Ep. 5.12 Sabotage

[TVFan]

THE TEAM TRIES TO CATCH A SERIAL BOMBER BEFORE HE SUCCEEDS IN HARMING A MAN WHO WAS THE INTENDED TARGET OF HIS MOST RECENT BOMBING, ON "COLD CASE," SUNDAY, JAN 6. ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

Timothy Omundson ("Jericho," "Judging Amy" & Eli from Xena: Warrior Princess) Guest Stars As the Missed Target of the Latest Bombing

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
Louie Amante (2008): Doug Spinuzza
ADA Alexandra Thomas (2008): Bonnie Root
Luke Ross (1999, 2007-08): Timothy Omundson
Curt Fitzpatrick (1999): Ryan Kelley
Roderick Poole (1998): Chris Butler
Alessandro Rossilini (1997-99, 2008): Kim Coateses
Helen Wainwright/Rossilini: Stephanie Venditto
Beth Ross (2007-08): Kate Jennings Grant
Mia Ross (2007-08): Kelly Gould
Gene Schmidt (1997, 2008): John Hillner
Gina Castello (1999): Alexis Krause
John Wojciechowski (2008): James Ferris
Angel Perez (2008): Roberto Montesinos
Carl Baxter (2008): Bob Koherr
Cecilia (2008): Judyann Elder
Newscaster (1999): Saida Rodriguez Pagan

WRITTEN BY: Greg Plageman, one of the series' co-executive producers

DIRECTED BY: Nicole Kassell

[longislanditalian2]

Wow what an awesome heart pounding episode.

First, I noticed when Lilly visited the victim in the hospital, the camera zooms down on him making us believe that inside of Lilly's mind she was seeing herself lying in a hospital bed.
There was a little weakness but she sucked it down like usually pretending that nothing had happened.

The episode had a lot of twists and turns, but the ending kept me on edge for awhile and the ending was so sad.


Secondly I could have cared less about the scene with Scotty and Alex, though
t he looked very tiffed at her at the end and even turned his back towards her, maybe it's over between them (wishfull thinking) though Scotty looked extremly hot in the first scene.

[coldfan74]

One word. Wow
I loved this episode. Having been downsized 3 times due to outsourcing..it took a personal chord with me. at some level, i sympathized alessandro but he was like captain ahab..obsessed with vengeance and just allowing himself to fall further into madness.
in retrospect, his criticisism about globalization and disposable people is very true. healthcare is a joke and anything in the workplace is plagued with greed and nepotism. it is frustrating to hold on your own standards and try to stay optimistic while trying to live a life in an adverse world.
to digress...get rid of the A.D.A...she really is a third letter of the alphabet hehe
i must say season 5 has been blessed with some really excellent episodes.
im glad they're going to release "spiders" next week..sad its going to be the last one for a while.

[longislanditalian2]

Oh one thing I noticed that Lilly was wearing Red, which is odd since she never wears red to work. I agree with getting rid of the ADA I see no chemistry between her and Scotty. At least Lilly and Scotty have better chemistry then that.

[boxman]

Very interesting storyline. So here's two siblings: One is financially supporting the other, and because of differences, they become estranged. The poorer of the two continues a streak of bad fortune, which in turn causes him to vengefully attack those he considered his enemies. I hope this isn't some kind of twisted foreshadowing of the Lilly/Christina estranged sibling relationship....

[coldfan74]

boxman:
nah i think he was betrayed by his brother becoming another adversary of the system he was angry about. alessandro was a ticking time bomb (no pun intended) before his brother's doing only exacerbated his madness further.

btw..were all the location shots accurate in this eppy boxman?

[The Reverend Bizarre]

I hate it when shows make me feel for sympathy for the killer than the victims. I need to make clear that I do not condone what Alessandro did, but I can't say I look to favorably upon the victims either.

I'd like to point out the irony in Alessandro's name. Alessandro means "defender of men." Here we have this guy who's essentially killing people. But then his reasons seem to be based off the integrity of men. It's almost as if he chose his victims based on their apathy towards him, but also because they refused to do anything because of the rule.

The physicians assistant wouldn't do anything because the computers were down. The computers are law.

