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Cold Case Season 5 Episode 1

Thrill Kill

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8.8

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 9/23/07

Recovered from the shooting, Lilly wants to convince her boss that she's ready to get back to work. The team re-opens the 1994 case of three 10-year-old kids who were beaten to death when Lilly suspects the teens convicted of the killings may have been wrongfully incarcerated.moreless

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Fan Episode Reviews (13)

The Power of Fear: Lilly reopens the case of three children who were murdered after one of the people convicted hangs himself in prison. She unconvers more evidence that the boys may have been framed. But who is the real murderer?moreless

9.0

By pirateking193, Oct 02, 2010

Despite being mildly cheesy and contrived, this episode was a pretty good look at how society can be whipped into a frenzy, and how the desire to restore normalacy can sometimes lead to corner cutting. The revelation that it was the seemingly normal father of one of the victims who is the real killer nails the point home well; a lot of the time the psychopaths and monsters are people who seem perfectly normal. While the kid who was convicted is free, it's bittersweet in a way. He was in prison for thirteen years, and won't be getting those years back. Plus it ultimately took his friend killing himself to get people to listen and reopen the case. Just how many people who were wrongfully convicted because of hysteria are still in there? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the kid who was convicted sued the Jackass cop who put him in there. I know I would.moreless
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This episode is loosely based on the West Memphis Three (Google it) three wrongfully convicted guys in Arkansas who, unfortunately, have not been the beneficiaries of a good team of police investigators.moreless

9.5

By FishmongerDave, Oct 01, 2009

This episode is loosely based on the West Memphis Three (Google it) three wrongfully convicted guys in Arkansas who, unfortunately, have not been the beneficiaries of a good team of police investigators. The acting in the episode is excellent. For those of us who have followed the WM3 for many years, it is chilling to watch this. It departs from the case its based on, but has many of the same elements. The probable actual killer was the stepfather of one of the kids and his wife found a pocketknife in the stepfather's drawer that the child "always" had with him.

For anyone interested, there is a great yuku board on the case.moreless
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very well done...portrayed the influence of the episode well. music matched the real life case very well.

9.5

By mikedesarmo, Jun 12, 2008

Back in 2003, i researched a case about 3 teens wrongfully accused of murdering 3 kids in west memphis, arkansas. All signs pointed towards the step father. The music matched the episode well, should have been the music based on the actual case though.

This episode which was very identical to the aspects of the case brought the trial back in the main stream media to light and i hope with the relevance that this episode brought forth...we can get some more supporters in bringing justice to the case and freedom to damian echols and company.

"free the west memphis three"

thank youmoreless
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glad to see Lilly back

10

By ferriswheel01, Feb 24, 2008

This episode not only had a great storyline but it also had a great chracter development storyline. I feel sorry for rush because she knows that everyone feels that she shouldn't be back at work and that she can't handle work after the shooting. I ound this episode quite saddening to watch. It was just a shame that one of the two teenagers convicted had to kill himself before he was proven innocent. It must have been diificult for Henry Raymes to live all those years knowing what he did and knowing that 2 innocent people were in jail for a crime they didn't commit. Great stuff.moreless
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somewhat predictable storyline, but great study of society and what people want to believe; Lilly still suffers from recent trauma ---- features awesome music by Nirvana

9.4

By anna16profiler, Jan 03, 2008

I have to say this episode really swept me off my feet, especially as I didn´t expect much, not because I think the writing often is bad but they had an columbine-like episode with teenage killers and I didn´t particularly enjoy it.

About this one, I personally pretty much believed from the beginning both guys were innocent as I saw no motive ("thrill kill"?-you must be very messed up for something like that) and Teddy´s profile didn´t seem to fit and about Dylan - my gut told me he might be mentally not entirely healthy but he´s not a murderer, especially not three young boys for no reason.

But despite that it was an intriguing episode, especially as we got something to learn her.

Society needs a scapegoat and that issue has been brought on in other tv shows but it is so important, that I say "bring that on, bring that on".

Someone needs to be held accountable, needs to pay for the damage and in the relatives´and also the peoples´ despair it doesn´t really matter who.

Often people who experience tragedies like accidents, an illness... something noone is responsible for, turn their anger inwards, against other people in senseless fights or against God, just because they need some reckoning.

Something else, we also like to believe that killers are monsters. Men who are not like your neighbor,husband, co-worker, teacher,son... but that is miraculously false.

Serial killers like George (Mindhunters;The Woods)can certainly be labeled as outcast, but the vast majority of murderers and other criminals are people like us. I think that´s because we´re human and therefore imperfect. We fail, we make wrong choices, we have dark sides...

I very much enjoyed when Lilly told the mother of one of the dead boys:

It's so much easier to believe monsters do these things. Not men.

And it´s even harder when the murderer of your child is the own husband. Creepy.

About Lilly - I loved the welcome, all those hugs, so warm and fuzzy for a change... I appreciated that they didn´t just drop the shooting or made it small, but showed this time how it affected Lilly to come back to the place where it happenend.

