by Alex Greenberger
In honor of today being Mother’s Day, I’ll start by talking about why Linden is the worst mom on TV right now. “Off the Reservation,” the eighth episode of “The Killing’s” second season, finds Linden shipping Jack off to his father (and not his stepfather, which is what should’ve been done, might I add) and losing track of him… again. At this point, Jack is lucky to have any time at all with Linden. Linden, on the other hand, is very lucky to have not been investigated by Child Protective Services again. Happy Mother’s Day!
So, moving on now. “Off the Reservation” is not only the worst episode of the season, but also the worst episode of the show. Which is a real feat, considering the mediocrity of pretty much every single episode of “The Killing.” The fact that series creator Veena Sud directed this one makes the burn even worse.
“Off the Reservation” is pitifully marred by horrid writing. One of the opening lines, as shouted by a clearly overworked Linden at the reservation, goes as such: “WHERE’S MY PARTNER?!” This, mind you, is said as she casually saunters over to a mysterious woman who is currently toting a shotgun. Linden also says this after calling off the investigation of Holder’s disappearance. Right. And to make matters worse, Holder is still alive. Now, I know “The Killing” is no “Game of Thrones,” and I know that it’s probably not going to kill off protagonists anytime soon, but one can still hope, right?
It could’ve been great for the show if Holder had been killed. It also would have been highly probable, considering the beating he took in the preceding episode. It would’ve been interesting, but then again, “The Killing” doesn’t exactly specialize in interesting, now does it?
Speaking of which, the Richmond campaign still feels disconnected to the bulk of the narrative. I’ve come to the conclusion that it never will link with the Rosie Larsen murder again, even if Jamie did find a handgun in Richmond’s drawer at the end of the episode. The handgun very well may be the Red Herring of the Week.
Debunked Red Herring of the Week goes to the Beau Soleil connection. As it turns out, Rosie Larsen wasn’t actually working with Beau Soleil at all! Well, now Linden feels cheated and so do I. What a waste of my time. One of the only interesting leads on this show goes right out the window. Awesome.
Honestly, I think we all knew that “The Killing” wasn’t going to stay good for long. The bad news–we’ve only got four more episodes until Rosie’s killer is revealed, which is unfortunately four episodes too many, though as far as I’m concerned, this show has been on for 19 too many episodes at this point. The good news–four more episodes until the potential (and hopeful/merciful) cancellation of “The Killing.” The other good news–this episode made me really tired, which means I’ll be able to go to sleep at a decent hour in time for my final exam tomorrow.
Alex Greenberger is a staff writer. Email him at entertainment@nyunews.com.
