“Today is all that matters… I am just so ready to start living.” – Rosie Larsen
Now that we are four episodes into The Killing and it has become clear to pretty much everyone who watches that the show is kicking major ass, I think it’s prudent to shift these weekly write-ups away from reviewing and focus more on analysis. This venue will be better served if it functions as a forum for discussion as opposed to a vehicle for me to get on my soapbox and tell you, the reader, what I liked and didn’t like about a particular article. So from here on out (unless something changes drastically), I’m going to post my theories and whatever clues I notice and hopefully together we can solve the mystery of who killed Rosie Larsen.
Big pat on the back to myself for totally nailing the cell phone video prediction. It is indeed Sterling (Kacey Rohl) — dressed in Rosie’s costume — having sex with her in “the cage.” We should have guessed that the blood was from Sterling’s nose bleeds. Did anyone feel like the explanation she gave to the police for accompanying the boys into the cage ran a little thin? So Rosie stopped hanging out with her and Jasper (Richard Harmon) was nice to her: is that enough to convince a high school chick to agree to put her butt up in withdrawal symptoms the air for two ne’er-do-wells?
We were also spot on when we suspected that Jamie wasn’t actually the mole inside the Richmond campaign. Quite the contrary, in fact. Darren (Bill Campbell) uses Jamie (Eric Ladin) to infiltrate the Adams campaign. Did anyone else notice that Jamie was wallowing in sorrow at the bar, drinking bottled water? That struck me as kind of strange.
When Darren met with Drexler (Patrick Gilmore), the rich political donor, he mentions that he wants to build a stadium on the waterfront but the mayor’s own project is blocking the plans. Readers in the Pacific Northwest could probably clarify this, but if memory serves me correctly, part of the reason behind the Sonic’s move to Oklahoma City was a dispute over a new stadium. Is The Killing making reference to that situation or was the real-life correlation just coincidence? Also, Seattleites, is watching the numerous scenes of basketball in The Killing like rubbing salt in a wound? That Kevin Durant is helluva player, huh? Okay, I’ll stop. I’m sorry.
We got a couple clues that could lead to the explanation for Holder’s mysterious phone call last week. First, the Lieutenant’s remarks on how rough Holder (Joel Kinnaman) looks after a night of interrogation. Then Kris (Gharret Patrick Paon) asks if “they know you have the itch like me,” which I assume refers to heroin withdrawal symptoms. The show seems to be suggesting that Holder is a drug addict. Could the phone call last week have been to his dealer?
Stan (Brent Sexton) has a few skeletons in his closet too, huh? He had purchased a house for his family to move into, but now he has to sell it to raise some money to cover Rosie’s funeral expenses. At first, this seems harmless enough, but soon we learn that something more sinister is going on.
I got a distinct Mystic River vibe from Stan in “A Soundless Echo,” Something tells me that, before long, he is going to try to take the law into his own hands. The first hint of Stan’s dark past comes when Belko (Brandon Sexton III) suggests that if Stan gives the okay, he will “take care” of Darren (the only suspect that Stan is aware of at the moment) “like old times.” My interpretation is that Stan and Belko were once involved in some kind of violence.
My suspicions were confirmed when Stan visits a very shady-looking Russian guy and begrudgingly accepts a wad of cash from him. The Russian mentions that Stan had not spoken to him in 17 years, which, coincidentally, is the number of years that Rosie was alive for. My theory is that Stan was some kind of mob enforcer or bookie or loan shark or something to that effect and he decided to get out of the game when Rosie was born.
At the end of “A Soundless Echo,” The Killing pulls the old-switcheroo on us. For most of the episode, the show drops hints that Darren might be directly involved with Rosie. But when the big reveal happens, we see the face of Rosie’s teacher Bennet (Brandon Jay MacLaren), not Richmond.
Looking at the big picture, what does this mean? Is Bennet the killer? If so, where does Richmond fit in? I can’t imagine that the show would basically give away the solution to the puzzle with so many episodes left, right? If Bennet isn’t the killer (and I don’t really think that he is), was he having an affair with his student? Certainly seems like it at this point, but The Killing has a habit of slipping red herrings into the final minutes of episodes. I have a feeling that Stan is going to catch wind of this break in the case and schedule a little parent teacher conference. My guess, at this point, is that Bennet took Rosie to the gym, where Richmond just happened to be stumping and that’s where the mayoral candidate and the murder victim stories converge.
Some stats and info about The Killing, “A Soundless Echo”
TV SHOW – The Killing
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 1 Episode 4
AIRED ON – April 17th, 2011
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – AMC
GENRE – Drama, Crime Dramas
CREATED BY – Veena Sud
CAST – Mireille Enos, Joel Kinnaman, Billy Campbell, Liam James, Michelle Forbes, Brent Sexton, Kristin Lehman, Eric Laden, Jamie Anne Allman
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.