History YMMV / ColdCase

* AccidentalAesop: The show tends to make the victims [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished do something good and end up getting killed as a result]]. Just to name a few examples, a guy is killed for trying to save a girl he considers a daughter from a prostitution ring, a security guard is nearly killed as a result of respecting two outcasts turned violent shooters, and another tries to confess his role in a crime. Some people have taken this as AnAesop, even though it was likely unintentional.

* 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...]]).

** In "The Sleepover", the fact that one of the girls [[spoiler:who turned out to be the doer,]] Ariel Shuman, grew up to become a part-time drug dealer is this after the actress playing the younger version of her, Creator/DaveighChase, was arrested for drug possession in 2018.

** The first episode where Stillman discusses how his marriage began failing due to ThatOneCase has the team compare a suspect to the real-life Andrea Yates case while wondering if she had postpartum depression. The season 7 episode that revisits how the marriage failed reveals that another factor was an affair between Stillman and a woman named Yates.

** In "Disco Inferno", lab tech Castillo confirms that the bullet in Mark Rigley matches the one found in the VictimOfTheWeek's skull by quipping "Congrats, it's twins". In 2013 Kathryn Morris and Johnny Messner welcomed twin boys in real life.

** In "Disco Inferno", lab tech Castillo confirms that the bullet in Mark Rigley matches the one found in the VictimOfTheWeek's skull by quipping "Congrats, it's twins". In 2013 Kathryn Morris and Johnny Messner welcome twin boys in real life.

** Fan-favorites among the various friends and loved ones of the murder victims include {{Neighbourhood Friendly Gangster|s}} Kiki Solano from "Discretion", the victims' daughter Kara and her ParentalSubstitute Daryl from "Who's Your Daddy?", WifeBasherBasher Art Baldacci from "A Perfect Day", WheelchairWoobie Vicky from "Bad Night", JerkWithAHeartOfGold boss Anil and TheCutie Abby from "A Dollar, A Dream", CoolOldGuy Augustine from "Wunderkind", Seth from "One Small Step" for being a BadassAdorable kid in the flashbacks and a tragic {{Cloudcuckoolander}} in the present, BenevolentBoss Monty from "Pin Up Girl", BrokenAce Juan de la Cruz from "Stealing Home", LittleMissSnarker Hillary from "November 22nd", fatherly circus clown Sheldon from "Metamorphosis", and Army recruit Bobby Kerns from "The Good Soldier".

** Jill Shelby from "Look Again" behaves like a normal, excitable, level-headed teenager despite having an abusive father whose beatings hospitalized her at least twice by the time she was 15 (and who may have also abused her mother) and an abusive boyfriend who degrades her and is rumored to hit her too in addition to cheating on her with her best friend, with said friend either not believing or caring about Jill's mistreatment. Meanwhile, the two people who genuinely care about Jill, her mother and her boyfriend's younger brother, are unable to help or stand up for her, which leads to her death. (If that's not enough, her mother, best friend, and the brother end up [[GuiltRiddenAccomplice unwillingly]] or [[UnwittingPawn unwittingly]] protecting her killer for over two decades.)

** Jill Shelby from "Look Again" behaves like a normal, excitable, level-headed teenager despite having an abusive father whose beatings hospitalized her at least twice by the time she was 15 and an abusive boyfriend who degrades her and is rumored to hit her too in addition to cheating on her with her best friend, with said friend either not believing or caring about Jill's mistreatment. Meanwhile, the two people who genuinely care about Jill, her mother and her boyfriend's younger brother, are unable to help or stand up for her, which leads to her death. (If that's not enough, her mother, best friend, and the brother end up [[GuiltRiddenAccomplice unwillingly]] or [[UnwittingPawn unwittingly]] protecting her killer for over two decades.)

