Archive

“The Killing” recap (3.9): Reckoning

Wow. As I write this recap, I am still reeling from this week’s episode of The Killing. So much angst, so much tragedy, yet so totally captivating. Academy Award winner Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia) directed the episode and manages to make every moment a tense thriller.

The opening scene focuses on an exhausted Danette Leeds. It’s nearly dawn, and she’s lugging around a stack of flyers with Kallie’s face, placing them on every car, truck and stray cat that crosses her path. By the look on her face, she’s been doing this all night. When she arrives at her trailer, the door is ajar. Hoping it’s Kallie, she runs in. The place is ransacked. At the end of the trailer, her hope runs out. It’s Joe Mills, and he isn’t pleased to see her.

Holder and Linden are at Adrian’s school, waiting to get the go ahead from the child psychologist to question him about the night of his mother’s murder. Linden’s phone rings and they are off to the trailer park, where a bloody and bruised Danette waits for them. Joe Mills took all of her money, and is off again in the wind. The detectives find out Mills is good with maps and decide to check out his storage locker for more clues.

Seward is now less than 48 hours from his execution and is attempting to contact Linden. He’s feeling over confident and decides to spar a bit with Becker. He tells him that once he’s a free man, perhaps he will have a go at Becker’s wife. Becker beats the bars with his nightstick, while Seward looks on, amused.

The detectives make it to the storage facility, and Holder shoots down Linden’s attempt to bum a cigarette. Even someone as spiritual and together as Holder needs to draw the line somewhere. Inside Mills’ locker, they find a sleeping bag and a freshly stubbed out cigarette. Linden and Holder take off like bats out of hell, trying to cut Mills off at the pass. Linden finds him first and Mills brutally punches her in the face several times. She loses her gun in the shuffle, and screams for Holder. Holder, practically flying down the hall, tackles Mills. Linden pulls herself together and gets in a few vicious kicks of her own. The Seattle PD descends upon the scene, and discovers a box of women’s rings. As Linden picks through the evidence, she makes a very unsettling discovery. Bullet’s necklace. Holder is investigating Mills’ taxi in another part of the building’s garage and Linden runs as fast as she can, yelling to Holder not to open the trunk. When she finally reaches him, she tries to protect him, knowing what he will find when he opens that trunk. He does so anyway, and our collective worst nightmare comes true. Bullet is dead, her body covered with defensive wounds. I didn’t expect Bullet to fall at the hands of The Pied Piper. When we last saw her she was very much alive, and her death is jarring. She was the kind of person you expect can get herself out of most anything. What’s is most difficult for me as a viewer, is knowing that Bullet did nothing but try to protect her friends, and that she was the one who ultimately met her demise at a madman’s brutal hand. Characters like Bullet don’t come around very often. A tough yet tender queer butch. I’m very sad to see her go.

Back at the station, Joe Mills is cuffed to the interrogation table. From behind the two way mirror, Holder’s icy stare could cut through the glass. Riddick walks in, offering to look the other way if Holder wants to take a few extra shots. Holder simply walks away, wearing his pain like a dull, grey overcoat. Linden says that no blue ring was found in the box, meaning they are no further to finding Kallie, dead or alive.

Meanwhile, Mills tells police, he wants to speak with Danette, and only Danette. Holder pushes he way through the news reporters gathered outside and hides out in his car. His girlfriend follows him, and while her intentions are good, her words only seem to fuel Holder’s misery. He screams at her that he was an addict, and in a way, not much different then these kids on the streets of Seattle. She doesn’t get him, and because of that, she needs to get out.

Twitch, looking twitchier than usual, finds Lyric waiting for him at his squat. He’s been cleared by his parole officer, and now he can follow his dream and go to LA. Lyric’s social worker has gotten her a spot in those subsidized apartments she’s been dreaming of, so once she’s got the deposit, she’ll be ok. Twitch, shaken by the terrible news, breaks it to her about Bullet’s death. There’s a full house at the station as Danette meets with Joe Mills. She wants to know what he did with Kallie, but he denies any wrongdoing. He tells her to get him a really good lawyer, so that they can all be a family again. Danette trying to break him, tells Mills that his mother has given up on him and is no longer protecting him for what he did to those little girls. Mills tells her that those little girls came to him, and all he did was take away their pain. On behalf of herself and the viewers, Danette lunges at him from across the table. During the interrogation, Linden gets the all clear to speak with Adrian. She meets with him and tries to be as gentle and cautious as possible. He tells her he saw a man hurt his mother, his face illuminated by lights from the Christmas tree. When Linden holds up some mug shots, Adrian zeroes in on Joe Mills. At the station, Linden sits down with Danette, who tells her that Joe Mills has been around since Kallie was twelve, and that he spent some time in Alaska working around then. Three years ago…during the time of the murders. If this is truly the case, he wouldn’t have been around to kill Trisha Seward.

Ray Seward is screaming in his cell, the desperate cries of a man about to lose his race against fate. He wants to use the phone, but CO Becker isn’t about to let that happen now. Becker tells him no one cares about his sorry self. “No one’s coming for you.” Seward’s cell neighbor Dale whispers words of encouragement, and for Seward not to give up.

Twitch sits in the squat, looking at a picture of Bullet. He takes a wad of cash and leaves. He doesn’t run off though, He doesn’t hop on a bus to LA. He actually uses the money to put down a deposit on an apartment to share with Lyric. She’s beyond happy for a moment, spinning in the living room like a little kid on a playground. Then reality comes rushing back in, and she bursts into tears over the loss of her friend.

Holder is holed up in his apartment, but Linden has the key and knows that he needs comforting like she did just a few days prior. She sits with him, and tells him Bullets death is not his fault. They briefly talk about Adrian and Seward, and whether or not they have enough for a stay of execution. Holder, looking for comfort, leans in to kiss Linden. She pulls away and he apologizes and cries. She just sits with him and does what she can to make sure Holder knows that he is not alone in this. Seward and Dale are out on the yard in their respective cages getting some air. Dale starts asking Seward questions about his son, and in a horrifying turn of events, Dale reveals he’s just been trying to break Seward this whole time. “I’ve been killing you since the day we met.” Seward doesn’t do much to make himself someone who’s easy to sympathize with, but in this case, I felt for him. Behind the scenes, one of the guards is telling Henderson how he plans to sell Seward’s execution clothes online. At the same time, Henderson finds out that he’s been put on Seward’s execution. The phone rings and it’s a hysterical Mrs. Becker. Her son shot her lover, and is taken off into custody just as Becker pulls up in his car. This must be Becker’s worst nightmare.

Holder sits with Bullet’s body, and we find out her name is Rachel Olmstead. The coroner makes a joke about bad timing. Bullet had been calling the station all night, but Riddick never told Holder. Holder interrupts Riddick’s family dinner to beat the shit out of him in front of his family.

Skinner lets Linden know that the rings found in Joe Mills box matched the dead girls. There are even a few extra, meaning there may be some more bodies out there. He asks if she wants to go grab a couple beers with the guys, but she doesn’t want to celebrate. Young girls are being murdered and she’s not sure they have the right guy. Her partner is going off the deep end. A man is due to be executed, possibly for a crime he didn’t commit. Yeah, not exactly a pin the tail on the donkey kind of night. So instead, Linden drives out to see Seward at the prison. It is now execution day. What did you think of this week’s The Killing?

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button