8 Years

Season 3, Episode 11, Aired

Episode Summary

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8.3
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Four close high school friends each went their separate ways in 1980. Eight years later, in 1988, one of them was murdered. The homicide team receives a tip about the murder, prompting a re-investigation of the case and an examination of the friends' lives, hopes and dreams after high school.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (8)

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  • Beyond Boring!

    3.0
    "Bad"
    By Milks23, Nov 28, 2010
    This episode made no sense whatsoever, and most of the episodes this season are following the same trend.

    The episode begins with Scotty and Nick finding and questioning May.......but, how where did the case come from? The usually show some family member or friend wanting some justice, but last night they went straight to the point.

    The show is getting boring, and the stories, outcomes and tragedies have so many similarities it's tragic.

    The only part of this episode I enjoyed was when LT went to have dinner with his ex. Their cute together I hope their's a reconciliation.

    Overall, very bad episode.......moreless

  • Four teenagers that seem to be best friends grow up and grow apart in the 1980's.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By cammy5660, Nov 28, 2010
    I love this episode and it is by far, my favorite. The best thing about this episode is that this episode's writer Meredith Stiehm said that the Bruce Springsteen songs were chosen first and then the story designed around them. I feel that the music made the storyline that much more powerful. My favorite part about this episode is the Stolen Car flashack. In that flashack i felt as if i was watching the music video for that song. I actually enjoyed all of the flashback's in this episode including the very good looking males that were used in it. I was happy that Clem and May finally decided to be together even though Clem was going to be leaving his family behind(the heart wants what it wants). I imagine that if he and May had reached their final destination, Clem would have contacted his wife and worked out some sort of child support/custodity situation. Looking back, i believe that this episode is what made me a Cold Case fan.moreless

  • What were they thinking?

    5.6
    "Mediocre"
    By history_girl, Nov 28, 2010
    Again Lily's hair is down - still don't like it that way, it is just not right for the character of the previous two seasons!

    Now to why this episode was so bad. It was so slow it wasn't funny. I found it very hard to get interested or even care what happened to these four so-called best friends who parted ways after the wrong people fall in love creating a messy triangle. This episode just didn't ring true or even real.

    The factual errors with the music (years of release) were also annoying since this episode was made to fit in with the songs - after all if this were true - why did they get it wrong?moreless

  • .

    5.0
    "Mediocre"
    By DominicanSin3, Nov 28, 2010
    This episode was ridiculous. It would have been ok if they had gotten rid of the Chris Issac music or whoever it was singing. It couldn't even keep my attention due to all the extra. I usually remember the cold case episodes but I believe this has to be one of those forgettable ones.

  • This episode is about four friends who are close in 1980 when they are in high school. They have their whole lives ahead of them. Not long after we see them in the beginning, their lives all take dramatic turns. It is really about regret and lost love.moreless

    10
    "Perfect"
    By famlee, Nov 28, 2010
    This episode is without a doubt my favorite, Mostly because the writing and music are so brilliant. The flashback scenes in this episode really hit dead-on with the music, especially with Bobby Jean,(even though this and No Surrender are goofs as far as mismatched years) Drive All Night, Stolen Car, and One Step Up. In fact, it hits so well, it's almost like the episode was written around the songs. My favorite situation of this episode that impacts me the most, is the love triangle between Sally, Clem, and May. It is so sad how Clem and May can't be together because Clem is trying to be faithful to Sally, but in the end, he hurt her even more by marrying her, having a kid with her, and making her so sad she cried every night. Only to end up leaving her for May after all that. But then it was nice that May and Clem got to be together again, even if just for awhile. My favorite scenes are definitely the flashback scenes. They are very powerful, and like I said, go along perfect with the lyrics in the music. I especially like in the Stolen Car flashback when the lyrics say, "At first I just thought it was restlessness, that would fade as time went by and our love grew deep. But in the end it was something more, I guess, that tore us apart and made us weak." And during these lyrics, it is showing Sally and Clem having their troubles and Sally alone as a new young, divorced mom. But in conclusion, I believe anyone who has ever experienced lost love and sadness in relationships will love this episode like I do. Definitely grab a box of tissues, especially when the flashback scene with the song Drive All Night comes on. This episode is what turned me into a die-hard Cold Case AND Bruce Springsteen fan. And for that, I say, thank you genius writers of Cold Case.moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (6)

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    • Clem Garris was killed in January 1988.

    • This is the first episode in which Lt. Stillman's ex-wife Rita (played by Laura Johnson) is seen.

    • We get the first look of Lilly's cats Olivia and Tripod since episode 1-12: Glued. We also hear more about Lilly's motorcycle-riding first love.

    • Goof: In the opening scene, the teenagers are listening (and singing) to the song No Surrender in the car. The caption says it's June 6, 1980. No Surrender is from the album Born in the U.S.A., which was not released until 1984.

    • Nitpick: It has been questioned how May re-registered the stolen Chevy for 18 years. Since she obviously was living on the fringe of law-abiding society and even had a small-potatoes criminal record, it's doubtful she cared too much about whether the car was street legal.

    • Nitpick: The color of Petey's eyes changes from green to blue from the 1980s to the 2000s. Similarly, the present day May has blue eyes but the younger actress has brown eyes.

  • QUOTES (4)

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    • May Pearson: On what basis? Scotty: Obstructing a police investigation -88, New York bench warrant -94. Det. Nick Vera: And irritating two homicide guys 2006.

    • Scotty: May Pearson? May: Yeah. Scotty: (showing his badge) Philadelphia Homicide. May: I don't have anything to do with anything!

    • Lilly: Olivia got chomped by a neighbor dog. Stillman: (joking) Did he get the other eye? Lilly: (giving a dirty look) That's not funny!

    • Lilly: You find this (Henry) Mack? Scotty: Six feet under in Trenton. Jeffries: Tough interview...

  • NOTES (6)

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  • ALLUSIONS (2)

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    • May: Remember that day we ditched, drove around playing Born to Run till the tape broke? This is a reference to the Bruce Springsteen album (and song) Born to Run, released in 1975.

    • Although not identical, this episode parallels in some ways the recently cancelled FOX show Reunion. Both are about high school graduates (4 here and 6 on Reunion) who endure dramatic events, including an unplanned pregnancy, until one of them is eventually killed years later, with the other friends being suspects for the crime. In fact, Reunion and this episode both told the story in a year-by-year format. Even more interesting, this episode told the story over 8 years; when Reunion was cancelled, it had also covered 8 years (although the plan was to cover 20 years altogether). But unlike in Reunion, this time we got to know who the killer was.

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