7.06 Dead Heat

[Trublu]

(NOTE TO EDITORS: The following episode of COLD CASE has been substituted for the one previously scheduled for Nov. 8) -- WHEN THE BODY OF A FORMER STAR JOCKEY WHO WAS REPORTED MISSING IN 1986 IS FOUND IN A MASS HORSES' GRAVE, THE TEAM BEGINS INVESTIGATING HIS MURDER, ON "COLD CASE," SUNDAY, NOV. 8

The Music of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Santana Will Play Exclusively Throughout the Episode

Jacob Vargas ("Traffic," "Bobby") Guest Stars as the Slain Jockey's Apprentice



"Dead Heat" - The team investigates the murder of an accomplished 45-year-old Mexican-born jockey who "disappeared" within hours of losing a race he'd long planned as his last before retirement, on COLD CASE, Sunday, Nov. 8 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. (Previously scheduled for an earlier date)



The music of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Santana will play exclusively throughout the episode. Jacob Vargas ("Traffic," "Bobby") guest stars as the slain jockey's apprentice.



SERIES REGULARS:

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



GUEST CAST:

Sonny Sandoval (1986)................. Rick Batalla

Angelo Rivera (2009)................. Jacob Vargas

Angelo Rivera (1986)............... Ronnie Alvarez

Jose Sandoval (1986)...... Michael Francis Cardelle

Jose Sandoval (2009).................... Carlos Sanz

Ric Yanko (1986)......................... Greg Felden

Rick Yanko (2009).................. Michael Enright

Randall Baxter (1986, 2009)...... Sam Hennings

Kristi Duren (1986)...................... Anna Wood

Kristi Duren (2009)......................... Susan Diol

Ramiro Valens.................... Ismael "East" Carlo

Chaplain (1986)............................ Mark Berry

Driver (1986)............... Victor Herminio Lopez



WRITTEN BY: Adam Glass, one of the series' producers



DIRECTED BY: Nathan Hope

[Naj]

CBS EYE ALERT

Revised start times for tonight's CBS programs: 60 Minutes (7:20pm ET), Amazing Race (8:20pm ET), Three Rivers (9:20pm ET) and Cold Case (10:20pm ET) due to an NFL runover.

[Kassandra]

I have to say that the story wasn't very strong but all round a good episode.

I loved the little hint of Lilly's past, and the evolving mystery of Scotty's mom. I am still waiting for Saccardo to come back!

[openthebox]

Maybe there's another thread for this...

But I'd really like Cold Case to get back to 9pm.

[ninja1088]

Had to rate this good. This story wasn't as strong as last week for me.

[The Reverend Bizarre]

I rated this as one of the best episodes of the season, but to be honest, I'm not fully sure as to why I find it one of the best of the season.

I really did like the character of Sonny Sandavol though. Him and Alex (Jurisprudence) have been the only 'victim' characters that I've genuinely liked.

[madmax]

Same as Reverend I rated it as one of the best of the season but I really don't know why. The plot was ok. With most episodes I don't guess the doer so soon, but when there was a flashback with the girl and father and son having a fight in Spanish something told me son is the doer. So I was little disapointed but somehow I like the episode anyway.

There's alos something else 'bout that episode that made me rate it so high - Lilly. Can't tell what made me think that, but Lilly's attitude through the whole episode was...somehow different than usually. Learning more about her past was nice, but that's not it. There was something in her eyes...hope? happiness? can't exackly tell but she seamed different and 'good' different or even 'great' different. She brightened the whole episode just simply by being there.

[The Reverend Bizarre]

Speaking of Lilly, I found that conversation between her and Scotty about the riding crop hilarious.

Lilly: No, a whip is for pain, a riding crop is used for motivation

Scotty: Okay, you're starting to worry me...

Or however that conversation went.

[boxman]

From reading the episode description and seeing the opening scenes, I didn't expect much from this episode. I ended up really enjoying it and gave it an "excellent". The use of Santana's music was perfect and really added a lot to my enjoyment.

While I was looking forward to seeing this episode because it was going to feature Santana, there were many things that kept me from being interested in the case. First, the victim and story centered around a Mexican immigrant family (I have met a lot of people in my life, but oddly never personally known anyone of Mexican heritage). Second, the episode was about horse racing (I've been to a racetrack probably only three times in my life). And finally, the story was based on a fictional racetrack in Philadelphia (There are places to do off-track betting in Philly, but the city doesn't have a horse racing track). Whenever this show strays from Philly reality--which is pretty rare, IMO--I quickly have a hard time enjoying the episode. However, I should point out that immediately outside city limits there's Philadelphia Park to the northeast, Harrah's near Philly Intl Airport, and up until 2001 the Garden State Park Racetrack across the Delaware River in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. In the past there may have been other tracks inside of Philly or nearby, but as I'm not into the sport at all, I really don't know for sure.

As the episode unfolded, I found myself thinking that Rick Batalla did an excellent job playing Sonny, the victim. Very similar to the Billy Sanders character in "Soul", I was very intrigued at seeing the man's charisma and winning style in each flashback. Being much older than Billy Sanders, with Sonny we could also see a man who had achieved and reached the top of his game. I really liked seeing in the flashbacks how being a winner didn't make Sonny arrogant, but rather he used his experience to help others and to even try and turn enemies into friends. This definitely drew me into the story.

Another factor that grew on me was that the evenly spaced holes on the back of the victim's skull made it easy to figure out what the murder weapon was. At first, I thought it would be too easy to figure out who the doer was just by the weapon. But as the case progressed, I began to realize this was a weapon anyone could have picked up and used. I began to see it wasn't going to be simple to figure out who the doer was.

