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Episodes where you wish the doer was someone else


"Andy in C Minor":
As all fans of the show know, the "best friend doer" is easily the show's most notorious cliche. A slightly lesser-known one is the suspect who expresses disinterest in something in their first interview but, as we later see, really wanted that something, and later killed the victim over it (Karen and her kid in "The Good-bye Room", Jacob and going back to the Amish in "Running Around", George Watson living in a Libertyville home in "Libertyville"). Fitting both of those cliches, Carlos was kind of an uninspired choice for doer. A far better choice, IMHO, would've been Leah, the semi-stalker girl who later got a cochlear.

Picture this: We end up discovering that Leah got her cochlear after Andy got his, rather than before. She thought since he liked Emma, maybe he'd like her again if she could hear. Of course he doesn't, so now she's undergone this procedure, leaving her not totally fitting in the hearing world or the deaf world, for a boy who doesn't even want her. Frustrated, she clocks him in the head with the metronome. What do you think?

"Schadenfreude":
Again, best friend doer. Meh. What if it was the wife of the man had died on Steven's table? Maybe since her husband died, she wanted Steven to feel the same loss.

"Wednesday's Women":
I knew early on it wouldn't be any of the women, but what if it was the doer's sister instead?

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Felix Spyczyk, the Polish servant in Beautiful Little Fool. It came out of nowhere and the motivation was weak. It was as if the writers picked his name out of a hat and worked the final murder scene to fit that selection. Plus, the "confession" was stupid. I know it was hard to do because the killer was dead but his grandson giving a tape of him confessing to the police? Lame!

I wish it was Mickey Stein, the guy who worked for Violet's rival and was devoted to her. He could have killed her because he felt that she was a threat to Carmela's happiness. The police see that the clock in Mickey Stein Jr.'s place and confront him about it. He turns thoughtful and says something like "My grandfather once said that he would have done anything for Carmela. It scared me when he said that, like he would even kill to protect her. Now I wonder if he actually did."

The case wouldn't actually be solved but the cops would be pretty sure. It wouldn't matter if there was proof anyway. The killer is dead.

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I was Sad He was The Killer tooQ!

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Colors

Another cheap "best friend doer". The racist would've been too obvious, the gangster though works and ties into the "business vs fun" theme concerning baseball that we see at the end when Will goes to his nephew's game.



Wishing

Should've been the bully, or at least have him put away for something like characters in the other episodes are (was he? I don't quite remember).




And so Governor Devlin, because even the cost of freedom can be too high, I REFUSE your pardon!

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Debut - He was devoted to her and their confrontation on the stairs seemed really weak and forced to me. The heat of the moment murders was another Cold Case Cliche that was used more than it should have been.

Factory Girls - Again, this was forced and seemed to be so another woman wouldn't be the killer in an episode about women who paved the way for others. In time, Nelson WOULD have adjusted to Alice, because he truly loved her. That was another case where the motive and killing seemed rushed and put together at the last minute. Kate basically all but threw herself at Nelson and told him she's be the loyal housewife, and he ignored her. I imagine that would have only increased her anger and jealously towards Alice.

True Calling - This felt like an episode where they made it a white guy to avoid being seen as politically incorrect. White teachers are still looked upon with resentment in many urban neighborhoods,justified or not.

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Not sure about "Debut" or "True Calling", but I think "Factory Girls" had a good choice for a doer. Dottie (who's Kate?) would be far too obvious. I'm glad it wasn't her. Alice's death besically came about because Nelson couldn't accept either of the two choices he was faced with when he came home. He could have accepted the new, independent woman Alice had become, or he could have been with Dottie, who was more than willing to assume the traditional housewife role herself. Instead, he wanted Alice as she was, which wasn't possible anymore. She wouldn't go back to that, Nelson got violent, and Alice was pushed to her death.

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I guess I can see that one.... Nelson also points to another side of the war people don't talk about. When you come home, you want things to be the same way they were before you left. Even in six months, I'm sure Nelson saw enough things to give anyone nightmares.
My one gripe about that murder scene... he winced when Dottie brushed up against his broken arm yet Alice can't fight him off?

As for your suggestion about Schadenfreude, only problem with that was she was having an affair with the docter when his wife was murdered,even after her husband's death and malpratice suit.

I guess the other gripe about Cold Case..the lack of female doers and their motives... having only 35 female doers in seven seasons is easily among the most top heavy stats for crime shows.