* BrokenBase For fans who prefer more grounded DetectiveDrama television, Season 1 may come across as the best season of the show, while fans who just want tough mysteries to solve may see it as one of the weakest. Season 1 has quite a few episodes where the identity of the killer or solution of the case is directly tied to the evidence that reopens the case and the killer's identity and/or motive is obvious from early on (although there are generally enough other suspects to keep things from being certain and some episodes have a greater whodunit feel). Starting in season 2, while the stories, dialogue, acting, and characters remain great, the show begins falling back on the more common NeverTheObviousSuspect mystery resolution for almost every episode (to the point where such efforts actually ''make'' it obvious that certain kinds of characters [[spoiler:like victims' cousins or older brothers]] are guilty in about 90% of the episodes to feature such characters), often has the motive for the murder be as big of a twist as the killer's identity, and frequently has the information that gets the case reopened be less central to its resolution, for better or worse.

* EnsembleDarkhorse:

** For fans who prefer more grounded DetectiveDrama television, Season 1, while still having decent detective work, has a lot more episodes where the identity of the killer or solution of the case is directly tied to the evidence that reopens the case and the killer's identity and/or motive is obvious from early on (although there are generally enough other suspects to keep things interesting). Starting in season 2, while the acting and writing remain great, the show begins falling back on the more common NeverTheObviousSuspect mystery resolution for the majority of the episodes (to the point where such efforts actually ''make'' it obvious that certain kinds of characters [[spoiler:like victims' cousins or older brothers]] are guilty in about 90% of the episodes to feature such characters), often has the motive for the murder be as big of a twist as the killer's identity, and frequently has the information that gets the case reopened be less central to its resolution.

** Thanks to AnachronismStew and WritersCannotDoMath, some episodes that would have been otherwise more serious tend to get undermined. Examples include the victim and her classmates in "Stand Up and Holler" being 16-year-old high school juniors, yet attending their ten-year reunion with the seniors or how the victim and his [[spoiler: first wife]] in "Two Weddings" apparently have access to [=MySpace=] in '''2000'''. The latter may be a case of MostWritersAreAdults, since not only is that not possible, the page in question is very clearly based on Facebook (and leaves in the HTML address that shows it was a prop. [[LeftItIn Whoops.]]).

** Plenty of victims in the show are popular for a wide variety of reasons, but some inspire a special amount of protective feelings for an adorable combination of vulnerable moments, occasional excitement, and good intentions through their episodes, such as brave, idealistic, friend-seeking {{Lovable Nerd}}s Rita Baxter from "The Sleepover" and Danny Finch from "One Small Step," GoodBadGirl Carrie Swett from "That Woman," dog-loving BenevolentBoss and single parent Frank [=DiCenzio=] from "Frank's Best," the close-knit and initially optimistic five Bubley brothers (only one of whom survives) from "Saving Patrick Bubley," DeafComposer and ClassClown Andy Rierdan from "Andy in C Minor," DefectorFromCommieLand singer Nadia Koslov (who gets some powerful IMissMom and character discovery moments) from "Triple Threat," and Misogyny-suffering {{Determinator}} BreakingTheGlassCeiling military cadet Kate Butler from "The Long Blue Line/Into the Blue."

** 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 her 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, [[ItsAllAboutMe she waited for her husband to do it so she wouldn't be implemented in a crime]]. When they found out their son was dead, after [[ManipulativeBitch convincing]] her husband to kill the kidnapper, she continued to guilt-trip him, eventually turning him into a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds.

** Thanks to AnachronismStew and WritersCannotDoMath, some episodes that would have been otherwise more serious tend to get undermined. Examples include the victim and her classmates in "Stand Up and Holler" being 16-year-old high school juniors yet her class is attending their ten-year reunion with the seniors or how the victim and his [[spoiler: first wife]] in "Two Weddings" apparently have access to [=MySpace=] in '''2000'''. The latter may be a case of MostWritersAreAdults, since not only is that not possible, the page in question is very clearly based on Facebook (and leaves in the HTML address that shows it was a prop. [[LeftItIn Whoops.]]).

** Watching the season three episode "Death Penalty: Final Appeal", the season four episode "Fireflies", and season five episode "Spiders" end up as this due to the actors in those episodes (Creator/MichaelJace playing a character who was ''innocent'' of the crime he was executed for, Dee Jay Daniels playing the lead suspect who was exonerated, and Johnny Lewis playing the younger version of the killer) committing murders in real life.

