This show still holds up, and the pilot episode isn't bad at all. The plot is simple as can be: a maid approaches Detective Rush (Katherine Townsend) with information about a murder she witnessed in the '70s. Kate Mara is the victim, and the perp could be any one of the jerkoff preppies she hung out with.
All of Cold Case's strengths are on display here: fantastic licensed music that's smartly used in just the right places, great casting (D.W. Moffett is a standout), interesting (though not excessive) flashbacks, a touch of slo-mo, and a compelling sense of melodrama. That last point is key: Cold Case was never the most gritty, realistic detective show on TV, and it wasn't trying to be. Instead, it took a humanist approach, using heightened emotional tensions and situations to carry out its thesis that, as Detective Rush says in this episode, "People shouldn't be forgotten." It's corny, sure, but it also totally works.
All of that is to say, while the script here is alright (it deals with domestic violence and misogyny -- sad stuff, but we've seen it all before on network TV), it's the production values and music and cinematography (with a very distinct, steely-cool color palette) and acting that really elevate this material. When Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" starts playing over a montage in the final moments of the episode, it's hard not to find your eyes getting just a tiny bit moist -- and this is coming from someone who just called the plot "simple" two paragraphs ago. It's a testament to just how effective Cold Case can be.
All of Cold Case's strengths are on display here: fantastic licensed music that's smartly used in just the right places, great casting (D.W. Moffett is a standout), interesting (though not excessive) flashbacks, a touch of slo-mo, and a compelling sense of melodrama. That last point is key: Cold Case was never the most gritty, realistic detective show on TV, and it wasn't trying to be. Instead, it took a humanist approach, using heightened emotional tensions and situations to carry out its thesis that, as Detective Rush says in this episode, "People shouldn't be forgotten." It's corny, sure, but it also totally works.
All of that is to say, while the script here is alright (it deals with domestic violence and misogyny -- sad stuff, but we've seen it all before on network TV), it's the production values and music and cinematography (with a very distinct, steely-cool color palette) and acting that really elevate this material. When Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" starts playing over a montage in the final moments of the episode, it's hard not to find your eyes getting just a tiny bit moist -- and this is coming from someone who just called the plot "simple" two paragraphs ago. It's a testament to just how effective Cold Case can be.