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I am torn about the number of female perps on Cold Case.
On one hand, even 35 female "killers" in 7 seasons is an over-representation of women who kill--statistically, males are the perpetrators 90% of the time.
On the other hand, female victims also seem to be over-represented...maybe 35 out of 200+ episodes is somewhere in between, but there were definitely cases when a female perp would have been very believable. Off the top of my head, Debut, because there were a couple of women from which to pick, and instead, it's the guy. (I will admit, I think the writers may have been trying to stay too close to a real life case with the "2 women dying after a fall down the stairs" thing. Google Michael Peterson: guy was a writer in, I believe, South Carolina whose 2nd wife died after a fall down the stairs and during the investigation, it is discovered that a woman from his past had died the same way.)

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Yes, in that sense, Cold Case is sticking close to the real world (as were many of their cases.) In the same breath, crime show wise, of all the other ones I watch or have watched (CSIS,Murder,She Wrote,NCIS) Cold Case is the only series where virtually all of the seasons had five or less (4 being the rule.
I guess my only gripe with that is part of the show is the fun of guessing who done it. When you can eliminate the gender,takes some of the fun out of it.
But then again, Cold Case has been more about the why than the who.
I wish there had been one more season...it definately still had life left in it.

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I don't have this feeling very often actually. In fact, I have to kinda "struggle" to find some episode I though the resolution was "forced". But if asked...

"Sandhogs" - Dunno, I didn't see the buildup required to accept that the brother in law would do it. I think we were supposed to accept that he felt jealous because his father preferred his daughter's husband over his own son and that he was corrupted by the bad boss into getting rid of him because he was planning a strike but the flashbacks didn't do a good work at showing either. The resolution was very contrived in general. I might be wrong, but I think the end was something like they walk again in the bar this guy was in and say "Ey, that's your father's pocketlight! He gave it to your brother in law, not you!" and the guy suddenly goes "Yeah, 'cause I killed him! I hated him!" Plus, what a luck that the doer was his only known relative alive (Having his legal wife being alive and interviewed, on the other hand, would add an interesting dynamic, since the victim was cheating her with a black woman. In the '40s, no less).

"Devil Music" - Meh, forced. Now thinking about it, the entire episode was quite "Meh" in general. The deceased uncle would be too obvious and everyone else would feel forced anyway.

"World's End" - Okay, this episode was horrible in general. I can accept the actual doer but not that he was still alive. But then again, it would be far more interesting if the killer was the lover... This "strong, liberated" woman, that chose to dump her husband and son for a completely unknown man in an apparent life-or-death situation, would realize the hardest way that she didn't really know him. Wouldn't it be amazing if he was actually a violent psycho that was the real responsible of making his wife a vegetative? That would be a real twist!

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Wow, isn't it puzzling when you say "I don't really have something in mind" and then more and more examples begin to pop in your head?

"Bad Reputation" - Big one. Okay, the cop was a jackass that didn't believe in reintegration. I get that. But I still don't buy he would kill him for that.
The ex-wife's husband would be too obvious, but if it was the wife or the son would be very believable (she didn't want him near her son, who had just turned into a criminal, she may believe, because his influence; or in his case, because he was a stupid teenager that wouldn't accept his father wasn't a "cool" crook anymore) and so, so deliciously cruel (imagine if, in the second case, they had introduced the son as a perfect family man in the modern day).

"Family 8108" - Weeeell, I didn't like that the killer was the only one white guy in the victim's circle again. Or that it was a war veteran with PTSD again. Or that it was pushing the victim over a rail again, but then that's what half of the murders are. Of course, if you watch this ep as a stand alone rather than after 4-odd seasons, then there are no real complains.

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Actually, I thought O'Leary was the perfect choice to be the doer. Really glad it wasn't the new husband. Generally speaking, in crime dramas, when a character is introduced that doesn't seem to have anything important to do, that's the doer, so I naturally expected it to be him. I think Pete being killed by his ex-wife or son would've been too depressing, and his partner would've been kinda lame. With O'Leary, on the other hand, you have the role reversal of a crook who's not only trying to reform, but even becomes an informant, and the cop who's turning over to crime, first trying to trick Pete into robbing an armored car, then murdering him (to shut him up, obviously) when it goes sour. Plus it gave Gordon Clapp a totally different kind of cop to play after 12 years of the socially akward, but friendly Greg Medavoy.

I was a bit underwhelmed with the choice of doer in "Family 8108" as well, but didn't dwell on it too much, because I can't really think of anyone better.

On the other hand...

"Roller Girl": This one was on TV last night. I caught the end of it and was reminded why it's one of my two least favorites. I identified with Hugh, the lonely kid who never gets the girl, so I was bummed it turned out to be him. I also didn't care for "The Key" (one of my other bottom two) mostly for the same reason.

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I though "Roller Girl" was an accident and nobody was arrested?

