The Killing - General Discussion

[Cardie]

I hope that Kyle didn't father Nadine when he was 10 or 11; he's 17 and she's six. But I'm pretty sure the kid was a "surprise" because the father was one of the kids Mom liked to fool around with.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Cardie

[knitta please]

My ovaries exploded seeing Holder with his daughter.

That is all.

Nope...ETA it was a lovely break from the worst chapped lips in television history during the last five minutes.

Edited August 3, 2014 by knitta please

[millennium]

I am trying to draw out the experience, to savor this, the final quest of Linden and Holder, but find it difficult to stick to one episode per day.

 

Why are they being so reckless?   When they started sniping at each other in the lavatory, I expected someone to flush, walk out of the bathroom stall and say "Gig's up."   Later in the episode, we see pretty much the equivalent of that when Linden eighty-sixes the incriminating cell phone in plain sight of the widder Skinner.  Not to be outdone, Holder (who was holding) stages an impromptu public confession!

 

I could understand the crippling guilt if they had killed an innocent, but losing sleep over a mass-murderer?   Or am I totally misreading it and what's really eating them alive is the fear of getting caught?

 

That was a shitty thing Holder did to his sister.

[oakgal]

I never considered that Nadine was someone else's daughter. I did think maybe Colonel Rayne was Kyle's Mum. That might be why his Mother never cared about him much and hit on him. She wasn't really his Mother. Perhaps, Rayne gave Kyle up and Stansbury adopted him? Maybe? I have no idea.

 

I'm completely confused. I think Blond Buzzcut is up to no good. I bet he did it. 

[Chaos Theory]

I could understand the crippling guilt if they had killed an innocent, but losing sleep over a mass-murderer? Or am I totally misreading it and what's really eating them alive is the fear of getting caught?

That was a shitty thing Holder did to his sister.

Linden was in love with him. They were in the process of running off together when she saw the ring of guilt.

Holder is an addict who now has one more thing to feel guilty about.

And yes they are feeling the weight of getting caught because Riddick isn't half the idiot they thought he was.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Chaos Theory

[Cardie]

Also, they need to think of themselves as good guys as far as their police work is concerned, since the rest of their lives are out of control. Even though Skinner was a monster, and begging for it, shooting a handcuffed, unarmed man makes you no better than a murderer yourself.

But it's always the cover-up, not the crime. They should have phoned the incident in and Linden could claim temporary insanity after her former lover and boss essentially kidnaped her and taunted her with what he'd done. With her mental health history, everyone would believe she just lost it.

[kieyra]

I had to skip through some of the more brutal scenes, and as a result I'm slightly confused about how the military plot is supposed to have gone. Would anyone be willing to clarify?

 

I get that Kyle was the murderer, and that Joan Allen was his mother. I don't quite get who his father was (Philip, I guess?) and how he ended up living with them. Philip basically pulled a Ned Stark and brought him home?

Meanwhile, the military kids have some weird hazing ritual where they pretend to make the newbies kill their parents, only Kyle took it seriously and they were dumb enough to have brought a loaded handgun to this 'hazing'? How was the hazing SUPPOSED to go? Parents wake up to find that these military school students are in their bedroom with a loaded weapon and...everyone laughs it off? Kids these days?

 

Then what is supposed to have happened? After that point I can't follow the find-the-guns logic...or why, if the other cadets who were sort of in on it didn't want Kyle to remember what happened, they chose to try to drive him crazy again...and why they didn't seem to have any fear of him when they already saw that he was quite capable of murder. 

 

Overall, I felt the "A" plot (military murder) was overly complicated and strained credulity (in typical The Killing fashion, I guess), but the deus ex machina solution of the B plot (Skinner's death) felt lazy. 

 

Wish Jacob was still writing real recaps.

Edited August 3, 2014 by kieyra

[Chaos Theory]

Ok very short version because you do have the gist it. The hazings have the first year cadets naked and basically jacking off to pictures of their mothers which were taken during "Family Weekend" while being screemed at to "kill kill kill". Theory is to be a good soldier you have to be able to kill the thing you love most. However Kyle was already being sexually abused by his mother so it was enough to make him lose control. He didnt love his family; he hated them. He brought the other boys to show them what real hate looked like and then things got out of control.

