Monday, April 14, 2008

Lilly Meets Her Match

This week's episode of Cold Case had 2 things going against it before it started: 1) it was coming off of last week's fan-freakin'-tastic psychotic road trip outing and, 2) the case had to compete with an interesting development on the Lilly front. So, how did it do? First, the Lilly front. In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I watch this show (and every other show) for the characters. The cases are good (sometimes amazing), the set design is fantastic (the travels through time leave me awe-struck), the directing and writing are far above your run of the mill crime drama, and the victims and their stories are heartbreaking. BUT, I mainly watch Cold Case for the characters, especially the fantastic character of Lilly Rush. Without her, there would be no show. With this in mind, any story line that gives her more screen time, provides a bigger glimpse into her life and what makes her tick, and allows the character to grow will always be welcome. This is why I have mix feelings about this Det. Saccardo. Maybe I've been burned too many times by this show and its half-told, abruptly cut off relationship stories for Lilly (Kite, Ray, Joseph) because I don't have much faith that she and Saccardo will turn out any differently. And since we barely got a glimpse of their potential (and his, for that matter), I haven't decided whether I want it to or not. She certainly seems to have met her match and he gets on her nerves the same way Kite did (still the best relationship), so I'm hopeful. Lilly needs someone decent for once. How long have PTR Senior Staff Writer LillyKat and I been pleading for a Fritz for CC's version of Brenda Leigh Johnson? Could Saccardo and his story line finally be the answer? For now, the verdict is still out.

Call me crazy, but something about this case smelled of season one. Of course, this made me happy because I think it would behoove this show to use the first season as a crutch more often. [SIDE BAR] I had to throw "behoove" in there for our girl, Lil. Back in season 2, a cocky NYC detective knocked on her door looking for her wayward sister and he told her that it would "behoove them" to turn in Chris. Lilly got all eye-rolly and said one of my favorite lines from this show: "Oh, it would behoove us, would it?" It was, in the words of How I Met Your Mother's Barney, "Leg-en-dary!" [/SIDE BAR] Funny thing about this week's case -- it kept stealing my attention even though my mind was busy working overtime analyzing whether Saccardo is a good match for Lil. I was fully distracted, and yet, Pete's story kept sucking me back in. I imagine it must be difficult to walk the straight and narrow after you've played the career criminal game for so long and no one wants to give you a chance to start over, including the cop that locked you up (and consequently, still has it in for you). So, I felt bad for Pete. I was disappointed when he seemed to slip right back into his old ways, so I was proud when I found out it was all a set up. Unfortunately, aforementioned cop was only kidding about that whole set up thing, and he wasn't too happy to see that Pete wasn't. I'm not sure how much I buy the cop as the killer (he was concerned about going away for armed robbery, but not murder?), but I still felt that this was a solid outing. So, to answer the question above -- Cold Case did very well in the face of two HUGE obstacles in its way before it even flashed the opening credits. CC moves to 16-0 on the season.

1 comment:

LillyKat said...

I give you a lot of credit for being able to remain on the fence about Eddie. He doesn't work for me whatsoever. Given CC has never successfully handled any of Lilly's relationships, I hold little hope they will be able to figure this one out. It's one thing to sort of be Kite-esque and be able to "get" to Lilly, be her match; it's another to just be obnoxious, rude, crass, an outright idiot and bully her. For me, it seems like Lilly will have to dumb herself down to the level of this guy, and that just doesn't even seem right. Not to mention she deserves better than a thug with a badge. Or another bad boy routine. I do not get what the show is doing here, but oh well, that wouldn't be the first time.

The case, though, I really did like. But it got lost in this "new guy." Kind of a shame.