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Family 8108 made sense to me because PTSD was almost unheard of back then.

As for The Key, I have no doubt the vicitm married when she was too young and was tired of being the wife,mother etc role that society had told her she should do but using a teenage boy to sort those issues out? No,it was wrong what she did and even Jefferies told the doer that.

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""Roller Girl": This one was on TV last night. I caught the end of it and was reminded why it's one of my two least favorites. I identified with Hugh, the lonely kid who never gets the girl, so I was bummed it turned out to be him. I also didn't care for "The Key" (one of my other bottom two) mostly for the same reason."

That's why I was glad it wasn't Dottie from Factory Girls. I could relate to her. I think it also had to do with the fact that, at the time the episode first aired, I was suffering from a pretty bad case of unrequited love for my best male friend who had a girlfriend.

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In real life, women don't kill as often as men do. They make up about 15% of all murders.

Cold Case has 35 women as killers in 156 episodes, for a rate of approximately 22%. That means they had more women kill on the show than in real life.

So you look stupid now for complaining about that.

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I also thought they got it right in Factory Girls.It's not like they never did the woman scorned angle .They would go back and forth between the obvious and the unexpected killer.
I wasn't expecting what happened in Beautiful Little Fool but I wasn't too disappointed with it.I liked how good Carmella turned out to be.

One I did feel a little letdown by was Superstar.I felt the reporter being the doer was a bit of a letdown a bit weak on motive.I wanted it to be principal or dean who wanted her to throw the match.
I didn't want it to be her rival turned friend grace or they guy (Fritz) she played against.

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I wondered if I was the on;yOME DISAPPointed WHo THE DOer was IN DEBUT> he really SEEMED TO LOVE Her, I"D Buy the GIRL she bear out FOR The SPot more

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I agree THe killers IN FActory girls and Debut Didn't Make Sense they loved the Victum too much

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Actually if a married woman is killed, it's likely to be by the husband, so it does make sense.

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kdogg, who would you made as the doer in True Calling? Renaldo would be too obvious, and the female teacher also I think..maybe the balck guy?

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I would have made either the security guard or the female teacher the doer.
That is one episode where it was too politically IMO. Sad to say but in some (not a lot) school districts,anyone white coming in will be viewed as uppity and trying to educate their kids to be more white.
Cold Case critics accuse the show of being too liberal or always trying to make it the white guy,they have a point in this one.

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Another I just saw:


Dead Heat

This plays out pretty much the same as Frank's Best. Why not have the Brit or the woman do it this time?



And so Governor Devlin, because even the cost of freedom can be too high, I REFUSE your pardon!

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One thing you will notice about Cold Case. The doer will almost never be a woman. Other than Criminal Minds (which makes sense) Cold Case is one of the shows that has the largest gap between male and female doers, almost 100.
In many of the episodes, this made sense. In others though, like Debut, Andy in C Minor,The Red and The Blue,there were women who had just as strong, if not stronger motives, and the writers didn't use them.

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Definitely "Wishing". That episode broke my heart.

"Committed" was the other one that I truly felt would have been better without a "Lets put them out of their misery" treatment

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The Red and The Blue - Had to throw that one in. For me, this was one of the bigger ones. Yes Dusty was a addict but that motive is weak compared to Edie's. Not only was Truck dumping her and going back to his wife, he was going to abandon their career. For a narcissist like Edie,that would have been too much to take. She should have been the one pulling the trigger,not Dusty. Dusty should have been the one who had kept his mouth shut in exchange for being bribed with drug money.

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Time To Crime.I saw if for the first time today.I couldn't help but thing anyone else but the brother!

Andy In C Minor

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In the case of "serial killer" episodes like "Mindhunters", "The Woods", "It Takes a Village", "Sabotage", and "The Road", it's generally written less as a whodunnit than it is learning why the doer started killing and how to save their latest victim.

I agree about "Andy In C Minor" though (see OP)

I'd also add "Roller Girl". Wish it had been ANYONE but the boy who was her friend.

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Missy's death in Roller Girl was ruled accidental. The friend was just signing his sworn statement.

Sanity is like parachutes: just because you lost yours doesn't mean you can have mine.

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I don't think so, didn't he get arrested?

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There is an old Janis Ian song with a line that pretty much sums up, IMO, Cold Case perps:
"If my enemies don't get me, my friends will know how."
:)

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One thing about Wishing it kind of gives away the ending at the start unless there is some twist coming.I know it's a popular episode it's well done but if it wasn't I think viewrs would complain about that more.