In all honesty i didn't think the military plot was all that complicated. A damaged boy was bullied by his school chums and bad things happened. The only difference was he killed his family and not them because it was his emotionally/physically/sexually abusive family he hated. Col. Rayne was his biomom and tried too late to protect him from the abuse. She was like Linden well meaning (she did love her son) but was not really built for motherhood.

The whole theme of the series could possibly be: its not always easy to stay.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Chaos Theory

[Brooke0707]

So, after the murders happened, the two other boys went to the colonel and confessed what happened and she helped them cover it up?  If they didn't know that Kyle was her son, why did they trust that she would help them and not call the police?  Also, why were they so worried about Kyle remembering when Kyle was the one who did all the murders?  Yes, AJ and that other guy were horrible, gross people, but why were they so convinced that if Kyle remembered, his first thought would be to turn the others and himself in when that would lead him to go to jail forever?  Kyle did confess upon remembering, but were they convinced he'd do it because he was a softie (minus the whole brutally murdering his family thing)? 

 

And it was okay for Kyle's dad to raise Kyle, but not the colonel?  She just didn't want to or was it something her dad wouldn't allow?  I wasn't clear on that.

 

Holder and Linden's get out of jail free card was rather convenient, eh?  Not that I mind.  I didn't want the series to end with them rotting in prison.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Brooke0707

[BigBlueMastiff]

Call me surprised that it really was Kyle in the end. Scary what abuse and neglect can do to a person's psyche. The only thing I didn't get is shy Joan Allen gave Kyle up in the first place. Did I miss something (granted Ep 4 didn't work for me, so I skipped it)?

 

The way Holder was looking at Linden when he said stay, was so sexy. I could see the longing in his eyes, and when she was waiting for him asfter work, swoon. Good way to end, The Killing.

Edited August 3, 2014 by BigBlueMastiff

[Wilson Cat]

This episode was totally a mixed bag for me.  Shall we start with the negatives?  The old bad news/good news which do you want first, ok, the bad news?  I felt that this episode was the epitome of what went all to shit with the way Season 3 ended.  Nothing made sense about Skinner being the pied piper, and then since he WAS the pied piper Sarah kills him while he's handcuffed and on his knees, and therein laid out Season 4 as a cluster fuck of poorly executed lies (totally predictable since Sarah Linden and her partner are two really awful homicide police who would have benefited had they perhaps ever watched Lester Freamon or even Bunk in The Wire to get a clue about what actual homicide police work entails) and so we are stuck with the Season of Lies instead of any kind of coherent story about the killing of a family of four. Really?  Sarah, a homicide detective, drives out to the lake house where she murdered her boss-ex-partner-lover, taking with her the said murdered boss-ex-partner-lover's smart phone, all to toss it in the lake in front of his family cabin?!?  OK....that's all too bad because there was some really good stuff going on in this episode.  

 

I found the scenes with Sarah and her birth mother powerful, affecting.  Jack has to be the sweetest teenage boy ever.  And Holder broke my heart pounding on the door to the confessional yelling 'Where is He?!'  I'd have liked the episode to end with that scene instead of the contrived chase through the night woods of AJ and what's his name chasing Kyle, and the ugly, disgusting scene that showed what had happened at that sick little military school the night Kyle's family was slaughtered was so over the top that it was almost cartoonish.  Filthy sick cartoonish, but not even remotely believable.  I'm sure military schools are full of sadistic crap.  But that........that was several notches up the chain from believable.  Oh one more thing I loved......Holder refusing to play Riddick's little game of "Oh just do this to help yourself........"  No snitching.  Maybe he learned that from The Wire.

