A gloomy episode - like a bout of existential depression - where the church & medical researchers & the govt - all - couldn't be trusted
philadelphia's real life "boy in the box" case of 1957 provided the premise - but so little is known of the actual case that the writers had exceptional latitude - and came up with a corker of a plot - where all the threads pull together - inexorably - towards its conclusion
while the Cold Case stories have necessarily been set in the past - this may have been the only one to extensively use black and white photography - evoking the noir movies and television of the 50s - along with the usual use of contemporary music - somehow this episode ends with a romantic ballad by Ricky Nelson turned into something haunting
this series was known for giving some very good character actors some choice scenes - this is no exception - one of the bigger guest roles was given to english actress Samanatha Eggar (a favorite of mine) playing an irish nun with something to hide
i don't know if the production aimed for the soulless eerie tone - but that's what they achieved - it's a powerful & utterly memorable episode - my favorite in the entire series - - luckily i recorded it and i watch it occasionally - and i did again a few nites ago - i intended to watch only a bit of it - but i got caught up and watched it in its entirety - it was as potent as the first time i saw it
Dec 2022 -- the boy has long last been identified via DNA - the police say there are plausible suspects - but aren't willing to commit to any one - the one story that strikes me is told by a woman who was the daughter of an abusive woman who "acquired" the boy & who she killed in a rage - the daughter accompanied her mother when she hid the body in the woods.
philadelphia's real life "boy in the box" case of 1957 provided the premise - but so little is known of the actual case that the writers had exceptional latitude - and came up with a corker of a plot - where all the threads pull together - inexorably - towards its conclusion
while the Cold Case stories have necessarily been set in the past - this may have been the only one to extensively use black and white photography - evoking the noir movies and television of the 50s - along with the usual use of contemporary music - somehow this episode ends with a romantic ballad by Ricky Nelson turned into something haunting
this series was known for giving some very good character actors some choice scenes - this is no exception - one of the bigger guest roles was given to english actress Samanatha Eggar (a favorite of mine) playing an irish nun with something to hide
i don't know if the production aimed for the soulless eerie tone - but that's what they achieved - it's a powerful & utterly memorable episode - my favorite in the entire series - - luckily i recorded it and i watch it occasionally - and i did again a few nites ago - i intended to watch only a bit of it - but i got caught up and watched it in its entirety - it was as potent as the first time i saw it
Dec 2022 -- the boy has long last been identified via DNA - the police say there are plausible suspects - but aren't willing to commit to any one - the one story that strikes me is told by a woman who was the daughter of an abusive woman who "acquired" the boy & who she killed in a rage - the daughter accompanied her mother when she hid the body in the woods.