Life is load of weirdness and that is all I can say about my disappearance act. However, I thank you for checking in and re-discovering my blog. I won't count the days or state the 'nearly' of how long I have been gone, but I finally watched the last season of what was once AMC's The Killing but became Netflix' The Killing. Here we go.
We last left off at the end of season three -or at least I did- where Holder catches up to Sarah and Skinner, but not in time; he cannot talk her out of killing him even though he reveals that Adrian is alive. Skinner works his psychological voodoo in order to convince her to kill him. We see that "look in her eyes... past animal terror" akin to Skinner's retelling of murder.
Episode 1, Blood in the Water, picks up Sarah removes her clothes, steps into a hot, steaming shower and slowly washes the blood from her hands, dirt from her feet. We can don't know if she is doing this at the Lake House or if she and Holder moved the body and she is in a hotel. As she stands beneath the running water, for a moment her face is centered, pale, her wet hair clings to her bag and shoulders as steam fills the air. There is something quite Shakespearean in this moment. I don't think I would call her a Lady Macbeth, I have to think about it. She is emotional, confused, but this is Linden and she knows what to do. She gathers her clothing and throws them into a plastic garbage bag. . Her image in funerary black prominently stands out and attracts the eye to absorb nothing but her. Linden stops in front of the mirror, catches her reflection with a look that suggests, Who are you? She pulls the light string before exiting the stark, white bathroom. Soon she stands above a flaming barrel and dumps the garbage bag. She hears a car roll by and takes out her piece.
Looking around a high hedge, she sees Holder approach her. Now we know: they're back at her house. She steps toward him and the outdoor light comes on. Two and half minutes into the episode we hear the first bit of dialogue:
Holder: We just gotta keep our stories straight Linden. No one's gonna find out. No one's gotta know what we did.
Fantastic opening scene. Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman still got it; maybe Netflix let cast and crew do their job.
Sitting at her kitchen table, Holder paces the floor, revisiting their invented story to keep everything straight. We learn that they plan to dump her gun in the ocean, she'll fake breaking a car window and file a report stating the gun was stolen from her vehicle. They also plan to tell their peers that once they discovered Adrian was found alive Skinner took off-- he was going on vacation so this buys them a little time. Of course Linden poses an important questions: what happens after the two weeks are over and he doesn't come back? While Linden takes slow drags off her cigarette (she's back to the habit, who can blame her) she notices blood on Holder's jacket. Both of them freak out-- they need to cover their tracks, they cannot leave a single clue. Linden takes the jacket and says she'll wash it out. End scene.
Holder and Linden show up at Adrian's foster mom's house, Reddick (Gregg Henry-- thank goodness he's still around!) is sitting at the table reading the paper. "Where the hell have you been?" Linden asks to see Adrian (Rowan Longworth), the foster mom leads the way and Holder navigates the q&a with Reddick with sarcastic banter. Reddick finally leaves. And what? Flash over to Linden sitting on the edge of Adrian's bed. He opens his eyes from sleep and she begins to tell him, newsflash- we got the guy who killed your mother, but of course he says, "the man in the car?" and Linden tries to tell him that he is confused, that he was wrong. This poor child will never trust an adult. I must say that I don't understand why she is telling him any of this, regardless of Holder's idea to 'set the kid straight' because the kiddo is never going to believe that the killer is actually caught. Linden says, "You don't have to be afraid anymore, we got him." Adrian gives her a look that has 'bullshit' written all over it. If Linden walks away from him even considering he believes she is wrong. Unfortunately, this tactic reflects the the conversation between Linden and Skinner in the car when he talks about their love-making, how he was willing to change for her. The psychological disturbance of lies and guilt are stunningly portrayed in both scenes. She knows he doesn't believe her.
As they sit in Holder's car making you can see terror overcome Linden's face because she reveals that they buried Skinner's body in the same area as his victims. "No one is ever going to find those girls" she says. After all these episodes she cannot reveal what she passionately and obsessively wants to do: give these girls peace, give their families peace. But her decision to kill Skinner has changed all that, just as he knew it would. Let's face it: he knew that if Sarah killed him she could never reveal to his family or colleagues his maniacal, murderous engagements with all these young women. She is trapped.
Holder fiercely tries to set her straight on what to do; they need rest and they need to keep it together. After this verbal exchange, she listens to Holder and goes home to sleep, but she can't. Holder goes to see his girlfriend, Caroline (Jewel Staite) and she wakes to find him there. Linden goes to a pharmacy and gets a Plan B type medication to hopefully protect her from sexual relations with Skinner. A brilliant crane shot looks down at her car in an empty parking lot, parked across the lines. Scenes weave between Holder and Linden. Finally, we're at the station like nothing happened.
Linden walks to her office, flips the switch and the faces of all those deceased girls stare back at her. Reddick walks in-- they got a new case.
(But wait: did they ever say what they did with Skinner's car?)
The new case is brutal. They arrive at a gorgeous home on the water-- more white interiors; from Linden's bathroom, to Caroline's bedroom, and now this. Also the continuous white exterior of the Seattle skies. White as a symbol of innocence is anything but in this episode. Slaughtered: parents and children. We see blood splatterings on white walls, glimpses of white sheet covering body. Most shocking: the cut piano strings. According to the officer relaying information to Holder and Linden, the murderer is a seventeen old son who than shot himself but lived. Sudden, bizarre transition to Joan Allen dancing with a dashing, young gentleman. She receives a message and goes to the hospital in military uniform with a group of young men in uniform behind her; she is the superintendent of St. George's Military School for Boys. Colonel Margaret Rain. She doesn't grant them permission to talk to him so Linden says they'll arrest him. "Nobody talks to him before me" announces Linden. Swagger is back. Back at the station they review the family's history and security tapes from the house.
The victims are the Stansburys: both parents, Phoebe, Nadine (6 years old, the youngest victim), Kyle, the accused perpetrator. The officer that originally ran the plate on Skinner's car walks into Sarah's office and says the were able to get a partial on the plate numbers. She visibly freaks a bit, basically says the case was solved and takes the picture.
Another bombshell: Caroline is pregnant. I knew this was coming when she overslept and said she was tired!
Back at Linden's place, the gun and shells remain on the table. She rolls them in her hand, leaves them behind. Goes upstairs, tears up the bed. She slept with a murderer. We all know that Linden's state of mind was never controlled and she also spent time in a hospital. Is it possible she is headed in the direction again? She smells the pillow, and the conflict over a man she fell for being an evil bastard is a twisted game. Holder wakes her up and the camera shows Linden holding the pillow, laying on the stripped white mattress. Wow, they do a good job of making her look like shit.
Holder reports on the current case including the piano strings; it turns out they were cut a long time ago. They get a call from the hospital, Kyle is awake. The camera angles on the back of his head where it's shaved and stitched. She doesn't tell him she's a cop, she just says she's with the city. He doesn't seem to know anything--- he doesn't remember being home, or what happened. He says he hasn't been home since Christmas. Finally, when Holder walks in she reveals they're with the Seattle Police. They haven't said anything about his family. Kyle worries about his youngest sister, Nadine, she is like 'a little bird' he says, please tell her I'm okay. And .... enter Patti Smith as one of the hospital doctor. She asks Holder and Linden to save their interrogation until the end of the week.
Cut to the military school: morning inspection. Colonel Rayne walks the line as the detectives pull up. She is peeved they spoke to Kyle. They want to see Kyle's room and she questions why. In traditional Linden style she lays it out. A brief consultation on St. George and the Dragon, interesting use of mythology. They enter Kyle's room. The young office stays in the doorway. Linden asks him questions--does he know Kyle, why didn't he make his bed? As she flips through a notebook there's a G clef-- perhaps he plays the piano? Holder spots a student with an untucked shirt and follows him out: a smart, reflection back to season 1 when Holder interrogates the girls near the high school bleachers. The student comments that Kyle is a "loner, a loser. Keeps to himself." Holder asks him if Kyle had any enemies and he says, "Look man, no one even knew that kid existed." After the kid gives Holder a hard time and threatens that Holder can't touch him, Holder tosses his cigarette at his face.
Back at the hospital, an attorney reports that the excess of the family estate until he is thirty-five. He turns 18 in three months so that indicates that he's likely going to be tried as an adult. The Colonel sits in on this report and is pissed. Kyle has an uncle that he doesn't know so he doesn't wish to be with him. Rayne says she'll bring him some more books and assignments as he's been progressing and doing well. We know through Linden's previous questioning that he ended up at St. George's because he wasn't doing well in school. The Colonel goes back to his room, sees Kyle's body turned beneath the sheets, but his johnny is open on the back and you can see red marks; are these new or swollen scars? Someone has beaten this kid. Back at the station they discuss the family and Linden comments that Nadine is ten years younger than Phoebe and Kyle and suggests she was probably a mistake. Of course, Holder thinks of his pregnant girlfriend. Linden goes to visit Kyle. He's getting out of the hospital the next day. He's reading Steinbeck's East of Eden and they talk about the book. Kyle mentions that the book is about trying to find a way home and about being an outsider. Linden presses him to remember what happened. He gets defensive, can't remember. She asks about the piano wires. "I miss my little sister," and Linden says "I know what it's like to miss someone. Wait, someone was watching, a POV shot from behind them. At dusk they stand on the deck looking over the water as a search for the gun continues. "Maybe he didn't do it" she says. She mentions livestock, farmers abandoning their cattle. She worries about her own service weapon, which she also used to kill a dying cow. Holder insists she get rid of her gun and shell casings tonight.
Holder goes to Caroline. He embraces her, she is awake, not smiling. He says, "Marry me. I want to be there for you. Have a baby. I want to be a good man. I want to be a good man." Holder too, is struggling with his participation in crime. It doesn't look like Caroline will say yes, but she agrees. Linden is still at the murder scene: she turns on the light, stares at the blood on the wall, a blood stream in a hall, another POV shot from the bushes. She walks to the next room, follows the crime scene. In reflected class a large stain of blood. She stand with her back to the piano. She turns and walks outside- another POV shot from the distance. "It's a glass house, you can see everything," she says in a message.
Oh no. Linden gets home. We see it before she does: a shell case is missing from the table. A knock at her door, she tells Holder to wait, but he doesn't respond. Something is wrong. She slowly goes to the door. Oh wow-- it's Skinner's daughter. She said you left with him I saw you. Linden looks at the ring. The daughter lingers, pounding at the door, calling for her dad to please talk to her, why haven't you called, I know you're in there. And I need a break before episode two. Intense. But I do have a question or two:
What happened to our rainy Seattle setting? Will Caroline actually marry Holder and will she keep the baby? Where is Kyle going to go after he leaves the hospital?
Okay, go have a doughnut with kale sprinkles and come back for the next post (it won't be two years from now-I hope!)
Showing posts with label AMC's The Killing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AMC's The Killing. Show all posts
Monday, February 16, 2015
Sunday, August 4, 2013
From Up Here; The Road to Hamelin-- The Season Finale (& Hopefully NOT the Last) of AMC's The Killing
Tonight's episode was incredible. I couldn't wait to post, and sacrificed a little editing time because I couldn't wait to post.
From Up Here
Opening shot: the trees, Sarah running through the woods; it looks like she's being watched; it's effective camera work. She runs faster and faster into the mist, bends forward, erects her body and stares with sadness at a single tree at the center of a clearing. She is grief stricken, guilt is heavy on her conscious. As the sky darkens she heads back to her house to find her ex-lover and boss, James Skinner, waiting for her. He was concerned that he could not reach her. Then reveals that his marriage is over. Sarah does not look that interested, yet when she walks into the house she leaves the front door open for him to enter. "Time off huh? And people say being relentless is a bad thing." They talk about Skinner's deteriorated marriage, his unwant for retirement. "Sometimes I think, people like us, are supposed to be alone." "That's not true," she says. They kiss. People like us.
Holder sits in his car outside a church. The bell tolls; he enters to find a small gathering of sitting in pews close to the service. Near the coffin is a large photograph of Bullet, but not the Bullet we know from the street, not the transgender young woman, but of a straight, colorful, smiling girl. Danette sits next to Holder. They talk solemnly about Bullet's friendship. A couple in the front that appears to be Bullet's parents, sob. Lyric is there as well. "Bullet took care of her," says Holder. He soon leaves as the parents sob.
