Ep. 5.15 The Road

[cellogal]

Quote:What are you talking about? Go where? Lilly and Scotty went with each other to Tennessee ("Red and Blue"), they went with each other to NYC ("Best Friends"). Where else do they need to go to?



To bed, evidently. That's where they need to go. I liked the questioning from John asking Scotty if he ever thought of Lilly that way?

I'm laughing so hard right now!

I actually found more irony that as much as John thought he had "conquered God" by breaking Monica, "God" did win out in the end by helping Brenda stay sane through the sounds of the church bells. "John Smith", who thought he was greater than God, was also dumb enough to chose a Biblical name for his alias. That's irony right there!

Thanks for making me feel a little better about this particular scene. I was a little irked with the show for implying that people of faith would give up first. I hadn't made the church bell connection in my head yet.

[littlelaura1992]

I gave this 'one of the season's best'. I don't think I've ever seen such a good episode!
I have to admit, I'm a sucker for spoilers, so whilst being on the spoiler section I read them all and couldn't help but wonder how they were going to stretch a road trip out so long, but my goodness, didn't they do it good!
The whole episode had me on the edge of my seat...well my bed and I was so caught up.
Throughout the whole episode I just kept thinking 'What is he going to ask next?"
I also noticed the questions got a little more personal as he went on but I was glad to know that she hasn't completely just forgotten about everything. And Scotty!!??!!
I got the fright of my life when he swerved the car and pulled John out the back. I was clapping and screaming at the same time. Ah, and then Lilly holding him back...excellent!
I am also a huge fan of Pass The Remote and so whilst reading TvFan's amazing recollection of events I read about the great use of lighting for the roadtrip. I couldn't help but notice it too. Especially when you saw the yellow flashing light against their faces, I thought that was a great way to introduce them seeing the sign.
Overall an amazing performance from Kathryn Morris and Danny Pino. Also a great performance from Tracie Thoms in this episode who seemed very compassionate when talking about the victims and how they each had something to live for.
Well done, Cold Case!

[longislanditalian2]

That yellow light represented how Lilly saw that light at the end during her surgery. The music provided insight to how haunted she is by that especially flashing in and out on her face. You can tell Lilly is going through personal changes on the insides taking charge over her own life like her social worker said in Wunderkind.


She's realizing there has to be an end somewhere, by glancing over at Scotty she knows he is worried for her. Although she is scared Lilly is ready to face what happened and admit to herself it's time to move on. Close the chapter of her childhood away and live in the present.

That's what the end of the road meant but also the ending song and where the church was represeted she had come home to be a stronger person not the one she used to be. It made Lilly realize the fact it was hope that kept her going all this time, by being her she replenished that hope and made certain of herself.

[The Reverend Bizarre]

One thing I want to correct you on Boxman;

"John Smith", who thought he was greater than God, was also dumb enough to chose a Biblical name for his alias. That's irony right there!

The name John Smith never appears in the Bible. It is however the name of the founder of the Mormon church.

Aren't there a few real-life abduction cases where the victim had complete freedom to walk away, but never did?

Hmm, not sure. However, that scene also reminded me of the ending to "No Exit."

quick run down. Three people die, and are taken to hell. Instead of the fire and brimstone approach, these three characters are locked in the same room together. Needless to say they go crazy because they can't stand each other.

At the end, the door to the room opens, and they're free to leave. However none of them leave, because they feel that they have to prove themselves to the others.

[boxman]

marcovalenslassing said:

Btw, 'Red Dragon' is the remake of 'Manhunter', a way better movie which starred William 'Grissom' Petersen as Will Graham.

Okay, thanks! And I am never, ever, ever going to rent or watch that movie either (anytime soon).

naj said:

What are you talking about? Go where? Lilly and Scotty went with each other to Tennessee ("Red and Blue"), they went with each other to NYC ("Best Friends"). Where else do they need to go to?

To bed, evidently. That's where they need to go.

Now I'm REALLY confused. So is RichE going to be there too?? Where is he going to go to?? ;D

naj said:

Or he was just born mean - thinking of that movie "The Good Son" with McCauley Caulkin. or the movie "Damien". He had that Damien look - looking down the well. www.imdb.com/media/rm3452410112/ch0000666

That's a good counter-point, Naj. It brings up the "Nature versus Nurture" debate regarding human personality and development. Did John become this deviant adult because of his upbringing, or because of his genetic disposition? Again, I think it was smart of Jennifer Johnson to leave this open, because if anything more was revealed about John's childhood, SOMEONE will be offended and point it out as a "plot hole". (And I'm sure we'd read it on imdb.com ;D )

xuchilbara said:

The name John Smith never appears in the Bible. It is however the name of the founder of the Mormon church.

