Ep. 6.11 Wings

[TVFan]

RUSH AND THE TEAM INVESTIGATE THE 1960 CASE OF A MURDERED STEWARDESS WHEN HER BONES ARE FOUND IN AN OLD HOTEL BEING CONVERTED INTO CONDOMINIUMS, ON "COLD CASE," SUNDAY, DEC. 21

Songs Recorded by the Legendary Frank Sinatra Are Featured Exclusively throughout the Episode

Golden Globe Award Nominee Adrienne Barbeau ("Maude"), Emmy Award Winner Mariette Hartley ("The Incredible Hulk") And Golden Globe Award Nominee Lee Majors ("The Six Million Dollar Man") Guest Star as Former Airline Colleagues of the Victim

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
Frankie Rafferty: Tania Raymonde
Paul Cooper: Raymond J. Barry
Allison "Ally" Thurston: Amanda Schull
Helen McCormick '60: Megan Boone
Helen McCormick '08: Adrienne Barbeau
Girl '60: Kelsey Lewis
Lew Thurston '08: John O'Leary
Gloria Flagstone '60: Lindy Booth
Gloria Flagstone '08: Mariette Hartley
Bert Walters '60: Zach Lewis
Bert Walters '08: Art LaFleur
Harvey Dwight '60: Steven Adam Ellison
Harvey Dwight '08: Craig Braun
Dean London '60: David Giuntoli
Dean London '08: Lee Majors
Capt. Rowland Hughes '60: Robb Derringer
Rowland Hughes '08: Brett Halsey
Chess Opponent: Leon Simmons, Jr.

WRITTEN BY: Jennifer Johnson

DIRECTED BY: David Von Ancken

[Naj]

I've unlocked this thread in preparation for tonight's episode.

Please do not vote or discuss any spoilers about the episode until it airs. In the meantime you may discuss the episode in the Spoilers forum.

Thanks,

Naj

[longislanditalian2]

I liked it, it was finally good to meet Lilly's Dad. Although I can tell when he had asked about how her mother was; she lied but you can tell that she's clearly not over her death. For the most part; Cooper seems to be a lot different that Ellen Rush was. He did see all the hurt that was still embedded inside of Lilly.

The case was a lot different, kept me guessing until the end. I did like Kat's little thing of personally handing Scotty the coffee. As far as him with Frankie is concerned, I just don't see anything with the two; but he did look pretty hot in that leather jacket of his.

Anyone notice that they actually showed the entire credits without cutting into something; like the did on the TNT and ABC reruns?

[Electrophile]

I loved this episode, and not just because Frank Sinatra's music was featured throughout. I think it shed a lot of light on a situation that most people today don't know much about, and that's the working conditions women had to deal with 40 or 50 years ago. We had to deal with lecherous bosses, weight limits, demeaning work conditions and supervisors that didn't care less because we were just "little women" and therefore, had no opinions worth their weight in salt.

Stewardesses (the longest word that can be typed with just the left hand, BTW) had the worst of the lot I feel, with weight limits, age ceilings and being barred from having families. Not to mention, they had to deal with pilots and passengers groping them constantly. No woman should have to put up with that and Ally saw the writing on the wall. She knew that "stews" deserved better than that and was fighting to change things, she even got Cpt. Hughes fired for his behavior towards them. Her friend Helen had to suffer a botched abortion because she couldn't be pregnant and keep her job. The term "feminist" might not have existed in 1960, but she was clearly ahead of her time. Sure the job was glamourous, with people asking to take your picture and flying all over the world, but behind that glamour was a very difficult life that today would never exist.

Gloria was nearly 32 and her boyfriend was fired. She blamed Ally for what was wrong with her life and killed her for it. I thought the opening scene was very powerful with the blood spreading on the white sheet draped over her body. Bonus points for the ending song. "Someone To Watch Over Me" is probably in my Top 5 Sinatra songs of all time and I was so happy to see it featured as the finale.


