Ep. 5.04 Devil Music

[TVFan]

THE TEAM RE-OPENS THE 1953 MURDER CASE OF A TALENTED 19-YEAR-OLD ASPIRING ROCK 'N ROLL STAR AFTER NEW EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT HE WAS KILLED A DISTANCE FROM THE ALLEY OF THE BLUES CLUB WHERE HIS BODY WAS FOUND, ON "COLD CASE," SUNDAY, OCT. 14

Lilly Rush: Kathryn Morris
Scotty Valens: Danny Pino
LT. John Stillman: John Finn
Nick Vera: Jeremy Ratchford
Will Jeffries: Thom Barry
Kat Miller: Tracie Thoms
Bingo Zohar (1953): James Snyder
JP Valentine (1953): Grant Alan Ouzts
JP Valentine (2007): Peter White
Luke Hartmere (1953): Judd Fish
Ed Valentine (1953): Wiley Pickett
Miranda Allison (1953): Alexis Wolfe
Miranda Allison (2007): Jennifer Rhodes
Lloyd Jordan (1953): Caon Mortenson
Lloyd Jordan (2007): James Otis
Store Owner (2007): Kevin T. McCarthy
Arthur "Aces" Brown (1953): Brandon O'Neil Scott
Arthur "Aces" Brown (2007): Cal Gibson
Mrs. Valentine (1953): Danielle Bisutti
Mrs. Valentine (2007): Diana Douglas

WRITTEN BY: Kate Purdy

DIRECTED BY: Chris Fisher

[Naj]

Okay. I don't have much to say about the case except I'm saying this is a stinker episode of the season. The detective humor was fun and the substory of Scotty was interesting.

[boxman]

naj said:

Okay. I don't have much to say about the case except I'm saying this is a stinker episode of the season....

LMAO.... Someone didn't like this episode....

[longislanditalian2]

I liked the ending there the gang is together for first thursdays. Otherwise I didn't quite get into this episode, I liked how Jefferies pretended that he was yelling at Scotty.

[coldfan74]

it was okay. sort of has the 50's theme of "shuffle ball change". i didnt think the motivation for jp to kill bingo was that off. i certainly liked this one better than "running around". the storyline couldve been better and less predictable. but i really did like the contrast colors used in the flashbacks.

next week's eppy looks interesting. i heard in the preview where the bonnie/cylde-like characters mention about running to jamaica. im willing to bet that one of the music that will be played will be "kokomo" from the beach boys. for some reason that song really sticks in my memory for that year in 89.

[cellogal]

Loved Will "yelling" at Scotty in the interrogation room, and the end song is my fave Elvis song. Did anyone catch who was kissing who in the promo for next ep?

[The Reverend Bizarre]

Actually cellogal the ending song was "Can't Help Falling in Love" by George Weiss, Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Elvis Presley didn't sing/perform it until 1961.

Anyways I have to give this episode an OK. It didn't touch me like the other episodes this season have. I thought alot of the themes were rushed, and the ending when we see Bingo was just cheesy.

But in the end this episode seemed to be about the fear of change, and how change is needed in order for us to progress.

Did anyone notice that the girlfriend, who had a fear of being alone, was actually not married and seemed to be doing quite well?

[eurache]

I fell asleep and missed some of the stuff in this episode geez..

So I said it was okay, I did wake up to see the ending.. ;D

once I reviewed what I missed, I'll add some more thoughts.

BTW i am kind of tiffed that the dayum football game went over time and it wasn't over until about 8pm then 60 minutes show came on in which it ran a full one hour and a half... So i wound up getting 1/2 hr of 60 minutes on my VCR. but thank God I kept the time to end at 10:30pm

[anneinchicago]

I usually don't post. I like the show; I like the board. Not into addig a 'me too' just because I can.

