Ep 6.18 Mind Games

[irishkale]

NEWLY DISCOVERED NOTES OF A CURRENTLY HOMELESS AND DELUSIONAL PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIC LEAD THE TEAM TO INVESTIGATE IF HE KILLED HIS PSYCHIATRIST IN 2004, ON "COLD CASE," SUNDAY, MARCH 22

Songs Recorded by the Legendary John Lennon Are Featured Exclusively throughout the Episode

Billy Lush ("The Black Donnellys") and Jacqueline Obradors ("NYPD Blue") Guest Star as the Paranoid Schizoprenic and His Slain Psychiatrist

"Mind Games" - The team tries to determine if a homeless and severely delusional paranoid schizophrenic killed his former psychiatrist by arson in 2004 - before dropping out of college and fully losing his grip of reality, on COLD CASE, Sunday, March 22 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

John Lennon hits will be the only songs featured throughout the episode.

SERIES REGULARS:

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

RECURRING CAST :

A.D.A. Curtis Bell Jonathan LaPaglia

GUEST CAST:

Dr. Julie Ramierez (2004): Jacqueline Obradors
Pete Scanell (2003-04, 2009): Billy Lush
Tom Exley: Ben Hogestyn
Dr. Jack Galton (2004, 2009): Erich Anderson
Vanessa Quarterman (2004, 2009): Victoria Pratt
Juan Salazar (2004, 2009): Joseph Raymond Lucero
Steve Wiegen: Jeremy Glazer
Rich Kiesel: Richard Brake
Ed Rosenthal: Seth Isler
Driver (2004): Jason E. Kelley

WRITTEN BY: Gavin Harris, one of the series' producers

DIRECTED BY: Donald Thorin Jr.

[Electrophile]

Definitely one of the season's bests. I felt they tackled the subject of mental illness very well. Normally when TV tries to handle those who are mentally ill, it can either come off too preachy or too syrupy. I thought you really understood what it was like for Pete and people like him.

I loved the interplay between Pete's delusions and real life; Lilly looked hot in thigh-high boots and heavy eyeliner! I thought Billy Lush really toed that line well between being convincing and looking cartoonish. Kudoes to CC for handling another delicate issue with the right amount of class.

Dr. Galton just made me physically ill. Exploiting someone with a mental illness to act out your petty vendetta against someone is just the lowest of the low. It's not a big surprise that he was ill himself, no one sane and in complete control of their faculties does that.


My only problem with this episode was the way Vera was written. I was completely taken aback at his attitude toward the mentally ill here, their treatments and disorders. I thought it was absolutely appalling. I understand that he usually bring the subtle comic undertones to some scenes, but there was absolutely no room for it in this episode. I thought again, Lilly showed a ton of compassion and understanding -- she has an inate ability to get inside people and work them and get what she needs from them without hurting them or being rude or insensitive....she, much like Dr. Ramierez, truly cares about the people she works with.


Good job, CC.

[The Reverend Bizarre]

Quick question. Was it Dr. Galton who said, "I'd much rather be trapped with a paranoid schizophrenic than someone with bi-polar disorder, or borderline personality disorder." ?

[Electrophile]

Mar 22, 2009 22:23:56 GMT -5 The Reverend Bizarre said:

Quick question. Was it Dr. Galton who said, "I'd much rather be trapped with a paranoid schizophrenic than someone with bi-polar disorder, or borderline personality disorder." ?

Yes. He said that when Vera and Scotty went to Tranquility to talk to him about Pete.

[boxman]

I really liked this episode. I couldn't help but to keep thinking about "A Beautiful Mind" because quite frankly, everything I know about schizophrenia I learned from watching the movie and reading the book. I thought Lennon's music was used well here, and I really like how it didn't overpower the story. The single-artist theme helped to underscore Pete's disorder and obsession with certain fears, and I liked how it helped reveal a clue about his past. I liked the various side stories in the episode too; I was surprised to see Lilly in court and how her interrogation covered many things in her past.