The floor manager wouldn't take back the broken product because of the policy. The policy is law.

His brother wouldn't extend his morgtage, or give him anymore money because of the bank or the system. The bank or system is law.

In all these cases an inanimate object is law. The victims were all followers of a mindless system. Ironically the very thing Alessandro wants to defend he kills instead.

God, I love irony.

[eurache]

OMGs.. OMGs..

What an exciting episode!! I was like jumping up and pumping my fists .."saying Nooo Nooo not again!"

I was yelling at Stillman..and asking "WTH is he doing?"

Then the ending.. OMGs.. I was screaming.. "NOOO Noooo, please say it's not so!!" but then I saw all was okay, I was relieved.. whew..

This was exciting... I will mention that did you notice that box designed looked like the design on the wall paper on that house? OMGs..

I think it's over with Scotty and that ADA what a bch she was.. geez..

[TVFan]

I LOVED this one! Let's dive right in...

This was one of those episodes that focuses on the killer rather than the victim (or in this case, victims). I always like these sorts of stories because they're more psychological than the typical whodunit formula. And I think we all know that CC delves into the interworkings of the human psyche better than any other crime drama. It just flourishes in this arena. Tonight was no exception. Of course, this led to a sympathetic killer.

His tragic story caused me to feel very torn about this case. I was horrified for the victims of the music box bombings (the poor soldier who can't wear his new wedding ring because the lower part of his arm is now blown off and the young Big Box employee both broke my heart), but Alessandro's story left me with such a heavy feeling of deep sadness. He had everything and lost it all: his job, his house, his wife and worst of all, his young daughter to cancer. And while none of it is the fault of his victims, it's easy to see where all of these events collectively would warp someone's mind to believe that others were to blame. The loss of his daughter was devastating and it left a void so big that he wanted his own brother to feel the same emptiness.

My heart was in my throat during those final minutes when we weren't sure where the bomb was, then it was with Luke's daughter and THEN it went off!! My stomach was in knots as we watched Lil pull up to that home not knowing what she'd find. Thankfully, Vera and Kat got to Luke's family before the bomb went off, but it had to be close. Too close.

LOVED: Stillman's conversation with Alessandro at the 20th Street Station, the heart-pounding sense of urgency, going inside Alessandro's head, seeing Lilly panic as she frantically called Vera to get Luke's family out of the house, the ending song "Apologize" by One Republic, seeing Louis again!, and the acting on behalf of the entire cast (regular and guest).

I'm still not liking ADA Thomas. Why does Scotty like her so much when she's always getting in his way on cases? She involved the feds tonight and that put Luke's family in danger (not to mention Vera and Kat as well).

Excellent directing this week (as usual . Nicole Kassell really brought the sense of urgency to the forefront with quick cuts, close-ups and intercutting at the end. The pacing felt perfect throughout and I really felt the panic that the detectives must have been feeling thanks to the directing and the terrific acting. Kudos to all.

[boxman]

longislanditalian2 said:

... though Scotty looked extremly hot in the first scene.

That's what I thought too myself. Scotty must be extremely hot drinking coffee from that unusually big mug--the steam from the coffee must be vaporizing his face really hard.

coldfan74 said:

boxman:
nah i think he was betrayed by his brother becoming another adversary of the system he was angry about. alessandro was a ticking time bomb (no pun intended) before his brother's doing only exacerbated his madness further.

Hmm... yeah, and I guess Christina isn't close to the edge like that either.

btw..were all the location shots accurate in this eppy boxman?

Well, there were a handful of "creative licenses" regarding the names of a few locations in the story, but nothing I'd consider drastic. For example, they obviously needed to create a fictional name for the store, rather than to say "Best Buy", "Wal-Mart" or "Circuit City". At the same time, Mantua and Germantown are actual locations in Philly. Mantua has been mentioned a few times in this show, such as the location where the victim was found in 4.12 "Knuckle Up" and the neighborhood in 2.08 "Red Glare". IIRC, Germantown is the location of the Five-and-Dime in 5.04 "Devil Music". Mantua is definitely among the poorest neighborhoods in Philly, and Germantown has also seen some decay, especially on its eastern end, which is only a few miles from Center City (and the "20th Street Station").