But, for the first time, I actually hated, hated, hated Cold Case. I thought everyone's performance was a bit off. And I absolutely and again, for the first time, thought the music, especially the closing music _ can't help falling in love was completely wrong. It was exactly that kind of music that Bingo was fighting to change. Either give up and go with an actual Elvis song (as the comparisions were obvious) or go with another rockabilly song. Or, even better, a version of Hound Dog.

And again, maybe it is just me, but I am the only one that just noticed that Cold Case is all about failed dreams?

anne

[The Reverend Bizarre]

Yeah I have to admit that the final song had nothing to do with the theme of the episode (as far as I could tell.) and plus Bingo's final appearance just didn't fit. I honestly wish they would have chosen a more rockabilly song, or something more upbeat.

I'm sorry, but that ending song was just wrong on so many levels.

[soccerulz]

So I was feeling awful because I fell asleep and missed this episode.

But going by people's reviews so far, it wasn't one of the best ones - so it could be worse. haha.

[Naj]

Yup. I thought the case, the era and whatever was bad. They didn't sell to me that it was the 50's. The ending song was ridiculously out of place even tho it was Elvis. Bingo can't lip sync. I wasn't attracted to his gyration skills. It was just a disinteresting subject all around for me. But as I said the detectives had some funny stuff going on and the continuing story of Scotty's paranoia of his commrades ratting on him was funny! It could be that I'm just not a fan of anything the 50's but I tried really hard to like the case but there wasn't anything there for me.

boxman said:

naj said:

Okay. I don't have much to say about the case except I'm saying this is a stinker episode of the season....

LMAO.... Someone didn't like this episode....

[skonygirl]

I'm sorry but Scotty is getting on my nerves. His poor me anger is wearing thin.
Other than that I didn't think it was that bad of an episode. I like Elvis and the 50's. Maybe they could have used a better Elvis song.


Anyway did anybody notice how modern day Miranda looked like Meryl Streep from "Devil wears Prada" and "Cold Case" Miranda worked in clothing??? Meryl's character name was Miranda also...I wonder if it was an inside joke(??)

[Naj]

Welcome, cellogal and anneinchicago!



Hi skonygirl,

Yes I did notice the Meryl Streep look a like. ;D I did a double take there myself.

skonygirl said:

I'm sorry but Scotty is getting on my nerves. His poor me anger is wearing thin.
Other than that I didn't think it was that bad of an episode. I like Elvis and the 50's. Maybe they could have used a better Elvis song.


Anyway did anybody notice how modern day Miranda looked like Meryl Streep from "Devil wears Prada" and "Cold Case" Miranda worked in clothing??? Meryl's character name was Miranda also...I wonder if it was an inside joke(??)

[LillyKat]

Hmmm ... I guess I’m in the minority on this one as I liked this episode.

One of the things that I have always enjoyed with CC is when they do a case set back in history, and specifically, the quality of production design that accompanies those episodes. Whether it is 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, I am continually amazed at the attention to detail that is put into making anything and everything on that set look like it came out of the era. I am not sure enough credit is giving to Corey Kaplan and her team, but I wanted to give extra kudos to her for this episode. Not to mention the lighting in this episode was fantastic. Everything was vibrant, sharp, crisp … it showed off just how great the sets were. So, Ieally enjoyed this episode from a visual standpoint.

Additionally, I actually liked the case, and I liked Bingo a lot. I was completely unprepared to actually enjoy him given that from the previews I thought this was just going to be some tribute to Elvis or something (LOL!). Arguably, it was. And American Bandstand. Two things that aren’t necessarily my thing. But, I really identified with him again being one of those good guys trying to do the right thing. I was interested in his struggle, trying to follow a dream, trying to go against the grain in a time where that just wasn’t what you did. I also thoroughly enjoyed the exploration once again of race relations (which the show has always excelled at doing). I also thought the dialogue really popped in this episode.

Perhaps the only downside for me was that I was getting a bit lost with all of the characters (but I WAS doing laundry, so … I was in/out at certain parts of the ep).

