Ep. 4.02 The War at Home

[michelle]

I really liked Lilly's outburst in the kitchen: Go ahead and leave then. You wouldn't be the first. A very real view of Lilly I think and a great reaction, very indicative of who she is and how she responds to intimacy.

As for Joseph's response *sigh* Mr Wonderful with the perfect thing to say. Whatever. I can't help it. The guy gets on my nerves. And carrying the cat around? Come on! What's he gonna do next, go put some "product" in his hair and head out for a manicure??

I loved the scene where the little girl saluted. Also, I though the interaction between Lilly and the child was very good and very revealing. Her demeanor was wholly different than when she deals with adults.

I do admit--I agree the Ooops! moment when the woman went over the rail. . . well, it was a bit comical. Other than than, I really liked the ep.

[sukkerspinn]

Well said, Michelle.
I don't have much more to add, really.
I think it was an ok episode, good actors and ok music. But the storyline wasn't really a strong one and I wasn't convinced about the way Dana died. The way they filmed it, it looks like she threw herself over the rail. He hardly touched her at all.

I was surprised how well they did on picking the Lindsay-girls. Because they really did look alike. I was very impressed with the casting people. That's until I found out they used two sisters, of course. Then it wasn't THAT impressive anymore

Must say our Mr. Valens was surprisingly edgy in this one. He had some hillarious comments. Like with the bimbo home-wrecker
I'm curious how they're gonna deal with his bro and the coach.

And as for Lil and Joe...
Lil's cooking skills cracked me up. Kinda how I'd imagined them, and how we've been joking about them in the past. (Like speculating if the only thing she eats comes from her cat's cans.) I liked it. It woulda been perfect if Joe wasn't there. Very fitting description of his comment Michelle gave us there. He's just annoying to me, that's all.
Anywhoo.. I got a little of what I've been craving. Lil with her hair back up, and with some edge.
Me satisfied. For now.

[Trublu]

Ahh... I actually got to watch a Cold Case episode when it was actually on for the first time in about a year! I liked this episode (gave it a "good" in the poll) but I wasn't as captivated or emotionally moved as in the first episode.

The murder case was fairly average, not bad but not overwhelmingly good either. The end scene, the "Ooops!" moment as you guys have been calling it, seemed forced and awkward. I understood what they were trying to get across, that Tommy killed Dana by accident, but the shove wasn't even convincing.

Normally, I would like the underlying theme that they added, the role of women in "men's" jobs, like the National Guard. But, they way that they chose to address it in the episode, with random comments by random people, didn't really mean anything. If it had been something more significant, like a whole group of people, or being discriminated against somewhere, it would have made a larger impact.

Lilly and Joseph. Something I find very cute, but also very confusing. I think they complement each other nicely, but Lilly seemed like an entirely different person when she was with him in "Rampage", and this episode she was trying to cook. Don't get me wrong, Lilly in the kitchen in her PJ's trying to cook was extremely cute (and yes, I did stare) but why is she all of a sudden trying to be domestic? I could analyze it to death, refute my own arguement and say that it's just because she's found a guy she's happy with. That is entirely possible. But, I still get this sinking feeling that there is something about this relationship that isn't quite right.

That said, she definitely has a different relationship with Joseph than she did with Kite. Joseph [seems to] understand Lilly and job more than Kite ever did. Kite was more of a "work stays at work, home is at home" kind of man, while Joseph seems to understand that there is always a connection between the two in some way.

In regard to Scotty... I have a feeling I missed some important stuff last season, but what I saw was extremely mismatched with the episode. The Scotty/Michael thing lasted for about 10 seconds, and other than the tiny scene at the end which shows Scotty apparently about to do something stupid, we didn't hear from it again.

Over all, the episode was pretty good, but I didn't like it as much as the season premier.

