While the show is just more investigations of how people died, “Cold Case” (7 p.m., Sundays, CBS) takes a look at slightly colder dead bodies than its predecessors.

The title of the show refers to the sector of the police department that investigates older unsolved cases. And in Philadelphia’s homicide department, Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris) has just gotten that beat.

For Rush, it means digging into the lives of people who for the most part have done their best to forget the incidents she is investigating. And that’s where Morris gets to shine.

In portraying Rush, Morris gets to use any means necessary to get under people’s skin and just throw them off. Morris can to switch from angel to taunting temptress seamlessly in the show, always with her piercing glare.

Her performance easily breaks the vanilla portrayals of so many investigators on CBS’s other shows and feels like the female counterpart of Vincent D’Onofrio’s equally engaging detective on “Law and Order: Criminal Intent.”

While there are other supporting characters on the show, such as Rush’s sometimes unwilling partner Chris Lassing (Justin Chambers) and a host of others in the department who assist Rush in her attempts to track down the killers of the past, the majority of the supporting cast pales in comparison to Morris’ charisma.

The show also has a few production tricks that help liven up “Cold Case.” When people from past cases are talked to, there are very subtle flashes to how that person looked in the past. And at the end of each investigation there’s a sequence done in slow motion, set to song which show all the primary figures in the original crime.

These stylistic presentations are no surprise considering the people behind “Cold Case.” Mega-producer Bruckheimer gives his usual stylish touches and faded colors to the show. But giving the show a darker edge is co-executive producer Shaun Cassidy (“American Gothic”) and Mark Pellington, the man behind Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” video, who directed two of the show’s episodes.

The darkness, flashback sequences and especially Morris’ fabulous performance elevate “Cold Case” and keep it distinct among the crowded field. The only question for the show is if it can successfully break the pattern of always getting the bad guy and keep a variety of murders interesting, but for now the show is hitting on all cylinders.

Grade: AB,”Matthew T. Olson”

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