Reverend, aren't you familiar with "Saint Smith"? You know, the Bible is a really big book... LOL.... Of course, I was referring to only his first name "John".

...that scene also reminded me of the ending to "No Exit."

quick run down. Three people die, and are taken to hell. Instead of the fire and brimstone approach, these three characters are locked in the same room together. Needless to say they go crazy because they can't stand each other.

At the end, the door to the room opens, and they're free to leave. However none of them leave, because they feel that they have to prove themselves to the others.

That's funny! ;D To get back to your original topic:

Did anybody else find it ironic that as soon as she gave up on God, and decided there was no God, that's when John opened the door to let her leave? I feel that if this woman had any faith in God she would have realized that this was God's work.

Here's another idea: There's several things in play here. First, the flashback of John and Monica is only a cinematic representation of John's testimony to Lilly and Scotty. It's not the actual event; It's the event solely from John's perspective. Second, we can deduce from John's failed attempt to recreate the "Silence of the Lambs" moment, that he's delusional to some degree of his actual capabilities. Third, we know he used drugs at least on one occasion to accomplish his kidnapping; therefore, it's not too much of a stretch to think he may also have used drugs on his victims when they were captive too. These facts opens up the possibility that John lied about breaking the will of any of his victims. Like Brenda still remaining strong, Monica may have actually still believed in God when John entombed her. She was just too doped up to fight her way out.

longislanditalian2 said:

That yellow light represented how Lilly saw that light at the end during her surgery. The music provided insight to how haunted she is by that especially flashing in and out on her face. You can tell Lilly is going through personal changes on the insides taking charge over her own life like her social worker said in Wunderkind.

She's realizing there has to be an end somewhere, by glancing over at Scotty she knows he is worried for her. Although she is scared Lilly is ready to face what happened and admit to herself it's time to move on. Close the chapter of her childhood away and live in the present.

That's what the end of the road meant but also the ending song and where the church was represeted she had come home to be a stronger person not the one she used to be. It made Lilly realize the fact it was hope that kept her going all this time, by being her she replenished that hope and made certain of herself.

That's some good observations, LII. I never thought of the flashing light in that way, and I definitely agree that she's about to "close the chapter of her childhood away". There's already a lot of observations of other symbolisms and recurring Cold Case themes. Are there any others? Anyone?

[The Reverend Bizarre]

I must have missed the drug part, but that is a good point.

[yankee1151]

The name John Smith never appears in the Bible. It is however the name of the founder of the Mormon church.

That's Joseph Smith.

I really liked this episode. Not a lot to add that hasn't been said already (especially at this early hour) but I must say - I am not a shipper in any way shape or form (I think the show would almost certainly jump the shark if those two got together) but even I saw some definite sparks this ep. And it didn't piss me off. I don't really know what to make of that. All in all a great episode, I thought it flowed very well and that Australian actor playing John was excellent, he really creeped me out. I'm also loving the fact that Lilly no longer resembles a corpse.

[tvjunkie]

What an amazing episode. It was more like watching a feature film than a television show Katherine's performance was amazing too Especially at the well when she figured it out I love how she took charge of Danny She rocked The Direction Writing and Acting was Cold Case at its best

[boxman]

^^^ TVJunkie needs a new keyboard... The "." and "," keys aren't working. ;D Welcome aboard!

One thing I really liked in the opening scene was Brenda's message to David and herself thirty years from now. It was cute how she said she couldn't wait for the day when they were old and happy, with grandkids all around them in their Craftmatic adjustable bed. Even though that was a brief scene, it also was a nice way to show us that Brenda had a rather deep and sincere love for her fiancé.

[bradlea]

It is so great to see an episode of Cold Case as terrific as the early ones of season one and two Bravo!!!

[KathrynFan]

i was wondering where i had seen that guy that plays john smith i didnt even realise he was an aussie, i think he did a great job all of the acting in this ep was excellent, i love when they make episodes like this, but i think next time if they do one they need a woman serial killer

[Collider]

kathrynfan said:

i think next time if they do one they need a woman serial killer

I'd never even thought about it until now, but you're so right. The vast majority (if not all) of the truly evil characters do tend to be male, don't they? A really evil female character along the lines of John or George, or the John Doe in "One Night" could have a million kinds of interesting potential. Excellent point, IMHO.

[boxman]

collider said:

...and not to ramble on for a thousand pages as I'm wont to do about this show...

