Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Season 3, Episode 8 of AMC's "The Killing," titled "Try."
Before I get started on this week's recap, I need to rave for a minute over Mireille Enos' performance last night. Her portrayal of Linden as a seemingly emotionless woman who's one step away from having a total breakdown has always worked for me, and she really nailed last night's episode. Her ability to channel her character's fear and panic into one tiny gesture of defiance by lighting her cigarette in the car gave me goose-bumps. I never thought that Linden wouldn't make it out alive from this ordeal, but Linden obviously wasn't so sure. It was stellar acting so kudos to her and now, onto the recap:
"Try" picks up exactly where we ended last week with Pastor Mike still holding the knife to Linden's throat and successfully disarming her and taking her phone away. He also asks for her radio, but Linden's slick, and she lies about not having one. She leaves the aforementioned instrument on an open channel, and he instructs her to drive away from the lights.
Back at the police station, Holder takes Bullet at her word that Pastor Mike forced Lyric into the woods where he killed the other girls, sparking a massive manhunt. Although Holder swears by her information, there's nothing to be found in the woods, making him look like a chump. However, all the communication over the radio help the police realize that there's an open line and pretty soon, all of Seattle PD is hearing the hostage situation unfold between Linden and Pastor Mike.
As Linden drives around the city, subtly dropping hints about her location, Pastor Mike opens up to Linden. He tells her that all he ever wanted to do was help, and the girl in Tempe was a girl he took in to detox not kill. Nobody believed him and he lost his ministry, which is why he decided to switch identities and start over with Beacon in Seattle. Meanwhile, Linden is using the age-old tactic of trying to humanize herself to her captor by telling Pastor Mike about her stint in foster care and how she eventually gave up Jack because she couldn't give him more. When he tells her to drive into a dirty, abandoned parking garage, Linden's pretty sure this is the end and she whips out her cigarette, regardless of whether or not the Pastor approves. Pastor Mike, however, tells Linden to drive to the water, and she takes the opportunity to tell Holder that she's going to Biltmore Pier.
When they arrive at their destination, Pastor Mike drags Linden out of the car and makes her kneel down. But instead of shooting her, he drops the gun into the water, kneels down beside her and asks for forgiveness. It isn't long before the cops show up, and Linden throws herself in front of Pastor Mike since he's unarmed. He's eventually taken into custody and Linden collapses to the ground where Holder attempts to console her.
Later at her house over Chinese food, Holder and Linden attempt to speak about the ordeal. Of course, Linden doesn't say much and it isn't long before the conversation turns to the Seward case. Holder decides to take the file with him, arguing that it's time for a "fresh pair of eyes" to review the case.
Speaking of Seward, he's trying to convince his lawyer that he needs to speak to Linden, since she's bound to have information that could get him released. But with only two days to go before Seward's execution, the only question the lawyer has is what to do with Seward's remains. With only 48 hours to go, the prospect of dying via hanging finally pushes Seward over the edge and he has a full-blown panic attack. Becker -- with some uncharacteristic compassion -- manages to calm Seward down. Later on, Seward gets ahold of Linden and he promises to get her in contact with Adrian, in a final attempt to save himself.
As for Bullet, things do not go well for her when Holder finds out that she lied to him about Lyric, who actually left Pastor Mike's house so that she could go hustlin'. They have a pretty big fallout (with quite a show of rage from Holder). Bullet's weakness for Lyric ends getting her dumped by the "not gay" teenager and she meets up with a dealer. He lets slip that he saw Angie, and Bullet goes searching for the elusive teen. She manages to get out of Angie who the killer is, and she reaches out to Holder to share the information with him (but not with us!). As the episode closes, we're led to believe that the killer has just driven up to the diner where Bullet's unsuccessfully attempting to reach Holder and he has his sights set on her.
- Since Pastor Mike is not the killer, who's next on my suspect list? At this point, I'm looking at Becker. Up until now, I've viewed the prison guard subplot as filler, but maybe the writers on the show have been trying to portray a sadistic man with a messed up home life who'd take out the anger he feels at his unfaithful wife on teenage prostitutes. It's either him or Reddick, 'cause I'm all out of theories.
- The fallout between Holder and Bullet struck me as unnecessarily brutal on Holder's part, although I can understand that he'd be REALLY upset over potentially losing his partner. On the flip side, only people we care about can really hurt us, which is why I think he reacted so violently to Bullet. He obviously cares for her despite his denial, so I hope he arrives in time to save our favorite runaway.
"The Killing" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.
