Cold Case—Recap & Review—The Good Soldier

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Cold Case
The Good Soldier

Original Air Date: Jan. 10, 2010

Amanda–Senior Reviewer
amanda@thetwocentscorp.com

“It doesn’t matter where you’ve been; it matters where you’re going.” That rather inspiring quote appeared in this week’s episode of Cold Case, which delves into the murder of a recently-returned soldier-turned-Army recruiter. It also applies to Lilly in a personal way, as it seems she’s finally got herself a family (including a totally awesome stepmother). What a way to kick off 2010!

28-year-old Staff Sgt. Mike Donley was found shot to death in 2005 outside a pawn shop with stolen jewelry near his body, days before he was to deploy to Iraq. It was assumed he was the robber until Bobby “Bumper” Kerns, a Green Beret just home from Afghanistan, comes into PPD in hopes of clearing Mike’s name. At the time the alarm was tripped at the pawn shop, Mike was putting Bumper on a bus to Fort Bragg. Mike changed his life, Bumper says. “The least I can do is honor his.”

A dig through Mike’s box produces only the stolen jewelry and an Army ski cap, as well as a slug that had no matches in 2005. Lilly and Scotty visit with Mike’s boss, 1st Sgt. Daniel Gomez, who tells them of Mike’s bravery in Afghanistan. Wounded, he took a dying soldier down off the mountain, then returned to battle, actions for which he was awarded a Bronze Star. Gomez says Mike struggled with the transition to recruiting until he realized the importance of his new mission. However, toward the end, Mike became distant.

Meanwhile, Jeffries and Kat talk to Mike’s widow, Kristen, who recalls their belated honeymoon to the Poconos, and didn’t know he was being deployed again. She echoes Gomez’s concerns about him being distant, but thinks it was more out of concern for his recruits. She recalls a late-night visit from Victoria Moreno, their “weekly dose of drama,” who had a violent, alcoholic stepfather.

Victoria tells Scotty and Lilly that Mike saved her life, and she became a recruiter to do the same for others. She suspects Jerry Harkin, father of one of Mike’s recruits. She remembers Jerry storming into a recruitment fair, insisting that Kevin not enlist until after college. Victoria says this only made Kevin more determined; he enlisted, and was killed in Iraq. After learning that Jerry was arrested for DUI in the area the night of Mike’s murder, the detectives decide this warrants a visit.

Jerry says he blamed everyone for Kevin’s death, but his opinion changed when Mike came to Kevin’s funeral and told his kid brother, Ethan, that anytime he saw a soldier, he’d see a piece of Kevin, who’d become part of something bigger. Those words, Jerry says, are how he gets by.

Meanwhile, Kat’s got nothing on the evidence at the scene, but Stillman has learned that Mike received several calls from a disposable cell phone, traceable only by serial number. While Kat takes off on that project, Scotty and Jeffries comb through Mike’s notes on his recruits and have found references to a convicted “smash-and-grabber,” Trey “Meathead” Newman. Meathead tells Kat and Jeffries that Mike was pushing him to enlist, but he was being pulled in a different direction. He recalls being on a training run with Mike when they were confronted by members of the Sixth Street Mafia, accusing Mike of stealing one of theirs. Their thugginess is no match for Mike’s army training, and he quickly dispatches them, putting one in a chokehold. That one, we learn…is Bumper. Lilly also uncovers Bumper’s extensive juvenile record, and evidence that he wasn’t on the 11:00 bus, but took the 5:00AM bus the next day instead. Looks like Bumper’s got some ‘splainin’ to do.

Confronted by Scotty and Lilly, Bumper admits to missing the bus, saying Mike was supposed to take him, but never showed. Concerned, he went to the recruiting station, where he found a very drunk Mike reeling from a letter he received from yet another recruit wounded overseas. His ramblings made it clear that he was beginning to question his mission. Meanwhile, Jeffries has learned that Kristen did indeed go to the Poconos… but Mike wasn’t the man with her.