[cellogal]

Meh. The flashbacks were cool, and I enjoyed the visual peeks into Pete's head, especially at the beginning when the chaos faded into what just happens to be my favorite Lennon song. That was really well-done. Somebody's done their research, it seems.

Unfortunately, that research doesn't seem to extend to some of the characters. I totally agree with Electrophile on Vera's attitude toward the mentally ill, especially since the person he was with on that interview was Scotty, who has, shall we say, some experience with a schizophrenic. Not that the show really let us see that; yes, Scotty mentioned he'd seen it, and I'm glad they gave him that, but the thing that irked me was how little he seemed to know about the disease and its treatments. I'm not talking about the end, where he was obviously playing dumb; that was fine. But him not knowing things like "cheeking," and other mental-illness lingo...that's just not believable. No way does he deal with Elisa for all the years of her affliction and not know more than he seems to. No, he's no rocket scientist, but come on.

Also, is anyone else tired of Lilly and her daddy issues? It seems ADA Bell has become just another avenue for us to get smacked upside the head with them. I'm sure there was dialogue in their scenes, but it was really hard to hear over the falling anvils.

Exploration of Pete was good, well-done, interesting, and all the rest, but I felt like we hardly got to know the victim at all. Maybe that was the point. Anyway, the good was really good, the bad was really bad, so average it out...meh.

[Electrophile]

Mar 22, 2009 23:08:17 GMT -5 cellogal said:

Also, is anyone else tired of Lilly and her daddy issues? It seems ADA Bell has become just another avenue for us to get smacked upside the head with them. I'm sure there was dialogue in their scenes, but it was really hard to hear over the falling anvils.

Exploration of Pete was good, well-done, interesting, and all the rest, but I felt like we hardly got to know the victim at all. Maybe that was the point. Anyway, the good was really good, the bad was really bad, so average it out...meh.

A couple points on your couple of points:

I agree about the daddy issues. I think that it's becoming cloying. In the last episode, I thought the interplay was great. This time around, it's almost like they're bashing us over the head with it. We get it, her dad walked out on her and she's only now getting to know who he is and what he's about. That doesn't mean everyone she comes into contact with has to either have daddy issues or be a daddy with issues. I did think the stickers on Bell's briefcase was cute.

As to the second point, I think the fact we don't know much about Pete was done for a reason. One, paranoid schizophrenia is a very difficult illness to represent in any medium, especially visual. Someone with a psychosis (as opposed to a neurosis) is detached from reality, almost like they're hovering between where they need to be and where they think they are. Probing too deeply or trying to make too much of a backstory would both drown out what the writers were trying to put through and give Pete an easy out for what was wrong with him. Too many times on Cold Case, what happens to someone is cut-and-dry. I liked the fact that we don't know what specifically caused him to get ill. We know the trigger was his brother dying in a house fire....but from there, what happened next? The mystery keeps Pete an engaging character rather than a 2D blob.


My $0.02.

[cellogal]

Stickers were awesome, yes.

I meant to say that I didn't think we got to know Julie Ramierez, the actual murder victim, very well. The episode centered mostly around Pete, which was pretty cool, but I felt like Julie was sort of an "also-ran."

[Electrophile]

See, I count both Pete and Julie as victims here. Julie was the murder victim, but Pete was victimized just as much, both by his illness and a doctor whose job it is to help people like him. I mean that was just cold. More than cold.


I do agree that we didn't get to know much about Julie, but Pete was supposed to be the focus of the show, since his mind was key to finding out how she died. At least, that's how I interpreted it.

[The Reverend Bizarre]

I didn't notice any daddy issues during this episode, or maybe they were so minute that I didn't notice them.

I loved the episode, but the biggest problem I had with it was when they'd show Lilly in that get up, and I'd be snickering behind my hand, and thinking "I shouldn't laugh, I shouldn't laugh, but that costume! xD"


When Dr. Galton mentioned that about those with BPD I wondered if it was because people with BPD can be more violent than someone with paranoid schizophrenia. But then we find out what type of person he was, and now I wonder if he said that for an entirely different reason.

