I thought "8 Years" was the worst episode, somehow managing to be boring and confusing at the same time. It was hard to follow, and an absolute mess.
I agree with some of the other posters about "Ghost of My Child" - I found it very depressing, with the only highlight a good performance by Nicholle Tom.
Another episode that involved a fire was one at a soriety house, where the humiliation of a fat girl got out of hand. It was so melodramatic, but takes place in 2005 with the flashbacks to 2004, so hardly a cold case.

I did like the music, but the plot was very weak in that one. And I agree with the reason he was killed. It seemed like the writers weren't trying on that one. There was good buildup, then nothing.

I'll be honest with youI was so irate that I didn't get to the middle of the episode, let alone the end. I clearly didn't miss much!.

What I didn't like was the stupid reason that the victim died.
You spend the whole time watching the episode, looking for clues as to the doer and it turns out *SPOILER (that he died because he got in the way of one of his friends trying to stab the other).
I thought that it was such a cheap ending, as there was nothing to hint that this would be the reason the victim died. It seemed so random.

Agreed. The "single artist" episodes are very hit or miss. I felt for the victim but overall the episode was not very good, there were far too many unlikable characters written and not being a fan of Mellencamp's music just make me ignore it when it comes on.
You laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at you because you're all the same.

For some reason I HATED 'Kensington' ('85, mill workers, all John Mellencamp songs). I could not get into it at all and it felt like it was 3 hours long.
Laissez les bons temps rouler!

I hated it too. The characters just seemed unrealistic. I hate that movie, so that might have something to do with it though. And I hATED the credits at the end too. Very cheesy.

Cold Case never did portray organized religion in a good light. First season, episode 4 "Churchgoing People" while I thought it was a great episode, you could just feel the disdain for religion the writers had in how the mother was portrayed as a crazy religious fanatic.

I agree. The rocky horror picture show episode was awful. For me, I couldn't even get through it! I actually found it quite blatantly offensive, mainly because it portrayed my religion in an inaccurate light. Now, I know many people do have some strange ideas about my church, mainly because there is a lot of fiction on the Internetand some of the things about Mormonism are a bit different. But let's not get into that here
It's the way they portrayed the social interactions of these people. So cheesy and fanatical. No one I know acts like that! No one I know has that much religious paraphernalia on their walls, and big surprise, we don't talk about religious things 24/7.
I actually wanted to bang my head on a wall over it. It almost turned me off the whole show.
Stupid, stupid episode. If we were actually like that, I would probably have to change my name, run away, and start a new life.

I hated the episode with the "Rocky Horror Picture Show". The story was boring, the victim seemed like a jerk, but what took the cake was the cheesy credits in the end. It seemed so outof place on such a serious show.

I'll abswer better later, but " Ghost of A child" is one of the BEST episodes of the serie..

I'm familiar with the Carlina White story but I still don't believe that it is the same as what the show depicted. Carlina White was taken by a poor woman who wanted children but the story depicted on the show was that a doctor and a social worker kidnapped the baby which makes it unbelievable because a social worker of all people would know the consequences of doing such a thing.

? Google her. She's an exact example of what the OP said was unrealistic.

what?

Carlina White.

But, this is a TV series with a fantastic element: the dead don't really make an appearance in the real world when their cases are solved. In fact, a lot of what goes on in these police procedurals doesn't exist in the real world, including some of the technology they have to help solve cases.
The audience just usually suspends disbelief.
"..sure you won't change your mind? Why, is there something wrong with the one I have?"

I'm sorry but I still do not buy it because in the real world even rich people know better than to do that because the child's birth would have to be registered with the authorities and I don't think that the authorities could be bribed to look the other way. A rich person can afford to bribe the authorities but not hire a surrogate? Give me a break.

To them, they didn't do anything wrong. The dead baby was a John Doe and no one would miss him. "Mom" was a social worker, she'd seen how kids with drug addicted parents grow up and figured they'd save the little boy from a mother that loved her drugs more than her kid (which obviously wasn't true). This way they saved their money and saved the child's life, in their minds.
One thing about rich people is that they do not want to part with a dime if they don't absolutely have to.
~Kim

Yes people who are desperate for a child will do things and not care about the consequences but usually a doctor and a social worker who want a child would either try to adopt or hire a surrogate and more likely than not have the resources to afford it. I can suspend disbelief for certain things on these shows but not that.

The series itself is unrealistic,(in real life, the dead really don't appear at the successful solution to a case) so that doesn't matter, and actually people who are desperate for a child in some cases don't care about consequences. If you think about it, it was a perfect crime. An infant's unidentifiable corpse was found in the fire ravaged apartment. I am sure the social worker and her husband never expected to be discovered.

Well then this episode is even more unrealistic since a social worker who would be desperate for a child would more likely than not know the consequences of doing something like that and getting caught would probably happen sooner or later.

If it's the episode I am thinking of the child's mother was a drug addict named Priscilla who cleaned up so she could keep her baby with whom she fell in love at birth. No one would help her, but she was determined to keep her baby and give him a good life.
The social worker involved with the case wanted a child and her husband, who worked in a hospital, got the corpse of an abused child and stole Priscilla's baby, leaving the corpse in his place, then set her house on fire while she had stepped out (I forgot why) for a moment. They then raised Priscilla's little boy as theirs until they were discovered by the Cold Case team. At the end, Valens drives up with the little guy to the flower market where the mother now works. Of course the boy hardly remembers her, but the hope in her face as she reaches out to him offering a brightly colored flower is so poignant.
I like this episode.
It reminds me of another episode of which I don't remember the title in which an ex-convict vows that he will become someone his son(who has rejected him and shows signs of going down the same path) does not have to be ashamed of and keeps that promise
going undercover to thwart the robbery of an armoured car and is betrayed at the last minute by a crooked cop who kills him
. It reminds us that sometimes although some people have made bad choices, love for their children inspires them to strive to be better.Both of these episodes are heartbreakers.

My least favorite episode was "Ghost of My Child". A well off couple desperate for a child would not kidnap a baby, set fire to a place and try to pass the kid off as theirs. They would try to adopt or hire a surrogate mother. Especially a doctor and his wife.

Shocked with so many people saying 8 Years. Just saw it and loved it! One of my favourites.