Episode 3.9: A Perfect Day

[Naj]

verafan said:

I just watched this episode last night...very powerful. Cindy's comment about the door being nailed shut, with each nail a time that she didn't leave, was haunting.

As a domestic abuse survivor, I felt that the episode was spot-on about the attittudes in the sixties. I am approximately the same age as Maura/Vivian.

Of course, I loved Vera and Jeffries' omission of Art's revelation that justice was dealt out to the father.

I've not been a domestic abuse person but I thought they got it right too. The woman who played Cindy looks like a friend of mine (she's not in an abusive marriage) she just looks like the actor.

Also check out our Articles area, this is the HIGHEST viewed Cold Case episode of the series. Some great numbers just came in today. Also check TVFan's threads in General Forum about the series ratings.


~Naj

[irishkale]

I just checked the eps and you're right! You do have a good eye!

sonny said:

She was wearing it in Saving Patrick Bubley and in Honour; I have a keen eye for that pink lining!!

[eurache]

All in all, it was a very sad and tragic story. Having an abusive partner can affect not only you but your children. Children are too young to understand why mommy or daddy behave like this. A child will sometimes block out those bad memories and only look at the good times. Again, I have some knowledge or experience like that as a child. My father was an alcoholic and up to the day he died, he never would admit he had a problem. I had good memories and bad memories. I'm so glad I had an older sister and brother..we each helped and held on to each other. We talk about some of the incidents that happened and some things I forgot b/c I was very young. When we talk about our parents, espec. Dad, we laugh at some of the memories and some we didn't. We felt sad for our mom and what she went thru with my father, but as I got older, I was extremely mad at my father... but since he had died, I had forgived him. He had a problem he wouldn't admit, even tho we tried to get help. Back then when there were fights in your home, the neighbors would turn their cheek. I don't remember a cop ever visited our home b/c it was considered a family thing and it was none of their business.

So this story, tho presented in another way b/c a child was killed and the father was abusive by hitting them. In my case, my father had a drinking problem, the only time we got hit or punished, if mom said we did something wrong. Anyhew, it brought back some memories to me in watching this show. Different period and times of things.

[lukecordoba]

I loved this episode. I especially liked that, for a change, the killer wasn't actually "caught," since he was already dead. This is more realistic than some other episodes where the killer is still alive even when the murder happened 30 years ago or more. They miss the opportunity for a "payoff shot" of somebody being led away in handcuffs, but it adds a lot of credibility to the story. Is this the first episode that ended that way?

Also, did anybody else happen to recognize Maree Cheatham as Marie Horton from "Days of Our Lives?" (This was back in the late 60s early 70s when she was much younger)

[Disasterfreak]

This episode made me cry. And that's actually saying a lot. I was prepared for it to be touching, and even so I was in tears in the end. A mix of heartwrenching themes and music I really liked as a kid.

As for the case... wow. I just really loved this episode. There isn't much to be said that hasn't been said already. I watched it last night, and because my internet connection was down, almost burst from wanting to comment it so bad and not having anyone to talk about it with! Ahh the pitifulness of being the lone female CC freak in the area. :smile80:

The part of the father throwing the kids off the bridge seemed a little far gone to me too... but afterwards, thinking about it, in his psyche it DOES make sense. Naj, I don't think this guy had BPD or any sort of mood disorder. I think (but I'm not sure) he's more along the lines of a "malignant narcissist"--a personality disorder in which the person cares so much about how he will be seen, the perfect husband, perfect family, perfect house, the "hero"--he reacts in horrible and violent ways when his self-image is wounded. So when he found out about his wife's "infidelity", he just cracked.

I don't know about the STates, but around here domestic violence and child abuse is a serious public health problem. Till not too long ago, we were like the States in the 60's... everyone looked the other way. I'm glad to say things have changed for the better over these past 15 years.

Two more things:
1. I LOVED the flirting scene with Jeffries. That woman was a laugh and Jeffries' smile was so sweet! I'd love to see more of that. He really is a cutie.
2. I loved the idea of the battered wives' underground railroad. I'm happy to say I'm NOT a domestic violence survivor, but many of my closest relatives are, and it's a horrible thing to watch. These wives' personalities are destroyed in such a way, it takes years of abuse and a LOT of determination to come to their senses and stand up for themselves. Too bad it usually happens after they've hit rockbottom...

[Ju]

Just finished watching this ep and I'm still crying... That scene when the mom drops the little girl at the church was really touching. I've nothing new to say, I just loved it! Veena Sud ROCKS!

[theotherkenny]

They miss the opportunity for a "payoff shot" of somebody being led away in handcuffs, but it adds a lot of credibility to the story. Is this the first episode that ended that way?

There has been a few episodes in which no one was arrested....

"Yo, Adrian"
"Best Friends"

Those are right on the top of my head, might had been more.