[Electrophile]

He didn't have Borderline Personality Disorder, he had Narcissistic Personality Disorder, which is different. With the latter, there is a need to defend ego delusion. Which was exactly Dr. Galton's problem.

And I think the daddy issues that cellogal and myself were talking about was the stuff with Bell and his ex-wife....dealing with their daughter.

[The Reverend Bizarre]

I never said that he did. This is what I wrote.

"When Dr. Galton mentioned that about those with BPD"

[Electrophile]

I know what you wrote. It sounded to me like you were saying that so that at the end when who he really was suddenly became clear, you could look back on that say he basically outed himself.

[The Reverend Bizarre]

Well, that's not what I was saying at all.

[coldfan74]

daddy issues..bfd...schizo..or narcissism. either way i thought this was a snoozer. much in the same way like andy in c minor...i think when a episode tries to naively portray a condition or a culture in such a condensed manner to just fill a plot, a lot of things get lost and the story gets rushed. i.e. suddenly it is discovered that dr galton has a mental condition that he's a pompous ass so he kills her out of rage in the heat of moment to cover his ass?! ala "the dealer"
i dont think so

[Electrophile]

Actually, I disagree. I think the show did a passable job of explaining how Dr. Galton's behavior fit a specific subset through mentioning about how nurses were tired of him chasing them, how he had patients wash his car and former patients wait on him hand and foot...even mentioning that Julie had filed a complaint about that behavior the AMA (which is what caused him to kill her).

It is only an hour show and there's only so much they can cram in without going commercial-free. That said, I think if you watch the episode again, things become much clearer.


I don't see how any episode dealing with such a discriminated against and misunderstood group of society can be a "snoozer", but to each their own.

[coldfan74]

Mar 22, 2009 23:58:46 GMT -5 Electrophile said:

Actually, I disagree. I think the show did a passable job of explaining how Dr. Galton's behavior fit a specific subset through mentioning about how nurses were tired of him chasing them, how he had patients wash his car and former patients wait on him hand and foot...even mentioning that Julie had filed a complaint about that behavior the AMA (which is what caused him to kill her).

It is only an hour show and there's only so much they can cram in without going commercial-free. That said, I think if you watch the episode again, things become much clearer.


I don't see how any episode dealing with such a discriminated against and misunderstood group of society can be a "snoozer", but to each their own.

Hate to break this to you but a lot of doctors MD or not..do this.
I used worked as a surgical tech, medical assistant, etc in a lot of clinics and all of them were the same. they had egoes and had assistants bring them their particular yogurt or grab clothes from the cleaners. a lot of females who worked as assistants hoped to nab a doctor if they werent married..hell i knew 2 women who didnt care if they were. if youre a patient..you would never see these things going on. but i wouldnt call every surgeon or practitioner i worked with "mentally ill" just bloated meat heads. and what dr needs to "steal" meds from patients??!
even nurse practitioners can fill prescriptions as well as psychologists.

its complete b**sh*t. and yes even tho its an hour show..im very flexible with epidodes shortcomings..in my postings here i always looked at the positives first and brought up things i didnt like which werent much. i.e. b*tching about scotty's lovers (for the umpteenth time or rush's hair. but this one just lost it completely and i stand by it.

the only positive in this ep was that dr ramirez was hot

[eduardodelroice]

Mar 22, 2009 23:55:23 GMT -5 coldfan74 said:

either way i thought this was a snoozer. much in the same way like andy in c minor...

Andy in C Minor was way better than this. IMO

However, I voted for OK. Was almost good but I don't know. It did not have the feeling.

Notes:
1. Julie was almost not shown. This is one of the few episodes where the victim is not important: On One small step, We knew more about Seth but Danny was also important. In this case, we almost did not know anything about Julie

2. ADA Bell
I hope he will be in more episodes

3. Lilly dressed as a Martian Funny!

Questions
1. I did not get very well what happened with Lilly in court. That man was trying to defend that stupid killer boy... and saying Lilly was not a good cop.... WTH? Later he accepted a deal with ADA Bell/ What happened exactly?

