Cold Squad (1998)
Cold Squad is a Canadian police procedural television series first broadcast in 1998 that followed the investigations of a part of the Vancouver Police Department Homicide Division tasked with solving cold cases, the titular Cold Squad, as led by Sergeant Ali McCormick. The cast of Cold Squad was diverse and changing, McCormick being the only character to appear in all 7 seasons. Some notable series regulars include Detective Tony Logozzo in seasons 1-2, Sgt. Frank Coscarella in seasons 3-4, Sgt. Len Harper in seasons 5-7, Insp. Vince Schneider season 1, Insp. Simon Ross season 2, Insp. Andrew Pawlachuk seasons 3-7, Det. Mickey Kollander seasons 3-6, Det. Nicco Sevallis seasons 3-6, Christine Wren seasons 4-7, as well as Det. Samantha Walters and Const. Ray Chase in season 7. Between the second and third seasons, almost the entire on-screen cast other than Julie Stewart were replaced. This along with the new sets, a significant revamp of the credits and theme music, and even having McCormick's hair change from auburn to dirty-blonde all contributed to a considerable reworking of the series.
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Episode 1 - Jane Doe (1)
Release Date: 1998-09-25A 12 year old case where a murdered woman's death matched the M.O. of a now-convicted killer seems to be yet another victim. Until investigation shows the killer couldn't have done it. He was already in prison. McCormick and Logozzo try to find who was the original killer and who was the copycat. This two-part episode introduces Inspector Simon Ross.
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Episode 2 - Jane Doe (2)
Release Date: 1998-10-02As an investigation into a 20-year-old killing spree continues, the Cold Squad is rocked by murder and internal strife.
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Episode 3 - Stanley Caron
Release Date: 1998-10-09While enjoying a day off, Ali receives a tip from a lawyer friend about Randy Benjamin, a young man who had assisted Simon Willard in the rape and murder of three young men years earlier. Attorney-client privilege prevents him from saying much, but he points Ali towards the murder of Stanley Caron in 1993. After getting some information from Schneider, who is now in private security, Logozzo investigates the hotel where Caron died, and Ali, based on tips from a street hustler and the carefully veiled comments of her friend, picks up on the trail of a young punk named Jack Rodgers, which leads right back to Randy.
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Episode 4 - Merv Doucette
Release Date: 1998-10-16While Ali and Logozzo investigate the murder of retired teacher Merv Doucette, they are surprised to learn that, after a stroke, Doucette's behavior had changed drastically, and he'd gone from being a mild-mannered school teacher to a sex fiend who went to swinger parties. His wife, also a teacher, just happened to teach at Radford, where Jackie had gone to school. While Eddie tries to figure out how much money Jackie's family must have had to send her to Radford, which Logozzo estimates costs in the neighborhood of $30,000 a year, Jackie helps Ali question the widow after they realise that the prime suspect, Donnie Coombs, works for her, and came into a windfall the day after the insurance payout on Merv's life.
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Episode 5 - Marcey Bennett
Release Date: 1998-10-23Marcey Bennett was only fourteen when she was found raped and murdered in April of 1986. The gardener, Matthew Dalton, was arrested for the crime and later confessed. While cleaning out some of the junk in Sam's office, Max finds a videotape showing the investigation and when he and Ali realise how horribly the scene was contaminated, Ali decides to take another look into the case. With the focus on a former cop turned judge, Lance Giffen, Tony accuses Ali of being out to get all cops, still not over what happened with Vince Schneider. Ross decides to let Ali take an unofficial look, but warns her about Logozzo's drinking.
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Episode 6 - Chantal LaMorande
Release Date: 1998-10-30A standard pick-up for the drunk tank marks the start of a 34-year old cold case involving three men who were involved in the murder of a beautiful woman. The drunk is carrying her dress and tells a bizarre story of murder that involves his college roommates who are now prominent professionals in business. McCormick is relentless in the case and impresses Ross with her work. As she struggles with the case, Ross tells her as he leaves that he will be thinking about her as his head hits the pillow.
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Episode 7 - Willy Santayana
Release Date: 1998-11-13When Gavin Yeung, a wealthy Chinese teenager, commits suicide in jail cell, it brings up haunting memories for Logozzo of a similar suicide when he was a young cop; a young Philippino teen named Guillermo Santayana, also from an extremely wealthy family. The situation and people involved are enough for McCormick to reopen the case of Willy Santayana and to investigate not only Newlock and Stollard, but Logozzo as well. She and Logozzo, who is looking into the Gavin Yeung charge despite being warned off, need to be careful though, because Ross doesn't want them anywhere near the case. When Logozzo goes calling on Neil Stollard, an old comrade who now works at the jail, and causes repercussions, Ross warns them to stay away from the active case. Eddie and Cortez take the Maurice Patterson case, Cortez because she refuses to have anything to do with the Santayana / Yeung case.
