8.7/10669 votesLoading...#1 - A Perfect Day
Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 11/27/2005
When a fisherman finds evidence of a young girl's death washed up on a shore in New Jersey, Lilly re-opens the 1965 case of 4-year-old child who had a seemingly abusive mother.
Director: Roxann Dawson
Writer: Veena Sud
8.7/10850 votesLoading...#2 - Forever Blue
Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 12/3/2006
The team re-investigates the 1968 death of a policeman who was shot in his patrol car. The case was then ruled as a drug bust gone bad, but new evidence now reveals the victim may have been romantically involved with his partner.
Director: Jeannot Szwarc
Writer: Tom Pettit
8.6/10651 votesLoading...#3 - Mind Hunters
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 11/28/2004
The headless torso of a woman who disappeared in 1985, on the same day she filed domestic-abuse charges against her husband, is found by hikers in a wildlife preserve. The investigation quickly leads to the grisly discovery of 8 more decapitated bodies, the victims of a serial killer.
Director: Kevin Bray
Writer: Veena Sud
8.6/10788 votesLoading...#4 - Best Friends
Season 2 Episode 22 - Aired 5/8/2005
When an old truck containing human bones is pulled from the Delaware River, the team re-opens the case of a missing and possibly murdered girl who disappeared unexpectedly in 1932.
Director: Mark Pellington
Writer: Liz W. Garcia
8.6/10506 votesLoading...#5 - Death Penalty: Final Appeal
Season 3 Episode 20 - Aired 4/16/2006
The 1994 case of a raped and murdered 16-year-old girl is re-opened when Det. Jeffries gets a call from a prisoner on death-row -- scheduled to be executed in just three days.
Director: Alex Zakrzewski
Writer: Sean Whitesell
8.6/10773 votesLoading...#6 - Rampage
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 9/24/2006
Lilly investigates a 1995 shooting spree at a mall in which two teen boys killed 15 people before committing suicide. The case is reopened when a video of the crimes is found and it suggests that a third shooter was involved. Elsewhere, Stillman asks Valens to investigate whether Valens' brother may have been molested by a boxing coach in the 1980s.
Director: Mark Pellington
Writer: Veena Sud
8.5/10555 votesLoading...#7 - The Woods
Season 2 Episode 23 - Aired 5/22/2005
The discovery of nine human skulls leads Rush (Kathryn Morris) back to George Marks, the serial killer she was unable to incriminate months earlier, and who walked away a free man. As the detectives reinvestigate his mother's murder from 1972, George is forced to emerge from hiding to face Rush again. This time, their very lives are at stake in their final showdown.
Director: Nelson McCormick
Writer: Veena Sud
8.5/10535 votesLoading...#8 - Fireflies
Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 11/12/2006
The 1975 disappearance of an 8-year-old girl who was never found is reinvestigated after a note written by the girl shortly before she vanished turns up. Their friendship rattled many in the predominantly white neighborhood and the girls quickly became targets of hatred.
Director: Marcos Siega
Writer: Erica Shelton Kodish
8.5/10625 votesLoading...#9 - Shuffle, Ball Change
Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 3/11/2007
When a body is found in a dumpster, the team re-opens the 1984 case of a murdered teenage boy who wanted to become a dancer against his father's wishes.
Director: Mark Pellington
Writer: Liz W. Garcia
8.4/10786 votesLoading...#10 - A Time to Hate
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/16/2003
Lilly investigates the case of Daniel Holtz, a college baseball player who was found beaten to death in an alley behind a gay bar in 1964. Daniel's mother comes to Lilly in the hopes that his killer can be brought to justice before she dies. Lilly discovers the maltreatment gay victims received in the 60's, when her investigation discloses that it may have been a policeman's nightstick that made the lethal blows.
Director: Deran Sarafian
Writer: Jan Oxenberg
8.4/10716 votesLoading...#11 - Daniela
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 10/17/2004
Lilly and Valens reopen a presumed homicide from 1979 in which an unidentified victim's blood-drenched shoes, underwear and sheets were found in a trash bag, but no body. The investigation begins when a battered wife accuses her husband of murdering a girl in 1979 and brings in an amateur film from the time that supposedly shows him committing the crime.
Director: David Barrett
Writer: Veena Sud
8.4/10653 votesLoading...#12 - The Sleepover
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 11/7/2004
Lilly reopens a 1990 murder case, in which a prep-school girl was found dead in a local swimming hole, after a present-day victim with similar markings is discovered at the same place. The investigation reveals that the victim of the earlier crime was routinely tormented by a trio of classmates who invited her to a sleepover the night she was killed.
Director: Emilio Estevez
Writer: Liz W. Garcia
8.4/10551 votesLoading...#13 - Strange Fruit
Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 4/3/2005
The unsolved 1963 murder of a black teenager, whose body was discovered by the then-young Will Jeffries, is reopened.
