AMC’s ‘The Killing’: Episode 8 – “Stonewalled”

If you’re behind, maybe read these first:
–  AMC’s ‘The Killing’: Episodes 1 to 5 – Suspect List
– AMC’s ‘The Killing’: Episode 6 – “What You Have Left”
– AMC’s ‘The Killing’: Episode 7 – “Vengeance”

Tonight’s episode I thought really picked up the pace from last week. We are now 8 days into the investigation of Rosie’s murder. Linden still hasn’t left Seattle and when we last saw our Detectives they had just been ordered to the floor by and FBI Tactical Unit…

As always, the show is broken into 3 interwoven chapters, all running concurrent, each focusing one of three groups: The Detectives, the Larsens, or the Richmond campaign.

This episode opens with Holder and Linden are in handcuffs and we get to see some of the room they broke into. Linden noticed a pink sweatshirt and makes clear that she not only believes a girl was held captive in this room, but that Rosie was that girl. The Feds are investigating terrorist activity and believe that Linden and Holder have just jeopardized their case. It doesn’t help that crime scene photos have somehow been leaked to the press, and Linden suspects Holder is behind it.

The FBI sequesters all of the Police files on the Larsen case and we learn it was Linden’s son who betrayed her by sharing crime scene photos with his friends, which obviously then made way to the press. Sarah Linden is then basically told to leave town by her boss, as it would be ‘best for everyone’. Very High Noon. For those unfamiliar with the Gary Cooper classic, it’s about a lawman who hands in his badge in hopes of leaving town and moving on towards a peaceful retirement with his new spouse. On the day he is to leave, evil returns to town only to draw him back in to finish what he started without the backing of the town, most of whom think trouble could just be avoided all together if he just left. Quite a humbling experience. Sound familiar?

This episode also finally shows us who Holder is, a repentant man who has made mistakes and is now attempting amends. This is the episode where Holder is really becomes more than a set piece, and can finally be accepted by not only Sarah Linden, but the audience as well. Linden’s brutal humbling brings her to see Holder in a new light and they finally seem to be on the same page moving forward.

The Richmond campaign seems to be continuing it’s downward spiral as Darren himself is attending the parole hearing for the woman who killed his wife. While there is has to contemplate weither or not to release some damning info on Mayor Adams and tarnish his moral standing. The emotion of the parole hearing drives him to play dirty and news comes out that the Mayor has been supposedly keeping a mistress/former intern. If the cops are our principal point of view, and the politicians our the hierarchy, than the Larsens must be the common man perspective.

A lot of what happens in the Larsen household seems small scale compared the war for the Mayoral title or the investigation into the killing, but it reminds us of the stakes for which the character’s actions play into. The Larsen family seems to be falling apart. In the week plus since their daughter’s body was found life seems to be moving at a crawl. Mitch’s condition is not helped when she sees photos of her dead daughter on the news, which leads to some careless parenting. Stan knows that a change is needed and starts to pack up Rosie’s room. This is where we really see the seam split. Mitch and Stan both blame the other for what happened and you can already see a major strain on a marriage, that just a week earlier seemed still full of passion.

Overall I really liked this episode. For the first time it solidified the Detectives as a team, proved Darren a fighter, and gave a valuable look into the break down of a family. Oh, and did I mention it ended with a phone call that put our old friend Bennett firmly back a top the suspect list? This show has found its flow and seems to really be moving now.

I give the episode 4 out of 5 Bears.