Saturday, June 2, 2012

The Killing :: First Thoughts :: Night 21

Never Loses Suction

If I had to create an analogy for Det. Linden, I would definitely equate her with a vacuum cleaner. That girl can suck us in to her analyses of situations. Right now, we all believe that Rosie was planning to run away the night she died, her stop at the casino one long last look at the Seattle skyline.

Hmmm. Rosie had a school book bag with a couple pieces of clothing. Compare that to the duffel bag of laundry that Little Red Riding Pants, a real runaway, carried. Rosie had a clunky Super 8 camera with her. Really, who runs away with that kind of equipment? She had her casino wages to purchase something more convenient if she really wanted to record her adventure. And now Stan thinks her late-night visit to Bennet was to say goodbye? Because high school teachers just let young, naive, unconfident teenaged girls hit the road without trying to stop them?

No, I now think Linden—and Stan and Mitch—have been sucked into another misinformed analysis of Rosie's behavior. Rosie had what, enough clothes for a sleepover? She had, we think, a friendship with Mary, a reservation inhabitant. Did Mary confess everything she knew in that barbershop interrogation with Linden? Were Rosie and Mary spending the weekend together, playing investigative reporter in a situation that was way over their heads?

And do you really kill someone who catches you disturbing an ancient Native American graveyard? Would Rosie have understood the significance of exhuming some bones? Would anyone have needed to do more than take the camera and smash it? It's not as if she could 4G footage up to YouTube before they got the device out of her hands! Linden has just successfully trapped us in her Dysonality again.

Special Message to Det. Linden

Wow. Really, your fiancé Rick Felder is a shrink, someone with an understanding of the fragility of the human spirit? And he let you, despite what he knew about your past mental condition, keep Jack instead of taking responsibility as an impending step-dad and getting your son settled in Sonoma while you finished work on this case? You are better off without him!

What Got Rosie Larsen Killed

Let's say that Rosie did do, see, or overhear something on the tenth floor that got her killed. Did she ...
  1. End her lesbian tryst with the jealous Mary—who is, believe it or not, on the suspect tracker—to date Alexi exclusively?
  2. Catch Chief Jackson French kissing Security Chief Roberta Drays?
  3. See Chief Jackson, in dominatrix black leather, whipping the naked backside of Mayor Adams, handcuffed to a load-bearing strut?
  4. Record the autopsy of a Sasquatch shot in the woods?
  5. Overhear Chief Jackson ask Mayor Adams to dress as a Sasquatch for their next S&M session?

The Last Misdirect

The only thing that can lift Darren's campaign out of its 7-point deficit is news that Mayor Adams did something both illegal and really sleazy. But I don't really think anyone from the casino or the mayor's office killed Rosie. Chief Jackson certainly wouldn't chase Rosie; she has a whole loyal gang to do that kind of work for her. And even if she did send her security chief after the girl, Roberta would have buried the body deep in the woods, not have gone to the trouble of stealing a campaign car from the Richmond headquarters and sinking it in a pond. Chief Jackson was trying to negotiate with Darren just an episode ago. If she considered our councilman potentially useful, she wouldn't frame him for Rosie's death. Plus, political correctness dictates that Hollywood not contribute to the old stereotype that "Injuns" are out to harm white folk.

Mayor Adams is too old to chase down Rosie, and his campaign director, Benjamin Abani, who does look fit enough, is also the wrong race. Rosie's killer will be a white guy on the suspect tracker.

Sure, Chief Jackson and the mayor might be out to screw the citizens of Seattle for their own benefit, but in TV-logic, I just don't see them killing that girl.

Mitch's Fate

So Stan alludes to Terry that something was wrong at home even before Rosie's death. I'm not sure this information fits that lovely scene in the very first episode of Season 1 when Stan arrives to fix the broken dishwasher. Can a couple share the kind of humor and warmth we saw in our introduction to the Larsens if the wife is depressed, close to a mental break, or miserable with how her life is turning out? I think such a woman would have behaved quite differently to a flooded kitchen, certainly not inviting Stan to a little afternoon delight on the wet floor. Although Mitch's adventure might still provide an important insight that helps solve Rosie's murder, my hope is waning that anything good will come from her storyline. So I'm wondering if our last look at Mitch this season will have her ...
  1. Arriving home with a takeout bag from KFC
  2. Identifying Little Red Riding Pants in a police line up
  3. Standing in a California field in a swarm of migrating monarch butterflies
  4. Intentionally driving her car off a bridge or embankment into the water below—while Nirvana's "Come on Death" plays from the radio

Word Count

The number of words Mitch has spoken this season:

"Reflections" = 0 words
"My Lucky Day" = 0 words
"Numb" = 22 words
"Ogi Jun" = 0 words
"Ghosts of the Past" = 108 words
"Opening" = 137 words
"Keylela" = 0 words
"Off the Reservation" = 0 words
"Sayonara, Hiawatha" = 233 words
"72 Hours" = 0 words
Grand total = 500 words

No comments:

Post a Comment