as Greg did.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Greg's murder of the Murdoch family wasn't just motivated by Louise's research into Islam's misogyny, but by his feeling like he was utterly emasculated by Jennifer breaking up with him. As Jennifer was one of Louise's students, Greg blamed Louise's influence for Jennifer's decision to — viciously tearing apart his religious fervor to reveal he was lashing out at women in general and using Islam as an excuse to justify it.
- "Eureka!" Moment: McCoy and Southerlyn realize Greg knew Louise personally. Southerlyn has a Delayed Reaction because she thought she just had Greg flip out on her in court, but as McCoy readily lists out the details of what that moment actually entailed, you can see Southerlyn's eyes gradually widen in realization.
- A Fool for a Client: Gregg insists on representing himself, because he i sists on a defense line no lawyer would take.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Greg quotes a passage from the Koran which he interprets to mean that killing non-Muslims glorifies God. Southerlyn then turns this against him by asking why he doesn't therefore want to take the credit for killing Louise.
- Interrupted Intimacy: The episode begins with a witness saying during a phone call that this had happened to him.
- Oh, Crap!: Greg has a couple of these, primarily when he accidentally makes it clear to the court room that he personally knew Louise Murdoch, which only solidifies his guilt in the case, and when Jennifer Taylor is brought before him as an additional witness at the end. Greg goes from sheepishly proclaiming it won't make a difference, to slack-jawed as he realizes the very epitome of why he committed the murders was standing in front of him and then has his final, motive-revealing freak out.
- Religious Stereotype: Greg has many elements of this. Justified as even his Muslim lawyer thinks his act wears thin.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Based on the murders of Dartmouth professors Half and Susanne Zantopp
. Greg is based on John Walker Lindh, a college student from Ohio who converted to Islam and joined the Taliban. - Seen It All: Mohammed acts this way towards Greg and tells McCoy, who's an old friend, that it's because of everything he has experienced as an American Muslim since 9/11.
- Smokescreen Crime: Greg tricked his friend Michael into thinking they were going to rob the Murdochs. Initially, the prosecution believe that Greg is just a radicalized Muslim who wanted Louise dead because of her criticism of Islam, but the truth comes out that Greg blamed Louise for Jennifer, who was one of Louise's students, breaking up with him.
- Straw Misogynist: Greg is this trope to the extreme. His hatred of women turns him to into a radical Muslim who can use Islam to justify his hatred of women.
