History YMMV / ColdCase

** Season 5's "Justice" comes off as this in the wake of cases such as Brock Turner and the "Me, Too" movement.

* ValuesDissonance: While the case flashbacks to other eras often featured DeliberateValuesDissonance (see above), the present-day scenes are starting to show signs of this trope as of the early 2020s, due to changing views on LGBTQ rights in the years during and since the series aired. Weirdly, since "Forever Blue" was praised by critics and fans alike as progressive, other episodes are decidedly of their time. Most notably "Daniela", where the team makes jokes about the victim and continually deadnames her after TheReveal, and "Boy Crazy," in which the team speaks about FTM transgender victim Sam in the derisive, dismissive way that the 1963 community does, and both times it's PlayedForLaughs. Lilly also vocally comes out at one point in favor of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policies for the police force. Could be argued as FairForItsDay, as nobody on the team ever feels that one's sexuality, gender, or gender expression is an appropriate motive for murder, but it's still [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece jarring]] and a reminder that the mid-2000's are a relic of the distant past.

** [[AxeCrazy Cameron]]'s parents in "Rampage". The way the detectives [[NoSympathy treat them]] would have you believe that they are AbusiveParents whose negligence drove their son to his murderous ways. The few scenes we see of them, however, show them as normal people who, as the dad points out, ''lost their son too''. The bit where they find out that not only is their only son dead but that he was also the shooter is truly [[{{TearJerker}} heartbreaking]]. Adding to that, they are immediately labeled as [[TheScapegoat monsters]] by the media. At the very worst, they could be considered [[ParentalOblivious oblivious]] and TooDumbToLive or GenreBlind in their choice of weapons, but ''not'' evil. The ending montage shows them [[EatingLunchAlone eating together but not saying a word]]. You can't help but want to give [[TheWoobie them]] a massive hug. Talk about every parent's worst nightmare!

** "Gleen" [[spoiler: Creator/BrettCullen]].
** "Churchgoing People" [[spoiler: Creator/IsabellaHofmann]].
** "Volunteers" [[spoiler: Creator/ChrisSarandon]].
** "Love Conquers All" [[spoiler: Creator/VincentVentresca]].
** "The Plan" [[spoiler: Creator/SamWitwer]].
** "The Sleepover" [[spoiler: Creator/DaveighChase]].
** "Red Glare" [[spoiler: Creator/OrsonBean]].
** "The Promise" [[spoiler: Creator/NickWechsler]]
** "Death Penalty Final Appeal" [[spoiler: Creator/DeanNorris]]
** "The Hen House" [[spoiler: Creator/PeterGraves]]
** "Fireflies" [[spoiler: Creator/DavidHenrie]]
** "World's End" [[spoiler: Creator/RalphWaite]]
** "Free Love" [[spoiler: Creator/DaleDye]]
** "Creatures of the Night": it's not even a spoiler that Creator/BarryBostwick [[CastingGag did it]].
** "Knuckle Up", [[spoiler: Creator/RobertPicardo]] did it, and he wasn't even considered a suspect.
** "Thrill Kill" [[spoiler: Creator/RaphaelSbarge]]
** "Wunderkind" [[spoiler: Creator/MichaelBJordan]]
** "Sabotage" [[spoiler: Creator/KimCoates]]
** "Soul" [[spoiler: Creator/LorettaDevine]].
** "WASP" [[spoiler: Creator/JohnAniston and Creator/DeannaDunagan]].
** "Bombers" [[spoiler: Creator/RickGonzales]]
** "Jackals" [[spoiler: Creator/JonathanBanks]]
** "Jurisprudence" [[spoiler: Creator/StevenCulp]].
** "Forensics" [[spoiler: Creator/ReedDiamond]].

** A pre-fame Creator/KateMara, Creator/SummerGlau and Creator/MaeWhitman among others have showed up as oneshot victims; Jennifer Lawrence appears as the present-day version of a teenage girl in another episode. Creator/TJThyne appears as the AssholeVictim's gay lover in as Season 1 episode two years before gaining fame as Dr. Jack Hodgins in ''Series/{{Bones}}''. Creator/ShaileneWoodley makes an appearance in a Season 5 episode as a sister of an Amish murder victim. Creator/KimCoates plays against type in a season five episode.