Anyway, I was a little amused with how the episode touched upon how a huge dot-com development fell through in the City of Philadelphia, especially as the episode mentioned the Mantua neighborhood. Not far from the northern edge of Mantua, along Fairmont Park, Microsoft and the City of Philadelphia collaborated to recently open Microsoft's School of the Future. This is a currently one-of-a-kind high-tech high school with a curriculum based on Microsoft's own management and research techniques. It supposedly will serve as a model for other similar high schools that Microsoft and educators hope to open across the country and world. Not far from this school, towards the western end of the park, is a technology center/park built where there once were some old, abandoned factories. So while a lot of the city has been in decay, there's still some high-tech investment going on here. I found it funny and rather entertaining to see this show not portray that in this episode.

[The Reverend Bizarre]

There was something ironic I noticed in one of the early scenes. The name of the electronics store was Box Mart. Jibjab.com has a cartoon in which a store called "Big Box Mart" is featured. The video is a satire of Wal Mart and all of the people who spend all of their money there.

Makes me wonder if the writers had seen the animation, because it is a little odd that they'd name the store "Box Mart"

[jt]

a good epidoe indeed and the ending did surprise me a little bit though.

I know he killed the big box worker over nbot returning the broken shower radio and he killed the doctor because of his daughter not being able to get treatments in time but why did he kill the gym worker or intend to?

at Bizarre: I thought it was similar to BJ's

[coldfan74]

jt: it was a mistarget..it was intended for luke...his brother.
alessandro was fishing for information when called his wife pretending to be a credit card customer rep and found out that thats where his brother works out.

[teledetective]

Wow...just...wow

I am seriously impressed by how well the cast (regular and guest) did on acting. And I don't know if I can be angry at Alessandro, though I don't condone with what he did...

@ boxman: Wow, I didn't know that. Seriously, it's nice that you're here because you help us to understand Philly in and out...thanks!

I'll post more thoughts later, seeing as if I say what I thought now without organizing everything I'll repeat what's already been said here...

[vavavoomya]

Gosh I must have missed something here but I really found the first half of this dull and directed so ordinary I couldn't even get through it To me was so un Cold Case Cold Case is always so special and unique This eppy was like any procedural crime drama on the tv. Granted I didn't see the last half But I couldn't stay with it Am I the only one that feels that way? I thought maybe the writers srike got in the way of it being the beter The topic was great but the execution not so special

[longislanditalian2]

According to IMDB, this is the 100th episode for Danny Pino

[Naj]

I'm really surprised the family at the end got out as well as Miller and Vera by the timing they showed us....but that was part of the suspense. It wasn't until I saw Jeffries putting the box away that I thought they must not have been killed but still had to wait in anticipation. ;D I do agree the first part of the case dragged and I too wasn't interested in Scotty and the ADA however it did set up a good ending look between Scotty and the ADA at the house at the end. Hopefully their romantic relationship is over for good. For being an ADA I thought her choice was lame in telling her boss. Ah well. Score one for the ADA making lame choices and Scotty making lame choices = a good match. I thought they had a nice sibling match with Allessandrao and Luke. It was interesting watching them as they talked to each other. And interesting to see a season regular actor out of work having to guest on another show. I'm probably giving this a Best of vote. The only thing I find hokey in these eps is the bomb sqads or swat teams - as they don't look all too professional.

[jsmith7288]

I thought this episode was one of the best by far, beside the Scotty/ADA moment at the beginning. That totally turned me off. That look at the end scotty gave her looked interesting. Maybe he will realize her job is always going to come in between them and he will end it. I just dont see any chemistry between them. I think it's more of just wanting each other for the moment. i still have hope for a scotty/lilly pairing. anyways, i thought this was one of the best episodes of the season. too bad we only have one episode left.

[LillyKat]

Hmmm, I guess I might be in the minority on this ep as I thought it was good, but I wasn’t gripped.