Edited August 24, 2014 by CuriousParker
Spoiler Tags

[Desiree]

I have to say while watching this episode, with Linden throwing the cellphone in the lake, RIGHT after she text Skinners daughter that he was sorry and just clearing his head, I just kept shaking my head saying "Worst cops EVER! How effin stupid could they be!" I get that with the pressure of Riddick looking into things closer than Linden and Holder wanted, they are going to panic and make mistakes, but REALLY???? You go back to the scene of the crime and toss into the lake a DIRECT link to the missing and you and the crime???? AFTER finding out that Riddick is questioning Skinner's widow about that night and finds out that you may have known and gone to, the lake house??? At that point, as much as I love Linden and Holden (which is the only reason I kept watching this show after season 2) I wanted them arrested for stupidity more than anything else!

[JodhaBai]

Not my favorite show but very glad Netflix brought it back.  Enjoyed seeing Holder and Linden again.   I had to watch the S3 finale to remember what happened.  I think the case so far is more interesting than the AMC seasons. 

[LisaM]

Never good to watch The Killing when you are already depressed. :)

 

I'm not looking forward to Linden being blamed for Skinner's death. Very curious as to why the School Superintendent was granted custody of the boy in the will instead of the uncle? How weird is that? Also curious about the marks on his back - abuse from the parents or the school?

[Portia]

The only thing I didn't get is shy Joan Allen gave Kyle up in the first place. Did I miss something (granted Ep 4 didn't work for me, so I skipped it)?

The only explanation I recall her giving was that she wasn't built for motherhood . . . or words to that effect. Edited August 4, 2014 by Portia

[JodhaBai]

I don't think I ever hated Holder but after his behavior with his sister and her kids I pretty much am disgusted with him 

[Davey]

Guy in wheelchair: what proof do you have?

 

Seriously? How about all those bodies being found at Skinner's house next to his which he somehow put in the lake after he shot himself? How about the fact that at least one of the bodies was put there after that guy was already on death row? How about all of the jewelry his wife and daughter are wearing? 

 

Why are TV cops always so r*******? That was the dumbest ending ever.

[Chaos Theory]

Guy in wheelchair: what proof do you have?

Seriously? How about all those bodies being found at Skinner's house next to his which he somehow put in the lake after he shot himself?

That is Darren Richmond, season 1 he was running for Governor (I think) during the Rosie Larsen case. It was one of his election cars that her body was found in. He got shot as part of the season 1 cliffhanger.

He won the election and its been a couple years since than but he still holds Linden responsible for him being crippled. Added to that the politicsl ramifications of someone of Skinners reputation being arrested would be catastrophic for everyone involved. As for his wife and daughter keeping them quiet wouldn't be as hard as you imagine. "Your father is a serial killer. We have proof but we don't want to use it. We can keep it quiet and give him a cop funeral or paste is phono bext to the words "serial killer" on every paper on the west coast." Which would you choose? The truth is overrated.

It would be the press i'd be worried about but they already have the villain so unless their was a reporter who was especially diggy they would report the story they had.

Edited August 4, 2014 by Chaos Theory

[Chaos Theory]

I have to say while watching this episode, with Linden throwing the cellphone in the lake, RIGHT after she text Skinners daughter that he was sorry and just clearing his head, I just kept shaking my head saying "Worst cops EVER! How effin stupid could they be!"!

Good cop//bad criminals.

Then again it wasn't exactly a planned crime. They had to react to their natural behavior as cops (i got those plates you asked for the night before you killed the guy in that car) with unnatural behavior...."lets go destroy evidence so a bunch of dead girls will never be found.)

[Frisson]

The thing that I have loved most about the show was the dreary atmosphere. With that, I didn't see a way for the show to end without Linden killing herself. When she talked with the boy and told him confessing would make everything okay, I thought she would shoot him and herself.

Since another thing I loved about the show was the relationship between Linden and Holder, the ending was more satisfying than I was expecting and the line about home was perfect. I was glad that they included a time jump because they both needed to move on for a while and let Linden figure things out away from the job.

I think the shortened time to develop each mystery made Seasons 3 and 4 more satisfying than the first. Few shows have depressed me and made me revel in its darkness like this show has.

[Davey]

I know who the guy is just couldn't remember his name but thanks. The wife and daughter wouldn't have anything to do with proving his guilt or innocence, the police would do that. The fact that Holder, Linden the guy who investigated them and all the other cops who pulled the bodies from the water had all the proof in the world is what I was talking about. As well as the mother of that girl who was killed while Sarsgaard's character was on death row. The truth would not be overrated to her. Nor would it be to that guys kid who will live his entire life thinking he came from a monster. The press wouldn't have to dig any deeper than to find the date that girl disappeared.

