Post by TVFan on Jun 2, 2006 10:55:12 GMT -5
As a way of getting things up and running in this forum and by request, I'm going to post my Pass The Remote reviews of each of this past season's episodes. These "reviews" are in their original form, so they were written the Monday after the episode aired and they are meant for a more mass audience unlike our well versed CC group here. 
If you have a review, be sure to send it to me at tvfan08@yahoo.com.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lilly and Co. Bring a War Criminal to Justice
Cold Case went all out last night. We got an interesting, compelling story as our case, a very believable motive, fascinating characters, incredible flashbacks and continuity with the Jeffries story line all packed into one episode. The only thing missing was Lilly. She seemed a little MIA last night, although I thoroughly enjoyed her trip to New York and her airport parking deck interrogation, but other than that, she wasn't in it much. You know I love my Lil, but I was actually OK with her lack of scenes this once because the story was too damn good to worry about anything trivial. Besides, from the sound of things, she's getting a lot (Yay!) in the season finale at the end of the month. Moving along, though, because there's plenty to say about this wonderful episode and little room to say it in. The older cases are always iffy for me. They either don't interest me or they fascinate me. I know, it's weird, but it has to do with how well they tie the case into the history and the culture of the year and how relatable they make the victim. Loretta (Lo) was absolutely fascinating and the story of what she uncovered had me glued to my television. I thought something was "off" about Noah, but I wasn't sure what it was. I kept thinking that it was weird that they hadn't shown us his tatoo, but I dismissed it. I didn't figure out that he was actually a Nazi guard at the camp where the real Noah had died until Lilly met with Johanna in New York. How horrible that this man worked at the same camp and then assimilated into the real Noah's family without them ever being the wiser. I can't even imagine how betrayed that family must feel now that they know the truth.
One of the interesting things about Cold Case is that we get to see what has happened to the killer since the day he killed the victim. It's even more interesting in these older cases because the person has lived an entire life since that horrible day. There are some killers who are remorseful and others who are not. The weird thing about "Noah" was that he was neither. He was indirectly responsible for millions of deaths during the Holocaust and directly responsible for Lo's death at the train station, and yet, he went on and lived his life as if he had done nothing wrong. When Lilly confronted him in the parking deck, he said that he is so much better than the things that he had done. It was almost as if he justified what he did and made peace with it. He probably reasoned that he was just following orders during the Holocaust and he didn't kill anyone directly, and then he reasoned that Lo didn't love him and she was a threat to his new found life, so she had to be killed. It was all so cold. I thought it was interesting that this man who fled the first time he saw it was time to pay the piper, did the same when the truth about Lo and her murder came to the surface. This man managed to live 61 years without spending a single day in jail for his involvement in the Holocaust and Lo's death, something that Lo and those killed in his prison camp didn't get to do. Yes, I found myself having no sympathy for "Noah." The real Noah, yes, but not the imposter. Who would have thought that when Lilly and co. opened this case that they would be uncovering a war criminal? That just fascinated me! And don't you love the way Lil always seems to have that extra sparkle in her eye when she works these types of cases? You know the ones where the victim is a strong woman living in man's world and tries to evoke some sort of change. I think she sees herself in these victims more than any others. She always seems to have a sense of deeper peace at the end.
Is it just me, or is Stillman the best boss ever? Not only did he stand up for Will during that whole ADA/death penalty debacle, but he also tried to involve him in this case as much as possible. And when the desk duty detail was getting him down, Stillman was there to cheer him up. He reminded him that despite the people that make the job difficult, both he and Will love what they do because they are the job. Both admitted that they would go stir crazy if they weren't at work solving cases. And then Stillman went a little further and slipped a little splash of alcohol in both of their mugs of coffee just for good measure (and to celebrate Will's birthday). He completely understood what Will did and why he did it. He's always there guiding his detectives through their cases and their personal problems without being too pushy or invasive. Love that about him and the way they write his character! How amazing were those flashbacks last night? I felt like I was honestly watching an old movie. Everything from the sets to the clothing to the dialog to the harsh black and white tones made this episode look truly authentic. From the moment it started, I was completely transformed into 1945 and the excitement of the people on the street over the end of the war. Major kudos to everyone on the show who worked very hard on making this episode look so amazing. I was blown away by the flashbacks.