Now the things I didn't like. Please, please, please get rid of Frankie. I hate that arc, I just hate it. She serves no real purpose in this show I don't think, and it is just distracting. Second, I thought the whole Lilly meets her father moment could have been better played out. And why did she lie about her mother being alive? What was the problem with telling him she passed away? It's not like they were still together. I'm hoping that any future meetings between Lilly and her father are a little warmer or at least, less stilted. I don't blame the actors necessarily, I blame the writers. You can only do what you can with what you've got.


I wish there was a rating between excellent and one of the season's best, but for the usage of Frank Sinatra and the topic it presented, it gets bumped up to one of the season's best.

[cellogal]

I'm not feeling very wordy today.

Case? Kinda infuriating, mostly because of how the stewardesses were treated. I had no idea.

Music? Wonderful. Loved it all.

Lil/Dad? Not as bad as I thought it'd be, but definitely not as good as it could have been. The entire scene was saved only by the skills of the actors involved. The dialogue...could have been better. I'll leave it at that.

Scotty/Kat? Hilarious as always.

Vera/Jeffries Vacation Snark? Hilarious, too.

Frankie? Go away.

Black leather jacket? Hot.

[longislanditalian2]

Again there's no mention of Christina, from either one of them. Now this puzzles me about how Cooper only had asked about her mother not the sister. The ending I really had wanted to see more interaction between Lilly and him, but I have a feeling that she's so wounded by all of this but at the beginning she did look as if she had wanted to cry. How Cooper did write her letter and she saved them; meant something to her deep down.

He seems a lot more mentally stable then Ellen Rush was and I'm interested to see where this goes. It was pretty funny about Scotty not really knowing where Coratia was; adding in the " Star trek" reference.

It was nice to hear the music of Frank Sinatra, but I did wish that they had played" Summer Wind", it would have been a good choice of song due one of the scenes.

[Electrophile]

Can we get the poll opened up please?

[stonecold44]

I liked this episode, mostly because I'm a huge Frank Sinatra fan. I also thought Summer Wind could have been used.
The music was great, the storyline was OK, not totally spellbinding.

The scene between Lily and her father was a nice touch, considering it didn't happen until after Ellen died.

I might be the only person here that likes Frankie, but I like women like her. Aggressive and direct.
I've blown my cover. You can tell I like Cold Case in large part because of the music.

[Electrophile]

While Summer Wind would have fit well, I think they chose songs (aside from Come Fly With Me and I've Got The World On A String) that most people don't know. They didn't go for the obvious numbers, which is good. Sinatra has such an expansive catalog of songs that there's no reason to pick just the big flashy songs.


Until this episode, I hadn't heard Little Girl Blue in quite a while.

[Collider]

I honestly don't know where to rate this...

Really, really loved the case. Kinda felt it maybe could've been fleshed out a little, but I'm not sure how exactly, so on the whole I'm happy with it. I wouldn't go so far as to say Ally was a particularly memorable victim, but I'll definitely say the story was one that'll stick with me. A powerful reminder of the stark reality underlying what was to all appearances the most glamorous career a woman could hope for in those days. And, once again, I loved the stylised colouring for the flashbacks.

Other things I loved... Scotty's interview with Rowland Hughes was awesome (and is it any surprise to anyone at all that I'm still squeeing over his 'coffee' moment with Kat during that scene?) Between that and their earlier moment RE the mystery phonecall, once again the Scotty/Kat dynamic is a cavalcade of awesome that overrides all other things in the episode for me. Oh, and of course, the Croatia snark between Jeffries and... well, everyone who'd sit still long enough to hear him out. It's just wonderful to see Will get in on the snark for once, the guy is seriously under-appreciated.

