By Jennifer Larson

It was the beginning of a new era, when aggression, excitement and sexuality screamed out through the radio in the form of rock-and-roll. Unfortunately, many people weren’t thrilled with this new form of expression and railed against the destruction of their children’s youth. But thank god for rock-and-roll, because without it we wouldn’t have the music of today. However, many people paid a price for the freedom of choice we have today. Tonight Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris) gets a taste of what it must have been like for the rabble-rousers of the 1950s, when she begins investigating the unsolved 1953 murder of an aspiring 19-year-old rock-and-roll singer. Thanks to new evidence, which indicates he was killed in a different location than previously believed, the cold case team begins to unravel the mystery of his death. But that may not be such a good thing for some people.

As always, the cold case squad has to make their way through a maze of fuzzy memories – the case is over 50-years-old after all – outdated evidence and investigative procedures, and witnesses and suspects that would rather keep the past buried. But, that’s nothing new for this group of investigators. That’s what makes them so special, because it’s hard enough to get people and evidence to talk to you when the case is brand new, and with a murder this old, it’s virtually impossible. That doesn’t mean it can’t be cracked, and if anybody can break through the dust and mold of time to make sure justice is done, it’s Lilly and her team. But, she may have to work the case without her partner, because Scotty (Danny Pinto) is being closely monitored by internal affairs. Internal affairs is not one of the cops favorite departments in the police force, but it hits Danny and the team especially hard because it involves his own childhood demons. Besides, the man at the root of this investigation was a disgusting piece of work that deserved what he got.


There was more than just a battle for rock-and-roll going on in the 1950s, there was a fight for equality and human decency. While race relations aren’t perfect today, they were blatantly discriminatory back then. The problem many people had with the emerging music coming out was the fact that it was based on blues and jazz, which originated in the black community. So, back then you were either considered a communist or race trader if you listened to rock-and-roll, and even worse if you sang it. That explains why the murder victim’s body was moved from the lily-white part of town to what was considered the seedier side of the tracks. Maybe the murderer felt he was taking the body to where it really belonged, the black neighborhood, or maybe it was their attempt to frame a Negro. Either way, the jig was up when a senior citizen – who was a 10-year-old boy out at night where he didn’t belong when the murder occurred – had a crises of conscience. It appears this little boy saw the blood and wallet of the murder victim, which was outside his uncle’s five and dime, not the blues club where he was found.

In between the newly reopened investigation, Scotty is trying to find out who ratted him out to the Internal Affairs Department (IAD). Since only his co-workers new what went down – at least as far as he knows – it had to be one of them that spilled the beans. But that would be so unlike any detective squad, especially this one. Meanwhile, Scotty was still working hard at trying to close the team’s new case. And it’s like a blast from the past re-interviewing the witnesses associated with the original case. You know a time when the world was more innocent and women had only marriage and children to look forward to, while African Americans were allowed into the white world only as long as they were there to clean the floors. Yep, the world has gone to hell in a hand basket since then. Still, it was a time of youth for the people the aspiring rock star left behind, and that means they have a lot of missed opportunities to look back on.


It turns out it was one of those missed opportunities as well as jealousy that got our murder victim killed. There were two musicians in the family, and one was on the way to the top while the other one was on a train to nowhereville. It has to be hard to watch your cousin get everything you’ve ever wanted, too hard to let go by. So the only thing to do was to take it out on the golden boy. The shooting was an accident, but the victim ended up dead anyway, and thanks to the never give up attitude of the Philly cold case squad there’s a little more justice in the world.