Parents' Guide to

Cold Squad

By Lucy Maher, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Canadian police drama isn't anything special.

TV Syndicated Drama 1998
Cold Squad Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

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age 2+

Based on 1 parent review

Valica810
Valica810 Parent of 3 and 16-year-old
September 5, 2022
age 2+

FOLLOW UP

1 episode goes off another comes on with no mention of what happened. Season 3, we are to think nothing happened to Ali's cousin after getting her partner shot by calling him, and then a child shot in head during shoot out? I love how keep touching evidence with bare hands, no gloves
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

The syndicated crime drama COLD SQUAD (which originally aired in Canada starting in the late '90s) takes viewers inside the files of some of a Vancouver police department's toughest cold cases, which have been collecting dust for 5, 10, or even 50 years. Julie Stewart stars as Sgt. Ali McCormick, who serves as the de facto head of her unit. As on Law & Order, the rest of the cast rotated in and out over the years, including Matthew Bennett as Sgt. Len Harper, Tamara Craig Thomas as Det. Mickey Collander, and Michael Hogan as Det. Tony Logozzo. Cases can be lurid: In one episode, for example, after a 12-year old is reported missing from her bedroom, Ali enters the world of pedophiles to try to find her. In another, after a taxi driver reports picking up a sketchy, misogynistic passenger, Ali looks into it and encounters a dentist who kept company with a couple of recently murdered strippers.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Like its American counterparts Cold Case (which is so similar in premise that it earned a lawsuit from Cold Squad's creators...) and CSI, Cold Squad looks at topical -- and often sensational -- cases, some of which might be too much for sensitive viewers. Subplots involving the officers' private lives deal with decidedly adult issues, including ongoing marital woes between Harper and his wife and, in one episode, McCormick having to divulge that she'd had an abortion in order to provide an alibi. But overall, Cold Squad lacks the suspense, edge, and pulse that viewers have come to expect from similar crime dramas.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the crime investigation process. How do detectives and police officers deal with constantly being confronted with death? How can they desensitize themselves? Would you want to be a cop or detective? Why or why not? Families can also talk about the nature of closure -- do the characters on the show find comfort when the crime is solved? Should people who committed crimes long ago and have since reformed still be held accountable for their actions?

TV Details

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