I finally caught myself up on last week’s episode of Cold Case, which, incidentally, remains the most recent one following this week’s preempting. I think my lapse occurred because it was listed on my TiVo as the 11 O’clock News — stupid overruns are so prevalent on Sunday that we used to tape Cold Case for an extra hour and a half to make sure we got it. Now we just keep an eye on CBS and tinker as needed.
Anyway, what’s up with Kat (Tracie Thoms) potentially being shown the door? She’s who I guessed the deputy commissioner would choose, based on her place in the ensemble, but that’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy being at the center of a vicious cycle. Sort of.
Kat’s the most recent addition to the cast, and it has taken her time to become acclimated. She’s the odd-man out in the partnerships, and she didn’t have much of a side story until last season, when we discovered that she’d spent time undercover and had her daughter to show for it. And then she and ADA Bell (Jonathan LaPaglia) started a thing, and all of a sudden Kat had everything clicking for her.
But was it too little too late? Look, there’s nothing to say that this is anything more than drama on a dramatic series, but could Thoms be in trouble here? We already know that Cold Case was in trouble for costing too much last season, and Brett has suggested already this season that the series might again be on the bubble — could they be looking to slice their budget? Or could Thoms simply be tired of being the fifth wheel?
I don’t know anything about her, but I doubt she’s looking to leave out of frustration … she’s just now getting stuff to do. This episode did minimize her, possibly to help extricate her from the team, but otherwise she’s been more busy than not since early last season; what more would an actor want then to work?
Which brings us back to the possibility that this is a move by Cold Case to save the ship. I’ve got no information, and no reason to believe this is anything more than plot, but the possibility is definitely worth some amount of consideration. Would the cast suffer from the loss of Kat? Then again, there was a reason Thoms was added in the first place two seasons in; clearly she brought something to the table.
Besides, we hear about Lilly being one-of-a-kind — a woman in a man’s job — often enough, even with Kat standing right there next to her. Do we need to fuel her righteous speeches?
Hopefully this is nothing more than a tension builder in the squad room. But if Thoms is really leaving the show, I hope it’s on her terms, and not to appease the CBS giant … inevitably, they’re just going to want more sacrifices. And then they’ll still cut you.
What do you think the move means?
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Oct 20, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
I like(d) Kat as an addition to the show (even though I never knew her name :)) I especially enjoyed watching her after seeing her in Rent. Remember an episode last season about civil rights murders ended with “This Little Light of Mine”, sung by Thoms herself as she was tucking in her daughter? Very great. I hope that this is a drama inducing move, not one to save the show, since I want her to stay.
*POST AUTHOR*
Yeah, there have been a lot of times since Rent when I expected her to break out in song, or at least for Idina Menzel (Maureen) to pop up! ;)
I’m happy to report that Tracie’s not leaving the show. She posted on her blog last May when CC was picked up for the 7th season that it came at the cost of her and two other actors’ episode numbers being cut. So she will only be in 16 of the 22 episodes this season, and so this storyline was developed to account for at least some of the gap (she’ll be missing from the next 3 episodes). She’s quite cool with the whole thing – the other alternative was for the show not to come back at all or for actors to be fired completely – and it’s given her the chance to do other things. You can see her in an upcoming episode of Private Practice, for instance.
Tracie rocks :)
By the way, I think it’s generally accepted this is Cold Case’s last season. I don’t think anyone within the show expects it to be renewed again.
*POST AUTHOR*
That’s awesome news. Thanks for sharing it! Did she say who else drew the short straw?
I can definitely see where you’re coming from, but if it were accepted that this is the final season, why would they have bothered to air it? Why not save themselves the money in the first place, if there’s no longevity in the series?