Tag Archives: the killing

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

Finally, An Episode of The Killing That Didn’t Completely Blow

Female African elephant Watoto is shown in Woodland Park Zoo's award-winning Elephant Forest. Photo credit: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo

The most recent episode of The Killing (“I’ll Let You Know When I Get There”) opened with rumbles of thunder (yes, again) and Bennet Ahmed’s beaten body. This episode was actually decent. New information was meted out in an appropriate fashion and sans red herrings. I suppose it’s about time to get down to business, considering there’s only another three hours remaining until we find out the identity of Rosie Larsen’s murderer.

Stan turned himself in for his unwarranted attack on innocent Bennett, while Belko was interrogated by Linden and Holder, but turned out to be just a sad guy who wishes he was a Larsen, thanks to his inappropriately slutty mom. Fiance Rick showed up to take Linden back to Sonoma with him, but guess what, she didn’t go. Her son Jack is now acting out big time, and the previews of next week’s episode show that he runs away, which threatens to derail the entire investigation (and reminds me of 24).

In terms of Seattle settings, Linden talked to a taxi driver in front of “the Federal Building,” which is a place in Seattle that exists, but the previous episode’s scene set at a public market located at 5th and Union was nothing close to Pike Place. (Hello again, Vancouver.) And the episode ended with Linden on a ferry, headed to Indian tribal lands and a casino from which Rosie had a keychain. This ferry turned out to be the mysterious Adela that Rosie was meeting at 11:45 the night she was killed, while the other ferry on this route, named “Veena,” is a nod to series adapter Veena Sud.

As to zoo news, the court case brought by animal activists against the zoo and the city for animal mistreatment was dismissed by a King County Superior Court judge. The activists had alleged that the zoo’s treatment of its elephants was cruel and inhumane. One of the African savanna exhibit’s patras monkeys (Kyle) is recovering after an arm amputation following a bone infection. And finally, the k.d. lang edition of ZooTunes is sold out.

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

Finally! The Killing and Zoo News Intersect

A female Steller's sea eagle, was euthanized after re-injuring a fractured wing. Her male companion remains on exhibit at the award-winning Northern Trail. Photo credit: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo

It seems like most people have given up on The Killing by now. Jon Talton, Seattle Times economics columnist, tweeted his top 5 reasons for doing so last weekend. Maureen Ryan didn’t bother to write a recap of the last episode, and Alan Sepinwall is even more checked out than he was last week: “We’re at the point in the season where I’m just repeating the same complaints over and over again, and that’s a waste of my time as much as it is yours.” But never you worry. I’m still watching. Besides, after Sunday’s episode (“Undertow”), there’s only four hours to go. So we soldier on.

In this week’s episode, it actually stopped raining for a bit. That does happen from time to time! (And anyways, as previously discussed, it is always raining too hard in this version of Seattle. An even more glaring error: two episodes have included the crackle of thunder overhead.) Linden continued to be a terrible cop, mother, and fiancee, as delineated by Gabe at Videogum. Even after revealing that Mayor Adams has a pregnant mistress, Richmond’s campaign is still tanking, because Adams countered by holding a press conference to lie about having had a vasectomy and to call Richmond out for releasing such sordid rumors. Also because Richmond is a gutless mayoral candidate with a candidate run by bickering yahoos Gwen and Jamie. Lucky for him, Richmond is a good shot. He went back to see Tom Drexler, libertarian megalomaniac/Mark Cubanesque basketball owner of local team The Seabirds, who need a new stadium, of course, though they could always just move to Oklahoma and choke in the playoffs. He won another $5M to keep his campaign afloat with one high-stakes basket. Meanwhile, at the request of his wife, Stan kidnapped Bennet Ahmed again. Stan beat up Bennet, while Belko beat up a rock. Who does that? That behavior alone makes Belko a top suspect for being Rosie’s killer.

To get back to the headline: So how does The Killing finally have something in common with the Woodland Park Zoo? Because there was recently a death at the zoo, and even terrible detectives like Linden and Holder could crack the case. A female Steller’s sea eagle, estimated to be fourteen years old and on loan from the San Diego Zoo, had to be euthanized a couple weekends ago, due to a reinjury to her fractured wing. The only other option would have been amputation, which is not much of a life for a bird, so no, this was not murder. Case closed.

