User reviews

Cold case is a great comfort show: it's repetitive and predictable but in a good way, the cases are mostly interesting, and the detectives take up just the right space. The use of flashbacks and the signature emotional finals with period music are a very nice touch.

Good show, nice series formed by 156 episodes, 7 seasons ,about an expert force at law, a professional squad of homicides, Philadelphia set, taking on cold cases, bringing them to life . Being starred by lone female detective Lilly, Kathryn Morris, who finds her calling when is assigned by her superior boss John Stilman : John Finn, to investigate criminal "Cold Cases" , older crimes that have ever been solved and working for Philadelphia Department . They must attempt to re-think the killing scenes and interview other people involved with the victims to find out a link to solve the criminal cases executed many years earlier. At their hard work they suffer risked incidents, at times, and dangerous situations that from time to time put them on the verge of nervous breakdown. It is well paced by using flashbacks, including nostalgic songs from the 60, 70s, 80s, 90s... Homicide is timeless but detection methods change. Hope lives, because the evidence never dies. Better late than never.

This active team is formed by following members : Lily : Kathryn Morris, she is only investigator woman , she suffered a sad past when was assaulted by a nasty attacker as a little girl. John Stillman : John Finn, he is Lily's chief, and at times her surrogate daddy figure, and the one who was there for her after being attacked by a stranger assailtant as child. Detective Scotty Valens : Danny Pino, he is a street-smart guy and Lilly's best friend, who tells her his problems, he fought with the real guilt and grief when his fiancee suffered schizofrenic visions , seeing imaginary old friends and she subsequently committed suicide. Detective Will Jeffries : Thom Barry, he is a previous Vietnam war veteran, he lost his spouse at a hit-and-run truck crash and he feels really affected still, he is a good friend to the other Inspectors. Detective Nick Vera : Jeremy Ratchford, he is an overweight inspector who was left by his wife, but he really wishes to have an ordinary family , he was eventually missed after unintentionally having detained an innocent man and accusing him as a killer . Kat Miller : Tracie Thoms, she previously worked in narcotics, she knows well the delinquency area of Philadelphia, she has a little girl daughter whose father is an ex-mobster, that is why she has family problems. Louie : Doug Spinazza, he is an specialist at the science of explosives and fire, using his weapons skills to help solve criminal cases . Frankie : Tania Raymonde, she is expert in photography at the Philadelphia police department, her skills are really necessary to discover crimes, she had a brief love relationship with Scotty. And Susan Chuang as an expertise forensic . Furthermore, Raymond J Barry, as Lily father, he was out her life throughout his infancy, however, appearing many years later when Lily was seriously injured. And Nicky Aycox as Lily's troublesome sister, she is a promiscuous girl who cheated her, the reason for Lily often resents her entire family, including her drunk mother. Adding a good plethora of guest stars showing up through the 156 episodes, such as : Michael Pare, Barbara Niven, Daniel Baldwin, Jesse Plemons, Susanna Thomson, Maggie Grace, Kevin Chapman, Silas Mitchell, DW Moffet, Jessica Tuck, Thine, Meredith Salenger, Diane Ladd, Jeffrey Nordling, John Diehl, Stacey Edwards and many others

The series was originally created by Meredith Stiehm supported by Veena Sud, Liz Garcia, Mark Pellington and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Being directed by notorious directors as Deran Sarafian, Marcus Siega, Tim Hunter, Bryan Spicer, Kevin Hooks, James Withmore Jr, Nelson MacCormick, Rachel Talalay, Jeffrey Hunt, Jeannot Szwarc, Andy Garcia and John Finn himself.

In Philadelphia, Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris) and Scotty Valens (Danny Pino) are police partners investigating cold cases which have been languishing in storage. Lieutenant John Stillman (John Finn) is their supervisor. They work with fellow detectives Nick Vera (Jeremy Ratchford), Will Jeffries (Thom Barry), and laster Kat Miller (Tracie Thoms).

This is a standard police procedural with a twist. The cast is good and relatively stable. Most stayed around for its run of seven seasons. It's a good thing to have that much stability. The group has good chemistry and good balance. Adding younger cast members could have allowed the show to evolve in its later years.

The show usually starts in flashback of a crime committed in the past. As the team investigates, we go back and forth in time to discover clues. The cases are not too special. They are usually not too twisted, or too grotesque. It's a good police procedural. Eventually, they did run out of steam.

Justice will always find the way, even if that happens too late... The story of the show is unique and interesting, u gonna enjoy this if u love to watch justice being applied

My wife and I have used this series to replace our sleeping pills and to sleep to at night. The slow pace and lack of action is the perfect tranquilizer, highly recommended in sleep clinics. All the seasons have the same effect, we have slept through them all.

