Oct 27 2008
The Cold Case Formula
Cold Case has always been a first-rate, solid TV drama. With just a few minor glitches when trying to add to the cast, they haven’t had any jump the shark moments as far as I can see. The problem is that the consistent outline of the Cold Case formula has been starting to show through the story.
TV show Law & Order has had a consistent set-up throughout a loooong history. There’s nothing wrong with a TV formula, as long as the stuff within it is interesting. On Law & Order, the police investigate a crime, the lawyers prosecute the offenders. But the police don’t always go about the investigation the same way. Sometimes they play hardball. Sometimes they’re nice guys. Sometimes it all falls apart. Same thing with the lawyers.
On Cold Case, however, they seem to have fallen into a rut. They interview person after person, slowly getting to the truth. Then later interviewees shed light on events the first people didn’t tell the detectives. They haul in these earlier people, then turn the screws on them, accusing them of murder because they lied in their interview. But wait! They were lying for a different reason! It wasn’t them!
This chain of red herrings has worked on Cold Case for a long time, because even when you knew it was coming, you still weren’t sure who did the murder after all. But episode after episode, the formula is now starting to grind. They need to throw a few in that end differently. Maybe they interview ten people and we don’t find the right guy until the end. Maybe they don’t figure it out. Cold Case has thrown in a few episodes with a different style–most notably the campy musical episode with Rocky Horror Picture Show alum Barry Bostwick (2005, “Creatures of the Night”). That was a real treat.
I enjoy Cold Case, enjoy the characters and the banter between them, and the always poignant stories of the unsolved crimes. With just a few minor tweaks to the formula to keep us on our toes, Cold Case can keep on entertaining us for a long time to come.
Visit Cold Case on CBS.com .
