His children are far from safety; They shall be crushed at the gate Without a rescuer.
— Job 5:4
Frank tackles the case of a couple brutally murdered in an open house viewing, while Catherine tends to their young daughter's psychological trauma.
Tropes
- Black Comedy: A display inside the realtor's office boasts, "Killer views! Killer deals!"
- Forced to Watch: Cutter himself in his backstory; later, Patricia and the realtor (via videotape).
- Gory Discretion Shot: The killing of the parents.
- Hope Spot: Frank's figured out the perp and his MO of scoping out open houses advertising high security, and is waiting for the killer to strike after the open house is bought by a family.... but the guy never shows. Then Frank realizes. This is one house in an entirely new subdivision, each home with the same floor plan and security. Frank has enough people in place that the killer won't get away, but he's not going to get caught before killing another family.
- Shout-Out: The graphologist is named James Glen, after writer/producers James Wong and Glen Morgan, who worked on both Millennium (1996) and The X-Files.
- He notes that signatures on the sign-in sheet include Travis Bickle and Elvis Presley.
- A brief shot near the end of the episode reveals that the daughter's name is Patricia Highsmith, as in the author of the Ripliad.
- The plot device of the security system and Cutter's footage bring to mind ADT's commercials, which at the time ran in heavy rotation during prime-time hours.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Cutter blends into the community frighteningly well, even being employed as a crossing guard.
- Trash of the Titans: Cutter's apartment is stacked floor to ceiling with newspapers.
- Xanatos Gambit: The killer's ultimate goal is to force Patricia to relive the killing through her testimony.
