The murder of a gay man leads detectives to investigate drug culture in the gay community. Fin makes a discovery about a family member.
Tropes
- Coming-Out Story: Downplayed. Fin's son comes out to him after Fin accidentally discovers his son's sexuality through the attendance list at a local club, but it's the B-plot and not focused on heavily.
- Double-Meaning Title: "Strain" can refer to the HIV strain and the strained relationship between Fin and his son.
- Drugs Are Bad: The victim's father notes how old he looks despite being under 30. Olivia and Fin later speculate that meth use aged him prematurely. Later, it's noted that meth use in the gay community has increased the spread of HIV.
- Hollywood Law: Needless to say, a self-defense argument requires that a defendant have a reasonable suspicion of imminent physical force. The defendant's defense would be laughed out of court in an actual case. note
- Hypocrite: The defendant believes his brother wasn't responsible for contracting HIV because he was young and high. Novak points out that so were the victims.
- Tragic AIDS Story: The episode is about a killer who targets men who spread a virulent strain of HIV that develops into AIDS and kills within a year of infection, which caused the death of his brother.