Things I hated? As if it's not horribly obvious, Lilly/Dad. I will grant, I've been opposed to this storyline from the beginning... and this scene is EXACTLY WHY. It was contrived, appallingly written, and so poorly thought-out that it practically contradicted itself (I was genuinely waiting, when Cooper asked why she'd tracked him down, for Lilly to respond "I dunno... the writers told me to?", it was just that ridiculous). I actually cringed throughout the whole thing - Cooper miraculously recognising her at a single glance, despite not seeing her in over twenty years (and don't even get me started on the fact that he instantly recognised his Super Special Lilly, and never once thought to MENTION his other daughter), and of course the ludicrous, transparent "how's your mother?". Sorry, but if I were to write a list of Things Not To Include In A Scene That Wants To Be Taken Seriously, this would be my point of reference.

That said, I'll agree with cellogal (naturally!) - the scene's one saving grace was the quality of its actors. Can't fault them.

Frankie/Scotty? Eh, whatever. To be honest, I'm a little bored by the whole thing now. Something about it is just... well, boring. There's no spark, no flourish, nothing that makes me even vaguely invested in this relationship, at all. Whether it's the character, or simply the execution, I don't know, but something isn't working for me. It's just utterly bland. That said, Scotty in his leather jacket? More of that, please.

So, yea. I don't know what to make of the episode, or where to rate it. The stuff that worked - the victim's story, and the usual fabulous Detective Moments - worked WONDERFULLY and I was absolutely enthralled by the case (and the Sinatra!) ...but the stuff that didn't work? It wasn't just bad, it was borderline dreadful.

[eduardodelroice]

It was an EXCELLENT EPISODE! I knew it was gonna be this way! =)
*the case was one of the best developed cases of this season
*Flashback and music was excellent(did they use "I've Got the world on a string"?)
*The victim was very special: fighting for justice
*The Lilly/dad moment was good: I understand the situation that they have not seen each other in 20 years but to begin... this was a special moment
*YEAH! The victim was seen more than just 2 seconds and the proper person saw her =]
*The coffee scene between Kat and Scotty was so funny! =)
The only reason I did not rate this episoe one of this season's best is because of the Scotty/Frankie... I HATE Scotty(hate me whoever wants to hate me) and I hate more when he gets toxic relationships and he gets a lot of space for that!!!!!


However, My sound quality wasn't good and I did not understand
-What did Vera told Jeffries about Croatia at the elevator when Jeff said Croatia was a beautiful country?
-Roland told Valens so many things; he was looking for fresh flesh or something like this? the reason he told Valens why he went to a new job
-Allison told Gloria in the hotel room Roland was a "manist" what does that mean?
-The first Allison's boyfriend said he could take Allison was with those "ladalas"(or something like this) what does that mean
-What was Allison's father? because he also wanted to travel the world or something
Thanx

[Electrophile]

Dec 22, 2008 10:39:11 GMT -5 @eduardodelroice said:

-Roland told Valens so many things; he was looking for fresh flesh or something like this? the reason he told Valens why he went to a new job
-Allison told Gloria in the hotel room Roland was a "manist" what does that mean?
-The first Allison's boyfriend said he could take Allison was with those "ladalas"(or something like this) what does that mean
-What was Allison's father? because he also wanted to travel the world or something
Thanx

1. He said he slept through all the "girls next door" at Global World Airlines and wanted something new. He found out that South Pacific Air hired the "sexpots" or more sexually attractive women, so he went there. He was just after some skirt.

2. She was telling Gloria what kind of creep Hughes was and that the stews didn't have to put up with it anymore. Gloria was in love with him and wanted her to take it back, but Ally refused.

3. He said "la-di-das" and that basically meant fancy, well-to-do guys. He couldn't compete with the men that would be hitting on her now that she was a stewardess.

4. Her father was in the infantry in WWII and helped liberate Paris. He mentioned this when Lilly first talked to him. All the traveling he did as a result of that is what gave Ally the "travel bug" as he called it.


And yes, they played "I Got The World On A String".

