The Killing is really starting to test my patience. I wouldn't say the show is bad, but my expectations have certainly decreased and I no longer eagerly await the next episode. "Undertow" spends a great deal of time trying to convince the viewers that Bennet and Muhammad are Rosie's killers, and then nullifies everything.
There are reasons why it had to be this way, chiefly the fact that there are still four episodes after this. But the way in which this is done is nothing short of ludicrous. The pandering going on in the episode is so extreme you begin wonder if the writers went into the show wanting to "change American's perspectives on Muslims," rather than tell a story about a investigation. Not only are Bennet and Muhammad not the murders, they are saints. Instead of killing a girl, they're saving a girl from female circumcision!
Parts of the episode play out like a documentary on the Muslim community: "There are some Muslims who are extremely conservative and perform female circumcision, and then there are some progressive Muslims, like Bennet and Muhammad, who try to prevent this from happening. You see, not all Muslims are bad guys." Wow, really? You mean an audience who watches AMC wouldn't have the common sense to know this? Tying in with these "lessons," the writers take the audience for suckers, dragging us along for a plot which amounts to nothing. If they aren't the murderers, then these past episodes have netted zero clues towards the murder.
The one good thing that comes from the episode is that Stan and Mitch are no longer in victim territory. After what Stan did, egged on by Mitch, they no longer have the moral high-ground. Painted in a different light, they're not the grieving parents anymore but the vengeful parents, and watching and connecting with them takes another light.
Score: 8.3/10
