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The Worst Episodes of Cold Case

Every episode of Cold Case ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst 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 Worst Episode
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    Cold Case Season 5 Episode 6 - Wunderkind
    5.3/10(4 votes)

    #1 - Wunderkind

    S5:E6

    The team re-opens the 2002 case of a 14-year-old math whiz whose half-brother exploited his unusual talents: card counting and safe cracking.

    Director:Kevin Bray
    Writer:Greg Plageman

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  2. Cold Case Season 4 Episode 7 - The Key
    5.8/10(8 votes)

    #2 - The Key

    S4:E7

    The 1979 murder of a schoolteacher who was stabbed to death in a wooded area is reopened when the victim's bloodstained jacket is found stuffed in a tree trunk with a happy-face key chain in a pocket. The case was originally investigated by Jeffries when he was a rookie detective.

    Director:David Barrett
    Writer:Jennifer M. Johnson

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  3. Cold Case Season 5 Episode 9 - Boy Crazy
    5.9/10(7 votes)

    #3 - 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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  4. Cold Case Season 2 Episode 7 - It's Raining Men
    6.3/10(10 votes)

    #4 - It's Raining Men

    S2:E7

    An HIV-positive gay man asks Rush and Valens to re-investigate the case of his dead partner who died of strangulation in 1983. Not only was the victim outspoken in his views about AIDS education within the 1980's secretive gay community, he was also the member of a very prominent family, disowned by his father for his sexual orientation.

    Director:Paul Holahan
    Writer:Jan Oxenberg

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  5. Cold Case Season 2 Episode 22 - Best Friends
    6.3/10(9 votes)

    #5 - 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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  6. Cold Case Season 4 Episode 10 - Forever Blue
    6.3/10(8 votes)

    #6 - 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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  7. Cold Case Season 6 Episode 19 - Libertyville
    6.3/10(3 votes)

    #7 - Libertyville

    S6:E19

    The team re-investigates the 1958 case of a newlywed real estate developer when new evidence suggests his body might have been moved after he was killed.

    Director:Marcos Siega
    Writer:Kathy Ebel

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  8. Cold Case Season 1 Episode 23 - Lover's Lane
    6.5/10(11 votes)

    #8 - Lover's Lane

    S1:E23

    When DNA evidence reveals that a wrong man was convicted for killing 15-year-old Eve Kendall back in 1986, the team re-opens her case in an attempt to find the real killer.

    Director:Nelson McCormick
    Writer:Meredith Stiehm

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  9. Cold Case Season 1 Episode 13 - The Letter
    6.7/10(12 votes)

    #9 - 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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  10. Cold Case Season 6 Episode 2 - True Calling
    6.7/10(3 votes)

    #10 - True Calling

    S6:E2

    The 1991 death of an inner-city schoolteacher is reinvestigated when new evidence indicates she may have been murdered instead of dying accidentally during a carjacking that got out of control.

    Director:Paris Barclay
    Writer:Christopher Silber

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  11. Cold Case Season 7 Episode 10 - Iced
    6.7/10(3 votes)

    #11 - Iced

    S7:E10

    The 1980 murder of a minor-league hockey player is investigated. The victim was killed on his team's home rink the night the U.S. hockey team defeated the Soviet Union in the Olympic Games.

    Director:Peter Medak
    Writer:Taylor Elmore

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  12. Cold Case Season 7 Episode 12 - The Runaway Bunny
    6.7/10(3 votes)

    #12 - The Runaway Bunny

    S7:E12

    The 1974 murder of a private investigator is probed after his body is discovered in the cement foundation of a demolished building. The investigation reveals the victim uncovered damaging information about his last few clients and that he hired a tough associate to provide muscle during his final investigation.

    Director:John Finn
    Writer:Elwood Reid

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  13. Cold Case Season 7 Episode 16 - One Fall
    6.7/10(3 votes)

    #13 - One Fall

    S7:E16

    The 1986 murder of a dock worker who moonlighted as a wrestler is investigated. Meanwhile, Valens follows a lead that could result in the capture of his mother's rapist.