The first season of Cold Case arrives with a quietly compelling premise: Philadelphia detectives reopening unsolved murders, some dating back decades, and finally giving forgotten victims their voice. It's a smart hook, and the show leans on its mixture of procedural grit and emotional resonance rather than flashy gimmicks.

Kathryn Morris, as Detective Lilly Rush, is the anchor... cool, empathetic, and understated, with just enough fragility to avoid the clichéd "ice queen" mould. The cases themselves are structured with an almost elegiac rhythm, balancing standard police work with poignant flashbacks that slowly peel back layers of the past. This gives the series a haunting quality, particularly when period music ties the emotional threads together.

That said, season one isn't without uneven patches. Some episodes lean heavily into formula, and the show takes a little time to settle into its stride. Still, when it works - which it often does - it's both moving and quietly addictive. Comfort food for a night in.

Not the sharpest procedural of its era, but distinct enough to stand apart, Cold Case season one earns its 7.5/10: solid, steady, and occasionally quite affecting.

Make no mistake, I like this show, i like the cast, and I like the idea, but there are two things about it that consistently bug me.

First, the show uses every trick in the book to manipulate the viewer's emotions, culminating in the "ghosts" of the victims etc. making tear-jerking appearances (presumably in the main character's imagination) at the end.

But the biggest weakness is that the crimes frequently lack a convincing motive -- so many episodes end with our discovering that the killer didn't really have a good reason to commit the crime. It may be that this is a common feature of cold cases, but realism isn't a big feature of the show in general, so why the writers would do this escapes me. Usually the red herrings have much stronger motives, which makes almost every episode's outcome seem forced.

It's a nicely acted, well put together show, with a laudable agenda (teaching history, especially civil rights) to it's audience — I just wish they could put in plausible motives.

I'm loyal to this show, but I see its' flaws. I have to admit that the flaws are part of the fun. Two of the regular actors are hilarious caricatures of hard-boiled detectives. Law and Order does that too, but it's less entertaining with them.

But there is an exception and she's the lead female. This actress, Kathryn Morris is intriguing. She's human in the way the others aren't. Her face depicts her compassion, a distant sadness from a dysfunctional childhood, and just the right amount of cynicism.

I do love the Philadelphia setting. It's gritty and perfect for hard luck stories of the local working class. I like how they depict the sociology of different neighborhoods.

The time period music effect is a bit heavy-handed, but sometimes it works. I like it better at the end when they bring in the culprit in cuffs, rather than during the flashback scenes where it's just obnoxious. As someone else mentioned, the best effect is when you see a suspect's face change from present to past and back to present as they speak.

Many of the stories are politically correct. For example, a big corporation covering up asbestos poisoning,gays suffering discrimination, Japanese-American internment,or corrupt rich guys cheating. Not that those things didn't happen.

Nevertheless, you have to give them credit for coming up with some intricate plots. It's fun to figure out who may have done the murder, based on the show's formula.

Overall, a worthwhile hour. Also, they don't give you the gore and sadistic serial killer scenes that Criminal Minds is famous for. They focus on the flashbacks and interviews.

It has a very interesting premise, the characters are for the most part likeable but not goody too shoes or overly complicated to the point of making me want to roll my eyes back (I'm taking not so subtle shots at current law enforcement shows), and eventhough the show is probably shot somewhere in a backlot in Los Angeles I think it's nice they picked a city that wasn't NYC or LA . I know the show is a blatant rip off of a Canadian show called "Cold Squad" (haven't seen it) but something tells me I'd like Cold Case little bit more. The good outweighs the bad but somethings kind annoy me about the show 1. When they do stories that are set in the 20s,30s,40s, 50, and the early 60s they use actors for the older versions that look like they wouldn't have been around back then 2. Reused storylines , hey Sometimes they'd mix it up 3. They kind of tried to turn Scotty into a more competent version of Joeseph Quinn from Dexter , and thank God they stopped that Eh like I said before it's a ripoff of the Canadian show that suspiciously has a very similar name and premise but I still like the show.

Original series with a lot of interesting cases.

Still, there are some clear flaws in the series which unfortunately become more glaring season after season.

Now, first, like I said before, the series is very good, interesting & is filmed in an original way. Showing both flashbacks as present to complete the episodes.

Overall, the series takes a case by case approach, nothing too flashy, some very good and others are just 'buh".

For the problems, character development is a real missing point here, whereas the characters barely meet other people, you barely see a family member, or a personal (back) story. Not saying there aren't any but they sure are limited. There are also too many coincidences imo and I wish they would've used more bigger stories, for example, a serial killer spread over a couple episodes. Those always are the most interesting. A last problem for me, is the fact that most cases are just too "simple", for ex. A friend, a family member who randomly takes a gun and shoots someone. Not many, like mentioned before, premeditated killings, or even active ones, which would make the storyline & pace of the season a lot better imo.

To finish, I want to reiterate I like the show, but lack of backstory & storyline are a surely a downer...