Cold CaseTrue Calling
Original Air Date: Oct 6, 2008
Amanda - TwoCents Reviewer
amanda@thetwocentscorp.com
Now, this is the Cold Case I fell in love with. This well-paced, cleverly written episode (thanks, Christopher Silber!) had all the elements that make this show fabulous: an intriguing and often touching case with fascinating characters, some humor and personal moments with the detectives, a commentary on how much of a difference an inspiring teacher truly can make, and, of course, an appropriately sniffle-inducing ending montage. If this is what we have to look forward to in Season Six, I’m on board.
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[photo: John Filo/CBS]
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Cold Case
ReplyDeleteGlory Days
Original Air Date: Oct 6, 2008
Amanda - TwoCents Reviewer
amanda@thetwocentscorp.com
Now, this is the Cold Case I fell in love with. This well-paced, cleverly written episode (thanks, Christopher Silber!) had all the elements that make this show fabulous: an intriguing and often touching case with fascinating characters, some humor and personal moments with the detectives, a commentary on how much of a difference an inspiring teacher truly can make, and, of course, an appropriately sniffle-inducing ending montage. If this is what we have to look forward to in Season Six, I’m on board.
Lilly reopens the case of 22-year-old Laura McKinney, a privileged Harvard graduate who took a job teaching at inner-city Reeves High School, at the prompting of one of Laura’s former students, Darnell, who found her car keys in an old desk at Reeves when he was preparing to become a teacher himself, thereby debunking the original theory of a carjacking gone wrong. Like many young teachers at inner-city schools, Laura is clearly in over her head at first, unable to maintain control of her classroom, but she gradually makes inroads, earning the respect of at least a couple of her students and one other teacher. One teacher, Margaret Trudlow, didn’t expect Laura to last, but another teacher, Kenny Yates, was a bit more supportive. Margaret points the detectives to the security guard, who claimed to have chased someone off after hearing the shot, but Scotty and Lil don’t buy it, and for good reason: he was actually in his car getting drunk.
The investigation quickly centers around one of Laura’s students, Renaldo Ramos, who’s corralled by a nifty “tripping with the car door” move from Scotty and Lilly, and in whose backpack Laura found drugs. Renaldo has a rap sheet a mile long, and, at first, he does very little to endear himself to Philly’s finest. He points to Darnell, who, it turns out, had a bit of a crush on Laura, even attempting to kiss her, but that turns out to be merely a red herring, sending the detectives back to Renaldo. Finally, Scotty manages to get the truth from Renaldo: the drugs belonged to Kenny. Renaldo, who had been inspired by Laura to work hard and try to graduate, has spent the last 17 years blaming himself for her murder because he couldn’t do anything to stop it. (Think it’s a coincidence that Scotty, Mr. Blames Himself For Everything, was doing this interview? I sure don’t).
Meanwhile, Lilly gets the confession from Kenny, an addict who claimed to be trying to quit. In a confession that hearkens back to the early days of Cold Case, Lilly becomes all things to all people, drawing on her experience with her mother and pretending to be a former addict so she can sympathize with Kenny. It’s really nice to see this side of Lilly again; she’s spunky, clever, and smiling. Kenny eventually tells us that Laura caught him using and told him to resign or she’d report him; he responded to this by shooting her in the back as she tried to run away.
Renaldo proved to be a very interesting suspect in this one: everyone assumed he was a bad apple, so he’s spent his life proving them right. The only person who believed in him was Laura. Naïve though she may have been, she saw good in Renaldo that no one else did, and he rose to the challenge by writing an excellent paper about his grandfather. Since Laura met her untimely end defending him, he thought he let her down, and then, sadly, went back to being the bad guy everyone thought he was. Fortunately, by the end, he’s studying for his GED (in the aforementioned sniffle-inducing ending montage).
Throughout the episode, the detectives prove to us that solving cold cases isn’t all fun and games (well, except for Scotty and Jeffries cutting Vera’s tie in half in what I hope becomes a running theme of pranks). Jeffries struggles with the fax machine and then spends his time trying to track down a “rope-a-dope” witness who claimed to have seen a dark-skinned man running from the crime scene (originally assumed to be a black man, this turned out to be Renaldo), while Vera, in his efforts to obtain information on the murder weapon from Carla, the records clerk who places very low priority on the cold jobs, is ultimately forced to bribe her with dinner and tickets to see “Wicked.” (This led to a hilarious exchange with Lilly in which he urged her to appreciate all his hard work. “You’re my hero,” is her tongue-in-cheek reply). Meanwhile, Scotty revisits some of his school days in reminiscing about the infamous Sister Beatrice and learning that, in your mid-thirties, you’re not going to fit in one of those tiny little desks if you slouch. Lilly and Saccardo seem to be going strong, as evidenced by a text message she gets. Scotty, of course, notices this, and I couldn’t help but think our buddy Valens may just be a tiny bit jealous. At any rate, he’s not a fan of Saccardo’s boots. (Scotty, the man drinks appletinis. Why go for a base hit when you can hit a homer?)
So that’s my two cents, which, in 1991, would have bought you…not much. I’d love to hear yours. Any of you out there have any special teachers you’d like to tell stories about? Anyone else get an “I might be just a little bit jealous” vibe from Scotty? And, most importantly…how should Vera get back at his co-workers for the tie prank?