Season 4, Episode 06
Bollywood Homicide
"All right, I admit it... I was wrong about the brother."
Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar
Written by Steve Franks and Anupam Nigam
A young dancer named Mina, working for a local Bollywood production, is hit by a truck outside her studio. Fortunately, she’s unharmed, but her boyfriend Rajesh turns himself into the police anyway, claiming he’s cursed to bring misery to any woman who falls for him. It seems this has happened to four consecutive girlfriends now, and Rajesh fears someone could be seriously hurt. The police are reluctant to believe in curses, and Lassiter pushes Rajesh onto Shawn. While Shawn doesn’t buy the Curse angle, he can’t deny that bad things happen to people who get too close to Rajesh, and it doesn’t look like he’s responsible… but who would go out of their way to do this?Tropes:
- Backing Away Slowly: While Shawn is interrogating Rajesh in the beginning, Rajesh admits to hurting a lot of people over the years. Shawn backs away towards the door, clearly alarmed, until Rajesh claims it’s because he’s cursed. Cue Lassiter audibly laughing his ass off behind the two-way mirror.
- Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: Raj’s grandmother tends to make her food spicy. Very… very spicy. Interestingly, Shawn and Gus are the only ones affected, Abigail is Unaffected by Spice, and claims it’s because she taught English in Mumbai. Raj’s family, of course, isn’t fazed either. Shawn claims that even the water is spicy.Shawn: I'm sorry, but was this chicken seasoned with molten lava?
- Credits Gag: The music and half the credits text are changed to typical Bollywood musical fare.
- Curse: Rajesh believes he’s been cursed to failure in love, as his last four girlfriends have suffered serious accidents one after another just when things were getting serious.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Jay, Rajesh’s brother, sees himself as the responsible one – not due to laziness, but because Rajesh is highly superstitious and Jay is not.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Both the killer of the week (for Raj) and Shawn (for Juliet).
- Inspirational Insult: Lassiter actually gets the better of Shawn a couple times in this episode, and enjoys rubbing it in. Shawn gets that much more determined to actually solve the case as a result.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:Lassiter: I know, why don't you go home and wait for me not to call you.
Shawn: He's just saying that so that it'll be more dramatic later on when he has to ask for my help.
Abigail: ... More dramatic for who?- The again at the end:
Shawn: I solve a crime once a week, and usually around Christmas. - Oh, Crap!: At the episode’s midpoint, Shawn hears from Lassie that the truck that hit Mina was deliberately sabotaged, and at the same time, notices that something’s wrong with the stage she’s currently dancing on…
- Precocious Crush: In the Cold Open, Henry helps little Shawn with a valentine he’s making for a special someone in his class… his teacher, Mrs. Phillips, who Henry only learns about after he helps make the valentine.
- Relationship Sabotage: Sita does this to Raj in a Gaslighting manner, causing incidents that make Raj believe he's cursed.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Rajesh is extremely friendly, honest, and passionate, and the girlfriends he broke up with seem legitimately disappointed even quite some time after the fact.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Implied with Rajesh, who's very handsome whose future sister-in-law is in love with him and has been scaring off all his girlfriends. Shawn and Gus get jealous of him after meeting his four Amicable Exes, who all seem to still be in love with him.Gus: Are you as jealous of this guy as I am?
Shawn: More. Except for the part where his girlfriends almost die. - That Came Out Wrong: When Lassiter takes back his truce with Shawn, he irritatedly yells out "Indian Giver!". Unfortunately, since he said this while at the Holi Festival, it causes everyone around him to turn and glare at him. He quickly has to explain he was insulting an entirely different group.
- Variations on a Theme Song: The theme uses distinctly Bollywood-style instruments, and the lyrics shift between English and Hindi.
- Undercover as Lovers: Near the end, Juliet pretends to be an Old Flame of Rajesh’s who recently reconnected with him, in order to draw the real (attempted) killer out of hiding.
-
Unfortunate Implications: Shawn's initial interaction with Rajesh.Shawn: What can I do for you ...?
Rajesh: Raj.
Shawn: Can I call you Roger?
Rajesh: My first name's Rajesh.
Shawn: Let's stick with Roger.- He proceeds to call him that for the rest of the episode.
- Yandere: Jay’s fiancé Sita fell in love with Rajesh, but she knew she couldn’t come out to him, as he’d never betray his brother. So she postponed the wedding as long as possible and arranged for a series of “accidents” to befall anyone he got serious with, to keep him available.