[eduardodelroice]

Dec 22, 2008 11:28:34 GMT -5 Electrophile said:

Dec 22, 2008 10:39:11 GMT -5 @eduardodelroice said:

-Roland told Valens so many things; he was looking for fresh flesh or something like this? the reason he told Valens why he went to a new job
-Allison told Gloria in the hotel room Roland was a "manist" what does that mean?
-The first Allison's boyfriend said he could take Allison was with those "ladalas"(or something like this) what does that mean
-What was Allison's father? because he also wanted to travel the world or something
Thanx

1. He said he slept through all the "girls next door" at Global World Airlines and wanted something new. He found out that South Pacific Air hired the "sexpots" or more sexually attractive women, so he went there. He was just after some skirt.

2. She was telling Gloria what kind of creep Hughes was and that the stews didn't have to put up with it anymore. Gloria was in love with him and wanted her to take it back, but Ally refused.

3. He said "la-di-das" and that basically meant fancy, well-to-do guys. He couldn't compete with the men that would be hitting on her now that she was a stewardess.

4. Her father was in the infantry in WWII and helped liberate Paris. He mentioned this when Lilly first talked to him. All the traveling he did as a result of that is what gave Ally the "travel bug" as he called it.


And yes, they played "I Got The World On A String".

Thanks a lot electrophile... "I've got the world on a string"
Fantastic song =)
Ronald slept thru all the girls except Allison and Hellen I think
Hellen was such a nice character too

[mitchy]

I had problems voting for this one, I kept dithering between "good" and "excellent". It was one of those eps where what was good, was brilliant, and the not so good sucked rocks through a short straw. A very uneven episode from Jennifer Johnson, considering she's written eps like "The Road" and "The Goodbye Room".

Things I loved - well my squee for the Kat/Scotty interaction will surprise absolutely no-one, I know Seriously, all the writers are getting in on the Scotty/Kat snark this season and frankly, when two actors work this well together, it's not hard to see why. "Your coffee, Detective Valens", followed by an exchange of looks that said sooo much! Great stuff from Danny and Tracie.

The case was very interesting, it's easy to forget now how tough it was for women in the wide world of employment back in the early sixties. They had to put up with a lot of crap and I'm not sure I entirely bought Ally's resistance to it; I suppose "small town moxie" is as good a reason as any but I didn't feel terribly convinced about it as most women would have found ways to work around it at that time. Still, I suppose there always has to be one who won't put up with the status quo.

Great to see Lee Majors again, it's been a while. I must admit, given the story that he forced Farrah Fawcett to quit Charlie's Angels because she was more successful than he was (true or otherwise), watching his younger self in this show be the victim of early women's lib made me smile a lot. The supporting cast was uniformly good, I felt, given the script but more on that in a bit.

Will's travel to Croatia "Beirut all booked up?" storyline was great, as usual. Will needs more love in this show, he's getting sidelined. And hey, this was the first ep for a while Vera didn't get any serious interview mojo on.

(Btw, is it me or is Kat turning into Box Room Girl? I think she's been the one putting the box back into storage in like 90 per cent of the closing montage scenes this season.)

I LIKE Scotty and Frankie but I have been spoilered a bit so...yeh, can't say any more on that one. And Scotty in a leather jacket? Mmm

Any ep featuring Frank Sinatra songs is going to have GREAT music so I was well happy with the selection

Things wot I didn't like. The script was painful in places. Seriously, there were sections that were clunkier than a sumo wrestler in clogs. Dear gods but the Lilly/Dad scene was awful. Yes, it's supposed to be stilted but not THAT stilted. You could have put two wooden puppets in there and got more emotion. To be fair, I felt sorry for both actors trying to make that scene work - it didn't guys, but we're not blaming you! The writing really didn't give you anywhere to go; I suspect you'd have been preferred to have been played by puppets for that one.

And Lilly's teaser tag line "Someone clipped her wings" *gag gag gag* No! Stoppit Jennifer Johnson, just stoppit!

Overall, it was a good case, with some great interaction between our detectives but let down by some awful dialogue and clunky scenes. Please to be killing off the Lilly/Dad storyline now, powers that be. I sure I'm not the only one bored out of her skull with it.
I'm rating this one "Good" but it was so close to "Excellent".


i

[myril]

Dec 22, 2008 16:17:00 GMT -5 mitchy said:

And Lilly's teaser tag line "Someone clipped her wings" *gag gag gag* No! Stoppit Jennifer Johnson, just stoppit!

