[Editor's Note: This post contains spoilers for the Sunday, April 10 episode of AMC’s “The Killing.”]
This week’s episode delivered our first real suspects in the death of Rosie Larsen, and although they're unlikable I’m saying it now – they didn’t do it. We’re still waist deep in potential killers here, people. There’s so much shade surrounding the characters on this show, no wonder Seattle rarely sees the sun.
As the detectives continued their investigation of the crime scene in a portion of the Fort Washington High School basement known as “the Cage,” Linden discovered a peephole that provided a choice view of the scene from the dank, dingy janitor's closet.
You know, I’d like to think that somewhere out there a group of school janitors enjoys a comfortable, brightly lit lounge with a coffee maker, posters of kittens on the wall and some mellow piped-in adult contemporary. Janitors of the world, you deserve better! That is, unless you have a criminal record that's gone undetected by your place of employment, much like our first lead in the case, school janitor Lyndon Johnson Rosales.
Since upstanding citizens are rarely caught lurking behind something as sinister as a peephole, Rosales was sought for questioning and landed in the ICU after jumping from a fire escape in an attempt to flee the detectives when they showed up at his apartment.
At the hospital, Holder created a distraction while Linden showed Rosales a Fort Washington yearbook and pressed him to tell her who was in the basement with Rosie on the night of the Halloween dance. Rosales pointed to Kris Echols, local emo dirtbag and former Fort Washington student. Kris is also the best friend of Jasper Ames, Rosie’s ex-boyfriend.
As Linden was hurried out of Rosales’ hospital room she caught him as he whispered, “el Diablo.” Cryptic! Later, a young man in a devil’s mask was seen with Rosie in a video from the dance. Linden deduced that Kris must be the boy in the mask.
Because of developments in the case, Lt. Oakes ordered Linden to see the investigation through to the end of the week. Her fiancé, Rick, who was already at home in Sonoma, was upset by the news and pressed her to join him in California as soon as possible.
Does anyone else find it odd that Rick is so insistent on marrying Linden right this minute? I’m all about the notion of longing to be with your significant other, but jeez, you’d think this guy was in the market for a spouse who could not be compelled to testify against him in a court of law. He’s pinging my Skeeve-o-Meter something fierce and I’m anxious to see how his storyline pans out.
The Larsens, meanwhile, continued to grieve for Rosie. As they struggled to carry on without her, it was clear that she’s still very much a part of their lives. She lives on as the voice of the family’s outgoing answering machine message, as well as part of her younger brother’s dinnertime chores as he absentmindedly set a place for her at the table.
At Richmond campaign headquarters, the candidate scrambled to keep the endorsement of former union organizer and current city councilwoman Ruth Yitanes alive in light of the leaked information about Rosie’s body being found in a Richmond campaign car. She wasn’t having it and told Richmond to go whistle up a rope, though she later reconsidered when Richmond offered to hire her husband’s plumbing company to do some work on his shelters for at-risk youth. While he’s at it, maybe he could also repair the leak in the Richmond campaign. (I’ll be here all night, folks.)
On that note, Richmond’s private investigator discovered that campaign manager Jamie Wright was the source of the leak. When confronted, Jamie denied everything and called out Darren and Gwen on their relationship before storming out in a huff.
The episode closed with detectives watching a video from a cell phone confiscated by Fort Washington teacher Bennet Ahmed. We learned that Jasper, not Kris, was the boy in the devil’s mask and both boys sexually assaulted Rosie on the night she died.
We’re only three episodes into the season and the case against Fort Washington’s gruesome twosome is looking pretty strong. Do you think the detectives are on the right track with Jasper and Kris, or is the real killer still at large? To the comments, readers!