MOVIE SCREEN TITLE PROFILE
TELEVISION SERIES
Cold Case (2003)
Popularity 72.7
Overview
The Philadelphia homicide squad's lone female detective finds her calling when she is assigned cases that have never been solved. Detective Lilly Rush combines her natural instincts with the updated technology available today to bring about justice for all the victims she can.
TITLE INFORMATION
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THE PEOPLE BEHIND IT
Cast & Crew
Performers and key production credits saved for this title.
Top Cast
Kathryn MorrisLilly Rush
Danny PinoScotty Valens
Jeremy RatchfordNick Vera
Thom BarryWill Jeffries
Tracie ThomsKat Miller
John FinnJohn Stillman
Key Crew
Jerry BruckheimerExecutive Producer
Jonathan LittmanExecutive Producer
Meredith StiehmExecutive Producer
ARTWORK GALLERY
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EPISODE GUIDE
Seasons & Episodes
Season and episode information in the catalog.
Season 1
23 episodes · First aired 2003-09-28 · ★ 7.6
E01
Look Again
2003-09-28 · 45 min
Lilly investigates a 1976 case involving a teenage girl who was beaten to death on a tennis court during a party at a plush estate.
E02
Gleen
2003-10-05 · 45 min
The fiancé of a fireman asks Lilly to help prove that a convicted felon, about to be paroled on an unrelated crime, is responsible for the murder of the fireman's first wife. The young mother was killed by a homemade bomb shortly before she was to testify in court against a man who exposed himself to her.
E03
Our Boy Is Back
2003-10-12 · 44 min
A serial rapist sends a letter to the squad announcing his return to Philadelphia after five years and his plan to strike again. Lilly's best hope of catching the rapist comes from a victim who is able to provide a composite sketch.
E04
Churchgoing People
2003-10-19 · 45 min
Lilly re-investigates the case of a murdered church organist, when his Alzheimer's-stricken widow begins having flashbacks of the night in question.
E05
The Runner
2003-10-26 · 43 min
After a drug addict brings in an audio tape she found on which a fatal shooting is heard, Lilly reopens a 1973 murder case involving the death of a twenty-one-year-old rookie cop. The young officer was shot three times in the chest while responding to a call at a drug-infested housing project.
E06
Love Conquers Al
2003-11-09 · 44 min
A petty crook, Ricky, hoping to get a reduced sentence, relates witnessing a young man washing blood out of his car the night a teen track runner was murdered.
The young athlete, Paige Pratt, was found shot, and her boyfriend Al Clarkson was originally imprisoned for the crime.
E07
A Time to Hate
2003-11-16 · 45 min
Lilly investigates the case of Daniel Holtz, a college baseball player who was found beaten to death in an alley behind a gay bar in 1964. Daniel's mother comes to Lilly in the hopes that his killer can be brought to justice before she dies. Lilly discovers the maltreatment gay victims received in the 60's, when her investigation discloses that it may have been a policeman's nightstick that made the lethal blows.
E08
Fly Away
2003-11-30 · 46 min
When a young woman, Rosie, wakes up from a coma, Lilly re-opens the fall in which her 6-year-old daughter Toya died.
Things get complicated when the mother remembers very little of that night, and Lilly feels especially motivated to find the killer.
E09
Sherry Darlin'
2003-12-07 · 46 min
Lilly gets an anonymous phone call from a man claiming he killed an elderly woman back in 1989 and buried her body in the basement of a house. When Lilly checks the dwelling, a body is recovered, but the alleged murderer refuses to identify himself.
E10
The Hitchhiker
2003-12-21 · 44 min
Rush and Valens investigate the case of a cold-blooded killer who shot a young man trying to hitchhike his way home to Philly from Atlanta.
E11
Hubris
2004-01-11 · 46 min
A college professor (Jeffrey Nordling), who lost everything − his career, his family, his reputation − after being suspected of murdering one of his female students (Kaitlin Doubleday) in 1995, offers new information regarding the case that he hopes will clear his name. He believes the student's death is connected to a copycat murder of a prostitute. Rush investigates the woman who was killed and the men in her life in order to discover which one of them killed her.
E12
Glued
2004-01-18 · 46 min
Det. Stillman asks Lilly to re-open a case he couldn't solve, wherein an 8-year-old boy, Tim Barnes, was murdered in 1980. The prime suspects included a catholic priest, three glue-sniffing teenagers, one elusive suspect, and the boy's own parents.
E13
The Letter
2004-01-25 · 45 min
Rush and Valens re-open the case of a 25-year-old black woman, who was murdered in 1939, after the woman's granddaughter comes forward with new information. The woman was assumed to be a prostitute murdered by a client, but letters written by the victim indicate that she was afraid of a milkman.