Next morning, Sarah's kitchen, Skinner walks in. Sarah looks hopeful, well rested. She is happy to have him there, but he seems uneasy. Something isn't right.
Holder show up at his girlfriend's workplace. She is surprised to see him. "I'm sorry. I messed up," he says. "I should have told you about my past. You're a step up for me. And I"m a step down for you.. like five steps down... I just want you to see the good stuff." "That is what I see," she says. He is surprised that she'll see him later. "We had a fight, it happens." "And for what its worth you're a half-step up for me." Holder is brightened, lovely to see the immediate change in expression.
The prison is next----- is cleaning up Seward's cell, packing up his things: a copy of Lonesome Dove, a blanket. The cell door remains open, empty; waiting for the next prisoner to occupy a place on death row. Like Seward's remainders, the Becker is packing his things, leaving the job. "Don't get to comfortable here..." he says. He wishes 000 good luck.
Holder arrives on the scene. A body has been found in a burned up car. A bullet from a 45 was found by Linden. "You're my ride, so I guess you're stuck with me." The body is burned, legs slightly curled inward. An arm appears to be over the head.
Kallie's mom shows up at Lyric's job where she's waitressing at a fast food restaurant or diner. "It's good to have girls around. remember that." Danette tries to make connections with her, offering to do her hair like a plea for love. I would not call this a search for a replacement, but an attempt at amends and forgiveness.
Twitch is in the new apartment trying to cook. He takes a packet of drugs, probably heroin, from his coat as he drags on a smoke and deliberates over use.
Holder apologizes to his partner who requested a new partner. "Cops don't rat on cops."
At the station Sarah walks into the Captain's office. They chat about work, then he turns the conversation to this morning. He recalls Linden's incessant under her breath singing, the same song. He invites her to come to the lake with him, but she declines. He tries to lure her in with romantic notions, but Holder interrupts-- the coroner has something for them on the body.
In the car, Holder teases Sarah about her relationship with "the boss man." She gives his some background and the playful banter between them continues. Everything seems emotionally back on track for both of them.
Danette stands on a bridge, looking down at the water, then ahead. She watches to giggling girls walk by. She turns back and closes her eyes, counting to five. Her grief is unbearable. Is she considering suicide? Lyric walks through the streets in her uniform. A car pulls up, she debates. Twitch sits on a rooftop, or overhang, the drugs still in his hand as he smokes. Everything is broken in their worlds as Holder and Linden seem happier and moving forward in the worship of a false God called 'normalcy.' But from up here, you can see that all is not what it appears to be.
Shot to the head. The victim is likely a female. He took out all her teeth postmortem. Her ring finger is missing, but the coroner says this wasn't a new injury; it happened two weeks ago which means the body is likely Angie Gower, the girl they interviewed a few episodes back. In the car, they talk it through. "Who would have known Mills was our number one suspect...only a copy could have found out about mills... gotten to the storage unit before us, planted those trophies." Sarah gets out of the car. "What do you want to do, let the state take another guy who didn't do it?" back at the station: Sarah scans the room, weighing the options: is the killer a cop?She even looks at Skinner. Holder gets a file and they leave. Everything's with the DA; holder suggests he could call Carolyn. Most of the file is about Joe Mills. The review the file, the facts. Holder thinks the cop could be chasing the first kill-- placing the girls in the backseat to watch them. They go to the first victim's home.
They interview the dad, ask some questions. Linden and Holder they claim they're there to prepare for the trial. He tells them that she was even picked up by an undercover cop. Holder scans family photos on the wall and see a picture of Carl with Bridget (the victim). He was also the one that told him they identified the body. Could Carl be the serial killer or is this a red herring?
Leaving the house, Holder says Reddick never mentioned knowing the victim. Sarah looks up, sees a tree house. ".. was never after Trisha? Trisha and Ray used to fight all the time... "Adrian's a runner too." This season has opened up more and more about Linden's past. They go to the woods and the platform for an older tree house still exists. Linden climbs the ladder to the tree house, Ray built it for Adrian. Initials are carved into a tree. She looks across the water where the bodies were found. Sarah mentions the trees would have been bare--Adrian's drawing! Holder goes down to the water and sees something from his ... he was going to the apartment to kill Adrian-- he's in danger because he saw something.
Adrian is leaving school, soccer ball in his hand and he's being watched. The car follows him as he bounces the ball down the sidewalk. I hope Adrian is a runner this time too. Th car moves slowly, in the background other kids are crossing sidewalks. Adrian is alone. Turns around. The car goes by Adrian knows something is wrong. The car is driving toward him, he stops in his tracks, drops the ball and recognizes the man--- honestly, the silhouette looks more like Skinner. Even the color of the car is slightly unidentifiable and could be tan or gray... commercial break! Intense! What a phenomenal season of storytelling.
Linden and Holder run to the house. The foster mom comes up the walk. Adrian is not home. Adrian's backpack is there, but he is not. A set-up to look as though he were home. The backdoor to the house was wide open. Next shot, we see Skinner picking up his daughter. She asks where to mom is. Is Adrian gagged in the trunk? His daughter is distraught by her parents break up and asks him if it's because of Sarah. "I can't be something that I'm not, I'm tired of it... but I'll always love you." Double meaning? His phone rings and it's Linden. Adrian's been gone for an hour and half. "Jimmy, we got the wrong guy." They reveal it's a cop. Skinner pulls them aside. Holder and Linden reveal the connections between Angie and Reddick. Holder suggests he talk to Reddick, Skinner says no. "We keep this quiet between us," he says. All the more reason to point the finger. "I promised to keep him safe," Sarah says.
They interview the mom of a friend. Adrian had come to there door. Adrian said to her that Adrian said he was being followed. She gave him a ride home therefore he was taken from his foster family's home. They go to the station to check the traffic. Holder gets stopped by internal affairs-- they're arresting him. Sarah calls Skinner hoping to clear it up. Remember-Reddick said he wasn't pressing charges against Holder: "Cops don't rat on cops." Is this Skinner's work?
Sarah goes to the station looking for Skinner. She tries calling. No contact.Traffic cam-- grey car shows up in the background over and over again. Sarah asks the officer to blow up the image of the car to get a better make of it. IA interviews Holder: they accuse him of making harassing phone calls, that Holder has his eye on Reddick's talk. They ask Holder for his phone.
The Road to Hamelin*
Sarah knocks on a door-- Skinner's house. The door is unlocked she walks in. She hears something upstairs and sees Skinner packing upstairs. She shows him the traffic cam; she continues He berates her then apologizes. "I believe you, of course I believe you." "You should call IA." His wife and daughter walk in as Sarah and Skinner are coming downstairs. His daughter asks if he's really leaving. She's wearing the ring-- Kallie's ring! She walks out ahead of him, stunned, thinking, notices Skinner's car. Everything is a shock slow motion, he gets in his grey car and Skinner turns to look at her and sees the recognition in her face and knows she's figured it out. She pulls her gun. "IF you want to see him alive you'll come with me." "Hand over your weapon." He gives it to her. She frisks him. "Where is he." "Arrest me now and you'll never see him alive again." She tells him to get in the car. They drive away. Skinner is the Pied Piper.
Holder is still stuck with IA. He tells them to call Skinner and that's how Holder finds out Skinner filed the complaint. He knows something is wrong. The door is locked. "Admit what you did to Reddick." Holder tries to tell them his partner is in danger. He gives IA a big story that he's planted a bomb in Reddick's car, but it's all BS. It's a way to get Reddick at the station. "Holder's an idiot, he's not Al-Queda!" Holder needs help. Sarah's phone rings. Skinner has complete control and Sarah is letting it happen. His threats about Adrian are effecting her. He tells her he notices Sarah's shaking hands . Holder goes to Skinner's house. And he discovers Linden and Skinner left together. he knows Sarah is in serious danger.. Where's the lake house? Back to the car. "Why couldn't you walk away," Skinner asks her. "You used to trust me implicitly." He continues to manipulate her, talk bout their recent intimacy. "You and I are nothing alike."
Twenty-seven minutes left!
It's dark. Hours have gone by. Holder continues to try and reach Linden. No answer. We hear more about Bridget, how all this began. "I make her get in my car. She spits at me. So I hit her... a reflex... she's bleeding... I know she's going to tell, bring me down... I take her out to the woods and um, I don't remember much after that... it was quiet... she didn't cry, she didn't scream, she just looked at me." He continues talking about the final look from the victim and Sarah comes to realize the psychosis. Sarah mentions his own daughter-- "I save them from the inevitably of their lives." Sarah calls him a monster. The scene is quiet, disturbing.
Reddick's at the foster family's home. He's on the phone with Holder. Back to Skinner's car and they talk about Adrian. He says he didn't kill Adrian he didn't think he was able to see from the tree house but because Sarah was helping Adrian to remember so much, Skinner felt he had to go after them. Skinner is an arrogant, psychotic, manipulating ^&*^. He brings up Sarah's own hospitalization and she flips out, starts punching him. They veer off the road, but not before nearly hitting another car. She gets out and throws up. he gets out, walks over to her and tries to give her tissue. She is distraught, crying, kneeling on the ground. He steps closer and I cringe, he rubs her shoulder. She looks up, face soft, eyes nearly thankful and I can only hope she is now playing along and not succumbing to his manipulation. "Where is he." A statement. "Not far, " he whispers. This season has reminded me so much of the Green River Killer from the 1980's. I felt this about seasons 1 and 2, but here, with the discovery of the bodies, the victims being young women-- prostitutes, runaways; it's hard not to think the writers didn't consider those horrific events when developing this season.
Holder reaches a fork in the road and chooses to go right. Skinner and Linden are still driving. I keep thinking Adrian is in the trunk. She brings up Kallie-- he doesn't remember her, or claims not to. Their headlights round the corner. "Are there more girls in the lake?" And other places he remarks. It gets worse and worse. Finally the car stops at the lake house. The long ride is over, then ending is near. Will he kill Sarah? He admits to everything. He killed Bullet too. Of course he did. She asks where Adrian is and he tells her to get out of the car. Holder is getting close. He parks the car at the house number. Turns off the lights and gets out. He begins walking through the darkness, trees brush over his face and I fear he isat the wrong house. He calls Adrian's name, flashes a light in the darkness.
Adrian is in the trunk. Is he still alive? Sarah asks for the keys. Reddick is at the cemetery finds Trisha Seward's grave, hoping to find Adrian and he's been there the whole time! He's still a runner. Holy crap-- he's going to kill Sarah when she goes for the trunk. Is Holder back on the trail? Sarah fires her gun, shoots him as he talks about 'how he doesn't kill little children. Holder hears the shot. Or is Sarah going to kill Skinner? Holder talks her off the ledge. She kills him. Holder is witness. There's three minutes left on the clock. Holder is in disbelief. Sarah stands tall, smug, angry. Commercial-- is this how the season ends?
Yes.
Now argument in my household commences over whether AMC will present a season 4 or dump the show.
* I think episode two started here-- tonight is so intense that I lost track of time.
From Up Here
Opening shot: the trees, Sarah running through the woods; it looks like she's being watched; it's effective camera work. She runs faster and faster into the mist, bends forward, erects her body and stares with sadness at a single tree at the center of a clearing. She is grief stricken, guilt is heavy on her conscious. As the sky darkens she heads back to her house to find her ex-lover and boss, James Skinner, waiting for her. He was concerned that he could not reach her. Then reveals that his marriage is over. Sarah does not look that interested, yet when she walks into the house she leaves the front door open for him to enter. "Time off huh? And people say being relentless is a bad thing." They talk about Skinner's deteriorated marriage, his unwant for retirement. "Sometimes I think, people like us, are supposed to be alone." "That's not true," she says. They kiss. People like us.
Holder sits in his car outside a church. The bell tolls; he enters to find a small gathering of sitting in pews close to the service. Near the coffin is a large photograph of Bullet, but not the Bullet we know from the street, not the transgender young woman, but of a straight, colorful, smiling girl. Danette sits next to Holder. They talk solemnly about Bullet's friendship. A couple in the front that appears to be Bullet's parents, sob. Lyric is there as well. "Bullet took care of her," says Holder. He soon leaves as the parents sob.
Next morning, Sarah's kitchen, Skinner walks in. Sarah looks hopeful, well rested. She is happy to have him there, but he seems uneasy. Something isn't right.
