The Killing S3 E9: A Doozy

RIP, Bullet. Best character this season.

This was an action-packed episode for The Killing! And a heartbreaking one. The almost mirrored images of Holder sprinting to save Linden from Mills and then Linden sprinting to save Holder from seeing Bullet's body were full of suspense and helped develop a deeper bond between the two. They rushed to save one another's physical, and then emotional, lives.

Joel Kinnaman's performance this episode was excellent; Holder's reaction to opening the trunk was perfect and devastating. As was Linden's rebuff of Holder's kiss. I like what that did for their overall dynamic -- Linden and Holder are very Benson and Stabler in that their love for one another lies more in their professional partnership than in romantic potential. Though even the hint of a romantic relationship is enough to add depth to their interactions, and the the show. In going outwardly for the kiss in a moment of extreme emotional stress, it gets that moment out of the way with the least repercussions for their partnership. (Benson and Stabler, being stronger people and on network television, always kept it mostly together. Linden and Holder play by different rules, opening up more possibilities for their romantic tension.)

Not to mention, MILLS IS THE KILLER?! Didn't we rule him out back in the first episode? This is why I focus on the relationships between the characters and the actors' performances on this show -- getting too caught up in the actual plausibility of the plot ruins the enjoyment. Like the magical glow in the dark stars that still glow after 3 years in a dark closet.

The scene with Lyric and her boyfriend in the new apartment was really sweet and sad at the end of the shot as I imagine Lyric's thoughts turned to Bullet.

In the next two episodes, we will hopefully locate Kallie and we will see what happens with Ray. Linden appears to be ignoring him, so his chances for a pardon seem to be gone. Two developments in this episode seemed really random to me, and may set up the conclusion of Ray's story line. I'm not sure I've been paying close enough attention to the jail scenes, because I barely recognized the preacher inmate who apparently has been taunting the other inmates into untimely deaths. And the head prison guard's son killed his mom's "the other man*?" That's what happens when you show your son an under-construction gallows?

I watched the first two seasons of The Killing in about a week on Netflix, so this has been my first experience of watching the show one episode at a time, without the knowledge that I could find out the answers to the cliffhangers right away, if I wanted to. Knowing S2 E1 was just a click away kept me from being as wildly pissed off as I've read most viewers were at the end of S1. I hope that The Killing learned its lesson from S1 and we get some kind of closure at the end of this season!

*I just googled "male version of mistress" thinking that I was having a brain cramp and couldn't remember the word. Turns out, there is no male version of mistress. Urban dictionary offers "manstress" -- and a few old-timey words include "lover" and "paramour," but there really is no dedicated word for the object of a woman's extramarital affair. That's a whole separate blog post.