Monday, January 12, 2009

'Cold' News

I majored in Broadcast News in college.  I have a degree in journalism.  I interned at a local TV news station for two summers and my husband makes a living working in local news.  Thus, I have been waiting for a TV news episode of Cold Case forever.  So, I was excited to sit down and watch this week's outing, but it came off a little too contrived and too cliche to make me happy.  I did find the the whole "news is changing" theme to be timely given the recent downward trend in news and those who deliver it.  And I liked the pseudo Erin Brockavich turn of events 3/4 of the way through the hour, but overall, this one didn't thrill or excite.  It did, however, have a bit more Lilly than last week's episode, so I suppose I should just be thankful for small favors.  First, I really feel that the "PR hack" would have made a better killer given the fact that he wanted to kill the story.  He was experiencing a serious case of buyer's remorse, and I had a hard time swallowing the part where he agreed to move forward with it after calling Jane to kill it.  Kill the story or kill the girl just set itself up nicely, but it felt like the writers decided to go in the other direction to bring in an element of surprise.  I've always felt that CC's biggest storytelling strength is its "whydunnit" approach, but lately, the show has been more "whodunnit" and I think the cases have suffered as a result.

Is it just me or are you completely confused by Scotty's whole "I think I'll hit on the news chick, but wait there's the girl I was seeing until her crazy ex/non-ex husband tried to assault me so maybe I should talk to her.  No, that's a bad idea -- better leave, but wait, I still want her.  Just one kiss, now two, now we're so leaving this bar and pi$$ on the news chick!"  Huh??!!  That story line was so random!  If they wanted to put Scotty and Frankie back together, then why not just have him see her in the bar and forget the whole news chick angle?  Or better yet, why not just avoid the silly ex/non-ex husband plot all together?  This show has changed over the seasons, but one thing remains the same -- it doesn't know how to write relationships.  I really wish it would learn.

Crazy relationship subplot aside (because the handcuff bit at the end did make me chuckle), this episode was a solid OK, so I guess I'll put it in the win column.  CC moves to 12-0-1 on the season.  

Screencaps courtesy Longislanditalian2 at Look Again.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to agree that the whole Scotty thing is getting ridiculous. I think they are trying to show that Scotty really likes Frankie, even if he doesn't know it fully himself yet, hence the womanising.

I guessed the doer first time I saw the flashback actor. The ol' "I know him/her from some other show" method rarely fails. What was different was that this time the well known face was only in the flashback, normally it is the present day/both. I was a little surprised to see a different actor being used for the present day. To me 1988 doesn't seem that long ago. Perhaps they tried "ageing" the actor with make-up and it didn't look right.

Overall the story was OK but felt a little lacking.

Good to see more Lilly (though I want to see much more ;-) ). No daddy this week though.

The next one is on the 25th? :-(


RichE.

Andy said...

Low-key, well written and very well acted.In a time where "best shows"are simply physically exhausting to watch-this is a revelation.Catch all eps Download Cold Case here..

Anonymous said...

The concept of Cold Case TV Show is brilliant. I am a big fan of this show. I always watch this show online and I have seen all episodes of this show.

Anonymous said...

Have you missed the last season of this show than just do one little step. Click on this link and watch Cold Case Season 7 online.