Cold Case: Free Love

Every once in a while a popular TV show will air an episode with a character who seems WAY more important than they should. They appear, dominate just about every minute of the program and then vanish.

Sometimes they get their own TV show. Sometimes they don’t.

This is called a “Back Door Pilot.”

Watching the latest episode of “Case,” I really felt like I was watching a back door pilot for “Cold Case 2.0,” in which Lilly joins the FBI and the other characters are replaced by newer, cheaper actors in order to get the show made a little cheaper.

A cheaper show just might mean there’s an eighth season of “Cold Case.”

If the networks don’t want it? We’ve got the same-old, same-old version. And if the show comes to a close? Well, then everyone got a semi-happy ending.

With only two episodes left in the season, you could easily see the writers spackling over the sad gaps in the lives of their characters. Nick solved a case in about three minutes and got back in touch with an old flame. Kat seems to be ready to finally make a real connection with her man.

And Lilly, of course, got into fun-and-flirty mode with her future co-star on “Cold Case 2.0.”

The only loser here was Scotty, who found out that his mom’s attacker copped a plea, and might get out early.

I can’t say that this episode would get new viewers on board, as it mostly traded in on some knowledge of the characters to get a nice warm fuzzy for fans. And the main mystery, the first for “2.0” had a cute setup and a so-so ending, mostly due to the fact that there were only two possible suspects.

Would I watch “2.0?” A good question, and one I’m guessing CBS is pondering hard right now. They get the same name, some new faces, and with an FBI link, a “bigger, better” set of cases that they can pull from.

But will fans buy it? Some will. I suspect they’ll lose more than they gain if they push the show as a reboot, but I’ve been wrong about such things before.

How about you? Would you watch “Cold Case 2.0?”