* RewatchBonus: This happens frequently as new evidence and/or the revelation of the killer puts previous flashbacks in a new light.
** In the opening sequence of "Forever Blue", this is said about the CowboyCop victim:
--->"Isn't is about time he got married?"\\
"You gotta go on a second date for that."
*** In that context, it makes him sound like a womanizer. However, once you realize that he's gay, you realize that he never went on a second date, not because he couldn't be satisfied by only one woman but because he couldn't be satisfied by ''any'' woman.
** In "Blood On The Tracks", Jack, Johanna's own ''husband'', mistakes Sarah for her while they and their friends are reviewing slides from their college days, driving home how much they resemble each other. This is never mentioned again during the episode, but later, after the detectives have figured out that [[spoiler:Johanna is the murderer and has been impersonating Sarah for decades, one recalls that we only saw Jack's death, not Johanna's, and that Johanna was present in every one of "Sarah's" flashbacks. It also mentions that "Sarah" abruptly cut off the other friends after that fateful weekend and never saw or spoke to them again. Of course not. They would have recognized her and blown her scheme.]]
*** From the same episode, there's a flashback to poor [[TheWoobie Sarah]] declaring that "if [she] died tomorrow, no one would notice", [[spoiler: and indeed nobody did! It was almost too easy for [[BitchInSheepsClothing Johanna]] to steal her identity.]]
** In "It's Raining Men," Paul Kerns constantly displays sadness and bitterness about the homophobia his brother faced, especially from their own father, and has done a lot to honor his memory. This goes beyond simple brotherly love with the reveal that Paul [[AmbiguouslyBi is either gay or bisexual himself]], giving him an extra reason to empathize with Jeff and resent their father and society's homophobic attitudes. [[spoiler:Also, he's trying to atone for being the killer.]]
** In "Stalker", the mom's defensiveness towards her daughter's online activities comes to a new light once it is revealed that [[spoiler:the mom was {{Catfishing}} someone using her daughter's pictures]].
** "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King is played in "The Good-Bye Room", when Hilary's boyfriend reassures her that he'll marry her after she delivers their baby. A few flashbacks later, it's revealed [[spoiler: [[DramaticIrony he's cheating]] on her]].
** "Shuffle, Ball Change". The victim's brother is clearly very shaken upon being told that his brother's remains have been found. It seems like a perfectly normal reaction... [[spoiler: until we learn that HE'S the killer and that he's actually panicking at the realization that after 20-something years, his horrific deed has finally caught up with him]].
** "November 22nd". When we see Patrick Lennox's daughter, Hillary Rhodes, in the present, she mentions Patrick by his first name. This seems like casual dialogue, but foreshadows [[spoiler: her not actually being his daughter]].
* In "Stealing Home":
** Gonzalo's widow Piedad's confidence that her husband wasn't up to no good when he was killed in the Badlands isn't just spousal love and trust but the knowledge that he was going to a meeting with a dangerous guy, whom she is afraid of on their family's behalf, shortly before dying.
** The flashback where Gonzalo shows his dazed cousin Juan around the luxurious new apartment he got with his baseball earnings takes on a new light after the reveal about Juan's past. Gonzalo isn't just flaunting his new wealth and/or being generous to a less fortunate relative; he's giving Juan a demonstration of the lifestyle that he thinks Juan will be able to afford and enjoy himself in short order due to being an even better ballplayer than Gonzalo is. Juan's overwhelmed reaction is sadness and maybe just a little [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]] as he realizes that (due to his secret CareerEndingInjury) Gonzalo is wrong about this being his future as well.
* In "The Crossing":
** Geoffery Manning is still working for a Gibbs family-owned business decades after the murder and says that they appreciate loyalty. It later becomes clear that he personally knows the Gibbs', and the loyalty he is being rewarded for isn't just for being a regular longtime employee but for being the son of their butler, a childhood playmate of at least one younger Gibbs, and safeguarding their personal happiness as well as their business interests.
** The scene where Grace drunkenly flirts with someone in the ballroom isn't her being unfaithful to a loving husband back home but instead might be the one time she briefly comes close to giving up her HappyMarriageCharade and moving on from pining over the husband who deserted her (whether deliberately or only in a dazed and confused state as she later claims).

