'Cold Case' Gets Dark

To quote American Idol judge Randy Jackson, this weekend's episode of Cold Case was "just a'right for me." Perhaps, if it had aired during the previous season I would be talking about how good it was, but this poor episode found itself in the wrong season. This show is too strong and too at the top of its game for me to see this one as anything other than just alright. But, there were some very good things about it that I'll close with to end on a positive note. In the meantime, let's get to what I wasn't such a huge fan of the other night. Basically, it all boils down to the case. For the most part, I find the pacing of the one-night cases (where all of the flashbacks take place during the exact same day or night) to be slow, which causes the episode to drag a little. Also, I loved Donna Mills on Knots Landing, but I didn't love her soapy acting style on my straightforward Cold Case. Although if she was going to bring it, this episode was the right one. Talk about your dysfunction junction! How wigged out where you when the grandma (Mills) hit on her grandson in the hot tub??!! WTH??!! The twist of having the mother/grandmother as the pedophile instead of her ex-husband was interesting (if not completely sick, but then again, when is pedophilia not sick??).


Out with the bad and in with the good. I really like this Vera side story, and it's allowing us to see a completely different side to the hard-nosed, womanizing guy we're used to seeing. He's softer, happier and seems to be committed to making things work with Toni. Plus, I like the fact that he's getting the chance to play the father role. We all know that one of the biggest reasons why his marriage broke up was because of their inability to have a child. Vera wanted to adopt the tyke that showed up on PPD's doorstep, and now he has the opportunity to play dad to Toni's teenage son. It's an opportunity that hasn't been lost on him, either, as he took time to talk to Andre and play a little ball with him (the same ball that he used to loathe when it woke him up at the crack of dawn). I also liked Lilly's interrogation with Ginny and the sort of compassion that she brought to it. Again, there were parallels between Lil's life and the case (she and Ginny both had messed up mothers -- in different ways), and again, we weren't hit over the head with it. I loved the playful banter between Lil and Scotty in the beginning of the episode (nice continuity from my favorite scene a few weeks back). Finally, I liked the way that this case left me wishing that the murderer didn't have to pay for her crime. She was more of a victim than the actual victim. In the scheme of this season, though, this episode was a miss for me, so CC moves to 11-2 on the season.


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