The episode starts with a fire at the house of Joe Don Billingsley. The uncontrolled event took the lives of the two sons that were trapped upstairs. Joe Don is accused of setting the fire, something he denies. The incident lands him in jail after all the evidence points to him being the perpetrator. Nick Vera, the Cold Case detective, had a hard time when he had to investigate the original crime. Joe Don is targeted in prison to be killed, in a case of jail justice. The only thing is that as it will be found at the conclusion of the story, Joe Don was innocent all the time.
Nick Vera is seen at the beginning in a heated argument with Travis, the brother of Joe Don, who maintains his sibling was wrongly accused. Driving home, a bit intoxicated, Nick gets into an almost fatal accident. He realizes his guilt in driving a police vehicle unauthorized, so he decides to lay low for a while. His colleagues, though, are worried about Nick's state of mind.
In going over the facts, the Cold Case team begin to unravel the mystery about the fire. Nick, acting on his own, also begins to tackle a few loose ends. The detectives get lucky in two fronts, Joe Don's former wife, the mother of the two dead boys, and the landlord of the house that was burned. Both declare there were faulty wiring, so that clears the accused man, who evidently suffered a case of cowardice, not going back to the house to rescue his sons.
Another good chapter in this interesting series. Written by Greg Plageman, who is involved in the creative section of "Cold Case", and directed by Jeannot Szwarc, the program moves at a quick pace. Jeremy Ratchford, who plays Nick Vera, is showcased in the program. He has some good moments. We were afraid his character was being phased out, but we remembered how he appears in another installment, although in his temporarily suspension mode. The cast and guest stars do excellent work.
Nick Vera is seen at the beginning in a heated argument with Travis, the brother of Joe Don, who maintains his sibling was wrongly accused. Driving home, a bit intoxicated, Nick gets into an almost fatal accident. He realizes his guilt in driving a police vehicle unauthorized, so he decides to lay low for a while. His colleagues, though, are worried about Nick's state of mind.
In going over the facts, the Cold Case team begin to unravel the mystery about the fire. Nick, acting on his own, also begins to tackle a few loose ends. The detectives get lucky in two fronts, Joe Don's former wife, the mother of the two dead boys, and the landlord of the house that was burned. Both declare there were faulty wiring, so that clears the accused man, who evidently suffered a case of cowardice, not going back to the house to rescue his sons.
Another good chapter in this interesting series. Written by Greg Plageman, who is involved in the creative section of "Cold Case", and directed by Jeannot Szwarc, the program moves at a quick pace. Jeremy Ratchford, who plays Nick Vera, is showcased in the program. He has some good moments. We were afraid his character was being phased out, but we remembered how he appears in another installment, although in his temporarily suspension mode. The cast and guest stars do excellent work.