    Director:Donald E. Thorin Jr.
    Writer:Ryan Farley

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  14. Cold Case Season 1 Episode 7 - A Time to Hate
    6.9/10(14 votes)

    #14 - 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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  15. Cold Case Season 1 Episode 4 - Churchgoing People
    7.0/10(16 votes)

    #15 - Churchgoing People

    S1:E4

    Lilly re-investigates the case of a murdered church organist, when his Alzheimer's-stricken widow begins having flashbacks of the night in question.

    Director:Mark Pellington
    Writer:Meredith Stiehm

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  16. Cold Case Season 4 Episode 22 - Cargo
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #16 - Cargo

    S4:E22

    The 2005 murder of a longshoreman who accidentally became involved in a human-trafficking ring run by the Russian mob.

    Director:Andy Garcia
    Writer:Tom Pettit

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  17. Cold Case Season 4 Episode 23 - The Good Death
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #17 - The Good Death

    S4:E23

    The 1998 death of a terminally ill man who died months before he was expected to is investigated after a nurse confesses to six so-called mercy killings.

    Director:Paris Barclay
    Writer:Gavin Harris

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  18. Cold Case Season 4 Episode 24 - Stalker
    7.0/10(3 votes)

    #18 - 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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  19. Cold Case Season 5 Episode 1 - Thrill Kill
    7.0/10(4 votes)

    #19 - Thrill Kill

    S5:E1

    Recovered from the shooting, Lilly wants to convince her boss that she's ready to get back to work. The team re-opens the 1994 case of three 10-year-old kids who were beaten to death when Lilly suspects the teens convicted of the killings may have been wrongfully incarcerated.

    Director:Alex Zakrzewski
    Writer:Veena Sud

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  20. Cold Case Season 5 Episode 2 - That Woman
    7.0/10(4 votes)

    #20 - That Woman

    S5:E2

    After a piece of clothing belonging to a murder victim is found, the team re-opens the 1998 case of a high school girl who had a reputation for being promiscuous.

    Director:Roxann Dawson
    Writer:Liz W. Garcia

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  21. Cold Case Season 5 Episode 5 - Thick as Thieves
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #21 - Thick as Thieves

    S5:E5

    The team re-opens the 1989 case of an unidentified Jane Doe when she dies in the hospital, after being comatose since the day she was shot 18 year ago.

    Director:Holly Dale
    Writer:Christopher Silber

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  22. Cold Case Season 5 Episode 13 - Spiders
    7.0/10(4 votes)

    #22 - Spiders

    S5:E13

    The team re-opens the 1998 case of a murdered 17-year-old girl when her father is arrested for beating another child.

    Director:John Peters
    Writer:Liz W. Garcia

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  23. Cold Case Season 5 Episode 16 - Bad Reputation
    7.0/10(3 votes)

    #23 - Bad Reputation

    S5:E16

    When a severed hand is discovered at the scene of a drug bust, the team re-opens the 1997 case of a convicted criminal who was thought to be on the run from authorities all these years.

    Director:Alex Zakrzewski
    Writer:Christopher Silber

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  24. Cold Case Season 5 Episode 17 - Slipping
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #24 - Slipping

    S5:E17

    The team re-opens the case of a woman who allegedly committed suicide in 1962 when the victim's granddaughter comes forth with evidence that the note found on the death scene -- then thought to be the suicide note -- was not written in the victim's handwriting.

    Director:Kevin Bray
    Writer:Erica Shelton Kodish

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  25. Cold Case Season 6 Episode 1 - Glory Days
    7.0/10(3 votes)

    #25 - Glory Days

    S6:E1

    The 1973 murder of a college-football star's on the eve of a championship game. The unsolved case is reopened when new evidence suggests he was killed earlier than previously assumed and the victim may have been involved with steroids.

    Director:Roxann Dawson
    Writer:Gavin Harris

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Wunderkind" is the worst rated episode of "Cold Case". It scored 5.3/10 based on 4 votes. Directed by Kevin Bray and written by Greg Plageman, it aired on 10/28/2007. This episode scored 0.5 points lower than the second lowest rated, "The Key".