** The best friend from "Soul". Granted, everything probably could have been avoided if [[spoiler: she had just [[CannotSpitItOut confessed that she was in love with her friend much earlier]], but she still comes off as sympathetic since even though she was talented enough to be a singer, she]] was insulted in a room full of music producers on how [[HollywoodHomely fat and unattractive]] they viewed [[spoiler: her and how they won't even consider her for a career (all while her friend said and did ''nothing'' to defend her to them then or later), and her friend later ends up impregnating one of the producers' SexySecretary ''and then telling her about it.'' In spite of his ObliviousToLove status (as well as other things) and that she still killed him in the heat of the moment and left his body on the street, she was genuinely sorry for killing him,]] even paying for his tombstone in the end. It shows that women don't like being "friend-zoned" any more than men do.
** [[AxeCrazy Cameron's]] parents in "Rampage". The way the detectives [[NoSympathy treat them]] would have you believe that they are AbusiveParents whose negligence drove their son to his murderous ways. The few scenes we see of them however show them as normal people who, as the dad pointed out, ''lost their son too''. The bit where they find out that not only is their only son dead but that he was also the shooter is truly [[{{TearJerker}} heartbreaking]]. Adding to that, they are immediately labeled as [[TheScapegoat monsters]] by the media. At the very worst, they could be considered TooDumbToLive or GenreBlind in their choice of weapons but ''not'' evil. The ending montage shows them [[EatingLunchAlone eating together but not saying a word]]. You can't help but want to give [[TheWoobie them]] a massive hug. Talk about every parent's worst nightmare!

* WatchedItForTheRepresentation: Not necessarily the show itself, but several individual episodes. Most notably ''[=WASP=]" and "Factory Girls", which have a lot of fans due to their portrayal of women in historically accurate UsefulNotes/WorldWarII support roles.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring:
** The episodes "Wishing", "Kensington", "Family", "Spiders" and "The Dealer" (to name a few) are examples where the ''victim'' and usually one other person are the only sympathetic characters among a cast of [[CompleteMonster monsters]] and [[JerkAss jerkasses]].
** A special mention goes to "Two Weddings", where both the detectives (who use the wedding they were invited to to solve the [[spoiler: "murder"]] and even when they're caught in the act, still don't care) '''and''' the victim himself (who is [[spoiler:already happily married...to a comatose woman while he serenades and becomes engaged to another woman)]] are [[JerkAss jerkasses.]] Yeah.

** The best friend from "Soul". Granted, everything probably could have been avoided if [[spoiler: she had just [[CannotSpitItOut confessed that she was in love with her friend much earlier]], but she still comes off as sympathetic since even though she was talented enough to be a singer, she]] was insulted in a room full of music producers on how [[HollywoodHomely fat and unattractive]] they viewed [[spoiler: her and how they won't even consider her for a career (all while her friend said and did ''nothing'' to defend her to them then or later), and her friend later ends up impregnating one of the producers' SexySecretary ''[[WhatAnIdiot and then telling her about it.]]'' In spite of his ObliviousToLove status (as well as other things) and that she still killed him in the heat of the moment and left his body on the street, she was genuinely sorry for killing him,]] even paying for his tombstone in the end. It shows that women don't like being "friend-zoned" any more than men do.

** 9-year-old Creator/YaraShahidi played the victim's little sister in "Read Between the Lines".

** A pre-fame Creator/KateMara, Creator/SummerGlau and Creator/MaeWhitman among others have showed up as oneshot victims; Jennifer Lawrence appears as the present-day version of a teenage girl in another episode. Creator/TJThyne appears as the AssholeVictim's gay lover in as Season 1 episode two years before gaining fame as Dr. Jack Hodgins in ''Series/{{Bones}}''. Creator/ShaileneWoodley makes an appearance in a Season 5 episode as a sister of a Amish murder victim. Creator/KimCoates plays against type in a season five episode.