Kristen comes clean, recalling to Kat and Jeffries how she told Mike. She was tired of always being second to the Army, and frustrated that they never even got to go on their honeymoon. “It’s like you’re still gone,” she said, confronting him with his constant mourning for Johnny, the soldier he attempted to rescue in Afghanistan. Mike replied that he felt guilty for Johnny’s death, and the fact that he used him in recruitment pitches to send more kids overseas. Kristen told him they could survive this, and he agreed, on one condition: she tell him who the affair was with. Finally, she spills: It’s Sgt. Gomez.

Scotty confronts Gomez, and he admits to the affair, remembering how Mike beat the crap out of him that night. Afterward, as guys typically do, they went back to being best buddies, Mike spilling his guts about his survivor guilt, and saying his place was overseas, with those kids he sent. Gomez granted Mike his wish, presenting him with the deployment papers that had just come in. “I hope you find what you’re looking for,” he said, before Mike received an urgent phone call. Gomez always assumed it was Kristen, but the detectives learn it was from that same disposable cell phone, purchased at the convenience store where one Victoria Moreno worked.

Lilly confronts Victoria with the stolen jewelry, as well as evidence from the pawn shop owner that Victoria liked to come in and try on one in particular. She’d have money to buy it with her signing bonus…but she failed her entrance exam. Lilly surmises that Victoria lashed out and broke in to steal it, and then confronts her with the murder weapon: the gun her boss kept under the counter. (Seems like maybe some of this sleuthing might have been more important than a couple of those red herrings, eh, show?) Like so many lesser doers before her, Victoria folds, admitting to the theft, and saying she called Mike for help. He found her in an alley and ordered her to turn herself in, then assured her he’d pull whatever strings he had to to ensure she got into the Army. She told him she flunked her exam, but he was confident she’d pass on her second try, especially with the tutoring the guys at the station would give her. She saw through this, though, and surmised that he wouldn’t be there, and he told her about his deployment. Enraged at his abandonment of her, she accused him of lying to her, just like everyone else, and shot him in the chest. Sigh. Another promising case ends with a rather lame motive.

Meanwhile, Lilly’s still ducking phone calls from her father, but this time Paul’s not taking no for an answer. He comes to PPD to inform her that Finn has run away, taking his car and $1000. He asks her if there’s anything she, as a cop, can do. There is; she tracks him down in Atlantic City, and we later see her driving Paul and Finn back to their place. They engage in a typical father-son argument, of which Lilly wants no part, but then Finn drops the bomb that he doesn’t want to go to Cornell: he wants to be a cop. Paul deems this ridiculous, and then suddenly Lil’s involved, defending her profession and pointing out that it’s how they found Finn in the first place. All the histrionics are suddenly interrupted by Paul’s wife, Celeste, who orders them all to stop their arguing and get into the house, NOW, and I suddenly find myself running off in search of supplies to make my very own “Team Celeste” pennant during the commercials.

When we return, Celeste’s serving up a home-cooked meal (at two in the morning, bless her), and wanting to clear the air. She’s tired of Lilly constantly finding excuses to avoid her dinner invitations, and, while acknowledging her tragic, angsty past, she informs Lilly that everyone’s got problems, and that’s no excuse for her behavior. As Lil looks on, stunned, and I wave my pennant, Celeste insists that “the drama ends here.” Like or not, she says, they’re family, and they’re there for Lilly, no matter what. Lil takes this message to heart, showing up at the end with takeout, and I say (though I may be in the minority), that it’s about freakin’ time somebody called Lilly Rush on her crap. I feel for the girl, I really do, but it seems like the past few seasons have turned her from a fascinating character into a giant ball of issues. Granted, she’s got a lot of ‘em, but, as Victoria said, “It doesn’t matter where you’ve been; it matters where you’re going.” Celeste gives me reason to hope that Lilly may finally be going somewhere good.

This episode hit a bit close to home for me; I had a friend (also a Bronze Star recipient named Mike, bearing a more-than-passing resemblance to our victim du jour), who was killed in Iraq in 2004, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him and all our brave men and women making huge sacrifices for our country. We would not be who we are today without you; may God bless and protect you, and bring you safely home.

So that’s my TwoCents, but I’d love to know yours. Was I the only one with a Team Celeste pennant? Anybody else peg Victoria, or did she surprise you? Any of you disappointed in the murder, or did you find it compelling and believable? Leave your TwoCents in the Comments section!