Collider, you must ramble on! I can almost hear your British accent come through in your writing, and it's very cool for me to "hear"!

pealee said:

That was amazing! Me and ColdCaseGirl were freaking out the whole time!

Where is ColdCaseGirl??

I've been looking forward to reading her comments!

[coldcasegirl]

;D ;D ;DI totally voted one of this season's BEST b/c I completely LOOOOOOOVED this ep.

*Lilly rocked FULLY
*Scotty got rough on Lil's behalf
*Lilly never gave up and found Brenda....alive
*songs were awesome

I JUST LOVED IT!

[boxman]

There were a number of allusions, symbolisms, and themes in this episode that have been mentioned:

- LII points out that Scotty is filmed behind jail bars in the closing montage. There's been numerous imagery such as this in the series that seem to foreshadow the possibility that he will be punished. This would possibly be because of his many "vigilante cop" acts he's committed throughout this series, this episode included.

- Several people mentioned Scotty "flying off the handle". While he's done this questionably in past episodes, here he almost seemed justified. LillyKat suggests that Scotty needs Anger Management classes; and yeah, he probably needs that more than Lilly needs therapy sessions!

- AnneInChicago points out that the killer studied his victims through their home videos, and this parallels and alludes to "Red Dragon", a movie also about psychotic serial killers. John Smith's claim to smell flowers is an obvious allusion to a scene from "Silence of the Lambs" when Det. Clarice Starling meets Hannibal Lecter for the first time.

- TeleDetective brought up the running theme of how Lilly is from Kensington -- a very run-down Philly neighborhood -- which has often turned into an asset for Lilly in solving cases.

- LII mentions the "Rush" puns, and CelloGal points out how it was used both times in scenes where Scotty was in a car. Coincidence? Or foreshadowing? In "Sanctuary", Scotty was in the car with Anna, a girl he fell head-over-heels in love with. As an undercover cop, he wasn't supposed to allow these emotions for Anna to flourish. Is this episode's use of "Rush puns" a foreshadowing of Scotty falling head-over-heels over another woman he's not supposed to fall in love with? HMMMmmm.....

- Myril points out that the video of young Brenda on her bike has tie-ins with Lilly's own youth. Kids on bikes are recurring imagery used in the show. While Brenda took her fall in stride, in many other instances, kids on bikes in this series usually suffered more tragic fates.

Other allusions, symbols, and themes:

- Anything automotive tends to be related to criminals or crime in this series. In this episode, Brenda's abduction occurs in a car at a parking lot. The title of the episode,"The Road", refers to driving. For Lilly, much of the episode dealt with her (and Scotty) being "on the road".

- Water (and especially falling rain), tends to be a symbol associated with a person's changing fate. For John Smith, he identified with seeing a woman drown in a well as the defining moment in his childhood when he changed. The imagery of young John spitting into the well water was a perverse use of the water/falling rain symbolism for a person's changing fate.

- Cold Case tends to have many scenes that are critical of Christianity; though at the same time, after the initial criticisms in an episode, the series also tends to reinforce the religion in the end. This is true again in this episode with the Monica/Brenda stories.

littlelaura1992 said:

I am also a huge fan of Pass The Remote and so whilst reading TvFan's amazing recollection of events I read about the great use of lighting for the roadtrip. I couldn't help but notice it too. Especially when you saw the yellow flashing light against their faces, I thought that was a great way to introduce them seeing the sign.

Ahh yes: "The Sign". It's probably the most important symbol in the entire series. It's soooo important as a symbol, that they filmed it with a yellow blinking light above it to catch everyone's attention. Let's look at it in full-motion video:



Thoughts? Anyone?

[coldfan74]

late in the party here but no need to recap everything you guys said besides saying excellent!
it was one of the most thought provoking episodes since mind hunters.
the saddest part was the scenes where they showed the victims who have broken down and ultimately died...especially colleen the mother with the baby.
the flashback scene to when john was a child just watching that woman in the well give up and die was probably the most disturbing one..mainly because it forces contemplation.

boxman: i dunno.. as much as the childhood flashback scene was relevant to get a glimpse of john's background..i thought the whole sign thing was a bit forced to make that point..but it didnt bother me or take away the impact of the episode.

let's hope cold case keeps making episodes like this.

[longislanditalian2]

boxman said:

Let's look at it in full-motion video:



Thoughts? Anyone?

I think that symbolizes the light that Lilly almost saw when her heart had stopped after being shot. How close she almost came to dying and realizing now that she is still very much alive.