In other zoo news, in the poll to name the zoo’s new reticulated python, “Kaa” (like the Jungle Book character) was the winner with 44% of the vote. In happier zoo bird news, the zoo blog has the story (and cute photos) of one-year-old penguin Diego, who is recovering from having a bobby pin removed from his stomach, after it was found by a metal detector. And while it’s not one of our zoo’s humboldt penguins, on a happy-sad-but-definitely-cute note, Lucky the penguin has a bum foot, but lives life to the fullest thanks to his friends at Teva:

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

The Killing Fishes for Clues, While the Kitty Fishes for Fish

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I look forward to the day when The Killing lives up to its potential and AMC backing and is interesting enough on its own that I don’t need to supplant my recaps with the latest Woodland Park Zoo news. This is not that day. Sunday’s episode began as I expected: with the federal agents letting Holder and Linden go, since they’re cops. As the episodes title (“Stonewalled”) would suggest, there are of course going to be issues when there’s different agencies whose investigations collide. I’ve seen enough seasons of 24 to know the bureaucratic chains of command hoo-ha that usually follows. Let’s hope that this isn’t turning into that. Let’s also hope that Rosie Larsen’s murder isn’t somehow tied up in a terrorist plot, because that would be too way out of left field. This week also led to the reveal that Holder is in AA (or NA, I suppose, since he was a former meth user)–also not too surprising, if you’ve been paying attention. Mitch left her kids in the garage with the engine running, though not long enough to take care of those buzzkills for once and for all. Richmond finally got a backbone and played dirty in his political campaign, allowing Jamie to leak the news that Mayor Adams has a mistress. And Linden’s son sent photos of the murder scene to his friends, which eventually made their way to the press.

Meanwhile, the zoo’s ocelot kitty is learning to fish. In the video above, shot last Friday, sixteen-week-old Evita explores the zoo’s tropical rain forest exhibit with her mother Bella, and together they pawed at the live fish that have recently been introduced into their environment. It was a gradual process, as the zoo first added still water to the exhibit, then turned on the stream, and then released trout into the running water. Give Evita a little time and practice, and she’ll be catching those fish in no time.

Also, today’s the last day for voting on the name for the zoo’s new reticulated python. Out of the 400 names submitted, the final five are: Java – in honor of its roots in Southeast Asia and Seattle; Rimbo – “jungle” in Indonesian; Kaa – from Jungle Book; Pogi – “good looking” in Tagalog; Sundara – “beautiful” in Hindi. Facebook polls close at 3 p.m.

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

The Killing Slowly Slithers Along, While the Zoo’s New Snake Needs a Name

A new male reticulated python has just gone on exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo and he needs a name. Through May 13, noon PDT, submit a name to the zoo’s Facebook page. Photo credit: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo

Over halfway through the thirteen-hour season, and The Killing is more like The Boring. I’m not alone in this opinion. The New Yorker had a negative review of the show in last week’s issue, and TV recapper extraordinaire Alan Sepinwall could barely bring himself to write about this week’s episode (“Vengeance”).

With good reason. What happened this week? Ummm…a whole bunch of nothing. Rosie Larsen’s dad didn’t kill Bennet Ahmed. Linden and Holder visited the Green Lake Mosque, which was somehow located in Rainier Valley. Linden missed her flight to Sonoma, so now her fiance won’t take her phone calls, but on the upside she got to teach her son the finer points of paintball. And a new Adams campaign attack ad proved to be a real bonerkiller for Gwen and Darren’s office sexytime. Stay tuned next week, when the butchershop FBI raid cliffhanger is easily resolved in the first five minutes, after Linden and Holder simply show the federal agents their police badges.

In more important news, the Woodland Park Zoo has a new snake. The eight-year-old male reticulated python weighs a hundred pounds (!) and debuted in his new zoo digs earlier this week in the Day Exhibit.

But that big ol’ python still needs a name. Animal lovers (or animal-naming lovers) are encouraged to submit their ideas for snake names on the zoo’s Facebook page (of course) between now and Friday, with the zookeepers’ picks for best five names going up for public vote next week. I know the zoo always prefers ethnically/culturally/geographically appropriate names for their animals, but just like with The Killing, I implore them to not be so boring or predictable. For python names, I suggest Egyptian Cobra, Honey Badger, or Kitty. Also acceptable: Huggy or Squeezy.

