1. I was left a little upset that the BTK vignettes didn't collimate at the end, but I see a second season in the making.
2. This an interesting idea. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a simple panic attack, but also with how twisted and intelligent Kempler is, that he didn't find some kind of way to poison/ stab/ etc Holden. In the end though, my gut goes with he had a panic attack. That last scene in the hospital had me verbally saying "get out of there."
Reading some of the other posts, I want to give my two cents.
I feel like the whole tuna can relationship represents a longing for companionship. She just chose a career matter over a relationship. No matter how hard headed some of us are, I think she wanted to connect with someone(thing). Its hard to connect with co workers cause then business gets mudded. She is in a new town, work is here life and takes up her time. Connection to anything is better than nothing.
Those who talked about Tench nailed it. Not a lot of mystery here in my opinion. I think he basically embodied a deeper story that was already playing in the background. Not to give an excuse to absent fathers, but I think his story shines a light on the idea that even if we know that absent fathers play a role in kids and mental illness early or later in life, does knowing really make a difference in the outcome if not applied through professional help and understanding?
During the middle of the show when we really saw Tench and how he deals with his son's behavior, I had a crazy idea that maybe the BTK killer was his son grown up and we were seeing him as an adult. But I doubt that is true. Fun to think it would be that twisted though.
