Three Up, Three Down: The Killing, "The Jungle"

Another season of rain and murder!

Three Up

1. Steven Holder. It's been a year since the Larsen case wrapped, and in that time Holder's gone 7 for 7 with murder cases. His personal life seems to be back in order, too. So when his instincts tell him that the dead teenaged prostitute who just cropped up needs further investigation, he keeps with the case even after his new partner fobs it off on another similarly useless cop. Holder makes a connection to a case Linden mentioned during the Larsen case (the one with the boy who was locked in a closet with the victim - his mother - for a week). He visits Linden to see if there's something to this, but she says that killer is in prison, so no connection. It'll be interesting to see how much this new case (or cases) screws up the progress Holder's made over the last year.

2. Sarah Linden. Speaking of progress, Linden is now working for whatever branch of state government runs the ferries between the mainland and the Puget Sound islands. She now lives on one of them, apparently with a co-worker/boyfriend. She also seems to have her personal life back in order, running every day and keeping busy with a good, if low paying, job. But under that surface the old Linden still lurks, as we see when she retrieves the old case file that Holder asks for after he's gone, and when her toast at Regi's wedding becomes less about the couple and more about being true to herself. Her borderline, not always in control self. It's particularly Linden-like when, after discovering a sick cow during a run, she goes home, gets her gun, and puts the cow out of its misery, ignoring her boyfriend's question about the case file along the way. If the guy is smart, he'll start sleeping on the dock.

3. Jack Holder. He's back for Regi's wedding, and may have his life most in order, as he's living with his dad in Chicago and doing well at school, Still, he misses his mother, and asks her why she's still in Seattle when she could move to Chicago and see him more often. She doesn't have a good answer for that, shockingly.

Honorable Mention: Regi Darnell. She's married! To another woman! Hopefully their honeymoon won't be cut short by Regi having to intervene with Linden again. At least she won't have to be Jack's de facto foster parent.

Three Down

1. Ashley. Our victim, who did not go gentle into that goodnight. I don't think we ever got a last name for her, which is sadder still. Look for her rings (which were not present when her body was recovered) to play a significant role in the near future (more anon).

2. Ray Emery. The husband of the woman who was killed and father of the son locked in a closet with her corpse, Emery is now 30 days from execution, and doesn't look to be fighting it. In fact, his assault on a prison chaplain seems to be part of a plan to make his execution as notable as possible (he also wants a hanging rather than an injection, which is apparently an option in Washington). So I'm not sure he's a loser here - he seems to be getting what he wants - but he's pretty clearly going to die. Unless his letter to Linden (I'm assuming the Department of Corrections envelope she received is from him) helps stoke her belief that there was something off about his case...

3. Kallie Leeds. Kallie is one of a group of homeless teens that apparently included Ashley. Except she's not exactly homeless; her mom lives in the area, and she's able to go home, but her mother clearly doesn't want her there (she tells Kallie to her face that her birth was the worst thing to ever happen to her). So she's functionall homeless, and spends most of her time with Bullet, an abrasive (and very butch) girl of about the same age. Kallie doesn't have Bullet's problems - her mouth gets her in trouble, and she's got feelings for another girl who is with an older homeless teen - but the ride she takes at the end of the episode may very well be her last (based on the similarities between the way the first and last shots of the episode).

Honorable Mention: that cow. Linden comes across a (apparently abandoned) cattle shed during a run, and for all of the skeletons lying around manages to find one sick cow, which she later puts down. I'm just wondering how that cow managed to hang on when all of the other ones are long since dead. On the other hand, maybe I don't want to know.