[bradlea]

wow boxman just watching that clip reminded me how great an episode it was

[coldboneslove398]

*shivers*

Just finished watching this episode, gave me the goosebumps. Reminscent of George from "Mindhunters" and "The Woods".

I like Lilly's hair now too xD. She doesn't look too pale either this season, unlike season 3 and season 4.

[boxman]

Oh, almost forgot... One nice recurring theme used in this episode was the appearance of a REALLY HOT REDHEAD. How does the casting department keep finding these gorgeous red haired actresses??

---

The word "Road" can have two meanings. It can literally refer to the path one uses to physically travel from one place to another. It can also be used metaphorically as a reference to the path one takes in life. For example, when we say a person "has come to a fork in the road", we are implying that the person must make a decision in their life that is hard to alter once the decision is made. When we say a person "has come to the end of the road", it usually is a polite way of saying that a person is either dying or has no choices left to make.

In this episode, "The Road" refers to both literal and metaphorical definitions. It literally refers to the travel path between West Virginia and Philadelphia that Lilly and Scotty took with John Smith. "The Road" also metaphorically refers to Lilly's path in life.

Everyone here knows Lilly's story: Seasons One and Two, she was full of spunk. She was still a bit of a rookie homicide detective, trying to find her niche in the Philly PD. Cold cases became her specialty, as she had a talent for caring for victims and solving cases that were long forgotten by other detectives. Then somewhere along the way, she lost that spark. Maybe it was after the experience with George in "The Woods", or her shooting experience in "Stalker" coupled with her mom's death. Maybe it was because of the string of boyfriends she had, and with the way none of those relationships lasted for long. Whichever issue was the cause, it's certain that Lilly got into a funk. "Zombie Lilly", as some would say. Then in this episode, "The Road" reminded many viewers of 'the Old Lilly', or a 'Season One' or 'Season Two' episode. Here, Lilly volunteered for the drive to West Virginia, and she was unafraid to confront one of the most chilling murderers to come along in this series. She's more confident again, and some people noticed that there even seemed to be a little more color and life to her appearance.



Like the episode's title, "The Sign" is also a metaphor. The zig-zag arrow visually represents Lilly's Life: The "Early Seasons Lilly" are represented by the rising segment on the lower-left hand side of the arrow. Lilly's "Zombie Years" are represented by the horizontal segment in the center. Her apparent comeback in this episode--shown by her eagerness to take on this case and her skill in handling John Smith--is represented by the rising segment on the upper right hand side.

The moments leading up to Lilly driving up to "The Sign" also has significant meaning. It began with Scotty losing his temper/control with John. Lilly remained in control of herself, and therefore told Scotty she'd drive. The visualization of Lilly in control of the car--in control of her emotions--driving down the Road, represents Lilly gaining control of her Life once again. When Lilly came up to "The Sign", it showed her that Life is never a straight path; that sometimes Life takes unexpected turns. Regardless, one must maintain control of one's Life, even if the road twists and turns in unexpected directions.

In addition the the metaphors of "The Road" and "The Sign", they even added one more metaphor right after this scene. When they got to the point where the road would not take them any further, Lilly, Scotty, and John were at the edge of "The Woods". I've said previously about "Woods" ("Forests"):

"Forests are commonly used in fairy tales and stories to indicate dark transitional periods, where a protagonist may face their worst fears and emerge stronger, wiser, more experienced, and more matured. There are many examples of this: Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Alice in Wonderland, Luke Skywalker's experience in the forest of Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back, episode 2F15 "Lisa's Wedding" from The Simpsons... and so forth."

So Lilly's willingness to enter "The Woods" is also a nice metaphor of how her bad experiences can ultimately be just a transitional period where she emerges "stronger, wiser, more experienced, and more matured".

Now would I say that Lilly is "getting her life back"? I think she'll be livelier again, but I'm personally not hoping for S1/S2 Lilly. Many of you ignore the way she would lie to people, and how she would flirt with prime suspects. I don't ignore stuff like that and I consider it flaws in Lilly's moral character. She pretty much let go of those things already since S3 anyway, so I think it would be highly unusual to see that part of her personality return. I'm not sure what's in store for us viewers in upcoming episodes, but I'm convinced after seeing "The Sign" and her emergence from "The Woods" in this episode that positive things are about to happen.

Oh, and for you Lilly/Scotty shippers, that's a rather positive thing to see Lilly & Scotty "driving down the road (of life)" together. Some relationships are built slowly over time through shared experiences, so that clip might be a foreshadowing of something slowly growing between the two. Of course, with the previews for tomorrow's episode, we know that it's not just yet going to happen soon.