** Gonzalo's widow Piedad's confidence that her husband wasn't up to no good when he was killed in the Badlands isn't just spousal love and trust but the knowledge that he was going to a meeting with a dangerous guy whom she is afraid of on their family's behalf shortly before dying.
** The flashback where Gonzalo shows his dazed cousin Juan around the luxurious new apartment he got with his baseball earnings takes on a new light after the reveal about Juan's past. Gonzalo isn't just flaunting his new wealth and/or being generous to a less fortunate relative; he's giving Juan a demonstration of the lifestyle that he thinks Juan will be able to afford and enjoy himself in short order due to being an even better ballplayer than Gonzalo is. Juan's overwhelmed reaction is sadness and maybe just a little jealousy as he realizes that (due to his secret CareerEndingInjury) Gonzalo is wrong about that being his future as well.

** Geoffery Manning is still working for a Gibbs Family-owned business decades after the murder and says that they appreciate loyalty. It later becomes clear that he personally knows the Gibbs', and the loyalty he is being rewarded for isn't just for being a regular longtime employee but for being the son of their butler, a childhood playmate of at least one younger Gibbs, and safeguarding their personal happiness as well as their business interests.

** Many of the one-off victims have noticeable fanbases of their own and sometimes even fans who wouldn't have minded seeing them star in a non-murder mystery story, such as Sean "Coop" Cooper ("Forever Blue"), Carrie Swett ("That Woman"), Roy W. Dunn ("The Brush Man"), Daniel Holtz ("A Time to Hate"), Rita Baxter ("The Sleepover"), Rita Flynn ("Pin Up Girl"), Alice Miller ("Factory Girls"), Eve Kendall ("Lovers Lane"), Tom and Della Lincoln ("Badlands"), Daniela ("Daniela"), Greg Vizcaino ("Discretion"), Zeke Williams ("Strange Fruit"), Patrick Bubley's brothers ("Saving Patrick Bubley"), Julian Bellowes ("Libertyville"), Jimmy Tully ("Shore Leave"), Ray Takahashi ("Family 8108"), Sadie Douglas ("The Letter"), Joe Young ("Kensington"), Marlene Bradford ("A Dollar, A Dream), Dexter Collins ("Street Money"), Frank [=DiCenzio=] ("Frank's Best"), Gonzalo Luque ("Stealing Home"), Rainey Karlsen ("Stand Up and Holler"), Mike Chulaski ("Cargo"), Sam Randall ("Boy Crazy"), Terrance Carter ("Wunderkind"), Andy Rierdan ("Andy in C Minor"), Maurice Hall ("Shuffle, Ball Change"), Skill Jones and Madison Reed ("8:03 am"), Miriam Forrester ("Wednesday's Women"), Danny Finch, ("One Small Step"), Jane Everett ("Breaking News"), Colin Miller ("Wishing"), Ally Thurston ("Wings"), Laura [=McKinney=] ("True Calling"), Pete Doyle, Sr. ("Bad Reputation"), Ben Feldman ("Witness Protection"), Patrick "Rifle" Lennox ("November 22nd"), Jack Chao Lu and Tam Sung ("Chinatown"), Vivian Lynn ("WASP"), Mitchell Baye ("Churchgoing People"), Carlos Espinosa ("Bombers"), Harry Denton ("The Runaway Bunny"), Felicia Grant ("Almost Paradise"), Mike [=McShane=] ("Glory Days"), Dana Tucker ("The War at Home"), Missy Gallivan ("Roller Girl"), Tamyra Borden ("Spiders"), Nadia Koslov ("Triple Threat"), Donalyn Sullivan ("Read Between the Lines"), Ellie [=McCormick=] ("Revolution"), Laurie Dunne ("The Promise"), Bingo Zohar ("Devil Music"), Billy Sanders ("Soul"), Mia Romanov ("Metamorphosis"), Nash Simpson ("Hoodrats"), Sonny Sandoval ("Dead Heat"), Ed Dubinski ("Lotto Fever"), Billie Ducette and Rose Collins ("Best Friends"), Melanie Campbell ("Fireflies"), and Hank Dempsey ("The House") ([[spoiler:the last three of whom turning out to have survived their apparent murders]]).