"1-Adam-12, 1-Adam-12, please respond to a 10-101 ... sighting of tropes seen in this episode":
Bad Cop/Incompetent Cop: Officer Barrett is book smart – Malloy notes he was fifth in a large class of latest academy recruits when he's talking to Mac about Barrett's latest mistakes on duty – but when it comes to actually doing his job, he doesn't have what it takes to be a good officer. Mac later notes this in the episode wrap-up: Sometimes you can't foresee any performance issues until you put a new employee out on the field.
Bank Robbery: An elderly man presents a bank teller a note asking for $1 million, but doesn't present a weapon. Officer Barrett doesn't think there was much of a problem here, particularly since there was no weapon shown, but a frustrated Reed, Malloy and Wells are unable to get through to him about why a situation like this absolutely must be taken seriously.
Eager Rookie: Wells of all people remarks that Barrett wants to be "a ten-year cop in six months."
Fake-Out Opening: The opening scene shows a traffic stop where a gang of robbers shoots both the arresting officers and two backup officers dead, prior to Reed and Malloy arriving on the scene and also making mistakes. Then ... reveal that the officers who "died" and the are getting up as Malloy and Reed look at a group of academy recruits and trainees, who had just witnessed the re-creation of an actual police stop gone wrong. note (The training exercise was said to be based on the Newhall massacre, where four California Highway Patrol officers died. As the scene fades to a commercial, Mac and other officers (several officers played the part of the criminals) begin explaining how an incident like this should have been handled and, if done correctly, would have resulted in just the arrests and nothing else]].)
Hostage Situation: What Barrett thinks he is witnessing in the final scene (an extortionist who was attempting to bomb a supermarket). Reed instantly suspects the man being taken "hostage" by the main suspect isn't who he seems to be, but can't for the life of him convince Barrett of this.
Know-Nothing Know-It-All: The attitude of Officer Barrett, who claims he knows the correct way yet makes multiple mistakes, asks the wrong questions and shows all the signs of being an officer who is unfit for the job. Even Ed Wells, who is a Cowboy Cop himself, can't believe the risks Barrett takes.
Sherlock Scan: Reed, by now a very seasoned officer, immediately notices that the hostage-taker is not making much effort to keep his "hostage" close to him and the "hostage" isn't reacting the way someone who is being threatened would normally act.