Will ripping Scotty: brilliant. Finally, someone to kick him in the arse, and I liked that it was Will – the senior most detective on the squad as opposed to Stillman. We’ve sort of already seen Stillman get in it with Scotty, so it was a nice change of pace to have Will pull him aside and school him a bit. I will agree Scotty is getting a little too me, me, me, me, why me? for my taste. He kept asking why they were coming after him, and I was half-talking to the screen going, “Well, where should we begin? End of Season 3, maybe?” The guy is clueless sometimes.

All in all, I thought this was a solid ep. They’ve gotten back to having much more personal interaction amongst the detectives, bringing back the humor (things that also worked well in this ep). So, I can't really complain on this one.

[myril]

skonygirl said:

Anyway did anybody notice how modern day Miranda looked like Meryl Streep from "Devil wears Prada" and "Cold Case" Miranda worked in clothing??? Meryl's character name was Miranda also...I wonder if it was an inside joke(??)

Yup, noticed the lookalike too and it irritated me first a bit, but find it pretty funny on second thought.

The case didn't get me at the start, Scotty's misstrust thing distracted me in the middle and at the end I couldn't help it but concentrate more on singing along with Elvis than on the final (well, it's sort of an automatism, I don't like that song but have been singing it so often in choir, that you probably still could wake me up at nights and make me hum the alto part giving just the first notes). And agree, the song was a bad choice.

Basically think, the case story wasn't so bad at all, but no touching drama either. Mediocre version of a rebelling but dreamy male white teenager at the beginning 50s. Well, yeah, couldn't help but have James Dean in mind (uhm, some coincidence actor's name here was James Snyder) and Rebell Without A Cause - though really nothing like this in this episode's story. Bingo had a cause, his love for music. And the story was not so much about teenager angst, but people feeling scared by changes, prefering to stay in a seemingly ordered good world, looking away, ignorant, conservative (not meaning just in a political sense), wanting standstill to have what is not there: security. The 50s was a time to pretend, that the world was good again, after all the horror that had happened, that everybody could return to the good old traditions (esp. family, women stay at home, men do the business), despite that the world had been left with deep scares and open wounds, with many unanswered , inconvenient questions. No way to go on like nothing had happened, but they tried to. Like JP wanted to have back the carefree and blissfull ignorant times from before Bingo showed up, blaming him for making visible what should have stayed hidden.

But what I found more interesting in this ep was Scotty's action and reaction. It was due time to get it out, and of course took someone like Jeffries. Great development of this long story arc (considering what is now falling back on Scotty). Anger? No, Scotty is scared. He loves the job, he loves to be with this team and he don't want to lose it. Of course he is not the kind of guy to show he is scared, so he reacts with anger. And this Internal Affairs guy's tactic is so obvious, trying to make the person feeling insecure, under pressure, isolated and so to make mistakes. Well, could be this guy thinks, Scotty is no good police material, and waiting for a chance to prove it. Thus far he doesn't seem to have enough, or Scotty would be out already. But still don't think there has to be anyone else trying to frame Scotty.

Can't say I particular disliked this ep, it was average.

[riche]

I gave it an OK. The music etc. does nothing for me.

Thanks to Will's intervention, and face saving, looks like Scotty got his head out of his a$$ at the end.

And Nick's taken to recreational berries

I noticed the Meryl Streep look-alike, had to check to be sure. Also I thought that Mrs. Valentine (1953): Danielle Bisutti looked a lot like Rena Sofer of 24 and Heroes fame. Both have very distinctive eyes.

[TVFan]

I'm apparently in the minority as well because I liked this one. It wasn't as good as the others this season, but it was still good for me. Blame the increased detective interaction, the return of this show's sense of humor, Lilly's great interrogations, the AMAZING sets and cinematography (totally second everything LillyKat said on this topic), or all of the above but there was too much goodness in this one for me to dislike it.