** A pre-fame Creator/SummerGlau and Mae Whitman among others have showed up as oneshot victims; Jennifer Lawrence appears as the present-day version of a teenage girl in another episode. TJ Thyne appears as the AssholeVictim's gay lover in as Season 1 episode two years before gaining fame as Dr. Jack Hodgins in ''Series/{{Bones}}''. Creator/ShaileneWoodley makes an appearance in a Season 5 episode as a sister of a Amish murder victim. Creator/KimCoates plays against type in a season five episode.

** David Henry of ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' appears in "Fireflies" [[spoiler:as the doer]].

** [[AxeCrazy Cameron's]] parents in "Rampage". The way the detectives [[NoSympathy treat them]] would have you believe that they are AbusiveParents whose negligence drove their son to his murderous way. The few scenes we see of them however show them as normal people who, as the dad pointed out, ''lost their son too''. The bit where they find out that not only is their only son dead but that he was also the shooter is truly [[{{TearJerker}} heartbreaking]]. Adding to that, they are immediately labeled as [[TheScapegoat monsters]] by the media. At the very worst, they could be considered TooDumbToLive or GenreBlind in their choice of weapons but ''not'' evil. The ending montage shows them [[EatingLunchAlone eating together but not saying a word]]. You can't help but want to give [[TheWoobie them]] a massive hug. Talk about every parent's worst nightmare!

** The best friend from "Soul". Granted, everything probably could have been avoided if [[spoiler: she had just [[CannotSpitItOut confessed that she was in love with her friend much earlier]], but she still comes off as sympathetic since even though she was talented enough to be a singer, she]] was insulted in a room full of music producers on how [[HollywoodHomely fat and unattractive]] they viewed [[spoiler: her and how they won't even consider her for a career (all while her friend said and did ''nothing'' to defend her to them then or later) and he ends up impregnating one of the producers' sexy secretary ''[[WhatAnIdiot and then telling his friend about it.]]'' In spite of his ObliviousToLove status (as well as other things) and that she still killed him in the heat of the moment and left his body on the street, she was genuinely sorry for killing him,]] even paying for his tombstone in the end and it shows that women don't like being "friend-zoned" any more than men do.
** [[AxeCrazy Cameron's]] parents in "Rampage". The way the detectives [[NoSympathy treat them]] would have you believe that they are AbusiveParents whose negligence drove their son to his murderous ways. The few scenes we see of them however show them as normal people who, as the dad pointed out ''lost their son too''. The bit where they find out that not only is their only son dead but that he was also the shooter is truly [[{{TearJerker}} heart breaking]]. Adding to that they are immediately labeled as [[TheScapegoat Monsters]] by the media. At the very worst they could be considered TooDumbToLive or GenreBlind in their choice of weapons but ''not'' evil. The ending montage shows them [[EatingLunchAlone eating together but not saying a word]]. You can't help but want to give [[TheWoobie them]] a massive hug. Talk about every parents worst nightmare!

** "Late Returns" was based on the real-life murder of Chandra Levy, an intern to a California Congressman Gary Condit, whom she was also sleeping with. The public opinion of the time pointed the blame at Condit, and the scandal ruined his career. Several years ''after'' the episode aired, Condit was found to be completely innocent.
** In "Love Conquers All" (which is based off of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Zamora the real-life 1995 Texas Cadet murders]]), the victim based off of the murdered girl, Adrianne Jones, could be seen as unsympathetic because she cheated on a guy with a girlfriend, although her knowledge of if he had a girlfriend ''when'' they got together is left ambiguous. As it was revealed in the real-life trial of one of the killers, David Graham, ''he never slept with her'' and on top of that, didn't even get a ride home with him that night. He only said that [[ManipulativeBastard to screw around with his girlfriend's head since she was so paranoid about him cheating on her.]] Update: However, Graham later admitted that he '''did''' have sex with Jones; the only reason he lied about it was on his defense lawyer's advice.

