Cold CaseNovember 22
Original Airdate: April 26, 2009
Amanda — Senior Reviewer
amanda@thetwocentscorp.com
Where were you when JFK was shot? That seems to be the question of the hour, although I can’t quite figure out what the Kennedy assassination has to do with the death of a pool hustler, other than to get the older cast members to reminisce. In addition to these seemingly incongruous events, we’ve got some fireworks erupting with Lilly and her dad. So, everyone, grab your drinks, call your shots, and let’s get started.
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[photo: CBS]
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Cold Case
ReplyDeleteNovember 22
Original Airdate: April 26, 2009
Amanda — Senior Reviewer
amanda@thetwocentscorp.com
Where were you when JFK was shot? That seems to be the question of the hour, although I can’t quite figure out what the Kennedy assassination has to do with the death of a pool hustler, other than to get the older cast members to reminisce. In addition to these seemingly incongruous events, we’ve got some fireworks erupting with Lilly and her dad. So, everyone, grab your drinks, call your shots, and let’s get started.
The case of Patrick “The Rifle” Lenox is reopened when the new manager of Whitey’s pool hall finds the murder weapon. A dig through the boxes yields few clues and even fewer witnesses, but the detectives do learn that another pool shark, John “The Doctor” Norwood, bailed Patrick out of jail. When Stillman and Vera chat with him, Norwood recalls coaching Patrick, urging him to focus on his game and avoid distractions, but his instructions fell on deaf ears when Patrick saw his ex-partner, Mike “Monkey” Mack and hightailed it out of there. Lilly and Scotty catch up with Mack, who’s now an esteemed guest of the state, and who also patched things up with Patrick. He remembers being out with Patrick when a pre-teen girl named Hillary came in and gave Patrick the surprise of his life: she’s his daughter.
Lil finds Hil, and it soon turns out that they have way more in common than rhyming nicknames. Hillary tracked down her dad after her mom’s death. Sound familiar? Anyway, Hil and Patrick were actually pretty cute together. Hil recalls Patrick realizing she was a great hustling partner, since her presence made people think he was a sap. This naturally didn’t sit well with his current partner, Sharon “Blondie” Lertola, who was none too kind to Hil, and Hil can only imagine what she might have done to Patrick. While Vera tracks down the owner of the gun and learns that his alibi checks out, Scotty and Lilly talk to Sharon. She claims that she and Patrick saw the world the same way for a while, but then she got tired of the lifestyle and quit, remembering how Patrick got a taste of his own medicine: a nasty beating at the hands of one Ben Scavo. Unfortunately for the case, Scavo’s at that big pool hall in the sky, which, according to the Dead Guy Can’t Be The Doer Algorithm, means he’s innocent. However, he was partners, for a time, with Monkey Mack.
The detectives, naturally, are curious about this, so they bring Mack in for a talk. He’s soon cleared of the murder, but has another interesting tidbit, a recollection of Patrick and Hillary talking about her mother. Hil, it turns out, was named for the winner of the Kentucky Derby, which happened two weeks before she was born. Mack says Patrick was really picking up his game in preparation for a big match with Al “Baltimore Red” Soddenheim, who seems to have vanished, which gives the other detectives something to do all episode. However, Mack says Patrick was also getting attached to Hil.
Stillman returns to Norwood, who admits to coaching Patrick for the match, and says he crossed the line. During one of their coaching sessions, Hil came in looking for Patrick, but Norwood urged him to avoid distractions, so Patrick told Hil to get lost, breaking her cheeky little heart in the process. Lilly, meanwhile, discovers what Patrick had already figured out: the Kentucky Derby detail meant that Hillary wasn’t his. Hillary confirms this, saying she knew, but was just looking for a dad. He, however, was looking for more, and, after a cryptic phone call, walked out on Hil, leaving her in tears. The anvils just keep falling, don’t they?
Meanwhile, Vera and Jeffries have finally located the elusive Baltimore Red, who tells them of his much-ballyhooed match with Patrick. It went on for hours, but suddenly Patrick laid down his cue and walked away, saying hustling was no way to live, and announcing his intentions to go back to Hil. He was up $40,000, but offered Baltimore Red $20,000 to keep the match a secret. Red says the match was set up via an anonymous note from Whitey’s, which the detectives trace back to Sharon.
After Sharon is nailed to the wall by Scotty, Lilly, and the murder weapon, and she finally admits to setting up the match to win Patrick back. When she learned that he quit, she was furious. He waxed eloquent about starting a new life with Hillary, offered Sharon $5,000, then declared that the game was over. Truer words were never spoken, as Sharon’s next move was to shoot him in the back as he walked away.
This case was essentially a gift-wrapped box for Lilly’s Daddy Issues, Part XVIII. While playing chess with him, Lilly figures out that he’s never told his second family about her, and, after hearing Hillary’s tearful recollection of Patrick walking out on her, she gives back his St. Jude medallion, then cuts to the chase: she’s (rightfully) furious with him for leaving her with Ellen when he knew what she’d be going through. Paul argues that it was best for everyone, and he’s not going to dredge up the past. Lil really can’t have an easy relationship, can she? Thanks to all this, the other detectives didn’t have a lot to do, but Stillman learned a new trick shot from Norwood to impress the gang, which was awesome, and Kat and Jeffries got their snark on, which was entertaining as always. Kat snarking with anyone is always worth watching.
So that’s my two cents, which, in 1963, would’ve barely made a dent in some of the playing fees for these matches. I’d love to hear yours, as well as where you were when Kennedy was shot. (For the record, I don’t remember. I wasn’t born yet).