Cold Case : Affaires classées

I found that I absolutely love this show way too late apparently. I have been checking on all steaming access for several years now and cannot find a place to watch it. I never have had the opportunity to see them all therefore certainly not in order. I am a out of the closet, unashamed binge watcher. I want to see them all. Someone please add it to a streaming format.

First there was "Cold Squad" set in Vancouver masquerading as.... Vancouver! Now while Vancouver is only barely Canadian it was refreshing to see a Canadian-made show set in Canada rather than New York having Vancouver's Coast Range mountains in the background as in one infamous example in a Jackie Chan movie. (I bet all those people in Brooklyn and Harlem enjoy the snow-capped peaks they can see from Manhatten.) "Cold Squad" was a reasonably good police procedural and worth a look.

Then there was "Cold Case" set in Philadelphia masquerading as Philadelphia - or so I think, never having been to Philly. The star was and is most appealing, the soap opera aspects not too overdone, the use of music unsurpassed, and the writing! Perhaps the best written show now on television, writing not merely skillful as in "Law & Order" and "CSI" but filled with compassion, heart, sympathy and simply that most elusive quality of love.

I admit that several of the episodes have so moved that I have found tears in my eyes by the ending. I know it is emotionally manipulative in use of music, plot and scene but it is quite simply superb. This programme, at best, touch the heart.

P.S. Having seen the first show of the new (2005-06) season I must modify my above opinion. This is not, in my opinion, "perhaps the best written show now on television"; this is probably the best written television programme ever.

"Cold Case" features fictional cases that have been unsolved for years. The stories are touching, even though we know these situations are not real. The show never ceases to amaze me and touch me in ways most television shows cannot. Somehow it seeps under your skin because you know thousands of people in the real world live with the things that go on in the episodes. Kathryn Morris gives a stellar performance each week and always has the audience rooting for her to kick some butt. The editing is unique, as well, and I think the strongest tactic the show uses is how they always wrap up the case and the episode by arresting the person as they are now, but never failing to cut to show what they would look like if they had gotten arrested when they first committed the crime. The victim almost always appears vindicated at the end. This of course works best when they go back to cases some ten or more years earlier. This is a new show, and it has certainly broken out of the mold. It is not just another formulaic crime drama. The fact that each episode is about the individual case and not the saga of the detectives makes it easy to tune it at any time and get heavily involved. CBS has done it again - their demographic is no longer just middle aged middle class individuals. With shows like this they are proving they can reach a wider, savvier audience. Jerry Bruckheimer is back on top to stay,

I didn't get into Cold Case until half way through the first season but I LOVE it! It has quickly become my first choice when I turn on the TiVo - surpassing all the Law & Orders and Without a Trace..... I found the use of music to bring you back to whatever era the crime was committed to be terribly effective and the last few minutes of each episode are haunting.

My favorite "effect" ( not sure what to call it ) is when they are talking to a family member or suspect currently but briefly flash to what they looked like at the time of the crime - it helps to keep track of all the characters. Lily Rush's acting is, at times, stiff but improves as the series progresses - almost as if she is getting more comfortable with herself......

The episode "Fly Away" was the best. The first scene is a mother and 7 year old daughter crashing thru a high window and landing on the sidewalk - it was so scary and haunting that I couldn't watch it a second time around and I kept thinking about it for days later. ( I do that often with this show - how many times does that happen watching TV these days? )

In short, I think this series is excellent and will continue to watch avidly :)

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.