2. The blonde girl said we were XXXX Sisters? what's that?

3. Geneva was hired by the killer. Lilly said the doctor hire Geneva to expect his calls and treat her like a cake? what does that mean?

4. The frauds the blonde girl did
insurance fraud/check fraud and the chocolate thing? WTH!
Maybe I did not understand very well.

Overall, OK Episode.

[Electrophile]

Mar 23, 2009 0:07:22 GMT -5 coldfan74 said:

Mar 22, 2009 23:58:46 GMT -5 Electrophile said:

Actually, I disagree. I think the show did a passable job of explaining how Dr. Galton's behavior fit a specific subset through mentioning about how nurses were tired of him chasing them, how he had patients wash his car and former patients wait on him hand and foot...even mentioning that Julie had filed a complaint about that behavior the AMA (which is what caused him to kill her).

It is only an hour show and there's only so much they can cram in without going commercial-free. That said, I think if you watch the episode again, things become much clearer.


I don't see how any episode dealing with such a discriminated against and misunderstood group of society can be a "snoozer", but to each their own.

and what dr needs to "steal" meds from patients??!
even nurse practitioners can fill prescriptions as well as psychologists.

its complete b**sh*t. and yes even tho its an hour show..im very flexible with epidodes shortcomings..in my postings here i always looked at the positives first and brought up things i didnt like which werent much. i.e. b*tching about scotty's lovers (for the umpteenth time or rush's hair. but this one just lost it completely and i stand by it.

the only positive in this ep was that dr ramirez was hot

Hate to break this to you, but maybe you ought to do some research on that which you speak about. Doctors steal meds from people for the same reasons anyone else would steal drugs from people; to either feed a habit or medicate themselves. Which in this case, was the latter not the former. Scotty had it right, talking about how Haloperidol treats NPD....which explained why he was taking those meds from Pete.

Doctors and nurses have been busted since God only knows when for stealing meds either from patients or from the hospital dispensary. It happens. Portraying it in this episode was not a stretch of the imagination, as much as you would like it to be so.


Also, please watch your language. There's no need for that here. And if the only thing you got out of this episode was the actress who played Dr. Ramierez grinds your gears, then you weren't paying attention to anything but....and that's kind of sad.

[Electrophile]

Mar 23, 2009 0:49:29 GMT -5 @eduardodelroice said:

Mar 22, 2009 23:55:23 GMT -5 coldfan74 said:

either way i thought this was a snoozer. much in the same way like andy in c minor...

Andy in C Minor was way better than this. IMO

However, I voted for OK. Was almost good but I don't know. It did not have the feeling.

Notes:
1. Julie was almost not shown. This is one of the few episodes where the victim is not important: On One small step, We knew more about Seth but Danny was also important. In this case, we almost did not know anything about Julie

2. ADA Bell
I hope he will be in more episodes

3. Lilly dressed as a Martian Funny!

Questions
1. I did not get very well what happened with Lilly in court. That man was trying to defend that stupid killer boy... and saying Lilly was not a good cop.... WTH? Later he accepted a deal with ADA Bell/ What happened exactly?

2. The blonde girl said we were XXXX Sisters? what's that?

3. Geneva was hired by the killer. Lilly said the doctor hire Geneva to expect his calls and treat her like a cake? what does that mean?

4. The frauds the blonde girl did
insurance fraud/check fraud and the chocolate thing? WTH!
Maybe I did not understand very well.

Overall, OK Episode.

Lilly wasn't dressed as a martian.


1. Lilly was in court because she shot Gabriel. Gabriel's attorney was doing his job, ie. cross-examining her on that and bringing up prior times she discharged her weapon. He was doing what all lawyers do; trying to get his client off the hook.

2. She said "Kappa sisters". I don't know what specific sorority she was talking about, but I would guess Kappa Kappa Gamma, as girls who pledge that are called "Kappas".

3. Geneva was a former patient that Dr. Galton hired to be his personal slave, basically. Lilly brought it up to show how his illness manifested itself in the way he treated and viewed other people.

4. I have no clue what you're asking here. They found out that Lauren wasn't really "Lauren" and was really named Rachel and a patient at tranquility.