[ewka]

OH_MY_GOSH... ohmygosh_ohmygooosh... I have just seen The Perfect Day and I am holding my fingers over the keyboard wondering what to write and dunno... That was the best episode of S3 I have seen up to now! Maybe Saving Patrick Bubley was as interesting to me as this one but the reason for SPB is Lilly's backstory and here we don't have any personal threads. Majne... the moment when father dropped his daughter made me almost cry (well... I never cry watching films) How could he?! And when I understood that she came back only because of that damn cat I almost yelled, too. Yeeey, I wanted them to escape so much And one more thing - I don't like children. They just are not bueauful, sweet, etc. for me. THESE girls were brilliant!

Ohhh, I really need to calm down :]

[Nikki B.]

I missed the last part of the episode because a certain person called me in the middle and wanted to talk for 45 minutes. Does anyone know if they're going to be re-airing this episode anytime soon?

[Naj]

oxymoronicnikki said:

I missed the last part of the episode because a certain person called me in the middle and wanted to talk for 45 minutes. Does anyone know if they're going to be re-airing this episode anytime soon?

Hi NikkiB,

They've already begun to reair season 3 so I expect they will. I don't see it listed for January anywhere yet, though but if we find out we will post at the top of the forum.


~Naj

[eurache]

If you wish to review what was discussed on our Chat Room, please go to the link below:

"A Perfect Day" Chat Run Down

[toddsmitts]

ann415 said:

And boy the woman who played the mother seems to be popping up in just about everything I watch this past year or so. (And yet, I don't remember her name.)

Her name is Meredith Monroe and is probably best known as Andie McPhee from "Dawson's Creek", for those of us who admit we watched it.

She showed up last season as a stalker lady on an episode of "CSI Miami" and has apparently played Thomas Gibson's wife on "Criminal Minds" (Seems like the CBS procedurals have been paying her bills of late, huh?)

As for the other familiar faces, the episode was directed by Roxann Dawson, who Star Trek fans will recognize from Voyager (several Star Trek actors have built a second career of directing TV episodes and in a few cases, even films)

-Jack Betts (older Dr. Greggs) had a guest spot on "Friends" and played one of the ill-fated Oscorp board members in the first "Spider-Man" movie.

-After seeing this episode, I recognized Ned Schmidke (the older Art) had a bit part in an early scene in "The Wedding Crashers". Vince and Owen's characters are nearly outed as crashers when they have a conversation with him during a wedding.

-Chris Stewart (young Art). Okay, I haven't actually seen him in anything else. In fact between his brief resume on IMDB and his pitifully low billing among the guest cast relative to the size of his role, I'd say he may be a relative newcomer and this was likely his first TV role (which he aced, in my opinion). I predict we'll see great things from him someday. Anyone else agree?

[TVFan]

Thanks for this great info toddsmitts! I can't remember Chris Stewart's performance, but I'll be sure to pay attention the next time I see this ep.

[toddsmitts]

tvfan said:

Thanks for this great info toddsmitts! I can't remember Chris Stewart's performance, but I'll be sure to pay attention the next time I see this ep.

Indeed. Granted the episode wasn't centered around him and he didn't have as many scenes as as I'd like, but playing the "nice guy" and still being an interesting character is not as easy as it sounds.

Nevertheless he gave us a character who , while lacking in experience (I think he was supposed to be a bit younger than Cindy, am I right or wrong?) made up for it with warmth, humor, and courage.

Speaking of Art, did it ever occur to anyone why Cindy never tried to contact him in all that time? I suppose it's possible she feared it might somehow get back to Roger and he'd find her or Maura. It's also possible she felt she deserved to be alone out of guilt for letting Vivian die or something like that.

What do you think?

[TVFan]

I think it was a mixture of fear and guilt. This woman was so terrified of what her husband would do to her that there's no way she wanted to risk him finding her ever. I also think that she had a tremendous amount of guilt over what happened to Vivian, and more than likely wanted to punish herself.

[samanda]

For those of you who are interested, this episode will be re-airing on Sunday 4/23/06.

[mikencelia]

What a powerful episode. I have a hard time understanding how a woman stays in this situation. I can understand it better from a 1965 point of view, but today there are so many options. Some of the lines in this episode were classic. One of my faves so far, but could have used more Lilly.

[toddsmitts]

Something just occured to me.

Art said he visited the shelter to check up on Cindy, figuring it would just be one time but fell for her and soon found himself going everyday.

Now Nancy, the woman who ran the shelter, was apparently oblivous to Cindy and Art's budding romance. She certainly didn't know what Tiffany meant when she told Cindy she had another choice.

Now admittedly, Nancy probably had other concerns, but does anyone else find it odd that Art would show up everyday, most likely spend his time there with Cindy and her girls, even take them all (along with Tiffany) to the beach one day, and Nancy didn't notice?

[jt]

Im sorry for bumping this thread up but does anyone know when and how the bad cop (the murderer) died? Thanks in advance.

[riche]

jt said:

Im sorry for bumping this thread up but does anyone know when and how the bad cop (the murderer) died? Thanks in advance.

According a certain Detective Valens, about 20 minutes into the episode, he was killed in the line of duty in 1965. He was considered a hero, "decorated twice for valour", that's why his photo was up in the bar. And why, once the truth came out, it was taken down at the end.