User Reviews

Once I saw the commercial for the premiere of Cold Case, I was immediately attracted. A commercial dragged me in. I sat a few feet away from the TV, that's how much I enjoyed this episode. It was pretty sad though, the kids videotaping something as horrible as this. And oh my goodness when they commit suicide at the end, that is the worst. They say ''The End'', and then you see them point their guns at their heads. What also is very upsetting is when the ghosts of the boys are in the living room. Something about that part just made me sad overall. I thought the episode was well done. What they did was so twisted, but this is just the kind of thing some people find thrilling. There was only one real flaw to this episode. Everyone has been doing this sort of thing.

Absolutely brilliant episode, if a little sad and graphic in places. Completely different to other episodes plot wise and I really enjoyed it. The video camera bit was a little weird and the reasons she had for doing it were kinda disturbing and a little too spontaneous to be believable, but then it is a fictional TV show! I have to agree that the ghosts of the two teenagers appearing in the living room of their parents was really sad, and I really felt sorry for the two parents when the detectives came to talk to them again... I must warn you though, don't watch this if you or anyone you know has been involved in any incidents of mass shootings or any fatal gun crimes, as this is a key theme of the episode.

The mall, for better, or worse, attracts a young crowd that could be unruly. The shooting rampage by two teenagers can be blamed, in part, to the way video games seem to affect young people's minds; they love to play, but unfortunately, most of these young men confuse the game itself with what happens to real human beings when they are targeted as though the video and life were equals. In that unreal world, killing the enemy is basically the idea. The video game doesn't show bodies bleeding to death, or even take into account how innocent lives are destroyed because in most cases, the perpetrators of these heinous crimes believe they are playing another video game.

The detectives assigned to cover the mall shootings don't solve the problem, but new evidence brought over the Cold Case unit indicates there was a third shooter in the massacre at the mall, instead of the two the cameras recorded. The Cold Case unit are able to put together what really happened and how one person who was not even considered as part of the crime is in reality, the third shooter.

Mark Pellington, the creator of the series, directed the episode. It is to his credit the way he always makes a point to take current issues, such as the video games influencing troubled teens, center stage. The director doesn't mind tackling controversial issues, like this installment where reality and fantasy play a deadly game. Veena Sud wrote the script which deals head on with the issue at hand.

In the opening seen, one of the shooters (I believe Cameron) is wearing an Affliction t-shirt, this brand was not around in 1995 when the shootings took place, in fact I don't think Affliction came about until around a decade later, doh!:) I didn't know where else to submit this as it wouldn't let me under factual errors, I guess they have to check it first. Overall great episode, I love this show. I just hope the rumors I heard of this being its last season are not true! This show is great, if they are going to cancel it, they need to do one more season in my opinion, to answer a lot of questions that have not been answered and leave us viewers with some sort of a closure.