And in the MOST IMPORTANT NEWS OF ALL, five Humboldt penguin chicks who hatched at the zoo three months ago made their public debut on Monday. Here they are swimming, for your daily dose of SQUEEEEEEEE.

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

Less of The Killing, More of the Ocelot Kitty

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This week’s episode of The Killing (“What You Have Left”) featured Rosie’s funeral, further focus on her teacher Bennet as a murder suspect, and the revelation that Rosie’s dad Stan has Polish mafia ties. What, you haven’t heard of the famous Seattle Polish mafia? Anyways, Stan knows that the cops are looking at Bennet, so he offers him a ride home from the wake, no doubt to threaten him with serious bodily harm. Meanwhile, even with staffer Jamie back in the fold, Richmond’s mayoral campaign is headed further down the shitter, thanks to the candidate’s disastrous debate performance, in which he served himself up to Adams on a silver platter by bringing up Bennet’s connections to his own at-risk youth basketball program. Jamie’s right; at this point, Richmond’s identity really is “dead girl in a trunk.”

With that out of the way, let’s get to more important news: ZOO BABIES. Now that ocelot kitty Evita is three months old, she’s ready to make her official public debut tomorrow at the Woodland Park Zoo. Since her birth in January, Evita has lived in an off-view den where she could get in some maternal bonding time, while being monitored via closed-circuit cam. Some cute details: “She currently weighs 5½ pounds and is eating solid foods….According to staff, the kitten is healthy, playful, and has exceeded all of the physical and mental benchmarks. Her favorite activity is chasing her mom’s tail.”

The best times to view little Evita and mother Bella are between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. in the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit. Here’s some more photos of Evita checking out her new digs, care of the Woodland Park Zoo’s blog.

Ocelot Evita, born in January, is ready for her official public appearance. Best times to view Evita and mom are 11 am-2 pm daily in the award-winning Tropical Rain Forest exhibit. Photo credit: Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo
Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

The More The Killing Goes, The Slower the Plot Gets

Another week, another episode of AMC’s The Killing, and we are now well within snoozefest territory. Oh yes, please give me further insight into Rosie Larsen’s younger brothers, as they are clearly the most interesting characters on the show. I cannot get enough of this gripping bedwetting drama!

Sunday’s episode was entitled “Super 8″ (not to be confused with the upcoming JJ Abrams-Steven Spielberg summer blockbuster), and not much happened. Rosie’s teacher Bennet is a sketchball who married a former student, but even though he was writing “follow your dream” notes to Rosie and refinishing his floors with a chemical found on her body, that doesn’t mean he’s a killer. Although he wasn’t eliminated as a suspect outright, I’d guess he didn’t do it, considering we’ve got another eight hours of show to go.

Meanwhile, Rosie’s parents are still grieving hardcore, while also being snubbed by friends and clients. The mole in Richmond’s campaign was Nathan, a character I did not remember having ever seen before. TWIST. Richmond shoots an ad with Bennet in it, but not directed by the guy that Gwen was shtupping on the side. Holden is celibate (spoiler alert) and got an envelope of money from a random guy in a car, which he later delivered to a house with a woman and kids, who are no doubt his estranged family. Linden needs to stop buying non-refundable plane tickets to Sonoma, since she obviously ain’t going nowhere anytime soon. Jamie got drunk with Mayor Adams and tricked him into thinking he’s an honorable and upstanding re-election worker, yet another piece of evidence for why you should never trust a boy with a girl’s name.

Like I said, riveting stuff. At this point, I’m hoping for a grand conspiracy: Rosie ended up shooting some footage of something bad about the mayor’s waterfront project. And Gwen’s dad the Senator is somehow in cahoots with Mayor Adams, so she was dispatched to get rid of Rosie, and used Bennet’s relationship with Rosie to do so, and Kris and Jasper helped too. I don’t know, just spit-balling here.

“What happened to the Port Townsend move?” Rosie’s dad asks. Ummm, clearly those customers hired a moving company a little closer than Ballard, which is two hours and a ferry ride away. I gotcha good, Killing fact-checkers!

For the record, this Sunday’s episode is not available for streaming on AMC’s website, and the show’s first four episodes will be gone soon too. Last call.