To see this review it its original format including screen caps from the episode, click over to Pass the Remote
If you have a review, be sure to send it to me at tvfan08@yahoo.com. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lilly and Co. Bring a War Criminal to Justice
Cold Case went all out last night. We got an interesting, compelling story as our case, a very believable motive, fascinating characters, incredible flashbacks and continuity with the Jeffries story line all packed into one episode. The only thing missing was Lilly. She seemed a little MIA last night, although I thoroughly enjoyed her trip to New York and her airport parking deck interrogation, but other than that, she wasn't in it much. You know I love my Lil, but I was actually OK with her lack of scenes this once because the story was too damn good to worry about anything trivial. Besides, from the sound of things, she's getting a lot (Yay!) in the season finale at the end of the month. Moving along, though, because there's plenty to say about this wonderful episode and little room to say it in. The older cases are always iffy for me. They either don't interest me or they fascinate me. I know, it's weird, but it has to do with how well they tie the case into the history and the culture of the year and how relatable they make the victim. Loretta (Lo) was absolutely fascinating and the story of what she uncovered had me glued to my television. I thought something was "off" about Noah, but I wasn't sure what it was. I kept thinking that it was weird that they hadn't shown us his tatoo, but I dismissed it. I didn't figure out that he was actually a Nazi guard at the camp where the real Noah had died until Lilly met with Johanna in New York. How horrible that this man worked at the same camp and then assimilated into the real Noah's family without them ever being the wiser. I can't even imagine how betrayed that family must feel now that they know the truth.
One of the interesting things about Cold Case is that we get to see what has happened to the killer since the day he killed the victim. It's even more interesting in these older cases because the person has lived an entire life since that horrible day. There are some killers who are remorseful and others who are not. The weird thing about "Noah" was that he was neither. He was indirectly responsible for millions of deaths during the Holocaust and directly responsible for Lo's death at the train station, and yet, he went on and lived his life as if he had done nothing wrong. When Lilly confronted him in the parking deck, he said that he is so much better than the things that he had done. It was almost as if he justified what he did and made peace with it. He probably reasoned that he was just following orders during the Holocaust and he didn't kill anyone directly, and then he reasoned that Lo didn't love him and she was a threat to his new found life, so she had to be killed. It was all so cold. I thought it was interesting that this man who fled the first time he saw it was time to pay the piper, did the same when the truth about Lo and her murder came to the surface. This man managed to live 61 years without spending a single day in jail for his involvement in the Holocaust and Lo's death, something that Lo and those killed in his prison camp didn't get to do. Yes, I found myself having no sympathy for "Noah." The real Noah, yes, but not the imposter. Who would have thought that when Lilly and co. opened this case that they would be uncovering a war criminal? That just fascinated me! And don't you love the way Lil always seems to have that extra sparkle in her eye when she works these types of cases? You know the ones where the victim is a strong woman living in man's world and tries to evoke some sort of change. I think she sees herself in these victims more than any others. She always seems to have a sense of deeper peace at the end.
Is it just me, or is Stillman the best boss ever? Not only did he stand up for Will during that whole ADA/death penalty debacle, but he also tried to involve him in this case as much as possible. And when the desk duty detail was getting him down, Stillman was there to cheer him up. He reminded him that despite the people that make the job difficult, both he and Will love what they do because they are the job. Both admitted that they would go stir crazy if they weren't at work solving cases. And then Stillman went a little further and slipped a little splash of alcohol in both of their mugs of coffee just for good measure (and to celebrate Will's birthday). He completely understood what Will did and why he did it. He's always there guiding his detectives through their cases and their personal problems without being too pushy or invasive. Love that about him and the way they write his character! How amazing were those flashbacks last night? I felt like I was honestly watching an old movie. Everything from the sets to the clothing to the dialog to the harsh black and white tones made this episode look truly authentic. From the moment it started, I was completely transformed into 1945 and the excitement of the people on the street over the end of the war. Major kudos to everyone on the show who worked very hard on making this episode look so amazing. I was blown away by the flashbacks.
To see this review it its original format including screen caps from the episode, click over to Pass the Remote
