I liked Linden in this week’s episode of ‘The Killing’, but the revelation of which character the killer(s) might be doesn’t seem to jibe with me. Thinking back on these past two seasons, I wonder if it makes sense at all, but I just keep tying my brain in knots.

‘The Killing’ is such a frustrating show precisely because it will spend around eight or nine episodes meandering along, teasing conspiracies, stopping the plot with bureaucratic red tape, only to get to an episode like ‘Bulldog’ where things are pieced together rather quickly and we start seeing the big picture. The question is: Are you willing to slog through those other wandering, rain-drenched episodes to get to this point in time?

Day 24

Somehow, Linden is still doing police work and supervising warrant searches without actually being a police officer. It’s announced that Linden is just there as an observer, which seems weird in and of itself. The stranger thing is that Linden secretly finds the mysterious, blood-covered key card in the floorboards of the casino. Now, I’m no law expert, but wouldn’t that be grounds for throwing out that evidence in court? She isn’t a police officer at this point. Couldn’t her actions during the search, and whatever she found, be rendered null and void in court if the defense had somewhat competent lawyers? It seems to me that her being there and participating in that search under “purely observational” status is fishy. However, I’m sure that this show really isn’t concerned about what will happen whenever this murder investigation goes to trial. The writers only worry about revealing the killer so they don’t end up pissing off the rest of the fan base with another cliffhanger.

With that said, I really enjoyed Linden’s subtle “Eff you!” to Chief Jackson as she waves the key card in front of the elevator video camera and then simply smiles. That’s one of the show’s better scenes. However, even that is ruined by Jackson huffing and puffing like a petulant child, followed by her turning to her right-hand minion and slamming her fingers in the door much like what a Bond villain would do to an underperforming henchman.

Mitch is finally home, but I’ve long since forgotten that she even existed. I assume she’s back home so that she can spend the next two finale episodes commiserating with her husband until the killer is caught. That’s going to be a sunny spot in the story for sure.

I get the feeling that Janek’s death at the hands of Alexi is supposed to be surprising or jarring. To me, it’s neither. Janek never really felt like an important character. He never seemed all that intimidating either. Seeing him capped leaves me hollow inside. Also, while we’re on the topic of Janek’s death, I’m tired of movies and TV shows trying to pass off the “someone hiding in the back seat” routine. Next time you walk out to your car, try not looking at the back seat from outside. It’s impossible, unless you have no peripheral vision or you’re driving a gigantic SUV. With normal four-door passenger cars, like the one Janek’s brains get splattered in, it’s impossible not to see into the back seat when getting in. Apparently, Janek, along with plenty of other characters throughout the history of TV and cinema, has terrible peripheral vision.

Finally, we get to the mini-revelation and find out that those (yes, even our own Josh Zyber) who have been saying that Jamie did it might indeed be vindicated. The bloody key card doesn’t work on Mayor Adams’ offices, but it does work on Richmond’s campaign office. This is followed up by a not-so-subtle camera zoom in on Gwen and Jamie. (“Dun dun dunnnnn!”)

Now, ‘The Killing’ is no stranger to saying, “Lookie here, it’s the killer! Psych!” So, this makes me wonder if this isn’t the ultimate red herring. There are still two episodes left this season, and quite possibly a few surprises before we actually understand who did what and why, but I still can’t understand how it makes sense that Jamie and Gwen are most likely involved. Why would Gwen go through the trouble of threatening her dad to get the warrant on the Indian casino? What would killing Rosie Larsen, dealing with Janek, Michael Ames and Chief Jackson benefit Jamie? Why would they be stupid enough to put Rosie in a campaign car if they killed her? So many questions. I hope ‘The Killing’ answers some of them with its finale.

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