A stranger, Howard Green, shows up at Nolan's house uninvited. He was the previous owner of the home and is attempting to find his missing family. Nolan becomes invested in helping the man find them, despite getting the house in foreclosure, until he finds out they fled from his abuse. Nolan manages to subdue him when he shows up drunk at the house again.
Bradford and Chen find a house with a corpse in it after following a dog covered in blood. This reveals a disturbing case where a child murdered his own mother. The child, Malcolm Tucker, shows no remorse and is furious at his mother's breakup with her boyfriend that he liked. Wesley is struggling with his PTSD after being stabbed and is triggered by the child's description of his murder.
Lopez and West are asked to assist a police drama, Hot Suspect, but become involved in a stalking case. West hits it off with the show's star, Sterling Freeman.
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Howard Green shows up to threaten Nolan despite the latter being on his own property as well as a cop.
- Domestic Abuse: Howard Green is a man who drove his wife and child away with his threats due to overwork.
- Enfante Terrible: Malcolm Tucker is a child who murdered her mother for dumping her boyfriend that he liked.
- Offscreen Breakup: West and his hospital boyfriend are broken up before this episode, allowing West to date the star of a TV show instead.
- Ship Tease: West and Sterling Freeman hit it off while the former is advising the latter on technical details.
- Stalker with a Crush: A stalker is on the show, threatening the co-star.
- Show Within a Show: West and Lopez end up serving as technical advisors on Hot Suspect.
- Self-Deprecation: The show takes numerous shots at the Show Within a Show for being unrealistic about "real" police work.
- Would Rather Suffer: When Lopez learns she's been assigned to be a technical advisor for Hot Suspect, she says she would rather clean the entire drunk tank with her tongue.