** "Strange Fruit", which was based on the lynching of Emmett Till, became this in light of the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in May 2020, following the murder of African American Minneapolis resident George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. Notably, following publicized reactions and calls for justice in the deaths of Floyd, Ahmaud Arbury, Breonna Taylor, and others, Start TV pulled the episode form its airing schedule and aired "Justice" in its place. An especially eerie detail is that the method of murder in the show was altered from the real case it was based on - while the real Emmett Till was shot, his {{expy}} in the episode, Zeke Williams, was strangled... as Floyd would be in real life fifteen years later.

** Karen Watson in "The Good-Bye Room". She initially comes across as a violent and crass girl, having been expelled from her school for beating another girl with a rock. Throughout the episode, she is repeatedly scoffs at her friend [[WideEyedIdealist Hillary]] for looking forward to giving birth to her child, which she personally saw as a nuisance. When Karen finally gave birth to a boy, however, she fell in love with him on sight and was heartbroken to have to give him up for adoption with only fifteen minutes to say goodbye. Hillary attempted to reassure her, hugging her and telling her that he was going to a wealthy lawyer's family and that he would be well taken care of, but Karen only repeated again and again that she "wanted him back in his bassinet". In the present, it's mentioned that she spent decades searching for her son, joining multiple adoption search groups. At the end, [[spoiler:she chased after Hillary when the latter tried to escape from the institution, jealous that '''she''' got to keep her child, and then loses it so completely that she starts to think Hillary has ''her'' baby, and kills her to get "him" back. Back in the present, Rush arrests her for Hillary's murder, but also gives her a file with information about her son.]]

* MagnificentBastard: "[[Recap/ColdCaseS2E4TheHouse The House]]": [[EscapeArtist Hank Dempsey]] is a charming, likeable thief who breaks out of prison to be with the love of his life. A playful trickster, Hank fools and runs circles around the wardens of his prison, carefully escaping from a seemingly inescapable prison twice. Defusing an attempt by another prisoner to kill him, Hank stages his own injuries in order to gain a way to make his final escape from the prison and be with his love. Utterly charming and with a knack for ingenuity, Hank is later able to safely escape justice and continues his days as a happy contended man with his wife.

** Alessandro from "Sabotage" is initially very sympathetic, for a SerialKiller... until it's revealed who he sent his final bomb to: [[spoiler:[[WouldHurtAChild his preteen niece]], as he wanted his brother, whom he viewed as responsible for the TraumaCongaLine he had endured, to [[RevengeByProxy know the pain of losing a child as he had]]]]. Considering that the people he targeted were people who were trying to help him the best way they could given the restrictions they were under his first murder was this as well, especially since his first victim was just a teen doing his job.

** While Tina Bream guilt tripping her husband for the kidnapping of their son even though everything from his kidnapping to them being unable to retrieve him was entirely her fault would make UnintentionallyUnsympathetic. What crosses her over to this is that she was told exactly how to find her son, but since it involved going to a pedo site she waited for her husband to do it so she wouldn’t be implemented in a crime. When they found out he was dead after convincing her husband into killing the kidnapper she continued to guilt trip eventually turning him into a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds.

** "WASP" [[spoiler: Creator/JohnAniston and spoiler: Creator/DeannaDunagan]].

** "Fireflies" [[spoiler: Creator/DavidHenry]]

** "Churchgoing People" [[spoiler: Creator/IsabellaHoffmann]].

** "Gleen" [[spoiler: Creator/RobertCullen]].
** "Churchgoing People" [[spoiler: Creator/IsabellaHoffman]].

** "The Sleepover" [[spoiler: Daveigh Chase]].
** "Red Glare" [[spoiler: Orson Bean]].
** "World's End" [[spoiler: Ralph Waite]]
** "The Hen House" [[spoiler: Peter Graves]]
** "Free Love" [[spoiler: Dale Dye]]

** "Soul" [[spoiler: Loretta Devine]].
** "Jurisprudence" [[spoiler: Steven Culp]].

* NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize:
** "The Sleepover" [[spoiler: Daveigh Chase]]