So the clincher for me was the final Lilly/Scotty interrogation scene. It was a really great setup and nice twist in the story where Sonny's will and insurance policy was brought in at the final moments right before that interrogation. I definitely liked how they used the mystery of who the will was made out to get Jose to confess. When Jose was confronted with the reality of who his father left everything to, it was a pretty gut-wrenching moment in this episode for me to see. Definitely a really exciting climax in the story.

I also enjoyed seeing all the nice little "Cold Case" symbolism touches: Baxter's Black Leather Jacket to hint at his criminality, Rick Yanko as a bar owner [alcohol symbolism] to lead us to question his character. I liked the irony that he broke his legs from horse racing and continued successfully with his life in another career as a bar owner. For those who may have forgotten, as mentioned early in the episode whenever a race horse breaks their legs, they are usually immediately put to rest. Unlike jockeys, racehorses don't get a second chance when their legs go. And of course, I liked how Scotty's Spanish/Latino family heritage was brought into the story too.

BTW, the Garden State Park Racetrack was located pretty close to Haddenfield, New Jersey where Lilly's dad lives today. Probably around a mile or two away from Haddonfield's town center. I wonder if this has anything to do with Lilly's mom and dad? Certainly, I'll be keeping this in mind when watching future episodes.

[madmax]

I agree Reverend, that was a great conversation When Lil said things about her past, doing homework in the stands and meeting 'dreamers' she seamed happy about that little part of her childhood and I thought about Fly Away episode where she said 'there was never a good time' and then we saw the tape of her with her mom. I know that time Lil spend at the tracs was not technically with her mom but it was because of her mom's work and, for me at least, it looks like Lil had more than 'winter fun' with her mom and more than one 'good time'.

I watched the episode again (skipping to scenes with Lil ) and Lilly's attitude and just the way she moved and spoke durring the interrogation of Jose at the end captured me. If I was a suspect sitting right then and there I would not speak a word just observe her. I rewinded that scene few times and I think I know why for me Lilly seamed different in this episode - I felt passion towards her work in her eyes first time in a long time. Also the last scene, Lilly at the track, she was so happy, relaxed, at peace with her life...I crave to see more scenes like that.

[vavavoomya]

it was all close ups I didnt know where I was poorly done

[ninja1088]

The way I understood the one victim Jefferies is working on..is that she's a missing person. I thought CC only did homicides.

[Electrophile]

Nov 9, 2009 8:57:07 GMT -5 ninja1088 said:

The way I understood the one victim Jefferies is working on..is that she's a missing person. I thought CC only did homicides.

Cold Case detectives in real life deal with many crimes that are "cold" and not all of them are homicides. Some are missing persons, some are rapes, some are homicides. So it's not completely unbelievable that Jefferies would be working on a cold missing persons case.


I'm going to watch the episode a few more times before I return a verdict on it. Although based on some of what you said, I think we're going to be on the same track.

[ninja1088]

Makes sense.... if I was a guessing person, the team may be dealing with a serial killer down the line....

[openthebox]

I give it "excellent" - for a few reasons. The acting was really good and horse racing is always thrilling/interesting. Santana totally elevated the mood - you can't go wrong with a Santana soundtrack and the song selection fit in perfectly with each flashback. And it didn't strike me at the time, but Lily's good mood throughout was nice. She's had reason to be dour of late, and I'm sure her not-so-sunny disposition will return soon enough.

Tragic that the son couldn't come to terms with his problems. And I guess it could have been anyone. Just sad it was Sonny's mijo.

Very enjoyable ep. Solid and consistant.

[The Reverend Bizarre]

Thinking more about this episode I've considered one of the reasons why I enjoyed it. At first, I didn't think I was going to like Sonny all that much, but as the episode went on his character grew on me. Here's this athlete who was once at the top of his game, but was getting old, and a good deal of health issues were starting to take their toll. Even with these problems he still had a good heart, and was willing to do what he thought was right.

[madmax]

Hey guys

I have a question or more like I need help with the conversation between Lil and Scotty. The one where Lilly tells him that her mother worked at the track.

Lill goes something like "After my dad left my mom needed a job" and here is where I can't quite make out what she said next up to Scotty's line "Your mom worked at the track?"
Then Lil talks about counting a drawer so I figure Ellen probably worked as one of those people at the window where ppl bet on horses, but if anyone has still that episode recorded and knows what Lil says exactly I would appreciate if they would post it

[eduardo]

Horrible episode.... well, not as bad as "8 years" but I truly hated the music... HOWEVER, It has been the best and most emotional murder scene this season... but after all the glory and tears with WASP This wasn't that good

[Trublu]

Nov 10, 2009 13:52:36 GMT -5 eduardo said:

Horrible episode.... well, not as bad as "8 years" but I truly hated the music... HOWEVER, It has been the best and most emotional murder scene this season... but after all the glory and tears with WASP This wasn't that good

I would agree that after WASP, it was kind of a let-down for me, but tentatively WASP was one of my favorites of the season, so I guess that may bias me a little bit.

I didn't hate the episode, but it wasn't one of my favorites either. I thought that after all that plot with the horses, and Sonny's illness that it was a bit of a let down and a cop out to use the son's gambling and Sonny's will. It seems like a pretty tired motive to me; money is always obvious. There could have been some great reason tied to saving/not saving the horses, or the health of the jockeys.

I did like Lilly's little inputs to the case, and it's always interesting to find out about what "little Lilly" did as a kid. Never would have pegged her to know anything about horses or riding.

[The Reverend Bizarre]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I wasn't entirely sucked in by WASP; so for that reason, Dead Heat seemed to be better.