[TVFan]

LillyKat - I completely agree with your lighting assessment. CC tends to be a pretty dark show (both in lighting and theme), and I tend to have a hard time screencapping it for PTR (Veronica Mars gives me the same troubles). I think it's a part of the whole film noir style that both shows are going for, and I do like the artistic value that it adds to the visual specticle that is CC. But sometimes, it is nice to see the entire scene clearly. I thought this was especially nice in the Lilly/Joseph breakfast scene. We were easily able to see both actors and their respective reactions to what turned out to be a serious situation (major kudos to Alex Z. for the 2-shot with Lil in the foreground and Joseph in the background. There are never enough 2-shots on for scenes like these).

[The Reverend Bizarre]

but why does Lilly still look like she wants to cry?

This is just speculation on my part, and I have to admit that I've only seen half of season 3, and some episodes of season 2, so my knowledge of Lilly is based only on what I've seen and the spoilers I've read.

I think that deep down, Lilly has a fear of abadonement. Her father left her and her mother at age 6. Her mom had been re-married several times, and in the episode "Beautiful Little Fool" I got the indication that Lilly had been abused.

"She broke her jaw when she fell"

Lilly: I didn't fall.

And finally, Lilly isn't exactly a homemaker. She can't cook, (a trait that a traditional type husband would look for in a wife.) and she's in love with her career. (which makes me wonder if she'd ever have children.)

I believe deep down inside, that Lilly is upset because she can't be the traditional wife to Joseph, and this makes her fear that he'll leave her.

[Disasterfreak]

As usual I'm gonna hafta go against the flow. I voted for EXCELLENT, this time--and surprised myself doing so. Cause I don't usually go for military episodes, I'm not into this war hero kinda thing.

This episode touched me though. Maybe it was the Dana character, she felt so real. They're doing a good job with female characters this season so far--Tina in the premiere and Dana in this one. She began making my chest hurt the minute she got the letter from the War Dept (or whatever they call it) and it didn't stop hurting till the end. Though I probably mourned her more as a person than as a soldier. Felt her story was very believable.

TVFan said:

loved Scotty's line to Paula after she said that he probably thinks that she's some home-wrecker floozy. He said (paraphrasing here) "pretty much." HILARIOUS!

Loved this too!! It was such a GREAT line. We were probably all thinking it but I couldn't believe he SAID it. Go Scotty!

I don't really pay much attention to the personal part anymore. Both the Lilly and Scotty scenes seemed a little forced but not unbearable. I would have preferred the Lilly speech if she'd said it to a friend instead of this guy, but oh well. That's how the show has worked out. And I enjoy seeing bits and pieces of Scotty's family life, no matter how unnatural the moment seemed.

Anyone else think the little girls who played the daughter would both have made a BETTER little Lilly than the one they chose for The Woods? That's how I pictured her as a kid--scrawny, very blonde, kinda peaked-lookin'. But, again--show turned out different.

Liked the music on this one too. Nope--'fraid I don't have much complaining to do this time. Murder itself was weak, but the rest of the case wasn't. And we had two real pieces of sh*t characters that really made my day, though they were secondary--the girl-hating military dude (exaggerated by still creepy) and Mrs. Jody Slut--the home wreckin' floozy.

[LillyKat]

disasterfreak said:

As usual I'm gonna hafta go against the flow. I voted for EXCELLENT, this time--and surprised myself doing so.

I can relate, DF. I was surprised to like this ep as much as I did. So, I also gave it an "Excellent." I am convinced, though, I must have liked it so much because I used to watch JAG; thus, am thinking the military aspect must have spoken to me once again. LOL!

Anyone else think the little girls who played the daughter would both have made a BETTER little Lilly than the one they chose for The Woods? That's how I pictured her as a kid--scrawny, very blonde, kinda peaked-lookin'. But, again--show turned out different.

I agree - she (er, they) seemed a better match physically. Could've also passed as Lilly's own daughter.