Holder show up at his girlfriend's workplace. She is surprised to see him. "I'm sorry. I messed up," he says. "I should have told you about my past. You're a step up for me. And I"m a step down for you.. like five steps down... I just want you to see the good stuff." "That is what I see," she says. He is surprised that she'll see him later. "We had a fight, it happens." "And for what its worth you're a half-step up for me." Holder is brightened, lovely to see the immediate change in expression.
The prison is next----- is cleaning up Seward's cell, packing up his things: a copy of Lonesome Dove, a blanket. The cell door remains open, empty; waiting for the next prisoner to occupy a place on death row. Like Seward's remainders, the Becker is packing his things, leaving the job. "Don't get to comfortable here..." he says. He wishes 000 good luck.
Holder arrives on the scene. A body has been found in a burned up car. A bullet from a 45 was found by Linden. "You're my ride, so I guess you're stuck with me." The body is burned, legs slightly curled inward. An arm appears to be over the head.
Kallie's mom shows up at Lyric's job where she's waitressing at a fast food restaurant or diner. "It's good to have girls around. remember that." Danette tries to make connections with her, offering to do her hair like a plea for love. I would not call this a search for a replacement, but an attempt at amends and forgiveness.
Twitch is in the new apartment trying to cook. He takes a packet of drugs, probably heroin, from his coat as he drags on a smoke and deliberates over use.
Holder apologizes to his partner who requested a new partner. "Cops don't rat on cops."
At the station Sarah walks into the Captain's office. They chat about work, then he turns the conversation to this morning. He recalls Linden's incessant under her breath singing, the same song. He invites her to come to the lake with him, but she declines. He tries to lure her in with romantic notions, but Holder interrupts-- the coroner has something for them on the body.
In the car, Holder teases Sarah about her relationship with "the boss man." She gives his some background and the playful banter between them continues. Everything seems emotionally back on track for both of them.
Danette stands on a bridge, looking down at the water, then ahead. She watches to giggling girls walk by. She turns back and closes her eyes, counting to five. Her grief is unbearable. Is she considering suicide? Lyric walks through the streets in her uniform. A car pulls up, she debates. Twitch sits on a rooftop, or overhang, the drugs still in his hand as he smokes. Everything is broken in their worlds as Holder and Linden seem happier and moving forward in the worship of a false God called 'normalcy.' But from up here, you can see that all is not what it appears to be.
Shot to the head. The victim is likely a female. He took out all her teeth postmortem. Her ring finger is missing, but the coroner says this wasn't a new injury; it happened two weeks ago which means the body is likely Angie Gower, the girl they interviewed a few episodes back. In the car, they talk it through. "Who would have known Mills was our number one suspect...only a copy could have found out about mills... gotten to the storage unit before us, planted those trophies." Sarah gets out of the car. "What do you want to do, let the state take another guy who didn't do it?" back at the station: Sarah scans the room, weighing the options: is the killer a cop?She even looks at Skinner. Holder gets a file and they leave. Everything's with the DA; holder suggests he could call Carolyn. Most of the file is about Joe Mills. The review the file, the facts. Holder thinks the cop could be chasing the first kill-- placing the girls in the backseat to watch them. They go to the first victim's home.
They interview the dad, ask some questions. Linden and Holder they claim they're there to prepare for the trial. He tells them that she was even picked up by an undercover cop. Holder scans family photos on the wall and see a picture of Carl with Bridget (the victim). He was also the one that told him they identified the body. Could Carl be the serial killer or is this a red herring?
Leaving the house, Holder says Reddick never mentioned knowing the victim. Sarah looks up, sees a tree house. ".. was never after Trisha? Trisha and Ray used to fight all the time... "Adrian's a runner too." This season has opened up more and more about Linden's past. They go to the woods and the platform for an older tree house still exists. Linden climbs the ladder to the tree house, Ray built it for Adrian. Initials are carved into a tree. She looks across the water where the bodies were found. Sarah mentions the trees would have been bare--Adrian's drawing! Holder goes down to the water and sees something from his ... he was going to the apartment to kill Adrian-- he's in danger because he saw something.
Adrian is leaving school, soccer ball in his hand and he's being watched. The car follows him as he bounces the ball down the sidewalk. I hope Adrian is a runner this time too. Th car moves slowly, in the background other kids are crossing sidewalks. Adrian is alone. Turns around. The car goes by Adrian knows something is wrong. The car is driving toward him, he stops in his tracks, drops the ball and recognizes the man--- honestly, the silhouette looks more like Skinner. Even the color of the car is slightly unidentifiable and could be tan or gray... commercial break! Intense! What a phenomenal season of storytelling.
Linden and Holder run to the house. The foster mom comes up the walk. Adrian is not home. Adrian's backpack is there, but he is not. A set-up to look as though he were home. The backdoor to the house was wide open. Next shot, we see Skinner picking up his daughter. She asks where to mom is. Is Adrian gagged in the trunk? His daughter is distraught by her parents break up and asks him if it's because of Sarah. "I can't be something that I'm not, I'm tired of it... but I'll always love you." Double meaning? His phone rings and it's Linden. Adrian's been gone for an hour and half. "Jimmy, we got the wrong guy." They reveal it's a cop. Skinner pulls them aside. Holder and Linden reveal the connections between Angie and Reddick. Holder suggests he talk to Reddick, Skinner says no. "We keep this quiet between us," he says. All the more reason to point the finger. "I promised to keep him safe," Sarah says.
They interview the mom of a friend. Adrian had come to there door. Adrian said to her that Adrian said he was being followed. She gave him a ride home therefore he was taken from his foster family's home. They go to the station to check the traffic. Holder gets stopped by internal affairs-- they're arresting him. Sarah calls Skinner hoping to clear it up. Remember-Reddick said he wasn't pressing charges against Holder: "Cops don't rat on cops." Is this Skinner's work?
Sarah goes to the station looking for Skinner. She tries calling. No contact.Traffic cam-- grey car shows up in the background over and over again. Sarah asks the officer to blow up the image of the car to get a better make of it. IA interviews Holder: they accuse him of making harassing phone calls, that Holder has his eye on Reddick's talk. They ask Holder for his phone.
The Road to Hamelin*
Sarah knocks on a door-- Skinner's house. The door is unlocked she walks in. She hears something upstairs and sees Skinner packing upstairs. She shows him the traffic cam; she continues He berates her then apologizes. "I believe you, of course I believe you." "You should call IA." His wife and daughter walk in as Sarah and Skinner are coming downstairs. His daughter asks if he's really leaving. She's wearing the ring-- Kallie's ring! She walks out ahead of him, stunned, thinking, notices Skinner's car. Everything is a shock slow motion, he gets in his grey car and Skinner turns to look at her and sees the recognition in her face and knows she's figured it out. She pulls her gun. "IF you want to see him alive you'll come with me." "Hand over your weapon." He gives it to her. She frisks him. "Where is he." "Arrest me now and you'll never see him alive again." She tells him to get in the car. They drive away. Skinner is the Pied Piper.
Holder is still stuck with IA. He tells them to call Skinner and that's how Holder finds out Skinner filed the complaint. He knows something is wrong. The door is locked. "Admit what you did to Reddick." Holder tries to tell them his partner is in danger. He gives IA a big story that he's planted a bomb in Reddick's car, but it's all BS. It's a way to get Reddick at the station. "Holder's an idiot, he's not Al-Queda!" Holder needs help. Sarah's phone rings. Skinner has complete control and Sarah is letting it happen. His threats about Adrian are effecting her. He tells her he notices Sarah's shaking hands . Holder goes to Skinner's house. And he discovers Linden and Skinner left together. he knows Sarah is in serious danger.. Where's the lake house? Back to the car. "Why couldn't you walk away," Skinner asks her. "You used to trust me implicitly." He continues to manipulate her, talk bout their recent intimacy. "You and I are nothing alike."
Twenty-seven minutes left!
It's dark. Hours have gone by. Holder continues to try and reach Linden. No answer. We hear more about Bridget, how all this began. "I make her get in my car. She spits at me. So I hit her... a reflex... she's bleeding... I know she's going to tell, bring me down... I take her out to the woods and um, I don't remember much after that... it was quiet... she didn't cry, she didn't scream, she just looked at me." He continues talking about the final look from the victim and Sarah comes to realize the psychosis. Sarah mentions his own daughter-- "I save them from the inevitably of their lives." Sarah calls him a monster. The scene is quiet, disturbing.
Reddick's at the foster family's home. He's on the phone with Holder. Back to Skinner's car and they talk about Adrian. He says he didn't kill Adrian he didn't think he was able to see from the tree house but because Sarah was helping Adrian to remember so much, Skinner felt he had to go after them. Skinner is an arrogant, psychotic, manipulating ^&*^. He brings up Sarah's own hospitalization and she flips out, starts punching him. They veer off the road, but not before nearly hitting another car. She gets out and throws up. he gets out, walks over to her and tries to give her tissue. She is distraught, crying, kneeling on the ground. He steps closer and I cringe, he rubs her shoulder. She looks up, face soft, eyes nearly thankful and I can only hope she is now playing along and not succumbing to his manipulation. "Where is he." A statement. "Not far, " he whispers. This season has reminded me so much of the Green River Killer from the 1980's. I felt this about seasons 1 and 2, but here, with the discovery of the bodies, the victims being young women-- prostitutes, runaways; it's hard not to think the writers didn't consider those horrific events when developing this season.
Holder reaches a fork in the road and chooses to go right. Skinner and Linden are still driving. I keep thinking Adrian is in the trunk. She brings up Kallie-- he doesn't remember her, or claims not to. Their headlights round the corner. "Are there more girls in the lake?" And other places he remarks. It gets worse and worse. Finally the car stops at the lake house. The long ride is over, then ending is near. Will he kill Sarah? He admits to everything. He killed Bullet too. Of course he did. She asks where Adrian is and he tells her to get out of the car. Holder is getting close. He parks the car at the house number. Turns off the lights and gets out. He begins walking through the darkness, trees brush over his face and I fear he isat the wrong house. He calls Adrian's name, flashes a light in the darkness.
Adrian is in the trunk. Is he still alive? Sarah asks for the keys. Reddick is at the cemetery finds Trisha Seward's grave, hoping to find Adrian and he's been there the whole time! He's still a runner. Holy crap-- he's going to kill Sarah when she goes for the trunk. Is Holder back on the trail? Sarah fires her gun, shoots him as he talks about 'how he doesn't kill little children. Holder hears the shot. Or is Sarah going to kill Skinner? Holder talks her off the ledge. She kills him. Holder is witness. There's three minutes left on the clock. Holder is in disbelief. Sarah stands tall, smug, angry. Commercial-- is this how the season ends?
Yes.
Now argument in my household commences over whether AMC will present a season 4 or dump the show.
* I think episode two started here-- tonight is so intense that I lost track of time.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Six Minutes: AMC's The Killing
Note: I know I am very behind in my posts, but here's a recap of tonight's episode. I'll be posting my recap and thoughts of last week's "Reckoning" sometime tomorrow.
Tonight's episode, directed by Nicole Kassell, opened with an intense intro of not only what is to come, but also redefines the title of the series. Witness the practice of killing. And here we stay, inside the prison, waiting to see what happens in the last few hours of Seward's life and what actions remain to be taken by Linden to make things right.
Sarah faces Seward in jail. It's eleven hours before his execution. Sarah asks him to identify a wedding band. He sarcastically recalls memories associated with the ring and after she hangs up on him he positively identifies the ring as belonging to his wife. Sarah continues to believe that Seward is innocent. She tries getting in touch with Holder who is continuing to mourn the death of Bullet in last week's episode. Sarah eventually speaks with Seward again, telling him she was in touch with the Attorney General's Office.
Seward's son Adrian is waiting to see him. Seward seems to know things about Sarah, which comes to a surprise to her, perhaps startles her into the slightest eruption of fear. He asks if her son plays baseball and you wonder how he knew she has a son to begin with. "Sometimes it's better that way." His response to Sarah and her son not living together. Eventually some prison guards including Becker interrupt their conversation and tell him to put his hands behind his back. Linden tries to stop it telling them she's a cop, but they ignore her and take him away.
