Written By Judith McCreary
Directed By Steve Shill
After the head of personnel at a software company is found raped and stabbed to death, the Detectives need help from an FBI psychiatrist (B.D. Wong) to solve their case.
Tropes
- Abusive Parents: Grace Mayberry. Sexually, and judging from a later scene, verbally and emotionally as well.
- The Dog Bites Back: The final scene of the episode shows the aftermath of Grace's years of abuse, with Jason laying next to her in bed after brutally stabbing her while stating that he's "not her little boy anymore".
- False Rape Accusation: Jason claims that Veronica was sexually harassing him and had demanded sex in exchange for a recommendation letter to the police academy. This directly contradicts what he claimed earlier—that they were friends—and what he says later—that they were lovers.
- Hate Sink: Grace Mayberry is an evil, sick woman who sexually abused her son after her husband passed away and is the reason why her son became the way he is all because of her own selfish and sick needs.
- He-Man Woman Hater: Though you'd never guess it from his mild-mannered demeanor, Jason harbors a deep hatred of women thanks to his mother's abuse and acts this out first in random attacks, then in the brutal rape/murder of a co-worker.
- Hypocrite: Jason claims that Veronica "imagined a relationship that didn't exist" and took everything nice that he said or did as a sign that he was interested in her. It turns out that this is what he was doing in regards to her.
- Imperiled in Pregnancy: Despite knowing full well that Veronica was pregnant, Jason brutally murdered her anyway. It's implied that this is even why he did it, as her pregnancy shattered his delusions about their "affair".
- It's All About Me: Grace's sole concern when Jason is arrested is "do you have any idea what this will do to me?". Not a word of concern for the victim or even for Jason himself.
- Mad Love: Jason is so delusional about his and Veronica's relationship that he claims that they were lovers—to the point of both insisting that he could have been the father of her unborn child, describing her to his co-workers as his girlfriend, and insisting that she was going to leave her husband for him, even though it appears they were never anything more than work friends. He apparently snapped and killed her when her pregnancy (by her husband) and her rescinding her support for him joining the police academy forced him to realize this was all an illusion. . . and promptly began another delusion that she'd been sexually harassing him.
- Multiple-Choice Past: When interrogated, Jason gives varying versions of his relationship with Veronica—that she was sexually harassing him, that they were friends, that they were lovers, even telling his co-workers this and insisting that he could have been the father of her unborn child.
- My Beloved Smother: Among her many other negative traits, Grace caps things off by being this as well, having once humiliated Jason by showing up at his job and yelling at him.
- Never My Fault: Grace tries to avoid the blame and went as far as accusing Jason as a lying bastard.
- Parental Incest: Jason and his mother. It's been going on since he was six and is still happening even though he's in his early 30's.
- The Peeping Tom A co-worker of Jason's caught him using the security cameras to focus on women's body parts, though Jason lied and said it was the other way around. Later, Olivia finds pictures of Veronica that he apparently took in the same manner.
- Phallic Weapon: Huang explicitly describes the knife Jason used to kill the victim as "his surrogate penis". The pins he uses in other attacks are much smaller, but they likely serve the same purpose, especially considering that he uses them to stab women in the buttocks.
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Playing Against Type: LOIS LANE as a Rich Bitch Ice Queen who's been molesting her son since he was six. - Rape Leads to Insanity: Being raped by his mother up to the present day (even as an adult), made to believe he consented to it, and forced to act as the "man of the house" has left Jason a delusional fantasist and, even more terribly, a rapist and murderer.
- Schlubby, Scummy Security Guard: While he may be a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds due to his extremely abusive mother, Jason is also an extremely violent serial rapist who tortured and killed pregnant Veronica after stalking her around the mall. He also failed the psych exam to become a cop.
- Stalker Shrine: Olivia finds pictures of Veronica in Jason's locker that appear to have been taken from a voyeur's point of view rather than a loving boyfriend.
- Villainous Incest: Grace Mayberry molested her son Jason from when he was a kid, and seemed to convince him he was a willing participant if his behavior as an adult is any indication.
- Villainous Mother-Son Duo: A variant. While Grace and Jason Mayberry don't kill together, Grace has been sexually abusing her son since he was six years old to the present day, and clearly fostered his hatred of women, while Jason grew up to be a murderer who stabs women repeatedly with pins.
- Whole-Plot Reference: While not an exact replica, this episode borrows many elements from Psycho—a shy, mild-mannered guy who turns out to be a vicious killer, but whose mind was warped by his abusive mother. There's even the fact that he's a voyeur and that his murder weapon is a substitute for his penis.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Jason. Yes, he's a rapist/murderer who's been attacking women for some time, but it's obvious that his mother's abuse turned him into the monster that he is. The nervous breakdown he has in the interrogation room when confronted about it is chilling and tear-jerking all at once.
