Before CSI made forensics cool and way before Cold Case hit the airwaves in the States, there was a rainy, grey, and brutally honest show coming out of Vancouver. Cold Squad didn’t have a massive Hollywood budget. It didn’t have flashy transitions or high-tech holograms. What it had was Julie Stewart as Sergeant Ali McCormick, a woman obsessed with the files that everyone else wanted to forget.
If you grew up in Canada in the late 90s, you remember that theme song. It felt like the damp pavement of the Downtown Eastside. It was moody. It was real.
Most people don’t realize how much of a pioneer this show actually was. It debuted in 1998 on CTV and ran for seven seasons, making it one of the most successful Canadian dramas ever produced. But its legacy isn't just about longevity. It's about how it shifted the way we watch police procedurals. It stopped being about the "hot pursuit" and started being about the quiet, agonizing process of digging through cardboard boxes.
The Cold Squad Formula vs. Everything Else
You’ve seen the tropes. A detective looks at a grainy photo, says "enhance," and suddenly a reflection in a spoon reveals the killer's face. Cold Squad hated that. Honestly, the show was almost stubbornly dedicated to the grind.
In the early seasons, the "Squad" worked out of a basement. It was cramped. It was filled with literal dust. This wasn't some high-end glass office in Miami. This was the Vancouver Police Department’s forgotten wing. When Ali McCormick pushed to reopen a case from 1975, she wasn't just fighting a killer; she was fighting her own bosses who thought she was wasting taxpayer money.
That tension made the show special.
It wasn't just about the "who-dun-it." It was about the "why-now." Why does a 20-year-old murder matter when there are bodies dropping in the streets today? The show argued that justice doesn't have an expiration date.
Why the Vancouver Setting Was a Character Itself
Vancouver in the 90s wasn't the "Hollywood North" shiny metropolis we see in The Flash or Arrow today. It was gritty. The show utilized the city's natural gloom—the constant drizzle, the overcast skies, and the industrial backdrops of the Granville Street Bridge.
It felt authentic.
When characters walked through East Hastings, they weren't on a backlot. They were in the real world. This grounded the series in a way that American procedurals often struggled with. There’s a specific texture to Canadian television from this era—think Da Vinci’s Inquest—that prioritizes atmosphere over action. If you're looking for car chases every ten minutes, you're watching the wrong show. But if you want to feel the weight of a detective’s exhaustion, this is it.
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The Evolution of Ali McCormick
Julie Stewart’s performance is the anchor. Period.
She played McCormick with a sort of frayed-wire energy. She wasn't always likable. She was stubborn, often dismissive of her personal life, and frankly, kind of a pain for her superiors. But she was right.
Over seven seasons, we saw her change. The cast around her rotated—bringing in heavy hitters like Michael Hogan (before he was Colonel Tigh on Battlestar Galactica), Joy Tanner, and Garry Chalk. Every time the cast shifted, the dynamic of the room changed, but McCormick remained the moral center. She represented the idea that the victims of the past deserved a voice.
The show underwent a massive "reboot" of sorts around Season 3 and Season 7. They moved out of the basement. The lighting got a bit brighter. Some fans argue it lost its soul when it moved into the more polished office, but the writing remained sharp. It tackled things that were, at the time, pretty taboo or just ignored. We're talking about systemic failures, the plight of sex workers, and the way the "old boys' club" in the police force covered for their own.
The Realism Check: Do Cold Case Units Actually Work Like This?
Let’s be real for a second.
In the real world, cold case detectives spend 90% of their time reading. Just reading. They read old notebooks. They track down retired cops who are now living in Florida or the Okanagan. They wait months for DNA results to come back from a lab that has a massive backlog.
Cold Squad captured that waiting game.
Unlike Cold Case (the CBS show), which used flashy musical montages to show "ghosts" of the past, the Canadian original stayed in the present. You felt the frustration of a lead going nowhere. You felt the heartbreak when a witness died before they could testify. It’s that commitment to the "bummer" parts of police work that gives it such high E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) in the eyes of fans who actually know the legal system.
