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The Best Episodes of Cold Case Season 3

Every episode of Cold Case Season 3 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Cold Case Season 3!

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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
    Cold Case Season 3 Episode 1 - Family
    7.6/10(551 votes)

    #1 - Family

    S3:E1

    When a young girl is contacted by a man claiming to be her father, Det. Rush and her team reopen a 1988 case of a teenaged boy, killed on the same night the girl was born.

    Director:Mark Pellington
    Writer:Meredith Stiehm

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  2. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 2 - The Promise
    8.1/10(607 votes)

    #2 - The Promise

    S3:E2

    Lilly re-opens the case of young girl, an overweight college freshman named Laurie, who died in a fraternity house fire in 2004. The fire was deemed accidental at the time, but a cell phone photo e-mailed from the girl's phone just moments before her death prompts a closer examination.

    Director:Paris Barclay
    Writer:Veena Sud

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  3. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 3 - Bad Night
    7.9/10(522 votes)

    #3 - Bad Night

    S3:E3

    The 1978 murder of a young man is re-opened after the victim's mother finds a letter suggesting that his death wasn't random.

    Director:Kevin Bray
    Writer:Andrea Newman

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  4. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 4 - Colors
    7.6/10(483 votes)

    #4 - Colors

    S3:E4

    Det. Rush re-opens the 1945 case of a baseball player, bludgeoned to death with his own bat.

    Director:Paris Barclay
    Writer:Sean Whitesell

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  5. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 5 - Commited
    8.0/10(545 votes)

    #5 - Commited

    S3:E5

    In 1954, 9-year-old Otis Petrowski last saw his mother in a mental institution. Now over 50 years later, after the death of an elderly woman who had been using Otis' mother's identity, Det. Rush sets out to discover what happened to the boy's real mother.

    Director:Alex Zakrzewski
    Writer:Liz W. Garcia

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  6. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 6 - Saving Patrick Bubley
    8.0/10(550 votes)

    #6 - Saving Patrick Bubley

    S3:E6

    When a mother of five loses her fourth son to gang violence, Lilly sets out the save the youngest, reopening one of her first cases on the homicide squad.

    Director:Marcos Siega
    Writers:Karin Lewicki, Tyler Bensinger

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  7. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 7 - Start-Up
    7.4/10(466 votes)

    #7 - Start-Up

    S3:E7

    Lilly re-opens the 1999 case of a young, healthy woman who nevertheless died of a heart attack. In the late 1990's, she was briefly an Internet millionaire, but due to bad business decisions, her dot.com company eventually went bust.

    Director:James Whitmore Jr.
    Writer:Karin Lewicki

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  8. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 8 - Honor
    7.7/10(496 votes)

    #8 - Honor

    S3:E8

    When a box filled with POW support bracelets is found in an abandoned drug den, Det. Rush re-investigates the 1972 shooting of Carl, a veteran of the Vietnam War.

    Director:Paris Barclay
    Writer:Craig Turk

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  9. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 9 - A Perfect Day
    8.7/10(768 votes)

    #9 - 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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  10. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 10 - Frank's Best
    7.5/10(431 votes)

    #10 - Frank's Best

    S3:E10

    The team re-opens the 2001 case of a robbed and murdered deli owner when the brother of the man convicted of the crime brings forth new evidence, suggesting the man may have been wrongfully accused.

    Director:Michael Schultz
    Writer:Andrea Newman

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  11. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 11 - 8 Years
    7.3/10(534 votes)

    #11 - 8 Years

    S3:E11

    Four close high school friends each went their separate ways in 1980. Eight years later, in 1988, one of them was murdered. The homicide team receives a tip about the murder, prompting a re-investigation of the case and an examination of the friends' lives, hopes and dreams after high school.

    Director:Mark Pellington
    Writer:Meredith Stiehm

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  12. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 12 - Detention
    8.0/10(601 votes)

    #12 - Detention

    S3:E12

    When a note connected to a supposed suicide is found, the team re-opens the 1994 case of a high-school kid who fell from the roof of the school building after having served detention. In 1994 the death was deemed a suicide, but the newly-found note indicates that the victim might have been fearing for his life.

