As The Killing creeps towards its conclusion, tonight is the first half of the two-part season finale–which is a fancy way of saying “second-to-last episode.” So let’s take a look at the most recent, third-to-last episode (“The Bulldog”). It’s Day 24, Halloween, the day before the Seattle mayoral election, and Linden, fresh out of the loony bin, wakes up in her car.
Darren Richmond’s SceneVid has over 10,000 views, you guys. And the campaign is only down 2 points in the latest polls that no one would be taking every single day. So if even a proportion of everyone who saw his video comes out to vote, that makes up the deficit right there. He could totally win this race. So the Mayor is not happy. “10,000 views. Is that a joke?” That’s exactly what I was wondering, Lesley! 10,000 views means nothing on the internet, especially YouTube SceneVid.
Meanwhile, in some Vancouver building, Jamie and Gwen give campaign volunteers instructions: “Make sure you go to every mall in town.” “Make sure you go to the campus at the University and put up posters there.” Great ideas, brain trust. Holder and Linden roll up, looking to get a federal warrant to the Wapi Indian Casino. Maybe Gwen’s father can help?
So Gwen meets with her dad, James Widmore. He’s still pissed about her bailing on the job in DC that he pulled strings to get her. But no, she’s there for a federal search warrant as a personal favor. But Chief Jackson is a big supporter of Sen. James Widmore! So Gwen blackmails her dad into getting a warrant because he knew her kiss with Mayor Lesley Adams (then a campaign aide), when she was just fourteen years old. WAIT. Is all this just over a kiss? I kinda assumed there was more than just that, but if Lesley and Gwen shared just a kiss when she was 14 and he was 20ish, that’s not a crime and certainly not blackmail-worthy. Regardless, Gwen calls her dad’s bluff, and James Widmore folds. Linden and Holder get their federal warrant and the FBI tears up the floor in the casino construction site.
Meanwhile, at the Larsen household, Otis the Bulldog is making himself right at home, and Stan lets the kids go trick-or-treating for Halloween. And now he’s got an offer on the other house? Everything is coming up Larsen. Terry goes to fill the fax (?) with paper (?) and finds Rosie’s crime scene photos. Good job hiding those, Stan.
Then Janek shows up and asks Stan to kill someone else. Stan says no, and Janek lobs vague threats at the dog and the Larsen boys. Stan makes sure that Terry will take care of the kids, should anything happen to him. He heads to a house definitely in Vancouver.
ENHANCE.
Yep, that house is approximately here. Stan threatens and scares off the guy Janek wants dead so he doesn’t have to kill him. Even moreso now that Janek has been taking out by Alexi, avenging his father and earning his Ogi Jun tattoo.
Speaking of threats, Mayor Adams meets with Darren Richmond to tell him to drop out of the race by 9 p.m.; otherwise he’ll reveal the suicide attempt. So Darren is going to withdraw and Jamie is pissed. He admits to Gwen and Jamie his suicide attempt. Jamie is thinking about how to spin it, but Gwen thinks that Darren is right and he can never admit this to the public. UMMMM, isn’t a struggle with depression a little better for a politician than being accused of murdering a teenage girl? Besides, most Seattle voters know depression firsthand.
Richmond has a big rally, ostensibly to drop out, but of course he doesn’t. Instead, he goes off-script and delivers a “stirring” “speech” about his struggles. There are gasps, but he talks about his weakness and finding the will to live and fight and move on and how we’ve all metaphorically stood on that Tacoma bridge. He tells them he will “never stop fighting,” then he LITERALLY DROPS THE MIC AND WHEELS HIMSELF OFF. It’s like I wrote this episode. You go, Richmond. The crowd is stunned and offers a smattering of applause.
Back at the casino, Linden acts like the search didn’t turn up anything, but she pocketed the City Hall keycard she found so they can go try it out for themselves. Chief Jackson is mad and she calls her assistant a “moronic little bitch” before slamming her hand in a door. I get it, she’s a Bad Guy, very subtle. They make it look like she’s calling the Mayor to let him know they have his keycard, so of course, she’s calling someone else.
The Mayor offers Lt. Duck a job as Deputy Commissioner if he’ll take care of Linden, so Duck has her followed. Linden and Holder manage to out-maneuver the drivers and shake off the surveillance team. Duck shows up at City Hall, just as Holder and Linden do. He’s there to head them off at the pass, but when Linden shows him the keycard she found, he gets out of her way.
Linden and Holder use the keycard to get into City Hall and then they just wander around, trying to see which doors it will unlock. They try the Mayor’s Office, even though it’s currently occupied by the Mayor and a whole bunch of staffers watching Richmond’s speech coverage. That door doesn’t open. Next! But the keycard does work at the Richmond campaign office. Which is within City Hall? Even though it’s against all election rules for an councilman to run a mayoral campaign from his city office? Sure, why not.
And finally Mitch shows back up at the Larsen home. BEST MOM EVER. Speaking of: Linden has only missed her son’s calls about fifty times. So yes, she should definitely call him back and play dumb, telling him she was “catching up on sleep.” EVEN BESTER MOM EVER.
Tonight’s episode is entitled “Donnie or Marie?” which totally means “Jamie or Gwen?” But whether Jamie killed Rosie Larsen or Gwen killed Rosie Larsen, or even if they pull yet another red herring switcheroo and the Mayor’s assistant Abani killed Rosie Larsen, it doesn’t matter. After two more episodes this show is DONE.