The Controversy: Cold Squad vs. CBS's Cold Case
We have to talk about the elephant in the room.
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In 2003, CBS launched Cold Case. The premise was... strikingly similar. So similar, in fact, that it sparked a lot of conversation about whether the American network had just lifted the "Cold Squad" blueprint.
Both featured a blonde female lead. Both were about a specialized unit solving old crimes. Both used a mix of flashbacks.
The creators of Cold Squad actually filed a lawsuit. It was a whole thing. Eventually, it was settled, but for Canadian TV fans, there’s always been a bit of a chip on the shoulder about it. The US version was shinier and had better music licensing, sure. But the Canadian version had more teeth. It wasn't afraid to be ugly.
Technical Impact and the 2026 Perspective
Looking back from 2026, the show is a fascinating time capsule.
First, look at the technology. In the early seasons, they’re using clunky monitors and giant floppy disks. By the end, they're moving into the digital age. But more importantly, the show predates the "true crime" boom we're living in now.
Before everyone had a podcast about an unsolved murder, Cold Squad was explaining why these cases are so hard to crack. It taught the audience about "evidentiary trails" and the "chain of custody" before those terms were common dinner conversation.
If you're trying to find the show now, it can be a bit of a hunt. It pops up on various streaming services like Amazon Prime or Plex depending on your region. It hasn't always been given the "prestige" remaster it deserves, which is a shame. The grainy film stock actually adds to the vibe, but a 4K cleanup would be incredible for seeing the detail in those old crime scene photos they used as props.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Show
People think it’s just another "cop show."
It's not.
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It’s a show about memory. It’s about how a city forgets its people. The "Cold" in the title doesn't just refer to the cases; it refers to the trail, the people, and sometimes the detectives themselves who have to freeze their emotions to get the job done.
Also, can we talk about the guest stars?
Because it was filmed in Vancouver, almost every Canadian actor who went on to do big things in the 2000s showed up here. You'll see faces that eventually populated Stargate, The X-Files, and Smallville. It was a training ground for the industry.
Why You Should Revisit It (Or Watch for the First Time)
If you're tired of the "super-cop" narrative where the hero is always right and always fast, you need to watch this. It’s slow television in the best way possible.
- The stakes are human. It’s not about stopping a nuclear bomb; it’s about giving a mother closure after 30 years.
- The acting is grounded. No one is "acting for the rafters."
- The setting is honest. It shows the parts of the city that tourism boards usually crop out of the photos.
Honestly, the show's biggest strength was its refusal to provide a happy ending every time. Sometimes the killer was already dead. Sometimes the evidence was lost forever. That’s life.
How to Dive Back into the Files
If you’re looking to get into Cold Squad, don't feel like you have to start at the very beginning if you're worried about the 90s "fuzziness." Season 2 is generally considered where the show really found its feet. However, for the true experience, seeing the basement era of Season 1 is essential for understanding McCormick's chip on her shoulder.
Actionable Insights for the True Crime Fan:
- Watch for the procedural accuracy: Compare the forensic techniques used in 1998 to what you see on CSI. You'll notice Cold Squad is much more conservative about what DNA can actually do.
- Track the Vancouver geography: For those who know the city, it’s a fun game to see how many locations have since been turned into high-priced condos.
- Analyze the "Cold Case" lawsuit: Research the legal battle between the Canadian producers and CBS. It’s a masterclass in intellectual property law in the television industry.
- Support local media: Many of these episodes are available on ad-supported streamers. Watching them helps keep the demand for Canadian archival content alive.
There is a specific kind of magic in shows that don't try to be anything other than what they are. Cold Squad was a gritty, hardworking show about gritty, hardworking people. It didn't need bells and whistles. It just needed a cold file and a detective who wouldn't put it down.
If you want to understand the DNA of modern crime TV, you have to look at the shows that paved the way. This wasn't just a show; it was the blueprint.