The case itself was interesting for me because it may have been about music on the surface, but at its core, it was another racially charged episode and CC always shines with these stories. I've heard in passing about Elvis "stealing" the "black music" and making it into the phenomenom known as rock 'n roll, but this episode explored the origins and the people who invented the rhythms, lyrics, drum beats, etc. that gave birth to rock 'n roll. It painted a completely different picture for me and it made me more aware of how racism sneaks its way into all sectors of our society (then and now). Bingo was all about change and his cousin wanted things to stay the same. For him, Bingo symbolized everything that had gone wrong in his life. I didn't realize he was the killer, though, until the lyric revelation late in the episode.

Jeffries "yelling" at Scotty, Lilly's reaction to said "yelling," Vera at the health food store (and then offering up some berries at the end), and the gang at the Blues Bar at the end made this one worth the price of admission for me. Just some great CC gang interaction!

[The Reverend Bizarre]

After having a nice sleep, and talking to my dad about this episode I've come to the personal conclusion that this episode just wasn't good at all. For me it ranks down there with "Stand up and Holler" as one of the worst episodes. I have a few problems with this episode, that I'll explain.

1. Bingo Zohar was practically a rip off of Elvis Presley. It seemed that in fact Bingo had to be killed, or else history would have been re-written, and the last thing Cold Case needs to do is re-write history.

2. The year of the case didn't help matters much at all. 1953 was the year that Elvis first entered the studio to record a couple of demos. He didn't make it big however until 1955 and I believe that's when rock music started to take off. I told my dad what they should have done was set the case during 1955 or 1956 and have Bingo trying to get into the scene, but not try to start the scene.

My dad also made the suggestion that they could have had the case during 1949 or 1950 and made it about Bingo trying to bring in African music to his town.

3. So Bingo's supposed to be this up and coming star, and yet we only see him perform once? Even in "The Red and Blue" we saw them performing more than once.

4. While this episode had a general theme of change, progression, and the fear that goes along with it there were too many side elements that distracted from it. They should have just stuck with one.

5. We finally learn the song that Bingo was writing down and going to record. They could have easily wrote an original song like they did with 300 Flowers and Scarlet Rose. Perhaps they could have called it One Dance and made it into a rockabilly song. But, alas they had to use a song that I felt had absolutely nothing to do with the theme, and it wasn't even a rock song.

Yes it was covered by Elvis, but not until much later.

I just...ugh, bad episode.

[boxman]

--I thought it was clever how the "creepy old man" said to Scotty that he knew what he saw as a kid and wanted to make things right. It paralleled Scotty's past and how he saw his brother Mike being abused; then how many years later, Scotty tried to 'make things right' by urging Mike to speak with the DAs about the past. IIRC, one of the things Scotty says to Mike before they fought was that 'he knows what he saw'.

--The corner of 20th and South Streets is technically not (I believe) in Point Breeze, but a few blocks north of it. Still, the area is more characteristically like the working-class neighborhoods to the south, rather than the ritzy Rittenhouse Square neighborhood to to the north. South Street has a bridge that connects it to UPenn and I-76 to the west, and towards the east end of South Street is a long stretch of bars, stores, and clubs. Like mentioned in the episode, that area has been in decay for a long time. But with the resurgence of real estate in the past years, a number of developers have been razing old rowhomes and building modern ones with amenities such as built-in garages in that area. Consequently, the area around 20th and South Streets has also seen a resurgence in new retail stores and a few restaurants opening. One of my friends works the door at a restaurant/club near 16th and South.

--Again, even more Water used in scenes with Scotty. Will, Stillman, and Scotty walk in rainy Olde City carrying umbrellas. Even more ominous, a sedan appears in the scene. (Automobiles and anything automotive, such as car repairmen, are usually associated with criminality in this show.)

--The older JP Valentine was filmed standing behind vertical blinds during his interview with Lilly and Vera. Filming a person this way (behind vertical blinds or handrail posts, for example), has been a way the show subtly foreshadowed someone's guilt.