I enjoyed the originality of the story overall, which again seemed to have that “race against the clock” factor that I always enjoy and of which gets us out of the usual plod- through-the-cold-job-box routine. But the story, at times, seemed a bit preachy to me. I don’t know if Greg Plageman was in a certain mood when he wrote it or what, but it came off a little me-against-the-world-stand-up-against-all-the-morons-do-right-no-matter-what-the-cost vibe. I sort of felt like the whole thing was trying to make some kind of statement, and as such, it came off a little too much cream on the tacos for me. Also, given this was one of the last scripts put together before the writer’s strike, perhaps there was a certain subtext that was supposed to be there and supposed to come off in a certain way. But for me, I got lost in the dialogue at times, got lost with who was what victim, where and why there was the beef with Alessandro in the first place … I sort of felt as if Alessandro really wasn’t more than a postal worker gone postal. Oh well.

Also, Lilly was practically non-existent in this episode, which for me, is a downside. Having being treated over the holiday break to a good helping of older episodes, whereby she was always in the mix, always the one driving the case, always everywhere … well, it’s newer episodes like this that unfortunately remind me how much the show has changed, and how she seems to be almost a non-factor at times nowadays. It’s a shame, I think.

That said, I did really enjoy the suspense of the final showdown, and the closing montage – sort of that did they/didn’t they save the wife and daughter. Excellent. And, I actually am OK with ADA Thomas and Scotty. I guess I just like that she’s mature, has some chutzpah and doesn’t roll over to Scotty’s machismo. Now, I do think the DA’s office goofed heartily on getting the Feds involved on the case, and I do think Thomas tends to be a little too “not my problem/just trying to get the bad guy,” which leaves her perhaps missing the big picture. But we all do that at times when we think we’re right about something, so I don’t think it’s a detriment to the overall relationship they’re trying to build. And frankly, it’s just nice to see another detective having something other than the job going on in his life.

Also, having just re-watched “Gleen,” loved seeing ol’ Louie again.

All in all, good ep ... but I can't say it wowed me.

[boxman]

xuchilbara said:

Makes me wonder if the writers had seen the animation, because it is a little odd that they'd name the store "Box Mart"

Wasn't the store called "Big Box Electronics" (with the word "Electronics" in smaller letters at the bottom) Reverend, I think you must be thinking "Box SMart"... Thank you.. Thank you... I'm very flattered...

teledetective said:

@ boxman: Wow, I didn't know that. Seriously, it's nice that you're here because you help us to understand Philly in and out...thanks!

One of the reasons I really enjoy watching this show is seeing how much effort the writers, producers, art directors, and crew work to keep the storyline and imagery true to Philadelphia. It's quite amazing to me, especially when one stops to think the show must be largely produced on the West Coast in Hollywood. And so that allows me to enjoy posting as much as I can to point out to you folks outside the area what an great job they're doing to keep this show as realistic to Philly as they are.

To continue with my earlier post, Philly's Central Library branch is located north of Center City between 19th and 20th Street. This would put it within walking distance from the "20th Street Station" that the senior Rossilini laid tile at. The Mantua neighborhood is about a mile west of the library. These three locations are certainly within walking distance for someone like Alessandro who was out of work and had the time for walking. Incidentally, it's also true that many homeless and destitute people hang around in the library, as indicated in the episode:



www.philly.com/philly/news/local/12879237.html
Posted on Fri, Dec. 28, 2007

Library collaboration is a win for everyone
Ex-homeless people on staff aid patrons and the needy.
By Jennifer Lin
Inquirer Staff Writer

You can't always tell who among the 3,000 daily patrons of the Free Library of Philadelphia's main branch lives in a home or on a park bench.

Dress is not always a giveaway; nor is demeanor.

But in the restrooms of the library, too often, you could tell.

Homeless people sometimes used the bathrooms to bathe. Or to wash their socks. Or just to rest for a spell.

The library reached out to Project HOME, a nonprofit agency that works with homeless individuals and families, about what to do. Brainstorming led to an innovative idea:

Why not hire formerly homeless people as restroom attendants? They could keep restrooms tidy while also steering homeless people to services.

That was a year ago.

Today, five men and six women work as restroom attendants at the main branch on Logan Square.

The program has been so successful that another collaboration is in the works: a cafe at the library that will be staffed not only by formerly homeless people, but also by teens in a special business-skills program run by Project HOME.

(Complete article at link above.)