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Same latter part of the post as the one I put up for Your most hated Cold Case Killers:

Garrett Caine ("Ravaged") - The episode reminded me too much of a great story I read, especially the dog and her trading her body parts. He was such a freaking misogynistic *beep* that I wished he did it, so that he'll go away and pay. It was funny because I didn't even recognize Steve Sandvoss who I was really in <3 with before. Ha...

Diane Moore ("Schadenfreude") - Again, she didn't do it, but I could pin the whole thing on her. I didn't like how they made it Kitty since she was always such a good friend all for that 'twist'. Just because Diane's husband died on the table didn't make it the doctor's fault, much less her being so bitter and vengeful that she destroyed two lives. I wished she did it just so she can get her just desserts.

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Ironic since she was still having an affair with the man she was suing. Kitty wasn't a huge shock to me as Lindsey's killer. She was a good "friend" because she thought once Lindsey got back on her feet,she'd have her ticket into the world of the rich and famous.
Lindsey finally saw through her..and that's when she got killed.

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COuld someone please re-explain me why Kitty killed Lindsey?

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Wishing was the first thing that popped into my head.
You laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at you because you're all the same.

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A lot of people are saying that the killer should be another character in the episode- often someone they don't like.

But the very fact that people are saying that X should be the killer, instead of Y, is what makes it effective. The show wouldn't be nearly as suspenseful if you could easily guess the killer.

I often could identify who the killer would be. Firstly, you eliminate the obvious- bullies, rivals etc. Except in rare cases, the killer was often out of left field, and was far less obvious.

I noticed that, when suspects were interviewed, someone would say a throwaway line, and I thought "I wonder why they had them say that?". Later, Lily would remember that this person said that line, ad would crack the case.

I became quite good at guessing the killer, and got it right 80% of the time.

There are a lot of red herring thrown into this show, to throw you off-track, but don't ignore them. Often what seems like a red herring turned out to point to both the killer and the motive.

One example was "Superstar". I found it strange that the reporter called everyone "champ". It is a term of greeting, but it seemed strange. Later, a strange phone call makes Lily realise who is responsible, because the person on the phone said "champ", the same expression as the sports reporter.

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Actually, I tended to pretty good at guessing the doer. ("Static" and "Soul" are two major exceptions where I was totally off in my predictions, which is why I really like them). Yes, making the most unpleasanr or unsavory character is seldom the most dramatic choice, but that doesn't necessarily mean the character who turns out to be the doer was the best choice.

I think in some of the ones I suggested, I think there's a least one person who would've been either more surprising or more dramatic. For example having Andy's best friend Carlos in "Andy in C Minor" was kind of lame, because the "best friend doer", as most fans know, is one of the show's biggest cliches. I suggested what if Leah had gotten a cochlear, thinking Andy would've liked her, only to find he's still into Emma. Now she's gotten this implant that's left her not quite fitting into the hearing or deaf worlds for a boy who doesn't even want her, and kills Andy out of frustration. Isn't that more interesting?

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yes. that would have been better

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I wish that in "One Fall" the killer of the wrestler had been his ex-wife.

The ex-wife in this is such an ungrateful bitch. She didn't like him working on the wharves, but when he becomes a wrestler, and bonds with his son, which is what she wanted, she doesn't want him to be a wrestler either, and takes his son away from him.

She seems like many ungrateful bitches who are never happy, no matter what their husband does.

I think that the bitch should have been the killer, she go to jail, and be seperated from her son, which would serve her right.

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Good call, plus my gripe there is the crimal underuse of Theresa Russell. It's shameful enough that she doesn't receive any special credit ("and", "with", etc). If you can land an actress like her, make the most of it!

Also some episodes (namely Yo Adrian and Two Weddings) should have actually had doers.



And so Governor Devlin, because even the cost of freedom can be too high, I REFUSE your pardon!

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Not every episode needs a doer. Sometimes, no one is directly responsible.

(Bitter much, d henderson?)

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Maybe not Two Weddings, since it is kind of a "lighter" episode and at the end they can all have fun and not put a damper on Louie's big day. But Yo Adrian did need one. It ends up being practically a Darwin Award and you lose a great deal of sympathy.


And so Governor Devlin, because even the cost of freedom can be too high, I REFUSE your pardon!

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I see. You try to scold us for acting on emotion, then you turn around and use the word "bitch" as often as the word "the". Get over yourself.

Back on topic, I wish that Glory Days and Forensics had different doers. Especially with Forensics, since I called it within the first two minutes of the episode.

Sanity is like parachutes: just because you lost yours doesn't mean you can have mine.

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I agree that Forensics should have a different doer. Alyssa to me would have been the perfect choice as she viewed Dartmouth as being the ticket to all her dreams and Luke ruining them.
Glory Days doesn't bother me as much.

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