[boxman]

The technicals: Very nice to see a lot of outdoor shots in Philly, lots of the transition scenes were new too. Very fresh and generally good continuity between outdoor and "indoor" scenes. Only a "Philly-phile" like me would spot the discontinuities--and they weren't that easy to notice either. Yes, Fishtown is a working-class neighborhood in Philly, and you may remember that this is the same neighborhood that Emma and Lillian were from in the season three episode, "Debut".

Symbolisms: Not very much, and very odd ones too. Of course, Dana dies from her fall into the river. This is rather consistent with Cold Case's use of water as a symbol of personal change (both good and bad). However, the episode also contained other non-consistent use of symbolisms also. The two automobiles that appear in the opening sequence was a bit unusual. Typically, automobiles and anything automotive in the series tends to symbolize crime. So it's a bit unusual that Kat and Lilly emerge from them. In fact, I'm beginning to notice that Kat is seemingly impervious to the "symbols" in this series... Kat is turning out to be one of the most "normal" and "well-adjusted" characters on this show. Yet, she's often surrounded by symbols that indicate crime. Both Lilly and Kat walked between two taxi cabs in "Wilkommen", and this didn't seem to have any significance. Kat also on several occasions wore a black leather jacket--which is a piece of clothing that generally is reserved for criminals in this show. Yet, her character is turning out to be a rather wholesome person. Last week, Kat also appeared in a scene with a horse; and horses have appeared many times in this show to no obvious reason... Other than that, there's also a flashback near the end of the show that had the green-coloured cast to it that is generally reserved for episodes themed around money. The use of the green hue didn't really correspond to the storyline...

Full Disclosure: One of my best friend is in the reserves and is on his second tour in Kuwait right now. The first time he was there was during the first six months of the Iraq war. My brother-in-law is in the National Guard. A good high-school and college friend is a police sergeant in a major American city.

It's hard for me to really enjoy an episode like this one. It has to be over-the-top excellent, or it's just not that good. I don't really have much faith anymore that Hollywood has any ability to produce good stories that deal with the military or anything patriotic in nature. I have a feeling that there's just too many rich liberals in Hollywood that got money too easily and don't understand that for every Susan Sarandon (or Dixie Chick), there's several thousand "Mayflowers" ("8 Years") that are just scraping by, trying to get into the entertainment industry. Generally, Cold Case is very good in trying to balance their stories between their "red state" and "blue state" viewers. I can see that they tried to do so here, but I think their efforts have fallen short.

I think the main problem I have with this episode is that it's trying to tell a story about working-class, blue-collar folks that enter public service; yet it's presented in a manner that doesn't seem to really understand them. It's all about core values: Family, Friends, Community, God, Country, Duty, and so forth. This episode had several chances to examine these core values--and totally blew it. The episode was too satisfied with portraying people as thin caricatures for a quick and satisfying knee-jerk audience reaction, that it missed examining the core values of people that are from working-class neighborhoods such as Fishtown.

Take that blonde floosie, for example. This episode could have been more challenging and gripping if instead of a floosie, she was a rather decent woman who for the most part was *likeable*. This would have heightened the inner conflict that Dana's husband, Geoff, was feeling. On one hand, would be the blonde *and likeable* woman he was having an affair with. On the other, was his wife who was physically wounded, visually hard to look at, hard to understand emotionally--and yet the woman who he made marriage vows "til death do part" and also who's the mother of his daughter. That would make a stronger story, because the decision between the two women would be more difficult for a young man like Geoff to make. As the episode was presented, Dana and the floosie were apples and oranges. If the floosie was more decent like Dana, Geoff would have to examine his core values much more deeply. This, in my view, would make for a much more stronger story.

Another example is the chauvinistic military-dude that sat behind Dana. Yes, I *DO* know men like him. They do exist. But what if he was portrayed as more calm and normal?? What if he simply leaned forward and whispered into Dana's ear, "Lady, I leave in two weeks for Iraq. Your speech has scared my daughter." Much more gripping, since we can take this statement more seriously coming from a normal guy, rather than a bigoted one. (And the case still could have continued the way it did, with Lindsey remembering that someone talked to her mom that day.) Again, they blew it because its so much more easy to provoke emotions with a caricature, rather than stimulate thoughts with more difficult situations involving normal people...

