Nolan's and Maroun's ability to convict a murderer that shot up a nightclub hinges on the testimony of a police officer who originally lied to the detectives in order to cover for his own failures.
- The Alibi: Hannah Gray's modeling agent, with whom she was arguing, is immediately ruled out as a suspect after he was spotted in a rideshare.
- Bittersweet Ending: Bell is convicted of murder, but Riley kills himself.
- Broken Pedestal: The waitress Allison was a big fan of King Matisse until she saw that he didn't even try to protect his girlfriend when the shooting started.
- Call-Back: In the above trope, Cosgrove tells Allison his advice has always been to never meet your heroes.
- Disappointed by the Motive: Dixon is pissed when she is told that King Matisse payed the nightclub manager to erase the security camera footage just to conceal his own cowardice.
- Driven to Suicide: Riley kills himself after admitting that he froze up and failed to engage Bell the night of the shooting.
- Foil: King Matisse and Officer Nick Riley both subvert the murder investigation to cover for their own failings, but while King Matisse never admits to what he did and gets away with it at first, Riley comes clean on the stand, helps convict Bell, and then kills himself.
- Hannah herself is one to both of them, having stayed in the club to help the kitchen staff evacuate, at the cost of her life.
- I Coulda Been a Contender!: Bell, a former basketball athlete at Hudson, says that he's no ordinary joe, having been sought out by the likes of UConn and Duke.
- Informed Attribute: Bell reportedly has a bum knee, but as Shaw closes in, he tells him:Shaw: For a guy with a bum knee, you still got it.
- Le Parkour: Shaw flawlessly leaps over a fence while pursuing Bell.