[Davey]

My bad I thought Richmond was talking about Peter Sarsgaard's character in that scene, I forgot all about who Joe Mills was. Guess I should have watched a recap before season 4. 

[Cardie]

The show was not clear at all about how the Stansburys came to adopt Kyle. But the way the crime went down is not that confusing.

On Family Day of Kyle's first year at St. George's--which is also his senior year--the hazing occurs. He gets a gun and summons his tormentors to come to his home and see what hate is really like. He commits the murders while AJ and Lincoln run back to the school and tell Col. Rayne; she wants to protect her baby boy and so dissuades them from telling the police. Since the gun Kyle used could be traced back to the school, Lincoln went back and retrieved it. I'm not sure why he didn't take his own gun, too. That was the one Kyle used to shoot himself. Because the Colonel has involved the boys as accessories after the fact to the murders, they are right to fear jail if the truth comes out. They are essentially in the same position as Holder when he helps Linden cover up Skinner's murder.

I think at least several months pass during the six episodes. The murders happen in November and we get through Christmas break and the return of the other boys to the school. To test whether Kyle has remembered, they recreate the hazing--but it is not Family Day when they do it.

[oakgal]

Wilson Cat, that last paragraph is from the next episode. Maybe spoiler tag it. You're giving away plot points from ep. 5 in an ep. 4 thread.

[millennium]

^^^ explains why I'm sitting here wondering if I fugued during a significant plot development.    Oh lordy, lordy!  I done been spoiled!   Unclean!  Unclean!  

 

If Frances Fisher is Linden's mom, does that mean Clint Eastwood is her dad?  

 

The final scene of the car being hoisted from the water was just beautiful.   The blue lighting, the angle, the slow sway, water cascading from the chassis as Linden and Holder gaze upon the magnitude of their sin ...

 

I am really going to miss this show.

[pagooey]

I too loved that last scene, with the crane pulling up the car. I've been watching Season 1 to refresh my memory a little, and it's quite the callback to the end of the pilot episode: another car, another lake, Rosie Larsen in the trunk. The more things change...

 

I confess, I laughed out loud--and hard--when Jack set up that dreadful mother-daughter reunion and then apparently shambled back to the car for a smoke. And laughed again when poor Linden came storming back enraged and wrecked and just this side of losing her mind entirely...and was so berserk over being set up, she didn't even notice the cigarette. Oy.

[catrox14]

I was broken hearted to think they would end up hating each other after everything and I knew that Holder wouldn't have sold her out. 

 

I usually don't root for a coupling by the end in shows like this but they've done enough seed planting for the payoff to work here. I was saying to myself, "Go Back Linden! Godsdammit go back!"

 

I love that Holder was the one that made it clear in his way what he's IMO long felt about Linden and that he's not afraid to try.  Yes, I did cry because I thought it was a great ending. 

[Chaos Theory]

f memory serves, AJ and Lincoln couldn't have told the Colonel immediately about what happened because she was established to have been overnight in a downtown hotel at the time. So they waited (instead of worrying their colleague, having begun to blow away members of his family in front of them, might track down any surviving witnesses, since they had no idea he tried to kill himself) and they happen to luck into confiding in the person who was secretly Kyle's mother, who would have a secret motivation to not call the police; and then with just a couple months to go before graduating and never having to see Kyle again (and risk the truth being exposed), decide to test him with facts instead of attempting to plant false memories, which happens to fail spectacularly..