Becker and Linden stand-off between bars. Finally, Becker lets her in to talk with him again after she throws state or federal regulation in her face. Seward stands, shifting from foot to foot, angry and scared. He tells her that they weighed him again; it takes up to six minutes to die by hanging if the neck doesn't break. She asks him about the ring again, anything else he can tell her. "If you go, they'll just send me back to my cell," he says. Sarah stays on the line. "Your son is here." He sighs. Now they stand-off between the glass, perhaps reflecting the previous image of her and Becker; they all share similar characteristics in the distance they place between themselves and others. "I don't have any qualms about you... I'm here because I made a mistake." Sarah keeps bringing the conversation back to Adrian. Her phone rings, she tells Seward she'll be back and she exits the visiting room to take the call.
Holder is at the prison with a cardboard box. He's been drinking since yesterday. He tells Linden that he's there if she needs him-- smokes, whatever. Adrian walks outside after Holder. He offers Adrian a smoke. I love Holder "serial chiller" that he is, but after last week's episode I was already hoping that he wouldn't fall back into his darkest depths. His attempt at making a connection with Adrian at least ends with the child's curiosity.
Sarah presents a picture to Seward, a birthday party picture with his wife wearing the ring. Sarah leaves again, Adrian is alone near the vending machine. "I saw your dad, he was real curious about you." Adrian asks if he can still see him. He continues to tell Sarah that Seward, his father, was the one that "was there that night," that killed his mother. Linden's face drops, looking to the floor.
Holder stops at the cemetery outside the prison, dirty white crosses with numbers (I think) carved into them. Filled with anger and disgust at himself and the situation he throws cans of beer, kicks the box. One can only hope that he's done punishing himself for Bullet's death.
Sarah goes back, picks up the phone. She's pissed. "You're not telling me everything about that night... why were you there?" She throws the phone at the glass. She storms out-- runs into Holder.
"He played me."
Her emotional state is heightened, out of control. We've seen this before. Holder tries to talk to her, she accuses him of being drunk and gets in the car, wanting to leave, run away. "We never stay and in the end we lose everyone. I'm not gonna try and kiss you again. Keep dreamin'." He keeps going until she cracks a smile. He opens the car door. The chemistry between these characters is absolutely wonderful. Finally, this is Linden's opportunity to not walk away. She gets the call-- no stay. Seward is going to die.
And we're back. Sarah is on the phone, waiting for Seward to pick up. "You're still here?" he says. "For Adrian, not for you," she replies. His execution is a little over an hour away. She says, "I'm sorry." She continues to badger him about why he was in the apartment that night. "If you didn't kill her... what are you hiding?"
He went back to get Adrian. "I was gonna bring him with me... I went back and she was lying on the floor..." Sarah continues to tell him to see Adrian as Seward cries in the reminders of how he wanted something better for his child even though he went through heavy moments of not caring for him, reminders of impending death.
Adrian dips into the men's room on his way to see his father. Holder follows him in, helping with his hair, perhaps one of the most poignant moments this season captured in ten seconds or less. Sarah and Seward wait. "Do you think it will hurt?... I know you did everything you could for me. Thank you. What should I say to him?" We hear the cell doors rolling back.
Adrian, Holder, and the foster mom wait outside the final cell door. Becker looks down at the child and immediately you know something is wrong; Becker denies the entry and he walks into the room where Sarah and Seward wait and revokes the visit. Adrian can hear his father screaming to let go of him, 'I'll kill all of you." Sarah tells him to keep looking toward the trees outside his cell, referencing Adrian's pictures, Seward's final story. The moment happens so quickly, and it is so devastating. Holder takes the phone from Sarah as she tries to buy him that time. "It's over."
And we circle back to the opening sequence, but this time Seward is being dressed for execution. You can see him try to hold back, and as they turn the corner, he retreats into himself and collapses to the floor. He gets up, walks with hesitancy, eyes creased with fear and he looks to the window and sees Sarah with Adrian. Adrian waves to his father and Seward continues. His sight is blurred, the camera shifting and out of focus as he walks to steps to the top of the gallows. Sarah enters and stays for the execution. When asked if he wants to make a final statement, he says, "Salisbury steak is not steak; it's ground beef." Brilliant, up there with milkshake. He tells the warden to move on. He breathes deeply. Henderson places the bag over his head, the noose follows as Seward's gasps and tears, breath and the floor let's go. Sarah looks away, then turns back on hearing sound. His neck did not break. The camera stays on Sarah as we hear Seward's gasps in the background. Can Sarah live with his death on her hands? What will happen to Adrian? Did Holder stop himself from digressing into addiction?
I can't wait to see how the writers transition from this week's ending into the next episode.
Tonight's episode, directed by Nicole Kassell, opened with an intense intro of not only what is to come, but also redefines the title of the series. Witness the practice of killing. And here we stay, inside the prison, waiting to see what happens in the last few hours of Seward's life and what actions remain to be taken by Linden to make things right.
Sarah faces Seward in jail. It's eleven hours before his execution. Sarah asks him to identify a wedding band. He sarcastically recalls memories associated with the ring and after she hangs up on him he positively identifies the ring as belonging to his wife. Sarah continues to believe that Seward is innocent. She tries getting in touch with Holder who is continuing to mourn the death of Bullet in last week's episode. Sarah eventually speaks with Seward again, telling him she was in touch with the Attorney General's Office.
Seward's son Adrian is waiting to see him. Seward seems to know things about Sarah, which comes to a surprise to her, perhaps startles her into the slightest eruption of fear. He asks if her son plays baseball and you wonder how he knew she has a son to begin with. "Sometimes it's better that way." His response to Sarah and her son not living together. Eventually some prison guards including Becker interrupt their conversation and tell him to put his hands behind his back. Linden tries to stop it telling them she's a cop, but they ignore her and take him away.
Becker and Linden stand-off between bars. Finally, Becker lets her in to talk with him again after she throws state or federal regulation in her face. Seward stands, shifting from foot to foot, angry and scared. He tells her that they weighed him again; it takes up to six minutes to die by hanging if the neck doesn't break. She asks him about the ring again, anything else he can tell her. "If you go, they'll just send me back to my cell," he says. Sarah stays on the line. "Your son is here." He sighs. Now they stand-off between the glass, perhaps reflecting the previous image of her and Becker; they all share similar characteristics in the distance they place between themselves and others. "I don't have any qualms about you... I'm here because I made a mistake." Sarah keeps bringing the conversation back to Adrian. Her phone rings, she tells Seward she'll be back and she exits the visiting room to take the call.
Holder is at the prison with a cardboard box. He's been drinking since yesterday. He tells Linden that he's there if she needs him-- smokes, whatever. Adrian walks outside after Holder. He offers Adrian a smoke. I love Holder "serial chiller" that he is, but after last week's episode I was already hoping that he wouldn't fall back into his darkest depths. His attempt at making a connection with Adrian at least ends with the child's curiosity.
Sarah presents a picture to Seward, a birthday party picture with his wife wearing the ring. Sarah leaves again, Adrian is alone near the vending machine. "I saw your dad, he was real curious about you." Adrian asks if he can still see him. He continues to tell Sarah that Seward, his father, was the one that "was there that night," that killed his mother. Linden's face drops, looking to the floor.
Holder stops at the cemetery outside the prison, dirty white crosses with numbers (I think) carved into them. Filled with anger and disgust at himself and the situation he throws cans of beer, kicks the box. One can only hope that he's done punishing himself for Bullet's death.
Sarah goes back, picks up the phone. She's pissed. "You're not telling me everything about that night... why were you there?" She throws the phone at the glass. She storms out-- runs into Holder.
"He played me."
Her emotional state is heightened, out of control. We've seen this before. Holder tries to talk to her, she accuses him of being drunk and gets in the car, wanting to leave, run away. "We never stay and in the end we lose everyone. I'm not gonna try and kiss you again. Keep dreamin'." He keeps going until she cracks a smile. He opens the car door. The chemistry between these characters is absolutely wonderful. Finally, this is Linden's opportunity to not walk away. She gets the call-- no stay. Seward is going to die.
And we're back. Sarah is on the phone, waiting for Seward to pick up. "You're still here?" he says. "For Adrian, not for you," she replies. His execution is a little over an hour away. She says, "I'm sorry." She continues to badger him about why he was in the apartment that night. "If you didn't kill her... what are you hiding?"
He went back to get Adrian. "I was gonna bring him with me... I went back and she was lying on the floor..." Sarah continues to tell him to see Adrian as Seward cries in the reminders of how he wanted something better for his child even though he went through heavy moments of not caring for him, reminders of impending death.
Adrian dips into the men's room on his way to see his father. Holder follows him in, helping with his hair, perhaps one of the most poignant moments this season captured in ten seconds or less. Sarah and Seward wait. "Do you think it will hurt?... I know you did everything you could for me. Thank you. What should I say to him?" We hear the cell doors rolling back.
Adrian, Holder, and the foster mom wait outside the final cell door. Becker looks down at the child and immediately you know something is wrong; Becker denies the entry and he walks into the room where Sarah and Seward wait and revokes the visit. Adrian can hear his father screaming to let go of him, 'I'll kill all of you." Sarah tells him to keep looking toward the trees outside his cell, referencing Adrian's pictures, Seward's final story. The moment happens so quickly, and it is so devastating. Holder takes the phone from Sarah as she tries to buy him that time. "It's over."
And we circle back to the opening sequence, but this time Seward is being dressed for execution. You can see him try to hold back, and as they turn the corner, he retreats into himself and collapses to the floor. He gets up, walks with hesitancy, eyes creased with fear and he looks to the window and sees Sarah with Adrian. Adrian waves to his father and Seward continues. His sight is blurred, the camera shifting and out of focus as he walks to steps to the top of the gallows. Sarah enters and stays for the execution. When asked if he wants to make a final statement, he says, "Salisbury steak is not steak; it's ground beef." Brilliant, up there with milkshake. He tells the warden to move on. He breathes deeply. Henderson places the bag over his head, the noose follows as Seward's gasps and tears, breath and the floor let's go. Sarah looks away, then turns back on hearing sound. His neck did not break. The camera stays on Sarah as we hear Seward's gasps in the background. Can Sarah live with his death on her hands? What will happen to Adrian? Did Holder stop himself from digressing into addiction?
I can't wait to see how the writers transition from this week's ending into the next episode.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Donnie or Marie. I Love. It. AMC's The Killing
So who's it gonna be? Donnie or Marie?
Last week's episode leads us to believe that either Gwen or Jamie is responsible for the Larsen murder. They know the Mayor doctored the photo of Richmond passing through the toll may episodes ago, but Sarah offers to 'drop it' and pursue the Richmond campaign in the Larsen case if the Mayor agrees to call off the 'dogs' waiting to arrest her and Holder. They hole up in Holder's car and review the evidence from the night Rosie was killed. They discover that Gwen canceled her dinner plans that night and her where abouts were unknown. Jamie, on the other hand, "went to the City Hall gym at 4:37 AM. Security guard didn't let him in; didn't have his key card" (Holder). Sarah goes to City Hall to inquire about key card replacements, but a Mr. Kimberg (sp?) says that the list of key card holders was deleted from his hard drive on Monday, October 8th, the Monday following the Larsen murder. However, a new card was issued to Gwen. Now the assumption is the card found on the 10th floor belonged to Gwen, but Holder and Linden head back to the casino to retrieve the security disks that provides video of passengers on the elevator headed to that floor (which later reveal Jamie riding up in the elevator). After a brief, unpleasant verbal exchange with Chief Jackson, a photograph on the wall catches Sarah's eye. The picture includes Gwen standing with Chief Jackson and her father, a the ribbon cutting ceremony for the casino. The detectives now have a solid connection between Gwen and the casino, but Linden asks the remaining questions, "What is her connection to Ames?" The answer may lead them to the next link: the Waterfront Project. Now, cut to the voting booths. Gwen takes Richmond outside to wait for the car and give a shielded interpretation of her own goodwill and work for the campaign: "I tried so hard for you. We came so far, Darren." When the limosine arrives Gwen makes a quick exit and says, "I'll see you at the next stop." Her transition from grasping Darren's hand and releasing it is emotionally suspect. With these latest allegations and investigations by Linden and Holder it is too easy to read into both Gwen and Jamie a lingering guilt.