    Director:Jessica Landaw
    Writer:Liz W. Garcia

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  13. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 13 - Debut
    7.4/10(489 votes)

    #13 - Debut

    S3:E13

    Lilly re-opens the 1968 case of an 18-year-old girl who died -- apparently accidentally -- at the night of her debutante ball. Now her mother comes forth with new evidence when a local art dealer is accused of murdering his wife in the same manner the girl died.

    Director:Tim Hunter
    Writer:Karin Lewicki

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  14. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 14 - Dog Day Afternoons
    7.6/10(472 votes)

    #14 - Dog Day Afternoons

    S3:E14

    The case of a female bank teller shot to death in her work in 2000 is reopened when the same bank is robbed again by perpetrators wearing identical masks and equipped with identical weapons as six years earlier.

    Director:Craig Ross Jr.
    Writer:Sean Whitesell

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  15. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 15 - Sanctuary
    7.5/10(438 votes)

    #15 - Sanctuary

    S3:E15

    The 1998 case of a female drug smuggler is re-opened. The woman was involved with Scotty at the time he was working undercover on a high-profile drug case, and he has been keeping it a secret from the team for all these years.

    Director:Alex Zakrzewski
    Writer:Steve Sharlet

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  16. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 16 - One Night
    7.8/10(566 votes)

    #16 - One Night

    S3:E16

    Lilly and the cold case team will have to decode the clues given by a twisted killer in order to save the life of a young boy who has been left to die alone. But first they must find the boy and for that they need to dig a little deeper into their own pasts.

    Director:Nicole Kassell
    Writer:Veena Sud

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  17. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 17 - Superstar
    7.4/10(448 votes)

    #17 - Superstar

    S3:E17

    When a poison-soaked towel turns up at the station, Lilly re-opens the 1973 case of a murdered female college tennis star.

    Director:Bill Eagles
    Writers:Jason Tracey, Craig S. O'Neill

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  18. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 18 - Willkommen
    7.3/10(472 votes)

    #18 - Willkommen

    S3:E18

    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.

    Director:Paris Barclay
    Writer:Andrea Newman

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  19. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 19 - Beautiful Little Fool
    7.8/10(517 votes)

    #19 - Beautiful Little Fool

    S3:E19

    Lilly re-opens the 1929 case of a woman found dead in a ravine on Christmas Day when the victim's great-granddaughter comes in asking for help. Meanwhile, Lilly's estranged mother shows up, hoping to re-connect with her daughter.

    Director:Kevin Bray
    Writer:Liz W. Garcia

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  20. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 20 - Death Penalty: Final Appeal
    8.6/10(583 votes)

    #20 - 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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  21. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 21 - The Hen House
    7.9/10(482 votes)

    #21 - The Hen House

    S3:E21

    The 1945 case of a murdered newspaper reporter is reopened when new evidence suggests that the woman was thrown in front of a passing train by someone she knew.

    Director:David Von Ancken
    Writer:Craig Turk

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  22. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 22 - The River
    7.7/10(459 votes)

    #22 - The River

    S3:E22

    When a new witness steps forward, Lilly and the team are prompted to re-open the 1984 shooting of a respected and beloved ER doctor who had a secret he had been hiding from his family.

    Director:Craig Ross Jr.
    Writer:Tyler Bensinger

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  23. Cold Case Season 3 Episode 23 - Joseph
    7.8/10(495 votes)

    #23 - Joseph

    S3:E23

    When the victim's credit card is suddenly used a year after his death, Lilly re-opens the 2005 case of a counselor at a teens' rehab center who was shot to death just two weeks before he was scheduled to testify in a murder case. During the probe, Lilly feels a strange connection to the victim, and her personal attachment may end up jeopardizing the case.

    Director:Roxann Dawson
    Writers:Andrea Newman, Liz W. Garcia

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Season 3 Ratings Summary

"Family" is the best rated episode of "Cold Case" season 3. It scored 7.6/10 based on 551 votes. Directed by Mark Pellington and written by Meredith Stiehm, it aired on 9/25/2005. This episode is rated 0.5 points higher than the second-best, "The Promise".