Directed by Kevin Bray
Written by Andrea Newman
After a woman asks the detectives to reinvestigate the fatal 1978 stabbing of her son that was initially blamed on a Serial Killer who subsequently committed suicide, they learn about why he had been shunned by his friends in the weeks before his death.
Tropes:
- The Atoner: Deconstructed to Subversion. The killer may not have wanted to kill Angus or paralyze Vicky, but the fact that he doesn't confess until finally caught and puts all the blame on others shows he cares more about his conscience.
- Bittersweet Ending: The killer is arrested and Elena can move on from her son's death. However, Vicky never reconciles with Craig and has to live with the fact her husband is the source of all her misery, but can now reconnect with her brother and father.
- Cool Old Lady: Elena, Angus' mother. She not only refused to believe that her son was killed by a serial killer and had steadfastly pursued the case ever since, but is also an otherwise kind and empathetic person who even thanked Lilly with a hug for solving his murder, which Lilly enthusiastically reciprocates.
- Disabled Means Helpless: Lampshaded by Angus, as Vicky's friends and family were treating her injuries like a death sentence, something neither he nor Vicky believed.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Vicky. She not only was able to find love again after Angus' death, but she also became a second grade teacher who enjoys her work and loves her students like they were her children, even having artwork they made in her home. However, it’s ultimately subverted by the horrible revelation that her husband not only is the real cause of her disability, but also killed her best friend to hide the truth from everyone.
- Fake Ultimate Hero: Ian is the firefighter who pulled Vicky out of a burning car, saving her life. It just cost her the use of her legs. When Angus learns this, he confronts Ian the night he dies and tells him to confess, while also calling him a fraud.
- Fatal Flaw: The killer is impulsive incarnate.
- Foreshadowing: Agnus' mother found him studying a book on firefighting and lifesaving techniques and assumed he wanted to become a fireman himself as a way to atone for the accident. In reality, Agnus was studying the proper procedures, which led him to figure out how Ian screwed up the rescue and paralyzed Vicky.
- Forgiveness: Averted by everyone save for the person who should have been angry at Angus for his accident. Vicky's father and brother hated him, and their friends, especially his former best friend and Vicky's ex-boyfriend Craig, only hung out with him for her sake. Yet, Craig fell out of touch with Vicky after Angus' death and her father and brother similarly became estranged from her (though they reconciled by the end of the episode).
- Hated by All: Angus ends up as this after Vicky is paralyzed. His friends only hang out with him because Vicky insists, Vicky's family spit poison at him whenever they see him, and he withdraws from life trying to prove his innocence, which sadly makes him look like a Never My Fault kind of guy. When he confronts his killer and the one who actually paralyzed Vicky, Angus calls him a fraud who deserves to know what it feels like to be hated by everyone.
- He Knows Too Much: Angus found out the real reason behind Vicky's paralysis and confronted the culprit about it, threatening to expose him. Said culprit decided that Murder Is the Best Solution in order to keep him silent.
- Manipulative Bastard: Ian framed a serial killer for his crime and let Vicky believe for years that her father killed Angus.
- "Mister Sandman" Sequence: The teens watching Halloween (1978) in the theater.
- Never My Fault: While he does feel guilty about paralyzing Vicky and killing Angus, Ian would rather pretend that both moments were not his fault until the investigators force him to admit his guilt.
- Spotting the Thread: Agnus was always suspicious that something was off about the car accident as how it happened shouldn't have caused Vicky's injuries. He then realizes how Vicky was crying out about her legs hurting immediately after the crash, meaning she wasn't paralyzed then. It then hits Angus how, out of everyone present, Ian was the one person who never seemed to blame him for what happened. A quick study of firefighting techniques and Agnus figured out it was Ian who caused Vicky to be paralyzed.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Ian is very quick acting. It paralyzes Vicky because he didn't prep the jaws of life properly, and he lunged at Angus during their confrontation, forgetting he had a knife in his hand.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Angus is this towards Vicky.
- Wham Line: While Vicky was pinned under the car, she was crying out, over and over, that her legs were hurting her. This leads the investigators to realize that Angus did not paralyze her. Her future husband, the firefighter, did.
- What If?: Everything that happened to the friends since the accident, every heartbreak, every disassociation, could've been avoided if Ian had not paralyzed Vicky. This is symbolized by the end where Lilly imagines Angus not crashing the car.