I said this time because when the George-thing happened there wasn´t any coverage at all except her throwing away a newspaper. I would have expected her to go to counseling, have nightmare or just talk about it somehow... well that´s the past. I´m glad they´re making it different now.

Well enough with the rambeling.

Alltogether an excellent season start with great writing of my favourite writer Veena Sud.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Kathryn Morris	Det. Lilly Rush
Danny Pino	Scotty Valens
John Finn	Lt. John Stillman
Jeremy Ratchford	Det. Nick Vera
Thom Barry	Det. Will Jeffries
Tracie Thoms	Kat Miller (Episodes 3.13+; recurring previously)

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Raphael Sbarge	Henry Raymes (1994/2007)	Guest Star
Melissa Leo	Tanya Raymes (1994/2007)	Guest Star
Kirk Acevedo	Dylan Noakes (2007)	Guest Star
Mark Rolston	Ari Gordon	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (3)
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- Goof: Near the end of the episode when Dylan is exiting the gates of the Pennsylvania state prison, a palm tree can be seen in the background.
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- Nitpick: It is weird that no disciplinary action was taken against Det. Joe Connolly, the investigating officer in 1994. On the other hand, not all of the aftermath of the case being solved might not have been shown in the episode.
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- George Russo, Sean Costley, and Jack Raymes died on September 2, 1994.
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QUOTES (7)
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- Connelly: Don't Judge Me. Those Boys were guilty!
  Lilly: If that's true, then why did you bury the tape? (Connolly tries to answer, but can't)
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- Vera: Where did you get the dog, big man? We found it in your cart.
  Homeless Man: From the devil.
  Jeffries: You mean from the little boy... in the pool?
  Homeless Man: How'd you know about that!
  Vera: Because he's God, jackass.
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- Lilly: We'll look into it, Mrs. Nimmo.
  Mrs. Nimmo: No, you won't. We're just fish town trash, right? People like us, we don't matter.
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- Lilly: Could be worth another look.
  Scotty: Could be a wild goose chase. And it's closed.
  Lilly: Well, if the killer's still out there... it's not.
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- Lilly Rush: It's so much easier to believe monsters do these things. Not men.
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- Dylan Noakes: I'm the fire-breathing dragon from happily-ever-after-land.
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- John Stillman: Joe Connolly was a good cop. The job's closed.
  Lilly Rush: You got any open jobs for me, boss?
  John Stillman: Counseling's not optional here, Rush. Get that done first.
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NOTES (4)
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- NIRVANA MUSIC
  
  Originally "All Apologies" and "Come as You Are" were supposed to be the first and last songs for Season 3 episode Detention (a.k.a. All Apologies), and the music was all supposed to be Nirvana tracks, but the producers didn't get permission to use the Nirvana tracks in that episode. This could be because of the references to Courtney Love being involved with husband Kurt Cobain's (Lead Singer of Nirvana) death. Courtney has the rights to Nirvana's music.
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- International Airdates:
  - Denmark: December 12, 2007 on TV3
  - The Netherlands: March 1, 2008 on Net 5
  - Czech Republic: May 7, 2008 on TV Nova
  - Finland: May 13, 2008 on MTV3
  - Germany: May 21, 2008 on Pro7
  - Norway: June 4, 2008 on TVNorge
  - Slovakia: June 30, 2009 on Markiza
  - Turkey: September 8, 2009 on CNBC-e
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- All the songs in this episode are performed by Nirvana:
  - All Apologies
  - Stay Away
  - If You Must
  - Lithium
  - Drain You
  - Heart Shaped Box
  - Something in the Way
  - Come as You Are
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- Several names were changed from the initial versions of the script to the one that aired. Originally, Dylan Noakes' last name was Knowles, the Raymes were Hennessies, and Heidi Jenner's last name was Joffe.
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- Evil Triumphs When Good Men Do Nothing
  Dylan Noakes quotes Edmund Burke (1729-1797), an Irish politician and philosopher, by saying, "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing." This is an often paraphrased version of the quote. The original goes: "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing." Although the quote has often been attributed to Burke (or in some cases Thomas Jefferson), it does not appear in his works or recorded speeches.
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- West Memphis 3 The plot in this episode is very similar to a real-life case that happened in 1993 in West Memphis, Arkansas. Three 8-year-old boys - Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore - went missing and were later found beaten and mutilated in a creek leading to a drainage canal. Three teenagers (Jessie Misskelley, 17, Jason Baldwin, 16, and Damien Echols, 18), dubbed "West Memphis 3", were convicted of the killings. Like Dylan Noakes in the episode, Echols was from a poor family that had frequent visits from social workers, but he was later discovered to be gifted in reading and verbal skills. There has been much speculation over the years as to the innocence of the West Memphis Three. Byers' adoptive father has been suggested as a possible suspect in several documentaries made on the case. Mere weeks after the airing of this episode, the real-life case of West Memphis Three was once again brought to media attention. Advanced DNA testing done in 2007 on the crime scene evidence revealed that none of it matched the three supposed perpetrators. On October 29, 2007, papers were filed for Echols' re-trial or immediate release from prison.
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