After checking with Gwen's canceled dinner with Council woman Yitanis, she tells the detectives that Gwen uses sex to maintain control over the Richmond campaign. We also learn that Michael Ames' wife is actually the owner and controller over the Ames company. We than encounter a grand twist. As the title of this episode suggests Jamie is not left out from speculation: Jamie helped push through Ames' contract for the Waterfront Project. Holder and Linden go back to the campaign office to speak with Jamie and learn that Richmond was unaware of Jamie's intent to sway one of the Mayor's backers by helping Ames out with expediting the contract.
This idea also surfaces: "What if Gwen and Jamie did it together?"
Linden and Holder head to the yacht club valet and find the campaign car was driven by Gwen Eaton to the club. This is the car Rosie Larsen's body was found in.
Meanwhile, Mitch is home on Halloween night and in many ways her arrival is more of a disruption and is mostly welcomed by her youngest son, Denny. Terry is less then thrilled, and Tommy, her oldest son remains angry at her abandonment and subsequent return. Mitch seems to expect everyone in the household to continue living as if she never left. When Mitch brings Denny home from school he asks his Aunt Terry to make him a grilled cheese sandwich. Mitch offers to do it, but Denny like the way Aunt Terry makes them. Terry reassures her that they'll be happy to have her back cooking after all the grilled cheese sandwiches they've been eating lately. This slight jab of truth and anger brings out this exchange between characters:
"You know, I found a new place to live not to far from here." (Terry)
"This yours?" Mitch holds up a bra.
"Oh, yeah, I just put some of my stuff in twith the laundry. So I guess you guy's will be busy moving soon so I better get my ass in gear."
"Moving?"
"I thought that since you were back-"
"What house? What are you talking about."
'I'm sorry, I thought that you knew. I found out by accident. You should just talk to Stan about it."
"Yeah, yeah I will.'
"Don't be mad at him. We all did the best we could while you were gone. It was hard. Stan, the boys, they needed-'
'What, Terry? They needed what? You have no right to judge me... you don't know what it's like, you don't have a family you don't have children. It's like, what do you know about any of this?'
'What I know is, I've been working my ass off to keep this family together while you were trying to 'find' yourself on some vision quest. You still had so much, Mitch, And you walked out. You walked out."
Later, Mitch confronts Stan about the house, realizing she should have trusted him that their money didn't go toward illegal activity, but into a home with a backyard. Stan sees this new home as a fresh start for the family, but Mitch sees it another way:
".... I came back to be here. With you and the boys... I don't want to leave this, I don't want to leave her behind."
Stan comes clean with his feelings:
"You know there's no moving on. As long as we're here, in this house... Yeah, I think we should move on. You don't have a right to look at me like that. What I've been through these last few weeks... you're the one who left. The boys, the boys needed you. I needed you and you walked out. I was the one who stayed."
Mitch is entitled to believe that the role of mother gave her the right to leave (just as Sarah's role as mother allowed her to say goodbye to Jack) that she loved her daughter more than Stan simply because she's blood and technically Stan was her step-father. His anger toward Mitch is more than warranted as her decision to leave the family was of her own accord.
So who killed Rosie Larsen? Tonight is the big reveal, the season finale of AMC's The Killing, and unfortunately, the last episode. This program has been incredibly sustainable through great writing, storytelling, and acting; it's a terrible shame that a smart, literary drama was not renewed another season. My post on the finale will publish tomorrow night (6/18 after 9PM). I hope to continue posting occasional writings on the show, specifically criticisms in relation to family, politics and feminism. I've always viewed The Killing as a good, compelling read.
What's for dinner: grilled cheese sandwich with the crusts cut off.
Last week's episode leads us to believe that either Gwen or Jamie is responsible for the Larsen murder. They know the Mayor doctored the photo of Richmond passing through the toll may episodes ago, but Sarah offers to 'drop it' and pursue the Richmond campaign in the Larsen case if the Mayor agrees to call off the 'dogs' waiting to arrest her and Holder. They hole up in Holder's car and review the evidence from the night Rosie was killed. They discover that Gwen canceled her dinner plans that night and her where abouts were unknown. Jamie, on the other hand, "went to the City Hall gym at 4:37 AM. Security guard didn't let him in; didn't have his key card" (Holder). Sarah goes to City Hall to inquire about key card replacements, but a Mr. Kimberg (sp?) says that the list of key card holders was deleted from his hard drive on Monday, October 8th, the Monday following the Larsen murder. However, a new card was issued to Gwen. Now the assumption is the card found on the 10th floor belonged to Gwen, but Holder and Linden head back to the casino to retrieve the security disks that provides video of passengers on the elevator headed to that floor (which later reveal Jamie riding up in the elevator). After a brief, unpleasant verbal exchange with Chief Jackson, a photograph on the wall catches Sarah's eye. The picture includes Gwen standing with Chief Jackson and her father, a the ribbon cutting ceremony for the casino. The detectives now have a solid connection between Gwen and the casino, but Linden asks the remaining questions, "What is her connection to Ames?" The answer may lead them to the next link: the Waterfront Project. Now, cut to the voting booths. Gwen takes Richmond outside to wait for the car and give a shielded interpretation of her own goodwill and work for the campaign: "I tried so hard for you. We came so far, Darren." When the limosine arrives Gwen makes a quick exit and says, "I'll see you at the next stop." Her transition from grasping Darren's hand and releasing it is emotionally suspect. With these latest allegations and investigations by Linden and Holder it is too easy to read into both Gwen and Jamie a lingering guilt.
After checking with Gwen's canceled dinner with Council woman Yitanis, she tells the detectives that Gwen uses sex to maintain control over the Richmond campaign. We also learn that Michael Ames' wife is actually the owner and controller over the Ames company. We than encounter a grand twist. As the title of this episode suggests Jamie is not left out from speculation: Jamie helped push through Ames' contract for the Waterfront Project. Holder and Linden go back to the campaign office to speak with Jamie and learn that Richmond was unaware of Jamie's intent to sway one of the Mayor's backers by helping Ames out with expediting the contract.
This idea also surfaces: "What if Gwen and Jamie did it together?"
Linden and Holder head to the yacht club valet and find the campaign car was driven by Gwen Eaton to the club. This is the car Rosie Larsen's body was found in.
Meanwhile, Mitch is home on Halloween night and in many ways her arrival is more of a disruption and is mostly welcomed by her youngest son, Denny. Terry is less then thrilled, and Tommy, her oldest son remains angry at her abandonment and subsequent return. Mitch seems to expect everyone in the household to continue living as if she never left. When Mitch brings Denny home from school he asks his Aunt Terry to make him a grilled cheese sandwich. Mitch offers to do it, but Denny like the way Aunt Terry makes them. Terry reassures her that they'll be happy to have her back cooking after all the grilled cheese sandwiches they've been eating lately. This slight jab of truth and anger brings out this exchange between characters:
"You know, I found a new place to live not to far from here." (Terry)
"This yours?" Mitch holds up a bra.
"Oh, yeah, I just put some of my stuff in twith the laundry. So I guess you guy's will be busy moving soon so I better get my ass in gear."
"Moving?"
"I thought that since you were back-"
"What house? What are you talking about."
'I'm sorry, I thought that you knew. I found out by accident. You should just talk to Stan about it."
"Yeah, yeah I will.'
"Don't be mad at him. We all did the best we could while you were gone. It was hard. Stan, the boys, they needed-'
'What, Terry? They needed what? You have no right to judge me... you don't know what it's like, you don't have a family you don't have children. It's like, what do you know about any of this?'
'What I know is, I've been working my ass off to keep this family together while you were trying to 'find' yourself on some vision quest. You still had so much, Mitch, And you walked out. You walked out."
Later, Mitch confronts Stan about the house, realizing she should have trusted him that their money didn't go toward illegal activity, but into a home with a backyard. Stan sees this new home as a fresh start for the family, but Mitch sees it another way:
".... I came back to be here. With you and the boys... I don't want to leave this, I don't want to leave her behind."
Stan comes clean with his feelings:
"You know there's no moving on. As long as we're here, in this house... Yeah, I think we should move on. You don't have a right to look at me like that. What I've been through these last few weeks... you're the one who left. The boys, the boys needed you. I needed you and you walked out. I was the one who stayed."
Mitch is entitled to believe that the role of mother gave her the right to leave (just as Sarah's role as mother allowed her to say goodbye to Jack) that she loved her daughter more than Stan simply because she's blood and technically Stan was her step-father. His anger toward Mitch is more than warranted as her decision to leave the family was of her own accord.
So who killed Rosie Larsen? Tonight is the big reveal, the season finale of AMC's The Killing, and unfortunately, the last episode. This program has been incredibly sustainable through great writing, storytelling, and acting; it's a terrible shame that a smart, literary drama was not renewed another season. My post on the finale will publish tomorrow night (6/18 after 9PM). I hope to continue posting occasional writings on the show, specifically criticisms in relation to family, politics and feminism. I've always viewed The Killing as a good, compelling read.
What's for dinner: grilled cheese sandwich with the crusts cut off.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Manipulation & Bullies On AMC's The Killing: 72 Hours & The Bulldog
Like a dream: Linden slowly awakens, feels a bump on her head. Notices bars crossing the windows. She rises from a hospital cot. her movement at first appears unnatural, almost alien. Her pace quickens down the hall to a locked doorway and on the other side we read "Psychiatry Acute Ward."
Linden was knocked out after breaking into the 10th floor of the casino. Chief Jackson claims Sarah tried to kill herself and now Linden is on suicide watch. We could see the breakdown coming, but who knew Sarah would actually be hospitalized under false pretenses? Through this episode Holder makes every attempt to have her released: he makes demands on Lieutenant Carlson; visits Regi, but she refuses to help insisting this is what Sarah needs. As the episode unravels and Holder begins putting two and two together regarding the Waterfront Project, he manages to convince the Lieutenant to have Linden released, which can only be done by her doctor. And here, most clever I think on the part of the writers, we see Rick, Sarah's fiance come to the hospital and sign the papers ("She know I'm here... I"ll help get her out, but I can't be involved anymore. She's your responsibility now.) Dr. Rick Felder. Throughout the hospital scenes Sarah's ability to use manipulation as a strategy for survival becomes more evident and by the time Felder arrives we as viewers can see how easy it was for him to love her.
At first Sarah is belligerent, wanting only to accomplish one goal: leave the hospital and continue working the Larsen case. Dr. Carey is "...not here to keep you against your will..." and she works very hard to retrieve information from Sarah, tap into her deeper emotional being that causes the unhealthy obsession she's developed with the Larsen case, and one from her past. The mysterious drawing we've seen since the beginning: the treeline. Questioning continue on both sides as Dr. Carey slowly draws out a response here or there, connecting Sarah's cases to her own childhood:
"Why do these two cases mean so much to you?"
Impatient pause of silence.
"I've been cooperative, I've answered your questions and now I'd like to know when I'm getting out of here."
The doctor suggests taking a break, but Sarah is angry: "No- you said all I had to do was talk and then you'd let me go."
"Well, I think you need to stay here for a little bit longer."
"How much longer?"
"Possibly through the end of the week. You need to rest, eat, get into a normal routine."
"You can't keep me here. I did what you asked. I answered your questions, and now I need to leave."
"It's not a punishment to be here-"
"You can't keep me here! I need to get out of here right now. You lied to me...don't you touch me... what are you doing.. you promised me... I shouldn't be here."
Between intermittent dialogue Sarah is carried out of the office by hospital staff. Here, we see the breakdown occur: she is trapped, cannot work on the case, but it is possible that her own childhood memories are coming into play here; the abandonment she felt by her mother and discovered by child protective services alone in that apartment. It's almost as though she is that child again, but also speaking for the other children she has met along the way either living or deceased; their cry too: "You lied to me... don't you touch me... what are you doing... you promised me... I shouldn't be here."
After dinner, Sarah is more willing to speak to Dr. Carey, but whether she does this to appease the doctor or because she wants to talk, is unreadable. She talks about the Larsen case, which Dr. Carey connects to Adrian, the little boy who continually drew the treeline picture when Sarah found him. And then Dr. Carey brings up Sarah's mother.
"Sarah, maybe, what they went through is something you relate to. Have you ever thought about that?"
"What? I told you why it matters." (The change in Sarah's tone here signifies manipulation; she appeared passive, spoke quietly with a shaking voice, but suddenly turns solid and cold without warning.)
