The Philadelphia homicide squad's lone female detective finds her calling when she is assigned cases that have never been solved. Detective Lilly Rush combines her natural instincts with the updated technology available today to bring about justice for all the victims she can.
Written by Sophie and last updated on jan 30, 2023.
PS: The following content contains spoilers!
PPS: I will admit that parts of this page was written with the help of AI - it makes my work so much easier to not start from a blank page!
The 1998 death of a terminally ill man who died months before he was expected to is investigated after a nurse confesses to six so-called mercy killings.
The episode was rated 7.95 from 119 votes.
The team re-investigates their oldest cold case yet, the 1919 murder of a young woman who was a passionate advocate for women's right to vote.
The episode was rated 7.95 from 111 votes.
Lilly and Valens travel to Nashville and Knoxville to investigate the 2000 murder of a country-music singer who was gunned down outside of a Philadelphia bar where he and his band had recently played. The unsolved case is reopened when the gun used in the homicide turns up.
The episode was rated 7.96 from 122 votes.
The 1979 murder of a schoolteacher who was stabbed to death in a wooded area is reopened when the victim's bloodstained jacket is found stuffed in a tree trunk with a happy-face key chain in a pocket. The case was originally investigated by Jeffries when he was a rookie detective.
The episode was rated 7.98 from 129 votes.
The apparent 1958 suicide of a popular rock-and-roll DJ is reinvestigated after a documentary filmmaker discovers a tape recording made at the time of the victim's death by gunshot at his radio station. Also, Valens tries to get his brother to testify against a suspected pedophile.
The episode was rated 7.98 from 133 votes.
Lilly investigates the murder of a 17-year-old prep-school student who disappeared in early 2006 and whose body is found stuffed in an oil drum outside an abandoned warehouse in a drug-infested part of the city. Also, Vera pays a parking ticket for his neighbor and later asks her out on a date.
The episode was rated 7.98 from 133 votes.
Two teens, one a preppy 13-year-old Chestnut Hill girl, the other a 15-year-old North Philadelphia boy who is a drug dealer, are both shot to death on the same January day in 2002 at 8:03 A.M., outside of different schools. The cold cases haunt Miller because it's the fifth anniversary of the shootings and she was the one who found the dying boy. She believes the cases are connected, but Lilly doubts that they are related.
The episode was rated 8.01 from 121 votes.
Lilly investigates the deaths of a married couple who perished in 1981 when a supposedly accidental gas-leak explosion set their house on fire. The case is reopened when fragments of a bomb are discovered at the house during renovations. Back at headquarters, Stillman takes care of his 4-year-old grandson.
The episode was rated 8.02 from 130 votes.
A father pushes a registered sex offender off of a building and threatens to kill a different sex offender each day until the cold-case unit solves his son's 1987 rape and murder.
The episode was rated 8.03 from 126 votes.
When a body is found in a dumpster, the team re-opens the 1984 case of a murdered teenage boy who wanted to become a dancer against his father's wishes.
The episode was rated 8.06 from 120 votes.
LLilly investigates the 1964 murder of a 17-year-old girl who was sent by her parents to a home for unwed mothers, where she gave birth to a girl. The next day the teen was killed. The case is reopened when the victim's daughter comes forward, having just learned that she was adopted and that her biological mother was slain.
The episode was rated 8.06 from 125 votes.
In the fourth season finale, a hostage situation arises when the entire team is held captive while they're investigating the 2006 killings of a family who had just moved into a new house.
The episode was rated 8.14 from 127 votes.
The 1999 murder of a homeless woman, whose body is found at the bottom of a river in a station wagon, is investigated.
The episode was rated 8.18 from 122 votes.
The unsolved 1968 murder of a policeman is reinvestigated when a dying inmate claims he took a brick of heroin from the slain officer's patrol car shortly after the victim was gunned down in the same vehicle. but new evidence now reveals the victim may have been romantically involved with his partner.
The episode was rated 8.25 from 125 votes.
The 1975 disappearance of an 8-year-old girl who was never found is reinvestigated after a note written by the girl shortly before she vanished turns up. Their friendship rattled many in the predominantly white neighborhood and the girls quickly became targets of hatred.
The episode was rated 8.27 from 146 votes.