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Episode 8 - Dwayne Douglas Smith
Release Date: 1998-11-20It's almost Logozzo's birthday and a contact, Buzz, who shares the date, shows up with a tip for Logozzo that may help solve a cold file on a truck driver who was murdered while trying to rape a young woman. The key witness, the woman, was drunk and emotionally disturbed. Ali learns she is now married and has found religion. But she is unwilling to help. (Detailed recap available.)
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Episode 9 - Edmund Kritch
Release Date: 1998-12-04Ali and Tony find a corpse hidden in a building that turns out to be Edmund Kritch, an anti-radical that disappeared over twenty-five years ago. While Tony investigates former members of a radical group known as Code Red, Cortez is convinced that the dead man's boss is behind everything, and Ali suspects the dead man's former girlfriend. Nick and Ali finally take their flirtation to the bedroom, where Ali is shocked to learn that Cortez was there first.
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Episode 10 - Marilyn Larson
Release Date: 1999-01-08Helen Larsen comes to Ali with a story about a repressed memory that had surfaced during therapy. Her sister Marilyn was killed when they were both children and she now remembers the details and the killer… her father. But it's up to Ali and the Cold Squad to provide the evidence to support this story. Meanwhile, Inspector Ross asks her to talk to a dying hit man, hoping she can persuade the man to talk about some of his victims, particularly a bag lady named Nancy Seniuk.
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Episode 11 - The Kowalchuk Boy
Release Date: 1999-01-15On August 2, 1982, two young boys disappeared. When the body of one was found later, they used the child's backpack to help identify him as Benji Harding, the son of a firefighter. Sixteen years later, a former co-worker of Harding's sees a computer screensaver featuring pictures of a child he swears is harding. Simms calls Lloyd Mastrowski in to work on the case, since he worked the original, and it isn't long before they realise the body belongs to Christopher Kowalchuk. During the course of the investigation, suspicion turns to Lyle and Grace Burgoyne, a family whose son died sixteen years ago in a fire when Harding was unable to save him. The case has political implications because the Kowalchuks spear-headed numerous missing childrens' campaigns after their son went missing, only to finally be told there was never any hope.
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Episode 12 - Douglas Somerset
Release Date: 1999-01-22Ali and Inspector Ross return to the Squad room in formal dress, their conversation indicating that Ali accompanied Ross on an official function, but there is indication that Ross is interested in her. Meanwhile, Logozzo has turned up some evidence of an old murder and the victim leads to a disappearance of Rev. Douglas Somerset. Somerset had left to go on mission trip in his own plane, but the plane never took off. Speculation is that Somerset was murdered by a hooker. The odd thing was that once the family had reported the missing man, they never checked back to see if the police had turned up anything. The circumstances of the man's disappearance causes Ali to think about the loss of her father, a pilot, in a plane crash. His body was never recovered.
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Episode 13 - Bobby Johnson
Release Date: 1999-02-05A social worker brings Ali in on an a case of possible child abuse. Ali protests that it's out of her jurisdiction, but the same couple lost another child to an ""accident"" a couple of years before that could have been abuse. Bobby Johnson is a cold file. As the investigation proceeds, the relationship between Ali and Inspector Ross heats up and Ali learns that he is divorced. She also has to discover there's a fine line between business and personal issues and she's confused.
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Episode 14 - Gavin MacInnis
Release Date: 1999-02-12After Mitchell Huston dies under mysterious circumstances at the Green Abbey hospice, Father Geddes points the finger at Dr. Sarah MacInnis. MacInnis ends up arrested, and Maz tells Ali he thinks they have an open and shut case, especially now that they also suspect Sarah of killing her husband Gavin (Mac) years earlier. Ross keeps trying to get Ali to move on the Seniuk case, and even though Tony learns that the real Nancy Seniuk was born in 1922 and died two years later, Ali lies to Ross when he asks her about it. She also suspects his motives after Malcolm, who sees them having dinner together, warns her against romance in the workplace.
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Episode 15 - Nancy Seniuk
Release Date: 1999-02-19Ali receives a letter from Denny Lavoie, the hit man who had died earlier, in which he tells her about the death of Nancy Seniuk a bag lady found dead in Stanley Park on August 17, 1980, but there is still a lot of mystery surrounding it. Using some of the modern tools, they age the photo they find of Nancy back to her twenties to begin the investigation. Ross takes Ali out to dinner and starts to tell her about the Seniuk case. Ali gives him a hard time about it and he drops it, but she suggests they go back to the office where he tells her about a drug operation called Deception in which four drug informants were killed. He believes there's a leak in the department. Add to the intrigue is Chief Malcolm warning Ali away from involvement in the case and Ross' investigation, suggesting his obsession with the operation is a wild goose chase. Ali becomes uncertain who she can trust.