After Spike's father died, his mother moving back to Italy, and Sam's sister no longer playing a relevant role in Spike's life, a new plot element was introduced to make Spike more than just a generic police tech guy. In this case, Leah was quick to notice that Spike seemed to get just a little too happy in the presence of Winnie the dispatcher.

In this episode, Spike would find his skills tested by Stu, the computer hacker that was pulling the strings of the Strategic Response Unit, by giving them tips of where to find criminal activity.

Here, Spike gave Stu a quick stare, to let him know he was on to him.

Out of fear of Rebecca knowing his shameful secret, Stu never met her in person, favouring communication over the internet. He watched Rebecca without her knowing over the computer monitor, as if it was an enchanted mirror.

For who could love the beast?

The Strategic Response Unit tracked down Rebecca and her kidnapper. Instead of using the standard emotional connection dialogue, Greg went the path of scaring some sense into the kidnapper, so that he would put down the gun and let Rebecca go.

A beaten Stu went outside to the balcony which hung high above the ground, wanting nothing more than to just die. Spike followed, and got Stu to look at the the self-worth that he did not see in himself, and to point out that the two of them were really not all that different. Spike had to stress that his uniform was really only a part of his gear.

After getting talked down, Stu met Rebecca in person for the first time. She revealed that she had known about Stu's disability all along, making it a non-issue. It turned out that Stu had unfairly projected his self-rejection onto others, and denied himself the transparency of disability that he could only dream of.

The end scene had Spike asking Winnie out for dinner, only to get turned down. Winnie's reason was that she did not date police officers. Spike had been wrong -- the police gear did matter, but in a way that turned out badly for the police officer. This scene is meant to contrast the above ambulance scene, where not having a uniform proved to be an asset.