[Alex and I will be swapping shows week-to-week for the upcoming episodes of Game of Thrones and The Killing. Check out her review of "The Wolf and the Lion" here.]
Okay, so it officially sucks to be Detective Linden yet she only has herself to blame. Her fixation on the Rosie Larsen case has already caused her to miss two pre-wedding engagements in L.A. and now Rick, as the episode’s title suggests, is not returning her calls. Without even hearing a word from his mouth in what has to be four or five weeks (in the television world), we understand his pain and fears: my wife-to-be has chosen the company of a dead girl over her fiancé and son. Speaking of Jack, the understandably moody teen stumbles across the Larsen crime scene photos on Linden’s desktop and sends them to a friend via email, only to have them appear on the front of the newspaper the following day. Linden is furious with Holder, assuming he has sold the photos for nefarious reasons, possibly to sustain a drug habit acquired whilst undercover. She is then berated by Mitch for the added misery and publicity that the photos have caused, before finally receiving a phone call from a furious parent whose child was a recipient of the photos of Rosie’s body in the trunk. So, it wasn’t Holder after all but her own flesh and blood. To cap off a disastrous day, she tails Holder in order to discover the reason for his regular shady disappearances and, in one short scene, the mystery behind one of the most intriguing characters on television evaporates entirely. It is disheartening how suddenly this delicious thread is tied off; a vital facet of the show’s ability to remain engaging died tonight, and in a pretty disappointing and unoriginal way. The FBI and political storylines, and even the minor recurrence of Bennet’s possible complicity in criminal endeavours, are there too but are also sadly undernourished.
The unnerving mood, possibly the show’s greatest asset, remains unflinching thanks to production values that remain consistent and of a high quality, and the Larsen family still cause audiences to bite fingernails, flinch and tear-up. When Mitch leaves her boys in the car and then is sidetracked by her daughter’s crime scene photos on the television news, we watch on in horror as the garage fills with exhaust fumes. However, even more terrifying is what Aunt Terry must be thinking when she finds the boys unharmed; was this an accident, or did Mitch do it on purpose?
With eight episodes gone we’re chest deep in the mystery now so anyone still watching The Killing is seeing it through to the end even if it is stumbling towards the finish line.
Great review Ystyn. I couldn’t agree more. This episode was by far the weakest of the series and yet I’ll definitely be following it through to the end.
Here’s my question, did you find it jarring to here it’s been only a week? I know at the start they were kind of pumping the “day 1, day 2 etc” thing but it really feels like it’s been dragged out for so long that I didn’t like being reminded it was only a week in. It has really been trying to make the mother look awful and yet it’s only a couple of days in. Of course she’s still totally jacked up. I don’t something about that line threw me and made me think maybe the show would have worked better as a kind of mini-series that was shown every night for two weeks straight? Could have kept that day to day tension better and served as a really interesting mystery. As it is it’s starting to lose some of that momentum I think. (I realise the logistics of TV advertising etc make the suggestion above unlikely but man it would have been cool)
I know what you’re talking about with the day-at-a-time pacing. Even when writing this review I had to go back and edit a phrase because it was chronologically incorrect. However, I tend to think the problem is not the fact that so much has happened in a week – I don’t think it has – but the fact that the timeline is NEVER referred to by the characters. If it filled a more constant part of the investigative dialogue, I really think the pacing would appear more snappy. I have to admit that I have occasionally missed the single titlecard at the start of each episode informing us what day it is and, therefore, don’t make the connection to the timeline. I think Mitch’s reference – “It’s only been a week” – when Stan packs down Rosie’s room is the first and only time it has come up.
I found this episode a slight improvement from “Vengeance.” On the plot level, it’s going in the *exact* direction I hoped it wouldn’t as far as the FBI investigation/Bennet goes (WHY?!), but this was the first episode where I left many scenes with the distinct feeling that any of the characters could be involved. Glances that lasted a moment too long, a momentary look in the eye, a tilt of the head—I found myself frequently narrowing my eyes at the screen, rewinding to rewatch more closely. Even though when Richmond hit the mirror I was thinking “pffft, Walt did it better,” and it was just this side of melodramatic, his lack of expression and composure was surprisingly chilling. I really loved the scene between Linden and Jack in the car as she’s chastising him over the images, and her bristly, frustrated *reaction* when Jack mentions his father.
I was hoping there’d be more to Holder (there is, I hope!), and although his confession was a little long, the performance was great and I became upset as he recounted the nephew/penny story. And, judging by Holder’s exchange with Linden afterwards, this could be the beginning of a relationship that is cooperative if a little awkward, potentially a bit of warmth to an otherwise cynical and dreary world.
Mitch’s car exhaust faux pas was predictable, so I felt that was a misstep, and I’m a little worried she’s too outwardly emotional for the controlled, cold world The Killing has established—sometimes I feel as though her character is on a different level to other characters, which is fine except she’s often the *only* character, and I find this distracting at times.
AND:
- Holder’s “Yo, it’s called a detective’s shield, Einstein” was entertaining even if, again, it seems inspired by a Breaking Bad character.
-After the leak, when Mitch is walking across the road to confront Linden, I said “Uh oh!” VERY loudly. She scares me a little…I wonder if leaving the children in the garage was more about her capactity to cause harm (unintentional?), or the capacity for *any* character to cause harm given the right set of circumstances?
They first impressions count but I must say, reading your comments Alex has made me reconsider the episode and I feel that much of what you have said is very valid and maybe I was a little harsh. I was definitely jilted by Holder’s sudden outing but his confession about the coin destroyed me too. I almost need to watch it again because it definitely feels like a missed a number of neat nuances.