Wow! What a surprise, no rain on this week’s episode of ‘The Killing’. That seems like a first. The big news in this episode is a development with Rosie’s father and his Mob past, but we’ll get into later. For now, Richmond is fighting for his campaign as the troubles from the Rosie case pile on top of him. There are hints that Linden has had problems with her son in the past, which are threatening to rear their head again. Also, Holder is talking to mysterious bald guys in mysterious cars. I have no idea what’s going on. Do you?

I must confess to missing about a five minute chunk of this episode due to President Obama’s announcement about Osama bin Laden’s confirmed death. I switched back and forth during commercials, but once his speech started, I couldn’t change the channel. I was still able to catch and digest most of the episode. ‘What You Have Left’ is another slow episode, punctuated by a few intense moments where people start to realize the gravity of the situation.

We find out that Rosie’s father spent a lot of time in the Mob. We also learn that he may or may not have been a hit man, which throws an extra wrench into the already gummed-up works of this tangled web of a case.

I heard someone talking about the show yesterday on the radio. While the person liked it, he admitted that the show is starting to fall into a rut of sorts. Every new suspect and every new lead seems to be some kind of red herring. Now, I wouldn’t doubt that real police investigations follow the same kind of up and down rollercoaster, but we’re getting to the point where I find myself saying, “It can’t be him; there are still a lot of episodes left in this season.” Sometimes I get the feeling that the writers are biding their time.

We did find out some crucial evidence, though. Chiefly, Rosie was indeed over at Bennett’s house the night of the dance. A creepy old man next door saw Bennett with a smaller woman and Rosie, who wasn’t moving and was wrapped up in a blanket. We know that she wasn’t dead at this point, because of the very first scene of the series where we saw Rosie running for her life through the woods. Did Bennett somehow incapacitate her at his house and then transport her somewhere else? Seems plausible.

I couldn’t help but think about how impossible it would be to go to your own daughter’s funeral – much less a daughter who had been brutally murdered. I feel like ‘The Killing’ did that scene justice. The show does a wonderful job conveying the grief and distress of the Larsen family. It feels real and genuine. Mitch Larsen spends most of her time walking around in a daze, sporting a glassy-eyed stare. You know she’s not all there, and I fear the worst for her. I could see her committing suicide sometime in the near future.

Bennett seems more and more like someone that had something to do with the murder. Whether or not he was the one who killed her, I’m not sure, but he has to have something to do with it.

Other random thoughts:

• When Stan Larsen gets angry, he lifts heavy metal boxes with authority. I actually thought that scene was a tad bit corny, but the guy is grieving. He seems mentally unstable at the moment.
• What was with Bennett’s barely legal bride sitting in the stairwell holding a hammer while Linden and Holder banged on the door? She knows something, but that was strange.
• Are we just forgetting about the movie Rosie made? There was no mention of it in this episode. Hopefully there’s something substantial that comes from it later on.
• Richmond just keeps getting more and more blowback from Rosie’s murder. Now that Bennett is a prime suspect, Richmond’s campaign seems to be tanking. The more I mull I it over, the more I think this was specifically done to screw with Richmond and his campaign.