A Tragic End to a Sad 'Case'

This week's episode of Cold Case reminded me of those mother/daughter roadtrip films that end happily with both parties coming to understand each other. It came complete with a "chicks rule!" soundtrack (courtesy of Sheryl Crow, Dido, Sarah McLachlan and others) and a somewhat dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship. But, this episode was missing the usual happy Hollywood ending. Of course, this means that I loved it! I secretly kinda like those movies, but the easy ending grows tired fast, so this unhappy take made everything perfect in this familiar tale. I was so glad that neither of the daughters was responsible for their mother's murder. I was pretty sure that the lottery ticket was going to be the key, but I wasn't sure how it went down. It became apparent pretty quickly that the helpful homeless man wasn't all there when he showed Marlene the old picture of his son as if it were from the other day. And then there was his belief that a simple scratch-off ticket could win him a million dollars. It was the last point that got Marlene killed. She held up her end of the deal, but he refused to believe that the winning ticket was only worth $25. This was one of those cases that was difficult to watch because we witnessed Marlene sink as low as she could in order to save and provide for her children, one of which wasn't adjusting well to the family's new life (not that she should be expected to). Loved the way the case contrasted Lilly's upbringing with a mother who made the most with what little she had and put her children first no matter what happened (and the way it foreshadows that upcoming story line I mentioned a couple of weeks ago). Loved the soundtrack and the way it matched both the mood and the events in the episode while also providing clues to the story (Sheryl Crow's "Home" opened the show with the lyrics, "this is home" playing over the images of the Bradford family driving around in their station wagon. Later Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" played over the closing scenes with the apropos lyrics, "Spend all your time waiting for that second chance, for a break that would make it ok").


While Lilly and co. were searching for a killer, Jeffries was looking for something to make him feel better about his wife's death. He was so sure that shooting the man responsible was the answer, but when they were standing face to face with his gun pointed into the chest of the man who left his wife alone to die on the side of the road years ago, he realized that nothing was going to make it better because nothing can. If he had killed this man, he would have added a huge helping of guilt to the sorrow and regret that he already feels. Confronting the man did allow him to begin to heal and move on as we saw the Miles Davis album back in rotation on his home record player. It may have seemed like a small gesture, but for a man who has held so much anger, guilt, and sadness in his heart for so long, it was a huge step in the right direction. And once again Stillman, a.k.a. the world's best boss, was there with the stern hand and open arms that a member of his team needed to get through a dark, difficult moment. Cold Case rocked the case to personal story line ratio again, and moves to 15-2-1 on the season.

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