Cold Case

Cold Case is a police procedural that takes place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It centers on a group of detectives who work cold case jobs, some from as long as 50-years ago. Detective Lilly Rush works the cold cases along with partners, Scotty Valence, Nick Vera, Will Jefferies, and Kat Miller. They all work up under Lieutenant John Stillman.

The series began with Lily working a current job where three people were killed in a restaurant in Fishtown. She is pulled off of that case and assigned to the cold case team where she makes a name for herself quickly. The show usually does a single case per episode focusing on one murder and talking to suspects through a series of flashbacks that preceded the crime.

The cases are usually reopened when someone comes forward with new evidence on a crime that was either never solved or it seems that the wrong person were convicted. Most of the cases involve murder, although many involved missing persons whose bodies were found when it was thought they had just left town.

Through the flashbacks Cold Case dealt with a lot of history and history's problems such as racism, abortion, and police brutality. Scattered throughout the series we get to see the detectives personal lives unfold in bits and pieces showing that they are indeed human and that they do something besides work.

Cases vary in severity, from premeditated murder to accidental death and the cold case squad always gets their man. Every detective on the squad knows how to stretch the truth to earn the trust of the suspects they are interrogating. The show won many awards for acting and costumes that were used for period dress.