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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!

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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 natural instincts with the updated technology available today to bring

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Cold Case Season 3 Episode 9 - A Perfect Day
    8.7/10(777 votes)

    #1 - A Perfect Day

    S3:E9

    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

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  2. Cold Case Season 2 Episode 9 - Mind Hunters
    8.6/10(768 votes)

    #2 - Mind Hunters

    S2:E9

    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

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  3. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 20 - Death Penalty: Final Appeal
    8.6/10(590 votes)

    #3 - Death Penalty: Final Appeal

    S3:E20

    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

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  4. Cold Case Season 4 Episode 1 - Rampage
    8.6/10(872 votes)

    #4 - Rampage

    S4:E1

    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

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  5. Cold Case Season 4 Episode 10 - Forever Blue
    8.6/10(955 votes)

    #5 - Forever Blue

    S4:E10

    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

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  6. Cold Case Season 2 Episode 19 - Strange Fruit
    8.5/10(648 votes)

    #6 - Strange Fruit

    S2:E19

    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

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Cold Case

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  7. Cold Case Season 2 Episode 22 - Best Friends
    8.5/10(893 votes)

    #7 - Best Friends

    S2:E22

    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

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  8. Cold Case Season 2 Episode 23 - The Woods
    8.5/10(641 votes)

    #8 - The Woods

    S2:E23

    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

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  9. Cold Case Season 4 Episode 8 - Fireflies
    8.5/10(634 votes)

    #9 - Fireflies

    S4:E8

    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

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  10. Cold Case Season 4 Episode 17 - Shuffle, Ball Change
    8.5/10(711 votes)

    #10 - Shuffle, Ball Change

    S4:E17

    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

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  11. Cold Case Season 1 Episode 7 - A Time to Hate
    8.4/10(915 votes)

    #11 - A Time to Hate

    S1:E7

    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

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  12. Cold Case Season 2 Episode 3 - Daniela
    8.4/10(834 votes)

    #12 - Daniela

    S2:E3

    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

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  13. Cold Case Season 2 Episode 6 - The Sleepover
    8.4/10(767 votes)

    #13 - The Sleepover

    S2:E6

    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

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  14. Cold Case Season 5 Episode 9 - Boy Crazy
    8.4/10(620 votes)

    #14 - Boy Crazy

    S5:E9

    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

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  15. Cold Case Season 5 Episode 15 - The Road
    8.4/10(475 votes)

    #15 - The Road

    S5:E15

    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 M. Johnson

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  16. Cold Case Season 7 Episode 17 - Flashover
    8.4/10(355 votes)

    #16 - Flashover

    S7:E17

    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

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  17. Cold Case Season 1 Episode 13 - The Letter
    8.3/10(731 votes)

    #17 - The Letter

    S1:E13

    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

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  18. Cold Case Season 2 Episode 15 - Wishing
    8.3/10(741 votes)

    #18 - Wishing

    S2:E15

    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

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  19. Cold Case Season 4 Episode 24 - Stalker
    8.3/10(510 votes)

    #19 - Stalker

    S4:E24

    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

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  20. Cold Case Season 6 Episode 17 - Officer Down
    8.3/10(395 votes)

    #20 - Officer Down

    S6:E17

    The team has to cope with their own emotions as they search for the shooter responsible for Jeffries' shooting.

    Director:Alex Zakrzewski
    Writer:Christopher Silber

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  21. Cold Case Season 7 Episode 19 - Bullet (2)
    8.3/10(329 votes)

    #21 - Bullet (2)

    S7:E19

    After determining the serial killer's identity - and some of his likely future targets - the team and the FBI work together to apprehend him while trying to locate and protect the people he's preparing to kill.

    Director:John F. Showalter
    Writer:Christopher Silber

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  22. Cold Case Season 7 Episode 22 - Shattered
    8.3/10(368 votes)

    #22 - Shattered

    S7:E22

    Valens partners with Rush to locate her abducted, drug-addicted sister, while Jeffries tries to bring justice to the case of a murdered teenaged girl that has haunted him for 17 years.

    Director:Jeannot Szwarc
    Writers:Elwood Reid, Greg Plageman

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  23. Cold Case Season 1 Episode 8 - Fly Away
    8.2/10(825 votes)

    #23 - Fly Away

    S1:E8

    When a young woman, Rosie, wakes up from a coma, Lilly re-opens the fall in which her 6-year-old daughter Toya died. Things get complicated when the mother remembers very little of that night, and Lilly feels especially motivated to find the killer.

    Director:James Whitmore Jr.
    Writer:Veena Sud

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  24. Cold Case Season 1 Episode 14 - Boy in the Box
    8.2/10(760 votes)

    #24 - Boy in the Box

    S1:E14

    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

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  25. Cold Case Season 4 Episode 5 - Saving Sammy
    8.2/10(579 votes)

    #25 - Saving Sammy

    S4:E5

    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

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Best Episodes Summary

"A Perfect Day" is the best rated episode of "Cold Case". It scored 8.7/10 based on 777 votes. Directed by Roxann Dawson and written by Veena Sud, it aired on 11/27/2005. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Mind Hunters".