"Let's talk about your mother. Why she abandoned you."
"You sit there in that chair across from me thinking you'll get to the heart of it. That you can help me, that you can save me. You must feel good thinking that. Justifying your little life like that."
As they continue to discuss Sarah's past, a hospital worker comes to the door. Once the opportunity to leave arrives Sarah shuts down, weighing her options quickly and again, she rises, exits the room, walking quietly; she has escaped her memories and no longer needs to reveal anything. When she sees Rick it is possibly one of the saddest moments of the series. As Sarah comes down the stairs, the Linden we know well in her usual jeans, sweater and winter coat, she sees Rick signing the papers at the desk window. Her eyes widen, he smiles at her slightly and signs the papers as her hands touch the glass, reaching out to him. By the time she enters the lobby Rich is gone. We see her glance about the room, her face sullen, the dark cavernous circles beneath her eyes quiver with a chance of tears, until her face falls on Holder. They exit and it's back to 'normal.
And that brings us "The Bulldog."
*********************************
Last week's episode, Bulldog, is a testament to the word "boss." Characters flex their intimidation muscles with threats and determination: Linden and Holder get the federal warrant through a request to Gwen, which she successfully obtains by threatening her father by going public with Mayor Adams' sexual assault all those years ago. Mayor Adams invades Richmond's campaign office, revealing to Darren that he knows where he was the night of the Larsen murder and if he doesn't resign, the Mayor will reveal how "weak" Darren was to attempt suicide and he'll never practice politics again. Perhaps the greatest threat of all, Yanik's visit to Stan's place and his threat against Stan's family if he does not take someone out on Yanik's behalf.
"I learned from the best."
-Gwen Eaton
Thanks to Gwen, the federal warrant is granted. Linden, Holder and the FBI enter sacred ground and head to the casino's tenth floor to start digging and uncover the single piece of evidence that may be the final link between politics and the Larsen murder. Last week left us with the image of contractors working in the room, pounding nails, laying plywood. Linden directs the FBI to tear up the floors. As Chief Jackson looks on exhibiting anger and confidence that nothing will be found, Linden finds the key card, but admits nothing. One of the best scenes of the episode is when Chief Jackson is shown the security tapes and we see Linden holding the card up to the elevator camera, smirking all the while as she places it into an evidence bag. In Holder's car they discuss the limited options they have in using the card to gain justice, but they can't get the blood on the card tested, or turn it over the the Seattle Police; Linden began the play in the elevator, revealing her findings and now, with the election in 24 hours, and the Mayor's threat against Darren to back out of the race or else, the biggest curiosity is, who does the card belong to?
During the course of tonight's episode, Mayor Adams shows up at Richmond campaign headquarters and reveals to Darren that he is aware of Darren's whereabouts the night of the Larson murder. Darren tells Gwen and Jamie that he's going to withdraw from the race. Darren explains where he was that night, that he tried committing suicide. After Jamie storms out of the office, Darren tells Gwen "I wasn't planning to do anything." Later at the rally, Darren Richmond dispels all rumors on his whereabouts the night of the Larsen murder:
"Most of you know that I had a brush with the law recently... I was released because I had an alibi, which was sealed..." Although Jamie believed this announcement to be political suicide, it actually presented Darren as more of a human being than the Mayor ever could be. "Everyone of us has stood on the bridge, at one time or another." The act of giving up, but then realizing your purpose and why life must continue upon finding the strength in your weaknesses. At the end of the episode we see that the key card does not open the Mayor Adams' office, but someone else that will not be revealed until next week... however, we know from the contents of the office that it belongs to someone working the Richmond campaign. Is it Jamie? Gwen? The idea of someone in the Richmond camp playing both sides was presented in season one through the email communication that connected Eutanis' nephew to the Mayor. Now, we see a far deeper cut and previews for next week suggest Linden is either going to Mayor Adams to make a deal "We have a common enemy" or she too, will play both sides, roll the dice, see where guilt rises from the water..
"If anything happens to me, I want you to take care of the boys... you're good with the Ter- and they love you. You're a natural."
-Stan Larsen
Janik Kovarsky, Alexi and another Russian mob cohort shows up at Stan's place. Janik dismisses his henchmen, telling them to take Stan's dog for a walk. Janik demands that Stan kill someone and basically threatens to kill Stan's family, even their new bulldog, if he doesn't follow through with the kill. A devastated Alexi overhears Stan admit that he killed Alexi's father on Janik's orders, foreshadowing what is to come. Later, after a brief scene in the park, Stan leaves Terry with the boys, dressed in their Halloween costumes, stating his wishes if anything should happen to him. We know Stan leaves for the kill. He waits for the victim outside the man's home and heads to the rear of the car where he sees a baby girl in the backseat, a reminder that this is where it all begins- each character a product of their own environment. With defeat, Stan begins to back away, but the victim sees Stan's gun in the sideview mirror. Stan beats his head against the steering wheel, telling him to get out of Seattle and never come back. Next we see Janik get in his car after watching this scene between Stan and the target unfold. A gun immediately goes to the back of Janik's head and guess what, it's not Stan, but Alexi. He takes revenge for his own father's murder and kills Janik. Stan is free (not from the law) or so we hope, but what will happen to Alexi?
Suggested meal: Meatloaf with mashed potatoes, corn, a roll and a slop of gravy eaten very quickly.
Linden was knocked out after breaking into the 10th floor of the casino. Chief Jackson claims Sarah tried to kill herself and now Linden is on suicide watch. We could see the breakdown coming, but who knew Sarah would actually be hospitalized under false pretenses? Through this episode Holder makes every attempt to have her released: he makes demands on Lieutenant Carlson; visits Regi, but she refuses to help insisting this is what Sarah needs. As the episode unravels and Holder begins putting two and two together regarding the Waterfront Project, he manages to convince the Lieutenant to have Linden released, which can only be done by her doctor. And here, most clever I think on the part of the writers, we see Rick, Sarah's fiance come to the hospital and sign the papers ("She know I'm here... I"ll help get her out, but I can't be involved anymore. She's your responsibility now.) Dr. Rick Felder. Throughout the hospital scenes Sarah's ability to use manipulation as a strategy for survival becomes more evident and by the time Felder arrives we as viewers can see how easy it was for him to love her.
At first Sarah is belligerent, wanting only to accomplish one goal: leave the hospital and continue working the Larsen case. Dr. Carey is "...not here to keep you against your will..." and she works very hard to retrieve information from Sarah, tap into her deeper emotional being that causes the unhealthy obsession she's developed with the Larsen case, and one from her past. The mysterious drawing we've seen since the beginning: the treeline. Questioning continue on both sides as Dr. Carey slowly draws out a response here or there, connecting Sarah's cases to her own childhood:
"Why do these two cases mean so much to you?"
Impatient pause of silence.
"I've been cooperative, I've answered your questions and now I'd like to know when I'm getting out of here."
The doctor suggests taking a break, but Sarah is angry: "No- you said all I had to do was talk and then you'd let me go."
"Well, I think you need to stay here for a little bit longer."
"How much longer?"
"Possibly through the end of the week. You need to rest, eat, get into a normal routine."
"You can't keep me here. I did what you asked. I answered your questions, and now I need to leave."
"It's not a punishment to be here-"
"You can't keep me here! I need to get out of here right now. You lied to me...don't you touch me... what are you doing.. you promised me... I shouldn't be here."
Between intermittent dialogue Sarah is carried out of the office by hospital staff. Here, we see the breakdown occur: she is trapped, cannot work on the case, but it is possible that her own childhood memories are coming into play here; the abandonment she felt by her mother and discovered by child protective services alone in that apartment. It's almost as though she is that child again, but also speaking for the other children she has met along the way either living or deceased; their cry too: "You lied to me... don't you touch me... what are you doing... you promised me... I shouldn't be here."
After dinner, Sarah is more willing to speak to Dr. Carey, but whether she does this to appease the doctor or because she wants to talk, is unreadable. She talks about the Larsen case, which Dr. Carey connects to Adrian, the little boy who continually drew the treeline picture when Sarah found him. And then Dr. Carey brings up Sarah's mother.
"Sarah, maybe, what they went through is something you relate to. Have you ever thought about that?"
"What? I told you why it matters." (The change in Sarah's tone here signifies manipulation; she appeared passive, spoke quietly with a shaking voice, but suddenly turns solid and cold without warning.)
"Let's talk about your mother. Why she abandoned you."
"You sit there in that chair across from me thinking you'll get to the heart of it. That you can help me, that you can save me. You must feel good thinking that. Justifying your little life like that."
As they continue to discuss Sarah's past, a hospital worker comes to the door. Once the opportunity to leave arrives Sarah shuts down, weighing her options quickly and again, she rises, exits the room, walking quietly; she has escaped her memories and no longer needs to reveal anything. When she sees Rick it is possibly one of the saddest moments of the series. As Sarah comes down the stairs, the Linden we know well in her usual jeans, sweater and winter coat, she sees Rick signing the papers at the desk window. Her eyes widen, he smiles at her slightly and signs the papers as her hands touch the glass, reaching out to him. By the time she enters the lobby Rich is gone. We see her glance about the room, her face sullen, the dark cavernous circles beneath her eyes quiver with a chance of tears, until her face falls on Holder. They exit and it's back to 'normal.
And that brings us "The Bulldog."
*********************************
Last week's episode, Bulldog, is a testament to the word "boss." Characters flex their intimidation muscles with threats and determination: Linden and Holder get the federal warrant through a request to Gwen, which she successfully obtains by threatening her father by going public with Mayor Adams' sexual assault all those years ago. Mayor Adams invades Richmond's campaign office, revealing to Darren that he knows where he was the night of the Larsen murder and if he doesn't resign, the Mayor will reveal how "weak" Darren was to attempt suicide and he'll never practice politics again. Perhaps the greatest threat of all, Yanik's visit to Stan's place and his threat against Stan's family if he does not take someone out on Yanik's behalf.
"I learned from the best."
-Gwen Eaton
Thanks to Gwen, the federal warrant is granted. Linden, Holder and the FBI enter sacred ground and head to the casino's tenth floor to start digging and uncover the single piece of evidence that may be the final link between politics and the Larsen murder. Last week left us with the image of contractors working in the room, pounding nails, laying plywood. Linden directs the FBI to tear up the floors. As Chief Jackson looks on exhibiting anger and confidence that nothing will be found, Linden finds the key card, but admits nothing. One of the best scenes of the episode is when Chief Jackson is shown the security tapes and we see Linden holding the card up to the elevator camera, smirking all the while as she places it into an evidence bag. In Holder's car they discuss the limited options they have in using the card to gain justice, but they can't get the blood on the card tested, or turn it over the the Seattle Police; Linden began the play in the elevator, revealing her findings and now, with the election in 24 hours, and the Mayor's threat against Darren to back out of the race or else, the biggest curiosity is, who does the card belong to?
"You have until 9PM to withdraw from the race. Or by then the whole country will know what a coward you are."
-Mayor Lesley Adams
During the course of tonight's episode, Mayor Adams shows up at Richmond campaign headquarters and reveals to Darren that he is aware of Darren's whereabouts the night of the Larson murder. Darren tells Gwen and Jamie that he's going to withdraw from the race. Darren explains where he was that night, that he tried committing suicide. After Jamie storms out of the office, Darren tells Gwen "I wasn't planning to do anything." Later at the rally, Darren Richmond dispels all rumors on his whereabouts the night of the Larsen murder:
"Most of you know that I had a brush with the law recently... I was released because I had an alibi, which was sealed..." Although Jamie believed this announcement to be political suicide, it actually presented Darren as more of a human being than the Mayor ever could be. "Everyone of us has stood on the bridge, at one time or another." The act of giving up, but then realizing your purpose and why life must continue upon finding the strength in your weaknesses. At the end of the episode we see that the key card does not open the Mayor Adams' office, but someone else that will not be revealed until next week... however, we know from the contents of the office that it belongs to someone working the Richmond campaign. Is it Jamie? Gwen? The idea of someone in the Richmond camp playing both sides was presented in season one through the email communication that connected Eutanis' nephew to the Mayor. Now, we see a far deeper cut and previews for next week suggest Linden is either going to Mayor Adams to make a deal "We have a common enemy" or she too, will play both sides, roll the dice, see where guilt rises from the water..