Before I watched this episode, I was watching "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition". (This is an American reality-television show, where people write in to the show and ask them to come to their homes and make some kind of improvement to it.) The story was about a woman who was married to a firefighter. They were a young couple and had several kids. The husband's dream was to be able to have a larger house for their growing family, so when not at work, he was busy doing repairs and expansions to their small home. One day, he fell ill. He had flu-like symtoms and thought all he needed was some rest. A few days later--on Christmas--he died from his illness. It turned out that he had suffered a fatal reaction to *mold* growing in their basement, where he had been working on before he became ill. Very tragic. So when the show decided to give his widow and family a new home, they enlisted the help and services of his fellow firefighters, police officers, and other uniformed people of his town. Before the construction started, the deceased firefighter's commander gave a moving speech. Essentially, he said that this was a time where we put our individual needs aside to come together in an effort that is greater than ourselves. This man's tragedy could have been any of theirs, and yet his dreams for his family was the same that they all had for their own. It was a very moving episode for that show, and it really captured the hearts and minds--and the tragic difficulties and realities--of America's working-class people. Much more so, I'm disappointed to say, than this episode of Cold Case did.

[michelle]

Lilly in the kitchen in her PJ's trying to cook was extremely cute (and yes, I did stare)

Heck yeah!!!

[longislanditalian2]

@ The Revenend Bizarre- I agree about what you had mentioned about Lilly feeling like she can't be a tradional wife but I don't think Joseph cares about that. I think he loves her for who she truly is. Lilly would make a great mother but she isn't at that stage. Maybe she was close to her dad who was the only one who loved her, and when he left Lilly felt like abondoned and never got over that feeling.

[jazzyb]

What exactly was that mess in the pan she was trying to cook? At first glance I thought it was pancakes but how can you mess up pancakes? Next time she should try the microwave.
I'm getting sick of seeing Joseph with those *%%&& cats! He needs to get a job!!

[longislanditalian2]

Can someone post the picture of what Lilly was cooking??

I think Joseph had a job but is living with Lilly and she was cooking in her own kitchen.

[frenchfan]

longislanditalian2 said:

Can someone post the picture of what Lilly was cooking??

[longislanditalian2]

thanks FrenchFan, does anyone have a picture of where Lilly and Scotty and sitting face to face?

[ruda]

it was.... YAY!
I love this ep too
music - awesome!
scotty's brother - cute ;D
lil's breakfast - buahahahaha! I was laughing and laughing! PERFECT!
joseph - he's nice
and finally case - not bad... not bad

[michelle]

I'm thinking the only reason Lilly didn't throw that spatula at Joseph was cause he was holding Olivia. Maybe that's why he's always got a cat. I sense a big blowup coming in a future episode. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking.

[sukkerspinn]

michelle said:

I'm thinking the only reason Lilly didn't throw that spatula at Joseph was cause he was holding Olivia. Maybe that's why he's always got a cat. I sense a big blowup coming in a future episode. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking.

ROFL!

I hope you're right, Michelle...

[longislanditalian2]

michelle said:

I I sense a big blowup coming in a future episode.

As Much as I love them together, I also sense that. You can't have realtionship without problems or fights.

[Disasterfreak]

michelle said:

I'm thinking the only reason Lilly didn't throw that spatula at Joseph was cause he was holding Olivia. Maybe that's why he's always got a cat. I sense a big blowup coming in a future episode. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking.

Not a bad idea! Probably it IS just wistful thinking... and of course I don't intend for Cold Case to turn into one big lovers´tiff... but it´s kind of a comforting thought that Lilly could be as fed up of his icky sweet "understanding counselor" demeanor as we are.

[longislanditalian2]

Oh another connection,the Little girl who played Lindsey (2006) her name is Lily also...