• Network: CBS
  • Series Premiere Date: Oct 5, 2003
Season #: 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 25
  2. Negative: 3 out of 25

Critic Reviews

  1. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Storm
    Feb 26, 2013
    60
    Cold Case doesn't know Philly. Too often the few authentic exteriors - Boathouse Row, for instance - give way to some generic Los Angeles location. The show itself is full of references to nonexistent places and situations. [28 Sept 2003, p.H01]
  2. Reviewed by: Michael Speier
    Feb 26, 2013
    60
    Main problem: Skein's star, Kathryn Morris, is a puzzle. She's unique and capable, but her energy is low and there's zero warmth.
  3. Newark Star-Ledger
    Reviewed by: Alan Sepinwall
    Jul 10, 2013
    50
    At times "Cold Case" feels like an assembly-line product, slick and shiny but a bit rushed and impersonal. [23 Sep 2003]
  4. Reviewed by: Ed Bark
    Feb 26, 2013
    50
    The hour ends with a ludicrously over-the-top, outside-the-courthouse sequence. A downpour gets musical accompaniment from Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" Then a drenched Lilly's hard-driving countenance is framed in a climactic close-up after other key players in the case look somberly upon the scene. Cleansing? Symbolic? No, just way, way overdone.
  5. Denver Post
    Reviewed by: Joanne Ostrow
    Feb 26, 2013
    40
    Plays to an older crowd with its by-the-numbers approach. [29 Sept 2003, p.F01]
  6. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Bianculli
    Feb 26, 2013
    40
    The problem isn't the source of the plot, rather the fact that its treatment is not dramatic or gripping enough. [27 Sept 2003, p.71]
User Score
7.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 16 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 16
  2. Negative: 1 out of 16
  1. Jun 25, 2012
    8
    Good show. It has good acting, decent story line, and lots of suspense to keep you guessing to the very end. As it neared toward the end ofGood show. It has good acting, decent story line, and lots of suspense to keep you guessing to the very end. As it neared toward the end of the series though, it kind of lost a little bit of spunk but I love it anyways Full Review »
  2. Aug 18, 2023
    7
    Detective Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris), a homicide detective with the Philadelphia Police Department, specializes in cold cases, orDetective Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris), a homicide detective with the Philadelphia Police Department, specializes in cold cases, or investigations which are no longer being actively pursued by the department.

    Cold Case was certainly one of the better police procedurals of the early 2000’s, and this first season in particular did a good job of conveying the emotions of the family/friends of the victims and showing that Detective Rush really cared about solving these cases.
    Full Review »
  3. Sep 13, 2015
    9
    Cold Case had that rare combination of both quality and quantity in an episodic show. Some of the episodes were put together so well that itCold Case had that rare combination of both quality and quantity in an episodic show. Some of the episodes were put together so well that it felt like I was watching a short film. The flashbacks often had amazing actors, interesting set designs, and perfectly period costumes. I watched all seven seasons and although not every single episode was a winner there are plenty that I still think back on as truly outstanding television. My personal favourite episode was season 2, episode 22 "Best Friends". Full Review »