 

 

I am not exactly sure what you are getting at or what exactly your problem is.  Life is about happenstance.   The boys got scared and ran to the headmistress of the school.  It;s what scared boys in this circumstance would do.  They had no idea the woman was Kyle's mother.  She fixed the problem which is what she what she is trained to do; being a good soldier after all.  It even makes sense why Kyle father sent him that particular school.  "Let his mother deal with the brat for awhile."     It is a military school and their is a chain of command and regardless the boys were taught to obey it so they obeyed the Colonel until it got waaaay out of hand and she had to kill them to keep her and Kyle's secret.  Again this is not too hard to swallow.    The boys disobeying her orders is also saying to swallow, they refused to stop any of the brutal hazing.  It just got worse and worse and worse.  At first I just thought it was just an arbriatry order but it only became evident later exactly why Rayne gave it. It was the hazing that set Kyle off ant Rayne, AJ, and Lincoln knew it; which was why they continued to haze him.....until he broke again.  

 

These are teenage boys, I doubt they had a fully formed plan that went farther then push him until he breaks.  

[JodhaBai]

The scene when Linden returns was really well done. The writing and the acting.  Lovely.   Though have to say I was disappointed that Holden and the DA lady didn't work out.   I liked her and she was good for him.   But I guess he wasn't so good for her. 

[riverheightsnancy]

I just binge watched season 4 and signed up for Netflix just to watch it. I loved it. I loved all 4 seasons of the show in all it's slow, rainy, and gloomy glory and I really thought that the end with Linden and Holder was exactly right. I thought that it was going to end with her car leaving her house and I was already mighty disappointed if that was it.  I loved when they pulled Skinner's car out of the water. I was totally back at season 1 with Rosie in the trunk. When Linden went running and she is by the water and it looks like the dead seal (which caused numerous speculation), right back to season 1. Even though I hated the Billy Campbell character, I was totally surprised to see him wheeled in for a tiny, but important plot point. This is how you weave in some important people and situations from a long series in the show finale Burn Notice!  I will miss Holder, he has beautiful and expressive eyes. 

[millennium]

Every scene in this episode was pure gold.   The intensity was off the charts.   I can't imagine how this is going to end.

 

What brainiac decided this series needs to go away?

[millennium]

Bitter LOL: Netflix spoiled me (again) re: the cliffhanger at the end of this episode, even as I was still watching the episode!

 

As the credits rolled on this episode, Netflix automatically queued up Episode 6, with a timer" "Next episode will begin in 5 - 4 - 3- 2 seconds," etc.  And the frame they showed from the next episode left no doubt as to whether Kyle survives his "deadliest game" experience in the woods.

Edited August 5, 2014 by millennium

[Chaos Theory]

[quote name="Chattygal" post="261515" timestamp="

"

You seem itching for some battle royale and that's not what I came here for. Have a lovely day.

That wasn't my intention and i appoligize. I just found the entire storyline clear and easy and am having trouble understanding why people do not. But then that is my issue: again i appologize i wasn 't picking a fight.

[Wilson Cat]

I agree with all who complain that Sud's weakness is writing any kind of coherent story line for a crime and the resulting police procedural to solve that crime.  That weakness was so stark that, at least for me, her pathetic conclusion to S3 pretty much poisoned S4, as the only segue was to do the whole elaborate lie this season and watch that skein of lies rapidly unravel.  I disliked everything about the wrap-up to this season's 'Killing' almost as much as the Skinner fiasco last season.  There is nothing remotely believable about Richmond wheeling into police headquarters and putting the kibosh on the truth about who murdered all those girls.  And there was nothing remotely believable about the rationale for why Kyle killed his entire family (especially Nadine, who he what.....forgot was still alive, while he's miraculously playing the piano, still all splattered with the blood of the rest of his family, the piano with every string cut...)

 

But.....what Sud can do is write compelling human connections.  Holder became one of television's most memorable characters.  The relationship between Holder and Linden was what kept me watching.  They were shitty police.  But they were true friends, and the ending of Season 4 redeemed everything weak in four seasons of silly plot devices.  I hope Linden and Holder live happily ever after.

[RadiantAerynSun]

Not sure if it's because of the lack of ad breaks but this was definitely the most interesting I've found a  Killing episode since I first watched season 1. Season 3 kinda lost my attention somehow but I watched it "live" and my attention would wander during the breaks. I actually never finished season 3 until last night, watched the last 1 1/2 hrs of season 3 and was a little bit lost because I had forgotten what was going on, but overall really enjoyed that one too. I am a bit confused though, I guess Seward was innocent of killing anybody after all? And why was I supposed to care about the prison guards? I can't remember as it's been awhile since I watched the other episodes. I feel like this is a show I need to rewatch, at least season 3, but just not sure I care enough to take the time.

