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Cold Case Season 3 Episode 18

Willkommen

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8.3

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 4/2/06

The team re-opens the 2002 case of a murdered amateur actor when the owner of a local community theater finds a gun hidden inside prop furniture.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (6)

When a gun is found hidden in a piece of prop furniture, the team re-opens the murder of Dennis Hofferman.

9.2

By luckydagangsta, Jun 12, 2008

Dennis is shot in the chest outside the theater right before he is suppose to go on stage in his first performance. At first, it was thought to have been a robbery, but after the gun is found in a piece of furinture used during the prodution, the suspects quickly turn to his fellow actors.

It was sad to see Dennis die right before he lived his dream of performing. The reason he was killed is very convincing because people will do anything if they think it will advance their careers. When in reality the person didn't even get their dream so they took his away for absolutely nothing.

Definitely a wonderful and tragic episode.moreless
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The premise that the killer would go into his act during the confession is beyond silly.

5.1

By Lilliebelle, May 11, 2006

The most touching aspect of this episode was the fiance discovering her intended's tribute in the program at the end. Other than that, there was little to redeem this episode. Since the storyline dealt with actors, it's plausible there'd be a dramatic flair to the characters. However, the revelation of the killer and his outburst seemed contrived at best. Injecting the information about Nick in "Grease" was a nice touch. The actor who played a novice actor/victim was convincing as a nice guy who likes to perform. That he would be swept away by the dazzle of footlights and temporarily abandon his fiance seemed logical. The killer's motives nor his escaping detection did not.moreless
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Acting holds still for so-so episode

5.8

By JPPT1974, Apr 26, 2006

The acting made up a lot for the not so

Good episode despite it being not one of the best

As the team's personal lives didn't get mentioned like it does

On each and every show and instead concentrated on the case

Nick was indeed funny saying he brought the house down during a performance of Grease as the team tried to figure

Out about his personal life and his newly estranged wife also.
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One of the worst episodes of television I've ever seen!

1.1

By Margaretthem, Apr 03, 2006

I had never watched this show before, but decided to give it a go and watched this episode of Cold Case called Willkommen. I can't even describe how bad it was. It had to be some of the worst, most cliched television writing I've seen in a long while. And the acting wasn't much better. There was actually a scene where the two policewomen get a confession out of the killer in literally 90 seconds. How do they do it? By insulting him that he could "never have been a good actor" and "could never have handled the spotlight" which prompts the guy to scream (in one of the worst bad acting moments of the year) "You're WRONG! I could have been the BEST!" and he then proceeds to deliver lines from the musical "Cabaret" which their community theater had produced like 10 years earlier. Believability isn't this show's strong suit.

All in all, one of the most entertaining (for the WRONG reason though) hours I've seen on television. It was THAT bad.moreless
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Maybe it was just the acting.

8.7

By sheilamb5, Apr 03, 2006

This is one of my favorite shows and it is disappointing when these episodes air. Maybe it is that they are too far fetched, seemed like a filler episode or that the casting director has run out of decent actors (the acting seemed exaggerated to me) but this is the kind of episode that makes me want that hour back.
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Danny Pino	Scotty Valens
Jeremy Ratchford	Det. Nick Vera
John Finn	Lt. John Stillman
Kathryn Morris	Det. Lilly Rush
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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John Rubinstein	Rafe Gray (2002/2006)	Guest Star
Eric Lange	Lyle (2002/2006)	Guest Star
Laura Bell Bundy	Nora McCarthy (2002/2006)	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (3)
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- In the eighth grade, Det. Vera played Danny Zuko in the school's production of Grease.
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- Dennis Hofferman was killed in May 2002.
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- Lilly doesn't like musicals.
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QUOTES (3)
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- Lilly: (about Rafe) We could bring him in right now for buying the gun.
  Kat: Might help him "tap into" the emotions of jail time.
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- Lilly Rush: Twenty bucks on the director as the doer. Biggest liar, biggest ego.
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- Nick Vera: (humming) Come to the Cabaret...
  Lilly Rush: I hate musicals.
  Nick Vera: Well, you wouldn't if you'd seen me as Danny Zuko in my eighth grade production of Grease. Brought the house down.
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NOTES (8)
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- In this musical theater episode, the cast prominently features Broadway stars Adam Pascal (from the original Broadway cast of Rent, as well as the late 2003 Master of Ceremonies in the most recent Broadway revival of Cabaret) and Laura Bell Bundy (from the original Broadway casts of Legally Blonde and Hairspray).
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- Cold Case original music composer Michael A. Levine appears in a cameo as a violinist.
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- International Airdates:
  - Denmark: May 3, 2006 on TV3+
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- In the casting sides and in the CBS press release for this episode, Dennis' last name was Hirschfelder and Della's (the local community theater owner in the beginning of the episode) last name was Morris. These were later changed to Hofferman and Gardner, respectively.
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- This is the second time all the music in the episode is taken from a single musical. The first time was episode 2-21: Creatures of the Night, with music from the 1975 movie version of the musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
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- All the songs in the episode are taken from the musical Cabaret. The songs not performed by any of the actors in this episode are taken from the cast recording of the 1998 revival, starring Alan Cumming as Emcee and Natasha Richardson as Sally.
  
  - Willkommen, performed by Alan Cumming
  - Entr'acte, performed by The Kit Kat Band
  - Don't Tell Mama, performed by Laura Bell Bundy and Dwayne L. Barnes
  - Perfectly Marvelous, performed by Laura Bell Bundy and Adam Pascal
  - Maybe This Time, performed by Laura Bell Bundy
  - Married, performed by Adam Pascal
  - If You Could See Her, performed by Alan Cumming
  - Tomorrow Belongs to Me, performed by Cameron Covell
  - Maybe This Time, performed by Natasha Richardson
  - Cabaret, performed by Natasha Richardson
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- The episode title, Willkommen, means "welcome" in German.
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- Tracie Thoms (Det. Kat Miller) and guest star Adam Pascal (Dennis Hofferman) both starred in the 2005 movie version of the Broadway musical Rent.
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Cabaret
  The theater group is doing the musical Cabaret, which opened on Broadway in 1966. All the songs in the episode are taken from the musical, including the title song Willkommen. It is also the same song Dennis performs when he auditions.
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