Season 1, Episode 8 of Cold Case.
Directed by James Whitmore Jr.
Written by Veena Sud
Rosie Miles wakes up from a two-year coma after she and her six-year-old daughter, Toya, fell out of their apartment window, which resulted in Toya’s death. Her mixed messages from her psychotics are enough for Toya’s case to be reopened.
Tropes
- Always Murder: Averted; in this case, it's a double suicide that went awry.
- The Atoner: Rosie's father McLean wanted to be this, as he seemingly regretted hurting her in the past. The night of her and Toya's accident, he was working up the nerve to apologize to Rosie and hear out her earlier plea for help.
- Batman Gambit: Lilly successfully pulls one of these on Freely, telling him that numerous victims have come forward to accuse him. In fact, they're right behind the glass...except they're not. Freely is fooled, however, and decides to make his confession rather than risk more people coming forward.
- Bittersweet Ending: Rosie's life may never be the same again, as Toya is still dead at the end of the day. Also, Rosie's father may have lost his chance to make amends with his daughter. Nonetheless, Mr. Freely has been exposed and will not only lose his job but be sentenced to jail for his actions. Meanwhile, it's implied that Philip can now pick up the pieces, and Rosie will be sent to a safe place where she can heal until she's ready to move on with her life.
- Dark and Troubled Past: It isn't spelled out, but even before Rosie's brain damage from the coma, she was an unstable individual.
- Department of Child Disservices: Freely, the social worker assigned to Rosie, is a pedophile.
- Does Not Like Men: Rosie has a strong dislike and fear of men due to the numerous abusive male figures in her life.
- Good All Along: Philip Williams, the black guy who was seen fleeing the scene of Rosie's attempted double suicide. It is assumed he had done something to Rosie and Toya but it turns out the reason he was at the house was to bring leftover pizza for Rosie and Toya to eat. Unfortunately, Rosie assumed that he was Mr. Freely coming to take her daughter away and tried to kill herself and Toya. Philip fled the scene because he feared the police would think he was responsible for what happened.
- It's Personal:
- Lilly feels a very strong connection to this case, due to how it echoes her own childhood with an unfit mother. She later comes to realize that Rosie wasn't an unfit mother in the same way her own mother was, and that there were plenty of extenuating circumstances.
- Rosie herself feels this way about Mr. Freely. Her own father was also abusive to her as a little girl, and she doesn't want to see Mr. Freely do the same to her daughter Toya.
- Laser-Guided Karma: For his long-standing streak of abusing power over single mothers and their daughters, all of Freely's past victims come forward, which promises he may not only lose his job but also face a prison sentence.
- Meaningful Name: Josh Freely, who freely abuses his power.
- Mercy Kill: Suicide, rather. What Rosie was attempting to prevent Toya from being taken away and ultimately suffering the same abuse she did.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Rosie when Lilly coaxes her to remember what happened the night of Toya's death.
- Nom de Mom: Rosie Miles goes by her mother's maiden name to distance herself from her father, McLean Wykowski.
- Once More, with Clarity: The opening flashback shows Toya and Rosie huddled in her room, hearing footsteps... and then the sight of them being thrown from the window by an unknown assailant. But Philip's flashback shows that there was no one else in the room and the detectives realize that Rosie is the one who threw herself and Toya from the window.
- Parents as People: An inverted variation. The "people" part is the exterior of Rosie's personality, as she was a rather unstable woman with issues. But throughout the story, our heroes uncover that she was a pretty good mother, all things considered. If the teacher's description of Toya's happiness and being well-provided is any indication, Rosie was a loving mother who went the extra mile for her daughter despite circumstances.
- Poor Communication Kills: Rosie failed to get help from her ex-boyfriend and estranged father with Mr. Freely partly because of her refusal to fully explain the danger he posed.
- Scary Black Man: Just about everyone reports seeing an unidentified black man running from the scene of the crime. When Lilly and Scotty find him, it turns out he's still tormented by what happened that night and not because he's guilty. He was an intelligent young man with a bright future who was even enough of a good guy to give pizzas from his job to Rosie and Toya; events just conspired against him and the Mileses.
- Self-Soothing Song: As she prepares to jump to their deaths, Rosie has Toya sing her school play's butterfly song.
- Shut Up, Kirk!: Freely gives a rather smug one to Lilly.Lilly: You were like God to these women. You had the power to give, to take...and you did!
Freely: Like anyone gives a damn. Trailer park trash. Welfare queens. Like you care what happens to them. - Struggling Single Mother: Rosie was raising Toya on her own while on welfare, which drives the episode's conflict.
- Sympathetic Murderer: Rosie, so much that "murderer" is too strong a word. Paranoid that the pedophilic Freely would take Toya away after hearing someone enter her home late at night and believing she had no other options left to protect her daughter, Rosie hurled herself and Toya out of their window so they would be Together in Death. Toya was the only one who died. Tragically, it was All for Nothing because the person at the door was actually their friend Philip. Once this is explained, the DA agrees not to press charges and Lilly arranges for Rosie to be sent to a sanatorium to recover.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Philip is a volunteer at Toya's school who often gives her and Rosie leftover pizzas from his day job. Unfortunately, one evening he visits without announcing himself and Rosie thinks it's the abusive Josh Freely coming to take Toya away, so she decides to jump out of the window.
