REVIEW: The Killing “Stonewalled”

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The net was cast considerably wider in the search for Rosie Larsen’s killer on The Killing this week. Work commitments delayed this review a bit but this episode was well worth the wait. The pace picked up a bit and we learned a lot about the people at the center of this case. Some of what we learned was surprising and some of it wasn’t. We also saw some relationships start to break down, which always makes for good television.

In “Stonewalled” Detectives Linden (Mireille Enos) and Holder (Joel Kinnaman) find the FBI hindering their investigation after they inadvertently stumble upon an anti-terrorism sting at the same mosque where Bennet’s (Brandon Jay McLaren) friend Muhammed works. The Feds take over the case and essentially tell Linden to drop it, which she simply cannot seem to do.

We still aren’t sure why she is so obsessed with Rosy Larsen but after the crime scene pics leak and Mitch Larsen sees them on TV Linden’s resolve to find this killer was reinforced ten-fold. Linden also reached the end of her rope with Holder’s strange comings and goings and started following him, which led to one of the more powerful and revealing scenes of the hour.

The Larsen’s have troubles of their own. Already upset by the crime scene pics, Mitch (Michelle Forbes) is understandably disturbed when Stan (Brent Sexton) decides it is time to pack away Rosie’s room barely a week after she was killed. His actions seemed to be fueled by an incident where Mitch left her sons in the garage with a running car but I fail to see how he though getting rid of their dead daughter’s things would help the situation. By the end of the hour Mitch was restoring Rosie’s room to its former state.

The campaign of Darren Richmond (Billy Campbell) continues to linger on the fringes of the Larsen case and things got a bit more interesting when Darren agreed to unleash some negative campaign adds in response to Bennet being linked to terrorists. Jaime is quick to uncover some dirt on the current Mayor and Darren jumps on it, fueled by the parole hearing for the woman who killed his wife Lily. Gwen seems a bit incensed by this but it is obvious Jamie (Eric Ladin) thrives on dirt. Makes him kind of sexy actually. Ok so I’m twisted.

Foiled by the Feds Linden and Holder make peace and are forced to take charge of the case in their own way by tapping Bennet’s phone. It isn’t long until he is on the phone with Muhammed yelling about passports and the police, and as the hour closes our detectives are moving in.

The narrative took a detour with the terrorism angle and while I don’t see the connection right now I’m sure one will be revealed. I love that Linden was scanning the room for clues while facedown on the floor with an FBI gun in her back. She is all detective, all the time, which may explain why her fiancé Rick has issues with her lack of focus on their wedding. I am also glad that Linden and Holder dealt with the trust issues and weirdness between them. They were already a good time but I think they will be unstoppable now.

The Killing returns next Sunday on AMC.