“Unless this is a snuff film we’re wasting our time.”
For me ‘Super 8’ was the weakest episode of the series so far. I found it a chore to get through at times. While the Larsen storyline was as strong as ever, the others, those more dependent on narrative momentum, felt as if they were treading water. Offering us only dribbles of new information with little of it riveting. One of the drawbacks of long form mysteries like
The Killing is that they are, well, long. In order to sustain suspense for the entire season you sometimes have to drag things out as well as hold back on major revelations.
The Investigation
Bennet is starting to look more and more suspicious. Those carpe diem letters he sent Rosie just got a lot creepier now that we know he used to send them to another student, who is now his pregnant wife. And there’s also the issue of this incident with a girl from another school. I wonder if she was mentally unstable or just dismissed as such because no one would believe that nice, inspirational Mr Ahmed could ever take advantage of a student.
The forensic report seems to suggest that whoever killed Rosie knew what they were doing. Meaning they’ve either killed before or seen one episode of CSI too many. Either way, I bet it makes Linden even more determined now to find Rosie’s killer. Rick’s right to be worried about her falling back into her old habits. He knows as well as we do that she isn’t going to be on that plane on Sunday. There’s no chance now that she going to leave Seattle before she's caught Rosie’s killer. She’s even started putting Rosie’s pictures on the wall just as he feared she would. Well, technically they were screencaps. And it was more like a board than an actual wall.
I’m enjoying Linden and Holder’s working relationship more and more. They’re not as antagonist with each other as they were at the start. There are still a few issues between them. Linden doesn’t entirely trust Holder, mainly because he’s lousy at hiding the fact he’s keeping secrets from her. And Holder’s still a tiny bit resentful that she hasn’t left yet. Holder is the character that is the least like his Danish counterpart, which is probably why I like him so much. He’s the perfect jittery ying to Linden’s stoic yang.
The Larsen Family
Despite Richmond’s reassuring words it isn’t getting any better for the Larsen family. After holding together for so long Stanley finally lost it. Seeing his daughter in the dress they are going to bury her in was just too much for him. And now he’s given in and asked Belko to find out who the police are investigating. This is not going to end well. Not for Stanley or Bennet.
Stanley restroom breakdown was not only distressing to watch but also highlighted how no one in this family is sharing their pain. They’re walling themselves off, growing further and further apart from each other. Not just Mitch and Stan but the boys as well. It’s a good thing that Denny and Tommy haven’t been pushed to the sidelines and that the show is taking the time to show how they, as well as their parents, are coping in the aftermath of Rosie’s death.
This family has suffered a horrible tragedy so it’s understandable that everyday things, like food shopping, have started to slip by. But they’ve both become maybe too reliant on Terry to take care of the boys. So it’s no surprise that Denny has become convinced that his parents no longer care about him and has started to fend for himself. Young children tend to see the world in very broad strokes and life’s complex subtleties can sometimes (but not always) go over their heads.
The Richmond Campaign
So the mole turned out to be some random guy in the office we’d seen only seen very briefly before. That was a bit un-dramatic, wasn’t it? At first I thought I thought he was just some random background extra. Took me a while before I realized he was the guy Richmond had checking everyone’s emails. Good thing I’m not invested in this storyline that much, otherwise I would’ve been mildly disappointed.
I’m glad Richmond held onto his morals and didn’t go along with Gwen’s plan to exploit the Larsens for a political boost. I know their campaign is struggling but that was a pretty despicable move. I’m surprised she managed to get him to agree to it in the first place. Of all the people on the show Richmond can understand what they are going through. He’s also lost someone dear to him so no matter how much Gwen nags him he won’t exploit someone else’s grief for his own benefit.
Notes and Quotes
--Jumperwatch: Love the turtleneck, Sarah.
--No recognizable Vancouver genre actors this week. At least, none that I recognized.
--Either Holder never changes his clothes or he’s like Seth Brundle and only has ten sets of the same clothes.
--8mm film, very retro. Guess Rosie mustn’t have been a fan of digital. Will one of those abstract images unlock the mystery of Rosie’s murder?
--Surely everyone knows by now that when a police officer asks “Can I use your bathroom?” it’s code for “I’m going to illegally search your home”.
Richmond: “Any bright ideas?”
Gwen: “Reach out to them personally. Ask them to do the spots with you.”
Richmond: “Any ideas won’t leave feeling like I need a shower afterwards?”
Stanley: “Rosie’s gone. Finding out who killed her won’t change that.”
Mayor Adams: “In no time at all Darren’s come here and he’s built himself a real rainbow coalition. Blacks, fruits, whores and drug addicts.”
--Adams is clearly a progressive politician.
Linden: “There’s plenty of women with poor judgment out there, I’m sure you’ll get lucky.”
Principle: “I would’ve fired him otherwise.”
Holder: “Yeah, like you fired that peeking perv janitor?”
Ruth: “Spreading your legs just doesn’t buy a girl anything these days.”
