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

Three Up

1. Sarah Linden. Linden is back on the job, signed up by her old partner to help with the investigation into all of the bodies she found in that pond. She spends the episode looking for Kallie Leeds, and manages to do so without noticeably falling down the rat hole. Her search comes to fruition when a video of Kallie turns up in the stash of kiddie porn found at Goldie's place during a raid. While there's no guarantee she's still alive, the footage at least gives hope that Kallie is still alive.

Ray Emery

2. Steven Holder. Holder and Reddick are assigned to finding identities for the 17 bodies, but Holder focuses on finding Bullet. When he does she gives him the tip that Kallie may be locked up at Goldie's. The raid turns up Goldie and a stash of child porn, including the recording with Kallie mentioned earlier.  But there is a looming problem for Holder - he may be falling down the rat hole instead of Linden, spending all of his time at the office and forgetting that he should do something on Valentine's Day for his girlfriend.

3. James Skinner. Skinner is heading up the investigation, and appears to be cool, composed and solidly professional. He's mindful of how bringing Linden in on the case may be problematic, both based on her history and on their history (though he was apparently unaware that his wife knew he and Linden were shagging). Problem: while watching Holder and Reddick interrogate Goldie, Skinner seems intent in pinning the 17 murders on him. Which suggests he may have been similarly intent on sending up Ray Emery.

Honorable Mention: Carl Reddick. It says as much about the show as it does Reddick that he gets mention for mostly doing his job.  We do get more insight as to why he's a good partner for Holder - their good cop/bad cop rap is polished, and Reddick does seem attuned to Holder's personal gaps (the Valentine's Day reminder, for example). Still, he's a 9 to 5er who may not see the eventual reunion of Linden and Holden coming.

Three Down

1. Goldie. So after attacking Bullet, Goldie gets busted after she rats him out for holding someone in his apartment that she believes is Kallie. It's not, but he's busted with child porn, so he's pretty much screwed, even without taking into account that he may get put on the hook for the 17 murders. He does make Holder and Reddick's stake out, and thus manages not to lead them to anything that would get him into more trouble, at least until the recording with Kallie turns up. Things are going to get worse for him, no question.


2. Bullet. Still hurting after being raped by Goldie, she pulls herself together to some extent, and then manages to point Holder in Goldie's direction saying she thinks he's got Kallie locked up in his apartment. It winds up being a different girl, but it does help Bullett get some revenge. It also may lead some of the other kids to think Bullet might be a rat. On the plus side, Bullet does get to have a couple of tender moments with Lyric, but both are tainted. One is cut short when Twitch shows up and says he's going out to see where the bodies were found, the other comes when they get to the pond, and see all of the locations where bodies were found marked off and lit. It's then that it hits home for Bullet and Lyric that their "dates" may have deadly consequences.

3. Ray Emery. I'm not sure what's going on with Ray. He manages to get someone to sneak in a razor blade for him (hidden in a bar of soap, so suggests it's a guard or other prison functionary), but when it appears he's going to use it against Becker (after goading him with a story about how Ray maimed Becker's brother in a prison riot a few years before), but doesn't get the chance. Ray finally uses the blade to remove a tattoo from his chest that commemorates the birth of his son. Not sure if that was the original intent, but for all of the talk about his son this episode, he may figure it's better to cut his son loose to protect him than to use the blade to hurt Becker for no obvious end.

Honorable Mention: Coroner. So he's got to examine 17 bodies (or at least perform some exams and review the others), assemble dental records for the victims that still had teeth, deal with parents who are hanging out in the hallway waiting to see if one of the victims is their daughter, and deal with Linden popping in asking questions looking to link the 17 dead with Emery's wife. Pretty sure this guy does not get paid enough.