** "Red Glare" [[spoiler: Orson Bean]]

* AssPull: Lt. Stillman's relationship with FBI Agent Yates. Over the show's history, of all the police personnel, he was the least likely to be involved in any impropriety on or off the job (so much to the point that his first marriage ended [[MarriedToTheJob due to how dedicated he was to it.]]) Yet, her introduction retconned this, with the new reason being that an affair they had ruined Stillman's marriage. Granted, it must be difficult to form/keep relationships in their business (Lilly's many abortive romances throughout the series are an example of this), but it really hurt the Lieutenant's reputation as a straight and narrow ByTheBookCop and undermined how tough he was on even the more sympathetic murderers (in addition to the fact that Yates [[{{Jerkass}} isn't exactly the definition of a moral center herself...)
]])

* AssPull: Lt. Stillman's relationship with FBI Agent Yates. Over the show's history, of all the police personnel, he was the least likely to be involved in any impropriety on or off the job (so much to the point that his first marriage ended [[MarriedToTheJob due to how dedicated he was to it).]] Yet, her introduction retconned this, with the new reason being that an affair they had ruined Stillman's marriage. Granted, it must be difficult to form/keep relationships in their business (Lilly's many abortive romances throughout the series are an example of this), but it really hurt the Lieutenant's reputation as a straight and narrow ByTheBookCop and undermined how tough he was on even the more sympathetic murderers (in addition to the fact that Yates [[{{Jerkass}} isn't exactly the definition of a moral center herself...)]]
* BaseBreakingCharacter: [[spoiler: Celeste]] from "Stand Up & Holler". She is either one of the [[TheWoobie most tragic killers of the show]] because of the [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil circumstances]] that led her to [[spoiler: [[DrivenToSuicide wanting to kill herself with a beer full of Liquid X]] alongside [[KickTheDog Becca's cruelty towards her]] after that experience]] or a [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic murderer worse than]] [[AlphaBitch Becca]] due to [spoiler: not stopping the latter from pouring the spiked beer down Rainey's throat in the first place and letting her best friend die thereafter]].

* AssPull: Lt. Stillman's relationship with FBI Agent Yates. Over the show's history, of all the police personnel, he was the least likely to be involved in any impropriety on or off the job (so much to the point that his first marriage ended [[MarriedToTheJob due to how dedicated he was to it).]] Yet, her introduction retconned this, with the new reason being that an affair they had ruined Stillman's marriage. Granted, it must be difficult to form/keep relationships in their business (Lilly's many abortive romances throughout the series are an example of this), but it really hurt the Lieutenant's reputation as a straight and narrow ByTheBookCop and undermined how tough he was on the more sympathetic murders (in addition to the fact that Yates [[{{Jerkass}} isn't exactly the definition of a moral center herself...)]]

* BaseBreakingCharacter: [[spoiler: Celeste]] from "Stand Up & Holler". She is either one of the [[TheWoobie most tragic killers of the show]] because of the [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil circumstances]] that led her to [[spoiler: [[DrivenToSuicide wanting to kill herself with a beer full of Liquid X]] alongside [[KickTheDog Becca's cruelty towards her]] after that experience]] or a [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic murderer worse than]] [[AlphaBitch Becca]] due to [[spoiler: not stopping the latter from pouring the spiked beer down Rainey's throat in the first place and letting her best friend die thereafter]].

** The AssholeVictim in “Thick as Thieves” pleaded with her son, who was holding her at gunpoint, that she did all her scamming for him, to give him a better life. Was she telling the truth, and her recent scams were to provide a more luxurious life for her child than the one she had growing up in the trailer park, or was she just lying to save her own life, and her schemes were solely to satisfy her own desires for wealth, and her sin was just a pawn in that scheme?

* DesignatedHero:
** Audrey Metz, the victim in "World's End", who is portrayed as a liberated woman ahead of her time for... cheating on her husband and little else.
** Scotty Valens, namely in "Shattered".
** Nick Vera, too.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: The father and the victim in "Knuckle Up." While it is understandable for the father to want what’s best for his son, anyone who has lived with a parent like that - especially the kind who calls you every hour - knows just how frustrating it is. However, as the victim himself [[RedemptionEqualsDeath eventually realized]], going all BloodKnight was an incredibly stupid thing to do.