"If anything happens to me, I want you to take care of the boys... you're good with the Ter- and they love you. You're a natural."
-Stan Larsen
Janik Kovarsky, Alexi and another Russian mob cohort shows up at Stan's place. Janik dismisses his henchmen, telling them to take Stan's dog for a walk. Janik demands that Stan kill someone and basically threatens to kill Stan's family, even their new bulldog, if he doesn't follow through with the kill. A devastated Alexi overhears Stan admit that he killed Alexi's father on Janik's orders, foreshadowing what is to come. Later, after a brief scene in the park, Stan leaves Terry with the boys, dressed in their Halloween costumes, stating his wishes if anything should happen to him. We know Stan leaves for the kill. He waits for the victim outside the man's home and heads to the rear of the car where he sees a baby girl in the backseat, a reminder that this is where it all begins- each character a product of their own environment. With defeat, Stan begins to back away, but the victim sees Stan's gun in the sideview mirror. Stan beats his head against the steering wheel, telling him to get out of Seattle and never come back. Next we see Janik get in his car after watching this scene between Stan and the target unfold. A gun immediately goes to the back of Janik's head and guess what, it's not Stan, but Alexi. He takes revenge for his own father's murder and kills Janik. Stan is free (not from the law) or so we hope, but what will happen to Alexi?
Suggested meal: Meatloaf with mashed potatoes, corn, a roll and a slop of gravy eaten very quickly.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
And the second time it wasn't that hard... : The Kids On AMC's The Killing Are Not Alright
AMC's The Killing is no longer about the Rosie Larsen case. With each episode we have seen the influence of adult children on their own, exploring the detrimental side effects of bad decision making, loss, but even more so, the cycle of behavior that began in their own childhoods into this adult world an how their behaviors filter down into their children's lives.
I've taken some time to digest the outcome of Sarah's relationship with Jack (Off Reservation). The ending was predictable; Linden's interrogation of Alexi (episode Ghosts of the Past; see May 6th post) was a step toward the outcome: we witnessed the sad, heart-breaking good-bye between Sarah and Jack, placing him on a plane to his father's in Chicago. Sayonara, Hiawatha brought us back to the reality of loss as Sarah finds Jack's shirt and/or jacket in the backseat of her car. She pulls it to the front seat, stretching it out in front her saying her son's name, then grasping the shirt with love and tears. Holder finds her asleep in her car the next morning. Sarah's life has never changed from her own childhood- transient, unfulfilled and an inability to accept the love of others. One can assume that Jack, with the exception of the occasional phone conversation is out of the picture in the filmic world of The Killing. He is still in Sarah's life at arm's length, but one can only hope that his experience of living in hotels, being in unknown constant danger due to his mother's actions involving the Larsen murder, and her physical and psychological absenteeism will become memories that Jack can digest as a young man through other avenues including therapy. The Killing makes you care for these characters, examine the root of social problems in America: the foster care system, the lack of justice surrounding the death of children.
Last week's episode, "Sayonara, Hiawatha" continues with Linden and Holder following the latest clues concerning the Larsen case despite the fact they no longer have access to the files, which have mysteriously 'disappeared' as they were never received by county. All of this follows the vicious assault committed by Chief Nicole Jackson's people and left him for dead on reservation land. When Holder went to the station Lieutenant Carlson told him he was off the case and that Linden was bad for him. "Do you know she spent a month in a psyche ward due to a previous case?" Finally, we receive a strong indication of the approaching breakdown in Linden's life. There was certainly breadcrumbs leading up to this revelation, but it was still unknown as to what degree her life had been altered so severely by a previous case, but the continuing storyline and character development have quickly led us down this path to discovery this season. When Holder receives this information he appears shocked, suddenly realizing who his partner is and what she has experienced. Holder's obtuse affection for Linden reminds us of his own upbringing: raised by his older sister (who we finally met in the Off Reservation episode while he was recovering in the hospital following the assault) only to let her down through his addiction.
With Linden and Holder no longer legally attached to the Larsen case, they take matters into their own hands through Linden's directive. Holder, breaking and entering into Gil's apartment, tears the place up. We don't see any of this off-screen activity, but Gil walks into his place and realizes someone has been there only to hear the slight sounds of Holder eating Gil's leftovers at the breakfast table. Holder basically threatens Gil wanting access to the Rosie Larsen case files. Linden plots to return to the reservation; they need to access the 10th floor of the casino in order to gain the next possible clue.
Meanwhile, Stan Larsen continues to keep himself in control and work on his own to find more information on Rosie's murder. Unfortunately, his previous announcement to offer a reward brings only greed to his door steps (Keylela). His oldest son, Tommy, has been having trouble in school with other students picking on him over Rosie and the possibility that she was a prostitute. Anger and frustration builds in Tommy and Stan gets called to the school (Sayonara, Hiawatha) only to discover that Tommy has been suspended for killing a nest of baby birds, "Boy's will be boys." Stan's focus on trying to unearth Rosie's killer causes his neglect for the boys to grow. Stan believes that he can still provide for them, take care of the family business, but truthfully he cannot do all of this on his own. Terry is no longer in the picture, and as we know Mitch left the family, creating a deeper chasm of loss for the boys. Walking from the school to the truck Stan lays down a series of punishments for Tommy and an argument ensues between them, the kind of painful words said in moments of anger that children never forget:
Tommy: "You would never do something like this to Rosie... I hate her and I'm glad she's dead."
Stan: "Because Rosie never pulled crap like this."
Tommy:"She did a lot worse. Everybody at school know's what she did."
Stan: "Shut your mouth."
Tommy:"I hate her and I'm glad she's dead." Stan slaps Tommy, Tommy throws punches at his father. "I hate you. I wish I could leave you like mom did. I hate you."
Stan: "Guess what, I hate you to. Do you think I wanna be here? I don't have a choice and neither do you. Now get in the truck."
Forgiveness comes later in the episode before dinner:
Stan: "I love you boys. You will never be alone, I promise you that."
Denny: "Does mom still love us?"
Stan: "Mom didn't leave because she doesn't love you. Mom left because she has stuff to figure out."
Tommy: "I miss her. I miss Rosie."
However, these verbal exchanges never leave you as a child and stay with you growing up. The words between Stan and Tommy back at the school will not be forgotten, and unfortunately hate is a more powerful than love. Nothing is easy in this world except physical and emotional neglect between adults and their children. Although we don't know much about Stan's childhood or his background as a young man, we do know that there is a chance he murdered Alexi's father, which damaged Alexi tremendously. Thus far, his actions during the course of season one and season two have only suggested his ability or wanton desire to kill another human being (i.e. the attack on Bennet Ahmed in season one). Other adult characters in the show also provide examples of the broken nature in which they continue to live in the memory of their childhood.
Gwen meets with Mayor Adams at Richmond's office, suggesting she has a proposal for him. Here, we witness yet another example, this time of an adult child damaged by a parents' secret. Gwen's intention is to try and blackmail the Mayor by recalling an incident from her childhood:
"I've been thinking a lot about the summer before my freshman year of high school. Dad was running for senate. You were working on that campaign, spent all that time at our house. That night after the rally... I was fourteen years old... I wonder how my father will see it ."
"You think your father didn't know?"
As Gwen's face hits the floor we realize this suggestion, and likelihood, of rape was known by her father all along; a memory that has obviously haunted Gwen for many years. He allowed his daughter to be used for political gains.
Sayonara, Hiawatha is all about secrets- the secrets we keep to protect others, but when the truth is revealed, such as Rosie's discovery that Stan was not her real father, Gwen's rape, Tommy's painful inability to cope with the death of his sister and his mother's abandonment. Linden's decision to let Jack go. There is nothing one can do, but continue watching the emotional evolution of these characters and the consequences of their actions.
Recommended meal: Leftover dinner for breakfast served cold.
I've taken some time to digest the outcome of Sarah's relationship with Jack (Off Reservation). The ending was predictable; Linden's interrogation of Alexi (episode Ghosts of the Past; see May 6th post) was a step toward the outcome: we witnessed the sad, heart-breaking good-bye between Sarah and Jack, placing him on a plane to his father's in Chicago. Sayonara, Hiawatha brought us back to the reality of loss as Sarah finds Jack's shirt and/or jacket in the backseat of her car. She pulls it to the front seat, stretching it out in front her saying her son's name, then grasping the shirt with love and tears. Holder finds her asleep in her car the next morning. Sarah's life has never changed from her own childhood- transient, unfulfilled and an inability to accept the love of others. One can assume that Jack, with the exception of the occasional phone conversation is out of the picture in the filmic world of The Killing. He is still in Sarah's life at arm's length, but one can only hope that his experience of living in hotels, being in unknown constant danger due to his mother's actions involving the Larsen murder, and her physical and psychological absenteeism will become memories that Jack can digest as a young man through other avenues including therapy. The Killing makes you care for these characters, examine the root of social problems in America: the foster care system, the lack of justice surrounding the death of children.
Last week's episode, "Sayonara, Hiawatha" continues with Linden and Holder following the latest clues concerning the Larsen case despite the fact they no longer have access to the files, which have mysteriously 'disappeared' as they were never received by county. All of this follows the vicious assault committed by Chief Nicole Jackson's people and left him for dead on reservation land. When Holder went to the station Lieutenant Carlson told him he was off the case and that Linden was bad for him. "Do you know she spent a month in a psyche ward due to a previous case?" Finally, we receive a strong indication of the approaching breakdown in Linden's life. There was certainly breadcrumbs leading up to this revelation, but it was still unknown as to what degree her life had been altered so severely by a previous case, but the continuing storyline and character development have quickly led us down this path to discovery this season. When Holder receives this information he appears shocked, suddenly realizing who his partner is and what she has experienced. Holder's obtuse affection for Linden reminds us of his own upbringing: raised by his older sister (who we finally met in the Off Reservation episode while he was recovering in the hospital following the assault) only to let her down through his addiction.
With Linden and Holder no longer legally attached to the Larsen case, they take matters into their own hands through Linden's directive. Holder, breaking and entering into Gil's apartment, tears the place up. We don't see any of this off-screen activity, but Gil walks into his place and realizes someone has been there only to hear the slight sounds of Holder eating Gil's leftovers at the breakfast table. Holder basically threatens Gil wanting access to the Rosie Larsen case files. Linden plots to return to the reservation; they need to access the 10th floor of the casino in order to gain the next possible clue.
Meanwhile, Stan Larsen continues to keep himself in control and work on his own to find more information on Rosie's murder. Unfortunately, his previous announcement to offer a reward brings only greed to his door steps (Keylela). His oldest son, Tommy, has been having trouble in school with other students picking on him over Rosie and the possibility that she was a prostitute. Anger and frustration builds in Tommy and Stan gets called to the school (Sayonara, Hiawatha) only to discover that Tommy has been suspended for killing a nest of baby birds, "Boy's will be boys." Stan's focus on trying to unearth Rosie's killer causes his neglect for the boys to grow. Stan believes that he can still provide for them, take care of the family business, but truthfully he cannot do all of this on his own. Terry is no longer in the picture, and as we know Mitch left the family, creating a deeper chasm of loss for the boys. Walking from the school to the truck Stan lays down a series of punishments for Tommy and an argument ensues between them, the kind of painful words said in moments of anger that children never forget:
Tommy: "You would never do something like this to Rosie... I hate her and I'm glad she's dead."
Stan: "Because Rosie never pulled crap like this."
Tommy:"She did a lot worse. Everybody at school know's what she did."
Stan: "Shut your mouth."
Tommy:"I hate her and I'm glad she's dead." Stan slaps Tommy, Tommy throws punches at his father. "I hate you. I wish I could leave you like mom did. I hate you."
Stan: "Guess what, I hate you to. Do you think I wanna be here? I don't have a choice and neither do you. Now get in the truck."
Forgiveness comes later in the episode before dinner:
Stan: "I love you boys. You will never be alone, I promise you that."
Denny: "Does mom still love us?"
Stan: "Mom didn't leave because she doesn't love you. Mom left because she has stuff to figure out."
Tommy: "I miss her. I miss Rosie."
