Here at The Atlantic, I wondered about some of the mounting criticism
that began to appear after only the first five weeks but concluded the
show was still worth watching. Yes, there were a few ham-fisted moments,
some oddly pat situations, the bleakness, and of course increasingly
frustrating red herrings.
But what remained was the atmosphere, the nuanced acting behind
officers Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (Joel
Kinnaman), two originals
who have only seemed more dynamic and intriguing as their flawed
characters unfold. As a reader pointed out in a note to me, the series has
included some impressive directors, from Patty Jenkins (Monster) to
Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa), who have crafted the chilly world of
the show's Seattle. These elements in the raw tend to work on The Killing and
still propel episodes forward; the technical details of plot and at
times subtlety sometimes miss the mark.
Yet I'd also
suggest that some of the criticism is too quick and misses the mark. One
large objection is that the show rarely brings us closer to who killed
Rosie Larsen. True enough—the show does tease its audience far too much,
offering drama that's occasionally more faux than unforgettable
(Sonoma, anyone?), but what drives the show is the effect of Rosie's
death on the characters. The actual mystery is vaguely interesting but
more a backdrop and narrative mechanism to watch the pain unfold. Oh,
Bennet wasn't the killer...? Fine enough. His innocence doesn't mean the
latest episodes were wasted, considering the character still ended up in
critical condition after the transformations in Stan Larsen's
character. The Killing's virtues lie more in character study than in the
clue of the week.
This new episode offered perhaps the most startling display of Sarah Linden's inner life. When reviewing in a recent episode,
I posed the question of when she might break down—that time seems to
have arrived now. Guilt plagues Linden in every scene after discovering
that Bennet, an innocent, is nearly dead and thanks to her careless
words to the Larsen family: her late-night, Bourbon-filled visit to
Richmond; her tears when hearing of her son's drinking and Regi's
displeasure; the late-night trip to a hotel; and of course, her failure
to join a defeated Rick, who has given up on the woman who may lead him
to "end up sitting in a hospital again watching her stare at a blank
wall." Her desperation and dedication and closed-off nature
comprise one of the most fascinating set of traits in a character. These
qualities and parenting flaws would be at home with a masculine cop
archetype, but she embodies them naturally as a woman. No one would blame Rick for kissing her and leaving, Regi
for her anger ("I'm not the babysitter, Sarah"), or her son Jack for his
confusion, yet Linden herself remains somehow compelling and
sympathetic, a testament to Enos' acting and the show's strong writing. She's not
the best cop and not the best mother—and that's why she's so fascinating.