TV Review: The Killing 2.5, 'Ghosts of the Past'
Last week’s installment of The Killing held a lot of promise...
rating: 2.5
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Last weeks installment of The Killing held a lot of promise. It made moves toward fixing the shows narrative focus, added much-needed character development, and, perhaps most important of all, it put Linden and Holder in a position in which they did actual, effective police work. If this all sounds like stuff that should be inherent within an hour-long prestige drama as opposed to stuff that should be commended, to be fair, it is. But the reason I (and Im sure a lot of other critics) havent completely abandoned the show, despite its constant failure to get a grip on the fundamental ingredients to telling a good story, is because it still feels like a work that could be really special if it just got its shit together. Ive already outlined the many successes it does have on more than one occasion (atmosphere, strong leads, excellent acting), but thats not enough for it to skate by on forever. Inevitably, the longer the show fails to improve, the slimmer the odds of it ever doing so become, and the substantial amount of second chances the shows been given are going to start to feel increasingly undeserved. If Ogi Jun was a glimmer of hope, Ghosts of the Past does quite a bit to ruin it, and at this point, its starting to feel like weve been running in circles for far, far too long. I feared that a twist was coming that would undercut all of the progress we made last week, and unfortunately, Ghosts of the Past has a whopper of one. Almost nothing else in this episode does much to offend there isnt as much to like as there was in last weeks installment but progress is made, plot threads are expanded (in particular Lindens unraveling of what is left of her personal life), and despite a fairly sharp turn in the investigation (Alexi was a friend of Rosies, not her killer), everything here keeps the good stuff from last week in place. Then we get to the final moments of the episode, where Sud and co. decide theyve had enough of letting things play out naturally and decide to drop another out of nowhere, stupid plot twist into our lap. If Alexi is to be believed, Stan Larsen is not Rosies real father, and it is here that everything you hated about The Killing returns with full force. Why would the show feel the need to inject something like this into its plot when its finally got a bit of momentum and focus going? By layering plot twist upon plot twist into the narrative, The Killing is achieving the opposite of what it wants to do instead of adding intrigue or depth, it is distracting from and undermining its strengths to the point of utter audience frustration. This has always been the shows worst tendency, but what makes it sting this much more in particular is, thus far, season twos shown a surprising amount of restraint in this area. To be fair, theres still a lot here that remains in play the mob angle is fairly intact and theres still plenty of opportunity to expand on the character development threads (all of which are this seasons strongest element). But this latest twist still feels like a particularly bad omen. If the Larsen reveal signals anything, its that the show has been unable to shake its worst habit from season one, and in turn, everything else that needed to be done away with is suddenly very much back in the realm of possibility. Five episodes in, the show is standing at a crossroads, and more than ever, its one that can take it in one of two directions. On the one hand, theres still time for things to even out and fix themselves. On the other, it would only take the slightest of leanings for The Killing to fall back into a territory it cant save itself from one in which plot takes precedence over character, until ultimately, the whole thing falls apart. Again.