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The Killing Review: “Scared And Running” (Season 3, Episode 5)

I'm upset. I'm disappointed. I feel cheated. The Killing has done it again. There were but two minor revelations in Scared and Running: Joe Mills' connection to Mama Dips, and the fact that he's in possession of Kallie's phone. The rest was more of the same: Holder and Linden ran around in circles with Bullet annoying the hell out of them, while Seward's time on death row remained the show's most appealing storyline, although its effect on the overall plot is still to be determined.

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I have mixed feelings about Danette’s scenes with Joe Mills. Amy Seimetz plays the role flawlessly, and she’s a welcome addition to the cast, but the character is a dreadful mother, astonishingly selfish, vain and ignorant. Audiences are unlikely to miss her if she’s killed off. As far as Mills goes, there’s no way he cannot be the serial killer they’re after. Then again… we know he’s not — what show are we watching again? They’ll probably come up with a ridiculous explanation for his innocence, or perhaps he’ll be found guilty of other crimes, only time will tell.

Renowned TV directed Dan Attias helmed Scared and Running. He’d previously delivered two of the show’s best episodes (Stonewalled and My Lucky Day), but there are few memorable scenes in this one, even within the Seward storyline. In fact, some of the episode’s redeeming qualities were found in bits that had little to do with the ongoing investigation, such as Linden’s delightfully awkward dinner with Holder and his girlfriend. Furthermore, Lyric and Twitch were nowhere to be found — I’m hoping Veena Sud came to her senses and finally decided to set them aside.

All in all, this week’s episode was a disaster. One of the most inconsequential episodes of the show, unbalanced, clumsily directed, and awfully written. The characters spend valuable time tracking down the wrong girl, and Holder ultimately admits to Bullet that they’re probably looking for a corpse at this point. I’ve said this before, but this is the time for The Killing to prove everyone wrong. They need to drop the multiple red herrings, shift the direction of the series, and focus on plot rather than character development.

What did you think of Scared and Running? Let us know in the comments below.