Line #12 Recap/ColdCaseS4E15BloodOnTheTracks


1	The deaths of Jack and Johanna Kimball are reopened when fragments of a bomb were recovered from their former home, proving that they were not killed in a gas explosion.
2	-----
3	* TheAtoner: Jack intended to go to the police and confess about the group's AccidentalMurder of their friend [=McBride=]. Sadly, it's what got him killed.
4	* BaitAndSwitch: After the group freezes at the sight of a picture of their dead friend [=McBride=], the next scene is of Jack's death. Several of the flashbacks indicate that other members of the group are angry at him over [=McBride=]'s death, especially Sara, who was his girlfriend. All of which suggests that Jack was murdered in revenge for his part in [=McBride's=] death. Only for it to turn out that he wanted to ''confess'' and was killed to keep his mouth shut. In particular, the fact that Sara was so angry with him leads the cops to think that she's his killer. [[spoiler: It turns out that she was a victim along with him and that it's actually JOHANNA the cops have been talking to.]]
5	* BottleEpisode: The flashbacks take place over a weekend in the same house.
6	* ContinuityNod: As Lilly is giving a last look at one of Jack's pictures before putting his closed case box into the archives, [[Recap/ColdCaseS1E17TheLostSoulOfHermanLester Herman Lester]]'s box can be seen on the shelf next to her.
7	* DeadPersonImpersonation: [[spoiler:It turns out that Johanna killed Sara and assumed her identity]].
8	* DeathGlare: [[spoiler:Sara's ghost is seen giving Johanna a murderous look as she is arrested for her and Jack's murders]].
9	* FatalFamilyPhoto: As [[spoiler:Johanna]] leaves Jack and [[spoiler:Sara]] to die in an impending explosion (there's a bomb rigged to go off at a certain time), the camera closes in on a picture of the friends taken in their college days, smiling and happy.
10	* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the opening sequence, Jack, Johanna's ''husband'', [[spoiler:mistakes Sara for her in a photo, driving home how much they resemble each other and explaining how Johanna was able to escape by assuming her identity]].
11	** Sara at one point declares that "If I vanished off the face of the earth tomorrow, no one would even notice." [[spoiler:That's exactly what happened]].
12	** Sara also states, "I should have what you (Jack) and Johanna have", referring to their [[HappilyMarried happy marriage, beautiful home, and plans to start a family]]. At the end of the episode, [[spoiler:when we learn that Johanna has been living the good life while posing as Sara, we see that she has taken what Sara should have had]].
13	** Porter calls [[spoiler:Johanna]] a "ManipulativeBitch". He had no idea how right he was (see entry below).
14	* GuiltRiddenAccomplice: Although they actually ''all'' feel horrible regarding their friend's death, Jack is the only one who feels bad enough to want to go to cops.
15	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Porter and Johanna conspired to kill Jack to stop him from going to the cops. When they're finally arrested 26 years later, they're now on the hook for two additional murders. Even worse, thanks to Johanna's manipulation, Porter has spent this time thinking he killed her and unable to turn her in even if he does figure it out, because he'll have to admit to his own guilt]].
16	* ManipulativeBitch: [[spoiler:Johanna entices Porter into killing Jack so that they can be together. Instead, she leaves him to take the fall thinking that he killed her as well and knowing that he can't turn her in if he ever learns what really happened, as he'll have to admit his own guilt]].
17	* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: For 26 years, it was assumed that Jack and Johanna's death was due to a gas main leak, until the remnants of a bomb were discovered.
18	* MurderTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler:Porter]] has clearly never stopped resenting Jack for stealing Johanna from him roughly a decade prior and his desire to get her back [[spoiler:is the other reason he joins up with Johanna to kill him]].
19	* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Jack wants to atone for his part in a friend's death. It gets him and the only other person to support him killed.
20	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: A combination of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Jane_Olson Sarah Jane Olson case]] (a former leftist militant on the run with a new identity) and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Village_townhouse_explosion Greenwich Village townhouse explosion]] (an explosion at a leftist militant hideout initially believed to be a gas explosion, but was later discovered to be caused by a poorly assembled dynamite, although accidentally rather than deliberate).
21	* ShutUpHannibal: When Lilly confronts the killer about what they've done, [[spoiler: Johanna tries to claim that she loved her husband. Lilly retorts that she sure had a funny way of showing her love.]]
22	* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: The cops realize that [[spoiler:Johanna has been posing as Sara]] when one of the friends mentions hearing young [[spoiler:Johanna]] say something very similar to what the older version of [[spoiler:"Sara" told them]].
23	* StepfordSmiler: Jack accuses everyone in the group of being this regarding their guilt over their accidental murder of [=McBride=].
24	* WithFriendsLikeThese: Jack's [[spoiler:WIFE Johanna]] immediately runs to his best friend [[spoiler:Porter]] after he insists that he's still going to the cops (despite the group having voted "No" on doing so) and the two quickly decide to kill him to ensure his silence. To make matters worse, [[spoiler:Johanna]] also has no problem killing her friend [[spoiler:Sara and stealing her identity]].

Context Recap / ColdCaseS4E15BloodOnTheTracks