Director: Paris Barclay
Writer: Veena Sud
8.4/10542 votesLoading...#14 - Boy Crazy
Season 5 Episode 9 - Aired 11/18/2007
The team re-opens the 1963 case of teenage girl who was then thought to have committed suicide. Now, new evidence leads them to believe the girl might have been murdered for acting and dressing like a boy.
Director: Holly Dale
Writer: Joanna Lovinger
8.4/10412 votesLoading...#15 - The Road
Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 4/6/2008
The team re-investigates the suspected 2007 murder of a bride-to-be who was kidnapped on the day of her engagement party. Lilly and Scotty travel to West Virginia to escort the prime suspect to Philly, and on their way back, they hear his side of the story.
Director: Holly Dale
Writer: Jennifer Johnson
8.3/10624 votesLoading...#16 - The Letter
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/25/2004
Rush and Valens re-open the case of a 25-year-old black woman, who was murdered in 1939, after the woman's granddaughter comes forward with new information. The woman was assumed to be a prostitute murdered by a client, but letters written by the victim indicate that she was afraid of a milkman.
Director: Tim Hunter
Writer: Veena Sud
8.3/10638 votesLoading...#17 - Wishing
Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 3/6/2005
Lilly investigates the 1993 death of a mentally challenged teen who was hit by a train, after drawings appear on his grave that indicate foul play might have been involved.
Director: Emilio Estevez
Writer: Karin Lewicki
8.3/10446 votesLoading...#18 - Stalker
Season 4 Episode 24 - Aired 5/6/2007
In the fourth season finale, a hostage situation arises when the entire team is held captive while they're investigating the 2006 killings of a family who had just moved into a new house.
Director: Alex Zakrzewski
Writer: Veena Sud
8.3/10307 votesLoading...#19 - Flashover
Season 7 Episode 17 - Aired 3/21/2010
Realizing that the missing Vera has finally hit rock bottom, his worried team members hope that a new twist to a 2006 arson case, which he was secretly obsessing about in recent weeks, might supply leads to his whereabouts.
Director: Jeannot Szwarc
Writer: Greg Plageman
8.2/10711 votesLoading...#20 - Fly Away
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/30/2003
When a young woman, Rosie (Laura Regan), wakes up from a coma, Lilly re-opens the fall in which her 6-year-old daughter Toya (Aynsley Lemon) died. Things get complicated when the mother remembers very little of that night, and Lilly feels especially motivated to find the killer, as Rosie was poor and living on welfare, reminding Lilly of her own past, and giving her an emotional bond to Rosie.
Director: James Whitmore Jr.
Writer: Veena Sud
8.2/10666 votesLoading...#21 - Boy in the Box
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 2/15/2004
The 1958 death of an unknown 6-year-old boy found in a field inside a cardboard box is reinvestigated after a small suitcase with the child's picture and his old cowboy hat is left in front of a church. The new probe reveals that the rowdy boy lived at a Catholic-run orphanage and was adopted two days before his suspicious demise.
Director: Karen Gaviola
Writer: Meredith Stiehm
8.2/10504 votesLoading...#22 - Saving Sammy
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 10/22/2006
Lilly re-opens a 2003 case in which an autistic boy's parents were shot in their car when Joseph brings her information that the boy might have seen the killer.
Director: Paris Barclay
Writer: Tyler Bensinger
8.2/10508 votesLoading...#23 - A Dollar, A Dream
Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 3/18/2007
The 1999 murder of a homeless woman, whose body is found at the bottom of a river in a station wagon, is investigated.
Director: Chris Fisher
Writer: Erica Shelton Kodish
8.2/10421 votesLoading...#24 - Justice
Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 11/25/2007
The team re-opens the 1982 case of a well-liked young man who was shot to death after being accused of date rape by several female college students.
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Writer: Veena Sud
8.2/10400 votesLoading...#25 - Family 8108
Season 5 Episode 11 - Aired 12/9/2007
The team re-investigates the 1945 murder of a Japanese-American family man who was persecuted in his neighborhood following the Pearl Harbor attack. Meanwhile, Lt. Stillman has decided to retire from the force.
Director: Jeannot Szwarc
The Best Episodes of Cold Case
Every episode of Cold Case ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Cold Case!
The Philadelphia homicide squad's lone female detective finds her calling when she is assigned cases that have never been solved. Detective Lilly Rush combines her...
Genres:CrimeDramaMystery
Network:CBS
Best Episodes Summary
"A Perfect Day" is the best rated episode of "Cold Case". It scored 8.7/10 based on 669 votes. Directed by Roxann Dawson and written by Veena Sud, it aired on 11/27/2005. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Forever Blue".