 

As someone else said i watch for Holder/Linden. I'm not sure why I find them so fascinating when I find the rest of the story so dull sometimes... Hoping this short, ad-less season will be a good one ! are they making any more?

[Portia]

Hoping this short, ad-less season will be a good one ! are they making any more?

Sadly, Season 4 is the last. Enjoy it while you can.

[blobbygirl]

I still think a lot was left unanswered. I didn't get Lincoln and AJ. Why did they keep harrasing Kyle with the murders? Why did Lincoln point at AJ?

[millennium]

I said in another thread that I watch this show for the interactions between Linden and Holder.   The actual crimes are just filler.   Consequently I don't get too upset if the crime story isn't a home run. 

 

I'm getting weary of the "it would be an embarrassment for the city so we are going to overlook your indiscretion" resolution to plots in which there is no good way for the main hero to otherwise escape punishment for his/her actions ("The Wire" is another).   Linden should have been arrested, gone to trial or accepted a plea deal.   They could have made it work somehow, with Sarah serving minimal time, or even receiving a suspended sentence given all the mitigating factors.

 

I am convinced Holder did take the shell casing as insurance.   I thought it the moment it vanished, because only a scene or two earlier, Linden told Holder that she had left the casings on the table.   Not only that, Holder didn't deny it when confronted.  Are we to believe that Linden, a trained detective, couldn't find that casing on the ventilation grille?   Are we to believe that a squad of policemen and detectives with a search warrant didn't find that casing either?   Don't forget who was in Linden's house during the execution of that search warrant (which by the way makes no sense at all since he was still under suspicion of being an accessory) and likely would have had opportunity to leave the casing on the grille after everyone else had left: Holder.  

 

I suppose I should be grateful Sarah didn't find it in her Roomba.

 

Regardless, this episode left me emotionally wrung out.    I am happy and hopeful that the show/series ended in a way that leaves a door open for future episodes.

 

A big thank you to Mireille Enos for making Sarah Linden a deeply flawed and thoroughly believable character.

Edited August 6, 2014 by millennium

[Iboatedhere]

I still think a lot was left unanswered. I didn't get Lincoln and AJ. Why did they keep harrasing Kyle with the murders? Why did Lincoln point at AJ?

Well...I think AJ initially befriended him to make him feel more secure at school. If Kyle was left to himself and was completely isolated all day all he would do was think about what happened that night and start to remember. Lincoln was an asshole so he probably wanted to keep the heat off of himself so he pointed at AJ. But, AJ was an asshole too so they couldn't stop themselves from harassing Kyle...so.....I don't know why. The plot holes are so deep that even I (with my blissful willingness to just let things go) cannot fill them.

[RadiantAerynSun]

Yeah I'm just not sure why they couldn't have somehow explained it as Linden being kidnapped by him, they could probably scrape together enough evidence to prove he was the murderer, and who really could say what went down that led to her grabbing the gun and shooting him? I suppose maybe some traffic cam might have caught her pointing a gun at him in the car or perhaps forensics could somehow prove that he was not in a position to threaten her when he was shot but I think I'd rather take my chance on that, than risk getting caught and trying to explain things after the fact. That's much messier. If they could prove he was the real killer then I think whatever else would probably be forgiven...

 

But hey, I don't watch The Killing to watch people making good decisions...

[Cardie]

AJ says flat out to Col. Rayne that he befriended Kyle on her orders.

[mledawn]

That Lincoln douchenozzle is such a jackass. Kyle's ENTIRE FAMILY is dead, and he's making comments about Kyle's little sister? What kind of morally bankrupt person would do that? Gah.

 

Linden has ZERO poker face, she is losing her mind.

[SonofaBiscuit]

Anyone have any idea if this will ever make it to DVD?  My satellite internet can not handle streaming video! 