So, I wasn't the only person thinking that. It was a tad forced.

Actually first wanted to sleep one more night over this episode, before writing anything, but it's too tempting.

The case - I loved it. I knew from the start, who did it, but still enjoyed every minute of it. Okay, enjoyed might be not quite the right term, because there were moments I got so into the thing, I could have exploded. Arg, this captain and his attitude drove me up the wall, what a believable jerk. The moment with the girl wanting a photo at the beginning, remembered me so of all the stupid talk of girls even in my generation what great job it would be (modell, actress or stewardess, don't girls have any other dreams?), yuk. Women at work - well much has changed and much hasn't change.

I better take a deep breath though, before I would start a very feminist rant on here and accidentally offend someone.

Ooooooommmmmmm ....

Most things already had been mentioned. The great interaction between Kat and Scotty, the fun with Jeffries vacation thoughts. The good choice of music - Frank is great. And I add: the underscore was good as well. Yep, and I too liked to see Lee Majors again.

Frankie/Scotty - I don't mind. Actually I think they make quite a good couple.

Lilly and her dad. Funny, somehow I didn't really listen to the dialog in the scene, and seems like that might have been a good thing. I was more watching the "silent" communication, aka, gestures, mimic. There was an interesting awkwardness and tension, one giving me a chill. I'm cautious though about any speculations at this point, because I related to it in a certain way, but that could probably push my thinking in wrong directions. Let's say, I don't like Cooper, he set of my inner warning lights, and I am curious now, what they will make of Lilly and her dad. Only hope, they're not going to let us wait for answers till next season.

All in all. I go for an excellent for this episode.

[eduardodelroice]

why did not you like "someone clipped her wings"... I liked it =]

[cellogal]

Mostly because it really didn't make a lot of sense. When you clip a bird's wings, it's so they don't fly as far. It doesn't hurt the bird, and it's certainly not fatal. Thus, while using it to describe a murder could be considered somewhat clever, it ultimately doesn't work.

Probably the other reason, for me, is that I'm so used to Law & Order wisecracks, which are usually better. That and Jerry Orbach delivered those lines like nobody's business.

[yankee1151]

Dude, I was just coming to post about that RIDICULOUS line, and see that it has been discussed. SO glad I'm not the only one that rolled my eyes clear out of my head on that one.

That line MAY have ruined the ep for me. Nah, it was a'ight, but nothing more. Eh. That's all I can muster.

"Someone clipped her wings." UGH.

[socceroos]

Loved the episode it was great

[Electrophile]

Dec 22, 2008 18:22:22 GMT -5 myril said:

Dec 22, 2008 16:17:00 GMT -5 mitchy said:

And Lilly's teaser tag line "Someone clipped her wings" *gag gag gag* No! Stoppit Jennifer Johnson, just stoppit!

So, I wasn't the only person thinking that. It was a tad forced.

Before I saw the promo I knew that line would be in there. I can partially see why they used it, when you clip a bird's wings they can't fly anymore. As a stewardess (excuse me, flight attendant), she was then "grounded".

However, there's another rationale behind the usage of the phrase, although it didn't come to light until after the episode ended. She was trying to organize better working conditions for her co-workers, and trying to institute "fair play" as Helen put it. When Gloria killed her, she ended Ally's ability to help her fellow stews and made them to continue to suffer in the working conditions they had at the time. She was essentially cut down to size for trying to help others. It's called "tall poppy syndrome". The one sticking up far above the others is the first one to get cut down. You see it used a lot when dealing with people like John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. Not saying Ally was on par with those three accomplished men, but in 1960 for a woman to butt heads with management over sexual harassment in the work place was a rare, if not completely unheard of feat.


This doesn't make the line less cheesy or cliched, but the reason for its usage does exist.