--I mentioned this last year in "Static": American Bandstand was a long-running show that featured new musical artists and the latest dance routines. It originated from a studio in West Philadelphia. In 1953, "AB" was a new show, but it turned out that Mr Valentine would be wrong about the show ending anytime soon. American Bandstand aired from 1952 to 1989

--Negative symbols surround Aces Brown. He owns a bar (associated with Alcohol), and finished cars after being fired from the five-and-dime. Turned out that these were curve balls, though, which made the episode interesting for me to watch.

--Oddly, Lilly is drinking Water in the scene where she and Kat interview Mrs Valentine at the kitchen. She's not drinking coffee! Again, we know Water is often used as a symbol of a person's changing fate in this show. So it was a bit comical that the scene ended with Kat telling Lilly,"Sounds like the poor thing was off her rocker". Lilly has a concerned expression on her face, almost as if she's afraid of herself falling off her rocker... ;D

--Like earlier with the 'crazy old guy' and Scotty, and with Kat and Lilly, Miranda has a line that she says to Lilly that's not only relevant to the case, but also relevant to the detective's personal life: "I didn't want to end up like my mother". I thought even more ironically, Miranda said this line while looking at Lilly through a mirror. There's been several times on this show where mirrors or reflections were used as "windows" into a person's soul, or at least used to reveal something a character kept personal and hidden from public. IIRC, "Honor", "The Key", and "Static" had such scenes. And of course, we know Lilly sought a profession because she didn't want to have a life like Ellen's.

I found the episode's overall "gleeful" ambiance somewhat uncharacteristic of the show; but with the episode's many little details, I still found the episode to be enjoyable to watch. I thought the direction was excellent, and when I viewed the opening scene the second time around, I feel it was crafted really well. Nice focus on the make-up girl's butt... not simply because it was pleasant to look at but also because her flirtation with Mr Valentine later turned into a key element of the case. The fact that the singers wore all blue, while the victim wore pink was also an excellent touch. From the previews, I already knew the victim would be Bingo; but seeing the victim in a pink sweater helped to confirm that he was the guy killed.

xuchilbara said:

...While this episode had a general theme of change, progression, and the fear that goes along with it there were too many side elements that distracted from it. They should have just stuck with one...

I thought they did stick with one--Repression. It was shown in many forms:

--Racism, the repression of people because of their ethinicity/skin color.

--Sexism, especially the repression of women from having careers where they can sustain themselves. This was evident not only with Mrs Valentine, but also with Miranda's story of her difficulties in finding work after her hospitalization.

--Sexual Inhibition, which was being "un-repressed" by Bingo's hip gyrations.

--I don't know how to categorize this, but Ace also criticized Bingo's talents by saying that he didn't really get to the core of his emotions like how Black musicians did. So in a sense, Bingo's White heritage and experiences repressed his talents and abilities.

--Finally, Repressed Memory, as in the Crazy Old Man's attempt to forget seeing a guy covered in blood in the alley. Also, as Myril mentions, the 50's was a time when people wanted to 'forget' the horrors of the two wars and return to a simpler time.

I think the last one, Repressed Memory, is quite relevant to the show, because Lilly's current problems seems to be dealing with her memories of the shooting. She also has a problem of remembering her youth accurately too, as in her denial that Ellen ever read to her ("The Good Death").

Another nice touch about the opening scene is how the young men sang the lyrics, "How much is that doggie in the window (arf! arf!)". In such a situation, the dog's freedom is being repressed (as opposed to being able to roam freely in a home or a yard), and the visualization of the singers in the booth also formed a nice image of how those young men were also trapped in an environment. All this at the very beginning of the episode gave very subtle hints that Repression would be a theme for the rest of the episode.

The one thing that disappointed me most about the episode was the identity of the doer. I felt the episode would be much more immensely emotional if Mr Valentine was the doer ...and Mrs Valentine also either knew or had a strong suspicion that he did it. Then all this gleeful stuff would have spun right down the drain at the final moments of the episode, and thus the story would have ended how I like it--With much more dirt in it! ;D JP Valentine as the doer was a little boring. Overall, a "Good" episode for me, mostly because of it's nice details....