Cold Case is an American police procedural crime drama television
series which ran on CBS from September 28, 2003 to May 2, 2010. The
series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department
division that specializes in investigating cold cases.The show is set
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and follows Detective Lilly Rush
(Kathryn Morris), a homicide detective with the Philadelphia Police
Department, who specializes in "cold cases", or investigations which
are no longer being actively pursued by the department. Rush was
initially partnered with Detective Chris Lassing (Justin Chambers) in
the first five episodes and then with Detective Scotty Valens (Danny
Pino) for the remainder of the series. They work under Lieutenant John
Stillman (John Finn) and are assisted by other detectives from their
squadâ€"Nick Vera (Jeremy Ratchford), Will Jeffries (Thom Barry), and
beginning in season three, Kat Miller (Tracie Thoms).Usually, each
episode would focus on a single investigation. All cases involved
murders committed in Philadelphia, although investigations
occasionally required travel outside the city. Cases were also spread
out over much of the previous century, with some as recent as a year
or two old and others dating back to the 1910s. Generally, an
investigation would begin when the police received a new lead, or "new
direction", on a case. This might be the discovery of a body, a new
lead such as an alibi witness not found in the original investigation,
new evidence pointing to the innocence of the accused, or a critical
piece of evidence such as a murder weapon (e.g., one investigation
began when a gun received in a gun buyback program was linked to a
murder through ballistic evidence). In some cases, the lack of a body
meant that it was originally unclear if a crime had even occurred,
with people instead believing that the victim had merely left
town.Over the course of the episode, the detectives would interview
witnesses associated with the crime and piece together the story of
what led the victims to their death. These interviews were accompanied
by flashback sequences to the time of the murder which dramatized the
testimony. Witness testimony, even from people who would later be
revealed as the killer, was almost never false. At most the guilty
party would lie by omission, leaving out critical details, or stopping
their narrative before they implicated themselves. The witness
testimony was also generally presented in chronological order so that
it formed a cohesive linear story for the audience.
series which ran on CBS from September 28, 2003 to May 2, 2010. The
series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department
division that specializes in investigating cold cases.The show is set
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and follows Detective Lilly Rush
(Kathryn Morris), a homicide detective with the Philadelphia Police
Department, who specializes in "cold cases", or investigations which
are no longer being actively pursued by the department. Rush was
initially partnered with Detective Chris Lassing (Justin Chambers) in
the first five episodes and then with Detective Scotty Valens (Danny
Pino) for the remainder of the series. They work under Lieutenant John
Stillman (John Finn) and are assisted by other detectives from their
squadâ€"Nick Vera (Jeremy Ratchford), Will Jeffries (Thom Barry), and
beginning in season three, Kat Miller (Tracie Thoms).Usually, each
episode would focus on a single investigation. All cases involved
murders committed in Philadelphia, although investigations
occasionally required travel outside the city. Cases were also spread
out over much of the previous century, with some as recent as a year
or two old and others dating back to the 1910s. Generally, an
investigation would begin when the police received a new lead, or "new
direction", on a case. This might be the discovery of a body, a new
lead such as an alibi witness not found in the original investigation,
new evidence pointing to the innocence of the accused, or a critical
piece of evidence such as a murder weapon (e.g., one investigation
began when a gun received in a gun buyback program was linked to a
murder through ballistic evidence). In some cases, the lack of a body
meant that it was originally unclear if a crime had even occurred,
with people instead believing that the victim had merely left
town.Over the course of the episode, the detectives would interview
witnesses associated with the crime and piece together the story of
what led the victims to their death. These interviews were accompanied
by flashback sequences to the time of the murder which dramatized the
testimony. Witness testimony, even from people who would later be
revealed as the killer, was almost never false. At most the guilty
party would lie by omission, leaving out critical details, or stopping
their narrative before they implicated themselves. The witness
testimony was also generally presented in chronological order so that
it formed a cohesive linear story for the audience.
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