[stillshimpy]

I'm hoping that Reddick figures it all out and realizes that "Holy hell, he killed all those kids, someone else died for one of his crimes.  Let the dead bury the dead.  I absolve you both, now go forth, no more vigilante justice and Skinner's wife is probably relieved to be rid of the creep on some level, but she's not hearing how he died from me.  Eesh." 

 

However, seeing as we're watching Linden and Holder absolutely implode under the pressure, I doubt that's how the show will play it.  They didn't kill an innocent, but they both betrayed who they are supposed to be -- people who uphold the law, not thwart it when they are upset -- and that's unlikely to go unpunished.  

 

Run, Caroline, run.  Also, Holder's sister needs to keep her son away from him.  Sure, he's had ample reason to fall off the wagon, but regardless, they aren't his footballs to kick and they all have the responsibility to themselves to protect themselves from Holder when he is clearly experiencing a relapse.  Hopefully they've both figured that out, because it's the only excuse on the entire earth (in space and beyond) for the absolutely unforgivable crap Stephen just spewed at his sister.  

 

Addiction is a terrible, terrible thing and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but it is not a body snatcher.  It's not a demon with a completely separate personality than the person, it just helps manifest the worst that person can be.  Holder is the only person responsible for upholding his own sobriety and having an addiction, which is classified as a disease for a reason but is the only disease completely controllable through choice, is not carte blanche to emotionally maim others.  I'm sorry he's in so much pain, but I hope the innocent people who love him flee his toxic presence for good this time 

[RadiantAerynSun]

I definitely prefer not to dwell on the plausibility of the crimes. I watch this for Linden and Holder and it delivered on that front. WOOHOO!!

[Cardie]

Lincoln is a full-fledged sociopath. The actor got practice playing such types when he was the young Ben Linus on Lost.

[pagooey]

I don't watch The Killing to watch people making good decisions...

I probably shouldn't laugh so hard at this, but it's like one of Glark's truthful title cards. This week on Terrible, Horrible Decisions...

 

ETA that Holder's horrendous dinner with the fam was the only thing that rang a bit false to me. I could even accept things getting that ugly between him and his sister, wince and cringe though I did...but I just don't see him telling his beloved Davey to STFU, ever. (Bummer that the kid was recast with a total random, habibi.)

Edited August 7, 2014 by pagooey

[henripootel]

Like, wasn't it established in episode one that the piano wires were cut - yet Kyle was playing the piano when Linden found him at the house in episode six.

Not only that, but he was also playing it when his young (half?)-sister walked up.  So Kyle must have cut the wires for ... reasons.

There is nothing remotely believable about Richmond wheeling into police headquarters and putting the kibosh on the truth about who murdered all those girls.

 

 

Not only that, but a multiple murder case like that will attract attention from investigative journalists if no one else, and somebody is gonna notice the inconsistencies and suspicious coincidences.  Not the least of which, the cop who committed suicide and then hid his own body in the same lake as the murder victims.  Rain-weary and dreary-accustomed as the locals may be, somebody is gonna wonder about all this, then Richmond and the other conspirators have left themselves open to charges themselves.  All to protect the 'reputation' of the department.  

 

I know they had to do this to get Linden off the hook but before I joined any such conspiracy, I'd weigh how likely it was to eventually blow up in my face.  A ton of contradictory forensic evidence, numerous co-conspirators (some of whom are politicians), lingering interest in a case with massive press interest and family (no doubt) determined to 'get to the bottom of this'.  Mmm, no thanks, I'll let the police's rep take the hit.  Beats worrying for the rest of my life if somebody is gonna change their mind and spill the beans.

 

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed season 4.  I've had a weakness for this show (and Mireille Enos' sad face) from the beginning, pokey pacing and poor policemanship aside.

Edited August 7, 2014 by henripootel

[LisaM]

They are the most oblivious cops ever. Both being observed...and neither aware of it. Linden is an idiot.

I figured that Lincoln was the kid who was molested by the mom and then pushed out of school.

Edited August 8, 2014 by LisaM

[mledawn]

Lots of stupid moves by these two cops who are terrible criminals, but the actors are doing an excellent job of showing how their guilt and anxiety is wearing on the characters.