Movies & TV
The Killing Recap: Donnie or Marie (Season 2, Episode 12)
Uncharacteristically, Mitch is depressed
Photo Credit: Carole Segal/AMC
The following will be a recap and review of The Killing‘s penultimate episode of its second (and seemingly final) season. As with the past 10 weeks- longer if you count my pieces on Terra Nova, Alcatraz, and The Office– my articles on episodic television have featured commentaries on the specific episode as well as my take on the series as a whole. These are and have always been critiques as much as recaps. I don’t see the point in merely providing rote recitations of what transpired during the previous hour.
Does this mean that my analysis will focus on the more negative? If the show warrants it. I’m not saying you need to agree with my interpretation of events, I am just honestly telling you what I thought of the episode. I have complimented The Killing on the various elements that I think work- the acting (particularly Brent Sexton this season), the cinematography, the tone, the direction, etc. And I am willing to overlook a lot of the more unrealistic things despite The Killing‘s purported “realism” being one of its main selling points. But this doesn’t mean that I am going to ignore the things that I don’t think work or that I find silly (like the YouTube thing from Bulldog).
Including tonight’s “highly confidential” installment entitled Donnie or Marie, we have two episodes left before this season ends. My format will not change, but I hope you continue reading.
If you are utterly baffled by this introduction, please check out the comments section for last week’s episode Bulldog.
The newly snarky Sarah Linden
Photo Credit: Carole Segal/AMC
We are now officially less than one week from when we finally learn Who Killed Rosie Larsen, and tonight’s episode ratchets up the tension as we approach our destination. I felt it was a solid episode that decently moves our three main storylines into end game.
I thought the opening was well done as Holder and Linden corner the mayor about the key card and declare their willingness to forget about the picture he faked in exchange for getting everyone off their backs as they solve the Rosie Larsen murder. I though Linden showed that determined nature that I always felt eluded her character. Although I don’t personally believe Linden’s promise to make the picture disappear, I would like to think that she was being honest. Her willingness to prioritize types of justice would add an extra layer of depth to the character and the show, but I doubt she’s going to sabotage an entire campaign based on the presumption that a person working on its staff might have killed Rosie Larsen. She’s still the hero, and I don’t see this show as the type to let her subscribe to the dark side.
Afterward, Holder and Linden go into investigation overdrive. The scenes in the car where they’re discussing the case shows that their partnership has finally become a partnership and not just Linden annoyed that she had to bring Holder along. Also, Linden has developed a cockiness about her that makes the character more bearable. Maybe she needed to start smoking cigarettes again.
Throughout the episode, they discover that Michael Ames was on the ferry at the time of the murder, that he did some deal involving the Waterfront that double crossed his far wealthier wife and the mayor, and that Jaime used his sway to fast track official documents as an enticement for Ames to throw his money behind Richmond. Additionally, Gwen lost her key card the night Rosie was dead, drove the Rosie Larsen Death Car, and attended some important Wapi Indian Casino event years prior. All of these elements combined lead the detectives to wonder if they both killed Rosie. Also, Chief Jackson has a tendency to break her “girlfriend’s” hands, so her violent tendencies also raises her viability as a suspect. After receiving security footage of the casino, Linden and Holder see that Jaime was at the casino the night Rosie died, and the episode ends with a powerful (overbearing?) score playing as Jaime looks evil in the blue glow of a security camera from weeks ago.
Political battle.
Photo Credit: Carole Segal/AMC
Elsewhere in Seattle, it’s Election Day (neither Linden nor Holder vote), and Richmond is worried about the results. We don’t find out the winner of the mayoral election tonight, but Richmond goes over to the house of whom I presume is Ted Wright, the maybe/maybe not amputee whose inspirational story, as related by Jaime, convinced the then-hospital bed bound candidate to remain in the race. Wright appears to be villainous, and he definitely holds a lot of secrets, but we won’t find out his deal until next week.
As usual, the Larsens are divorced from the rest of the goings on, but tonight provides the start of a much-needed emotional catharsis with the long lingering issues going on between the two heads of the family. After Mitch expresses her desire to stay in the current Larsen home, Stan and Mitch have a heated conversation about her abandoning her family and how Stan is every much Rosie’s father as Mitch is her mother. Also, Mitch cries and looks sad. Terry also cries and looks sad. And Stan punches something and looks sad.
Nevertheless, I feel relatively confident that Jaime is not the killer. Like with last year and All Signs Point To Richmond, the show has made Jaime such an obvious suspect, that he becomes obviously not the culprit. I also still believe that the blood on the key card will not be Rosie’s and will play a part in the conclusion. So, before we learn the answer to the question that was first posed on April 03, 2011, I’m going to make my final choice… Terry. Linden’s comment at the start of the episode about the attack being personal and probably done by a woman combined with the way this show loves making the Larsen’s life a living hell, along with a number of other factors, makes her the best fit.
Additional Thoughts:
• The Mayor knew the picture wouldn’t stand up in court but thought it would stop Richmond from winning the election. Even after Mayor Adams was elected, he could still be charged with crimes related to the faking of that picture. At the very least, the public wouldn’t trust him after learning that he framed his opponent for murder. Rosie was found dead in the drunk of one of Richmond’s campaign car. That would be enough to plant some questions in the voters’ heads. Don’t get involved, don’t panic. The same type of overreaction happened when the Wapi Indian Casino attacked Holder.
• I don’t like them calling this part one of a two part season finale as a way to bolster its importance. It’s no different from a typical The Killing episode.
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To contact me, e-mail brett.davinger@gmail.com.
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