E14
Boy in the Box
2004-02-15 · 43 min
The 1958 death of an unknown 6-year-old boy found in a field inside a cardboard box is reinvestigated after a small suitcase with the child's picture and his old cowboy hat is left in front of a church. The new probe reveals that the rowdy boy lived at a Catholic-run orphanage and was adopted two days before his suspicious demise.
E15
Disco Inferno
2004-02-22 · 46 min
Construction workers discover a skull with bullet hole under the ruins of a disco club burned down in 1978. 22 people died in the fire. Rush and Valens come to the conclusion that the burning of the club was arson, meant to cover up a murder leaving them with not one, but 23 cold cases.
E16
Volunteers
2004-03-07 · 46 min
When the remains of a young black man and a white woman are found under the foundation of a building, Rush and Valens discover that not only did the two go missing in 1969, but that they may have been killed professionally for their work in an underground abortion clinic.
E17
The Lost Soul of Herman Lester
2004-03-14 · 46 min
When the son of a murdered high-school basketball star receives a death threat, Rush and Valens reopen the 1987 case of Herman Lester who was stabbed to death only hours after leading his team to win the state championship.
E18
Resolutions
2004-03-28 · 43 min
Lilly investigates an unsolved hit-and-run accident from New Year's Eve 1999 that left a man dead, after a recovering alcoholic comes forward and claims she is the one who hit him. But the evidence points to the guy being murdered, not accidentally run down.
E19
Late Returns
2004-04-04 · 43 min
The shooting death of a man in his driveway is connected to the unsolved 1992 murder of a Democratic campaign worker whose lifeless body was thrown into a nearby river on election night. The investigation centers on the relationship the dead woman had with a present-day congressman. Apparently, the victim in the current homicide probed into the earlier slaying and discovered damning new evidence. Elsewhere, Lilly spies Kite flirting with a new ADA and gets jealous.
E20
Greed
2004-04-18 · 43 min
The team reopens the 1985 case of a wealthy stock broker. At the time it was deemed that Charles Danville was killed when someone attempted to steal his car, but new evidence suggests that he may, in fact, have been murdered.
E21
Maternal Instincts
2004-04-25 · 43 min
The 1989 case of a woman murdered in front of her 3-year-old son is re-opened. A psychologist asks Det. Rush to look into the case again when the son, now a 17-year-old teen, suffers from intense nightmares and troubled behavior.
E22
The Plan
2004-05-02 · 46 min
The 1999 drowning death of a military academy's swim coach, which was originally ruled as accidental, is reinvestigated after the homicide division receives a note that suggests it was murder. Back at the office, Valens searches for Elisa after she goes missing.
E23
Lover's Lane
2004-05-23 · 44 min
When DNA evidence reveals that a wrong man was convicted for killing 15-year-old Eve Kendall back in 1986, the team re-opens her case in an attempt to find the real killer.
Season 2
23 episodes · First aired 2004-10-03 · ★ 7.7
E01
The Badlands
2004-10-03 · 45 min
Lilly returns to her last case before joining the Cold Case Squad as she re-investigates the brutal triple homicide of a restaurant owner and his family, murdered in the restaurant bathroom in 2003. Also the other team member have personal reasons to closing the case; Jeffries grew up in the predominantly black neighborhood while Vera was the one assigned to the case when Det. Rush left.
E02
Factory Girls
2004-10-10 · 45 min
On the eve of the 60-year reunion of women who worked in a weapons factory during World War II, Lilly is asked to re-investigate the death of Alice Miller, one of the worker girls. The death was deemed accidental at the time, but her friend pleads to Lilly to look closer into the case.
E03
Daniela
2004-10-17 · 44 min
Lilly and Valens reopen a presumed homicide from 1979 in which an unidentified victim's blood-drenched shoes, underwear and sheets were found in a trash bag, but no body. The investigation begins when a battered wife accuses her husband of murdering a girl in 1979 and brings in an amateur film from the time that supposedly shows him committing the crime.
E04
The House
2004-10-24 · 43 min
When human remains are found outside a former state prison, the team re-opens the 1968 case of a dead inmate, murdered on the night Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Concert was broadcast to prisons throughout the country. However, when it's revealed that the bones don't belong to the person everyone had assumed, the team must start the probe anew by first identifying who the victim was.
E05
Who's Your Daddy
2004-10-31 · 43 min
Det. Rush investigates the 1991 double murder of married illegal immigrants from Cambodia who were shot to death in their apartment and found by their 6-year old daughter. The now-teenage girl brings the case to Lilly after she discovers a bracelet once owned by her mother is for sale on the internet. The probe reveals that the parents had dark secrets unknown to their daughter.