However, these verbal exchanges never leave you as a child and stay with you growing up. The words between Stan and Tommy back at the school will not be forgotten, and unfortunately hate is a more powerful than love. Nothing is easy in this world except physical and emotional neglect between adults and their children. Although we don't know much about Stan's childhood or his background as a young man, we do know that there is a chance he murdered Alexi's father, which damaged Alexi tremendously. Thus far, his actions during the course of season one and season two have only suggested his ability or wanton desire to kill another human being (i.e. the attack on Bennet Ahmed in season one). Other adult characters in the show also provide examples of the broken nature in which they continue to live in the memory of their childhood.
Gwen meets with Mayor Adams at Richmond's office, suggesting she has a proposal for him. Here, we witness yet another example, this time of an adult child damaged by a parents' secret. Gwen's intention is to try and blackmail the Mayor by recalling an incident from her childhood:
"I've been thinking a lot about the summer before my freshman year of high school. Dad was running for senate. You were working on that campaign, spent all that time at our house. That night after the rally... I was fourteen years old... I wonder how my father will see it ."
"You think your father didn't know?"
As Gwen's face hits the floor we realize this suggestion, and likelihood, of rape was known by her father all along; a memory that has obviously haunted Gwen for many years. He allowed his daughter to be used for political gains.
Sayonara, Hiawatha is all about secrets- the secrets we keep to protect others, but when the truth is revealed, such as Rosie's discovery that Stan was not her real father, Gwen's rape, Tommy's painful inability to cope with the death of his sister and his mother's abandonment. Linden's decision to let Jack go. There is nothing one can do, but continue watching the emotional evolution of these characters and the consequences of their actions.
Recommended meal: Leftover dinner for breakfast served cold.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Rich's Transgressor Mother & AMC's The Killing
NOTE: Spoiler Alert.
Some friends of mine recently granted me a book on loan: What is Found There, Notebooks On Poetry and Politics by Adrienne Rich. I've been skipping around, tackling each essay as my interests sway in different directions. The Transgressor Mother opens with commentary on Costa-Gravas's film Missing which stars Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon and leads into a slightly comparative discussion on the political feminist discourse between film and a collection of poetry: "...a woman's life vaguely unfolding until shocked out of innocence into politics, much as Costa-Gravas's straight American father is shocked out of innocence into politics..." (146-147. The poet in reference is Minnie Bruce Pratt and her prize-winning collection Crime against Nature. Now my point is not to necessarily continue this discussion, but this statement in Rich's essay took me elsewhere: "When an undomesticated woman refuses to hide her sexuality, abnegate her maternity, silence her hungers and angers in her poetry, she creates... a force field of extraordinary energy" (158). Rich is talking about the political nature in which poetry evolves into a stream of a woman's truth-telling; there is no hide-out because the voice is strong, vapid. This idea is not only present in poetical works, but in the portrayal of a televised female character.
AMC's The Killing has one of the most interesting female characters on television: Sarah Linden. She is a single mother, a working mother. Her position is homicide detective for the Seattle Police Department. At the beginning of season one we see a woman in love, engaged, preparing to leave the job and move her life and her son Jack to Sonoma, California. Slowly but surely Sarah gets sucked deeper into the Rosie Larsen murder case and becomes completely engendered by every aspect of Rosie. Somewhere in the background, in the life of Sarah Linden is a secret that reveals an unknown breakdown or attachment to finding dead girls. Her sympathy, possibly love, and absolute desire to find Rosie's killer overrides even the love and attention her son needs. Her engagement eventually falls apart, and her complex relationship with Jack becomes even more so. But Sarah cannot escape herself; she is a survivor of the foster care system, knows the ins-and-outs incredibly well as if she is still living that life. She makes emotional connections with broken children and on-the-job situations that take her mind back to her past. In a recent season two episode, "Ghosts of the Past," Sarah interviews Monica, a woman who supposedly lost her husband at the hands of Stan Larsen, but also gave up her son, Alexi, after her husband was murdered. After Sarah recognizes a cereal bowl near the kitchen sink she joins Monica at the table: "I have a son too. And I worry about the ways I've let him down. Times I wasn't there for him. I know what it feels like to... to think you've failed your child." Sarah is using her experience to not only manipulate the emotional charge, but also relives the fact that she almost lost her own son once, and here Sarah is, obsessed with her work while her son is not feeling well and needs her attention. She denies the love of her own child in order to pursue the discovery of another child's death. Later in this same episode Sarah interrogates Alexi again, relating her experiences this time as a child to Alexi, but then brings mothering back into the dialogue: Child Protective Services, Larkspur, King County Juvenile Detention... you get around Alexi. [Pause] The worse food's at county. Those bologna sandwiches- forever cheese." And here Alexi straightens himself with discomfort at her knowledge. Sarah continues: "Case number 78-203. Funny how it never leaves you like a nickname." Sarah continues, bringing up Stan Larsen and what he did to Alexi's father eventually leading to his statement: "Left you with that emotional cripple, your mother. She gave you up, Alexi. And the second time it wasn't that hard for her. There's no way she had your back, ever. My mom too. CPS must have come five or six times, I tried to cover it up, knew the foster house was going to be worse and it was right right? Kids aren't fools we know. Must have run away half a dozen times but in the end she gave me up that's what they do." While all of this is going on Sarah knows that once again she is at risk of losing her son for the second time, but the silence of her hunger is work, specifically solving this case. Whatever happened to her as a child is a constant bridge between herself and the survivors and victims of abuse.
At the end of last week's episode, "Openings," Sarah discovers that someone has been in their apartment. The haunting illustration of trees that we've observed since season one is hanging on the refrigerator door. Sarah and her son Jack, at this point, feeling better, flee the hotel room they've been staying in (since the engagement ended they never moved into an apartment or permanent residence) and stay overnight at Holder's apartment. Here, Jack has moments of stability: a Monopoly game with Holder, laughter, a sit-down meal. Sarah's obsession, her undomesticated life does not allow Jack to finish his breakfast. She tries to keep Jack safe, take care of him, but political and emotional state is re-focused. No sooner do they settle into the next hotel (tonight's episode, "Keylela") she is out the door following the next clue. Is Sarah a bad mother? No. Does she love Jack? Yes. Is she willing to risk losing him again because of her job? Possibly. When Child Protective Services arrives at their hotel to inspect their place of residency and interview Jack regarding reports of neglect, Sarah tries to shut them out. She is all too aware of what this means. She knew they had to keep moving for the sake of safety; to stay together. "I need you to stay on this side of the room, and not talk to your son." A few moments later Jack says with emphasis that he needs to use the bathroom. Earlier in the episode when they arrived at the hotel Sarah points out that if there's a fire he should exit through the bathroom window. At the onset of the CPSs' interview, he does just that; Sarah fakes a phone call and they both meet at her car and flee the scene. This is ultimate risk. Her son is in complete emotional pain slumped over, crying; pulls away from her attempt at comfort, which for her always appears minimal. Sarah has never been portrayed as a 'loving' character except in the arms of her fiancee in season one. But it is not that she doesn't love her son. Her experience as a child is replicated in her own mothering: a sad, untouchable life that remains unknown to us.
For Dinner: Room service for one along with one pay-per-view movie.
Some friends of mine recently granted me a book on loan: What is Found There, Notebooks On Poetry and Politics by Adrienne Rich. I've been skipping around, tackling each essay as my interests sway in different directions. The Transgressor Mother opens with commentary on Costa-Gravas's film Missing which stars Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon and leads into a slightly comparative discussion on the political feminist discourse between film and a collection of poetry: "...a woman's life vaguely unfolding until shocked out of innocence into politics, much as Costa-Gravas's straight American father is shocked out of innocence into politics..." (146-147. The poet in reference is Minnie Bruce Pratt and her prize-winning collection Crime against Nature. Now my point is not to necessarily continue this discussion, but this statement in Rich's essay took me elsewhere: "When an undomesticated woman refuses to hide her sexuality, abnegate her maternity, silence her hungers and angers in her poetry, she creates... a force field of extraordinary energy" (158). Rich is talking about the political nature in which poetry evolves into a stream of a woman's truth-telling; there is no hide-out because the voice is strong, vapid. This idea is not only present in poetical works, but in the portrayal of a televised female character.
AMC's The Killing has one of the most interesting female characters on television: Sarah Linden. She is a single mother, a working mother. Her position is homicide detective for the Seattle Police Department. At the beginning of season one we see a woman in love, engaged, preparing to leave the job and move her life and her son Jack to Sonoma, California. Slowly but surely Sarah gets sucked deeper into the Rosie Larsen murder case and becomes completely engendered by every aspect of Rosie. Somewhere in the background, in the life of Sarah Linden is a secret that reveals an unknown breakdown or attachment to finding dead girls. Her sympathy, possibly love, and absolute desire to find Rosie's killer overrides even the love and attention her son needs. Her engagement eventually falls apart, and her complex relationship with Jack becomes even more so. But Sarah cannot escape herself; she is a survivor of the foster care system, knows the ins-and-outs incredibly well as if she is still living that life. She makes emotional connections with broken children and on-the-job situations that take her mind back to her past. In a recent season two episode, "Ghosts of the Past," Sarah interviews Monica, a woman who supposedly lost her husband at the hands of Stan Larsen, but also gave up her son, Alexi, after her husband was murdered. After Sarah recognizes a cereal bowl near the kitchen sink she joins Monica at the table: "I have a son too. And I worry about the ways I've let him down. Times I wasn't there for him. I know what it feels like to... to think you've failed your child." Sarah is using her experience to not only manipulate the emotional charge, but also relives the fact that she almost lost her own son once, and here Sarah is, obsessed with her work while her son is not feeling well and needs her attention. She denies the love of her own child in order to pursue the discovery of another child's death. Later in this same episode Sarah interrogates Alexi again, relating her experiences this time as a child to Alexi, but then brings mothering back into the dialogue: Child Protective Services, Larkspur, King County Juvenile Detention... you get around Alexi. [Pause] The worse food's at county. Those bologna sandwiches- forever cheese." And here Alexi straightens himself with discomfort at her knowledge. Sarah continues: "Case number 78-203. Funny how it never leaves you like a nickname." Sarah continues, bringing up Stan Larsen and what he did to Alexi's father eventually leading to his statement: "Left you with that emotional cripple, your mother. She gave you up, Alexi. And the second time it wasn't that hard for her. There's no way she had your back, ever. My mom too. CPS must have come five or six times, I tried to cover it up, knew the foster house was going to be worse and it was right right? Kids aren't fools we know. Must have run away half a dozen times but in the end she gave me up that's what they do." While all of this is going on Sarah knows that once again she is at risk of losing her son for the second time, but the silence of her hunger is work, specifically solving this case. Whatever happened to her as a child is a constant bridge between herself and the survivors and victims of abuse.
At the end of last week's episode, "Openings," Sarah discovers that someone has been in their apartment. The haunting illustration of trees that we've observed since season one is hanging on the refrigerator door. Sarah and her son Jack, at this point, feeling better, flee the hotel room they've been staying in (since the engagement ended they never moved into an apartment or permanent residence) and stay overnight at Holder's apartment. Here, Jack has moments of stability: a Monopoly game with Holder, laughter, a sit-down meal. Sarah's obsession, her undomesticated life does not allow Jack to finish his breakfast. She tries to keep Jack safe, take care of him, but political and emotional state is re-focused. No sooner do they settle into the next hotel (tonight's episode, "Keylela") she is out the door following the next clue. Is Sarah a bad mother? No. Does she love Jack? Yes. Is she willing to risk losing him again because of her job? Possibly. When Child Protective Services arrives at their hotel to inspect their place of residency and interview Jack regarding reports of neglect, Sarah tries to shut them out. She is all too aware of what this means. She knew they had to keep moving for the sake of safety; to stay together. "I need you to stay on this side of the room, and not talk to your son." A few moments later Jack says with emphasis that he needs to use the bathroom. Earlier in the episode when they arrived at the hotel Sarah points out that if there's a fire he should exit through the bathroom window. At the onset of the CPSs' interview, he does just that; Sarah fakes a phone call and they both meet at her car and flee the scene. This is ultimate risk. Her son is in complete emotional pain slumped over, crying; pulls away from her attempt at comfort, which for her always appears minimal. Sarah has never been portrayed as a 'loving' character except in the arms of her fiancee in season one. But it is not that she doesn't love her son. Her experience as a child is replicated in her own mothering: a sad, untouchable life that remains unknown to us.
For Dinner: Room service for one along with one pay-per-view movie.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)