Lilly Gets a Reflective 'Case'

It's the little things on my favorite shows that make me happy, and tonight's episode of Cold Case was loaded with them. It was nice to have the feeling that Lilly was behind the wheel on this case, and she even got a little bit of a personal connect. Perhaps, she has been a little too harsh on her mother all of these years. Sure, she was drunk more than sober, had men in and out of her bedroom, and is responsible for young Lilly's beat down (and god knows what else) as she was making an alcohol run for her in the middle of the night, BUT we're all pretty sure that she loves her like any mother should. The closing shot with the old photo sorta proved it, but it also revealed a little more (and foreshadowed an upcoming story line -- more on that later). I love my girl Lil, but she's really bad about only recalling the bad stuff. The only memories we've gotten about her mother have been negative. In fact, back in season 1, Lil told Scotty, "there were no good times." Cut to the closing moments of that same episode, and we see an old home movie of a young Lilly making snow angels with her mother. Both are laughing and then they embrace. Now three seasons later, we see that Lil carries a small, hidden photo of her mother hugging her as a baby. So, maybe it wasn't all drunken nights, hangovers, and one-night stands. I'm not saying that Ellen Rush is/was Mother of the Year, but she might not have been the monster all the time that Lil makes her out to be. And maybe, just maybe, she loved her daughter more than her careless actions led Lil to believe (toy stores be damned).


OK, so there was a case tonight too, and it was an exceptional one! This was another one of those jump up and down cheering episodes for me. The case was very emotional, the killer was believable and the ending was touching (thanks to Carly Simon's beautiful rendition of "You Are My Sunshine"). My heart ached for Hilary and all of the other "unwed mothers" at the home. I was in the dark during the entire story, so the end result was quite surprising for me. It wasn't as if Karen didn't have a history of assaulting other girls (with a rock no less), but I wasn't fully aware of her level of crazy until the last flashback. You take a girl who is already unstable, force her to give up her child (whom she has become attached to), and mix in raging hormones and another young mother making her escape with her own child and you get a sad, tragic scene in the woods behind the home. I don't know what was more upsetting -- the murder or the revelation at the end that Lil had found Karen's son whom she had been searching for online for years, but she isn't going to be with now because she's going to jail. Just tragic all around. Lilly's interrogation felt very real, and I liked the way she allowed herself to strip down her own emotions to be as vulnerable as her suspect. No one walked away from this case unscathed -- including myself. Well played Cold Case, well played. You move to 14-2 on the season.

For those who love some good scoop, I have some tonight. For those who don't, read no further. Remember how I alluded to some foreshadowing from tonight's episode? Well, that foreshadowing was Lilly's personal reflection on her relationship with her mother while investigating Hilary's murder. We know things were sorta patched up between the two for now last season. Well hold onto your hats, because Ellen Rush (and Meredith Baxter) are making a return visit to Cold Case later this season. And from what I hear, expect to see the old Ellen instead of the new AA-going one. Things are about to get more complicated for Lil. According to early reports, Ellen is scheduled to appear in an episode entitled "Torn" that will serve as the 21st episode of the season.

If you're interested in Carly Simon's "You Are My Sunshine," check it out on iTunes.


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