E06
The Sleepover
2004-11-07 · 45 min
Lilly reopens a 1990 murder case, in which a prep-school girl was found dead in a local swimming hole, after a present-day victim with similar markings is discovered at the same place. The investigation reveals that the victim of the earlier crime was routinely tormented by a trio of classmates who invited her to a sleepover the night she was killed.
E07
It's Raining Men
2004-11-14 · 42 min
An HIV-positive gay man asks Rush and Valens to re-investigate the case of his dead partner who died of strangulation in 1983. Not only was the victim outspoken in his views about AIDS education within the 1980's secretive gay community, he was also the member of a very prominent family, disowned by his father for his sexual orientation.
E08
Red Glare
2004-11-21 · 44 min
The 1953 murder of a white school teacher, a communist sympathizer who was involved in civil-rights issues, is reopened after the victim's youngest son asks for it to be reinvestigated. The probe reveals that the slain man was killed on the same day that the Rosenbergs were executed and was set to testify the next day before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
E09
Mind Hunters
2004-11-28 · 45 min
The headless torso of a woman who disappeared in 1985, on the same day she filed domestic-abuse charges against her husband, is found by hikers in a wildlife preserve. The investigation quickly leads to the grisly discovery of 8 more decapitated bodies, the victims of a serial killer.
E10
Discretion
2004-12-19 · 43 min
The team re-opens the 2000 case of a prominent Puerto Rican assistant district attorney when rumors about his connection to a large amount of money gone missing at the time of his death start to circulate. However, his widow insists that the claims are not true. The re-investigation reveals that the victim was prosecuting a murder trial and the man convicted for the crime after his death may possibly be innocent.
E11
Blank Generation
2005-01-09 · 45 min
The team re-opens the case of Matthew Adams, a teen-aged cult member who apparently committed suicide back in 1978, when his sister comes forth with new evidence about the deprogrammer her family hired to rescue her brother.
E12
Yo, Adrian
2005-01-16 · 43 min
When a dying boxing referee makes a confession about a 1976 fight, the team re-opens the case in which an underdog fighter, arranged to fight against a much more qualified boxer, took a heavy beating in the match and died only moments afterwards.
E13
Time to Crime
2005-01-30 · 42 min
After a murder weapon connected to the 1987 drive-by shooting of a little girl turns up, Det. Rush and her team re-open the case. The team slowly tracks back the gun's previous owners until the shocking original owner is finally revealed.
E14
Revolution
2005-02-20 · 45 min
Rush and the team investigate the 1969 murder of a 19-year-old girl whose body was found in her boyfriend's apartment the day he fled to Canada to avoid fighting in Vietnam.
E15
Wishing
2005-03-06 · 44 min
Lilly investigates the 1993 death of a mentally challenged teen who was hit by a train, after drawings appear on his grave that indicate foul play might have been involved.
E16
Revenge
2005-03-13 · 45 min
Lt. Stillman's priest informs him of a long ago confession where a man confessed being involved in the 1998 kidnapping of a 9-year old boy. The case is reopened with this new lead, and it turns out the truth is closer to home.
E17
Schadenfreude
2005-03-20 · 45 min
A man claims that he was wrongfully convicted of the 1982 murder of his rich wife. The case is reopened when the victim's rare ring is discovered worn by a recently deceased junkie.
E18
Ravaged
2005-03-27 · 44 min
A woman, who was romantically involved with Nick Vera in high school, claims that members of a fraternity might have been involved in her alcoholic sister's death in 1995. The victim's estranged husband and a bar owner are also viewed as potential suspects.
E19
Strange Fruit
2005-04-03 · 45 min
The unsolved 1963 murder of a black teenager, whose body was discovered by the then-young Will Jeffries, is reopened.
E20
Kensington
2005-04-24 · 45 min
The murder case of a young mill worker is re-opened when Rush learns that a recent parolee admitted to stealing money off the victim's body.
E21
Creatures of the Night
2005-05-01 · 42 min
A convicted serial killer will be paroled after 25 years in prison unless Lilly and her team can connect him to the 1977 murder of a young doorman found strangled on a train platform. The killing is eerily similar to other murders committed by the man. Making the case more urgent is the fact that the convicted strangler hints that he will kill again upon release. Elsewhere, Scotty confronts Christina about her past and tries to get her to talk to a New York detective.
E22
Best Friends
2005-05-08 · 44 min
When an old truck containing human bones is pulled from the Delaware River, the team re-opens the case of a missing and possibly murdered girl who disappeared unexpectedly in 1932.
E23
The Woods
2005-05-22 · 45 min
The discovery of nine human skulls leads Rush (Kathryn Morris) back to George Marks, the serial killer she was unable to incriminate months earlier, and who walked away a free man. As the detectives reinvestigate his mother's murder from 1972, George is forced to emerge from hiding to face Rush again. This time, their very lives are at stake in their final showdown.
