A Soundless Echo

Last updated
"A Soundless Echo"
The Killing episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 4
Directed by Jennifer Getzinger
Written by Soo Hugh
Produced byVeena Sud
Piv Bernth
Mikkel Bondesen
Ingolf Gabold
Dawn Prestwich
Nicole Yorkin
Production codeBDH103/S103
Original air dateApril 17, 2011 (2011-04-17)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"El Diablo"
Next 
"Super 8"
The Killing (season 1)
List of episodes

"A Soundless Echo" is the fourth episode of the American television drama series The Killing , which aired on April 17, 2011 on AMC in the United States. The episode was written by Soo Hugh and was directed by Jennifer Getzinger. In the episode, the Larsens plan their daughter's funeral. Detectives Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder are drawn to Bennet Ahmed, Rosie's literature teacher, who has a questionable past and pregnant young wife.

Contents

The episode's title is a quote from West with the Night by Beryl Markham, and the quote is found in a letter to Rosie.

Plot

Kris Echols (Gharrett Patrick Paon) fidgets in an interrogation room, while Detectives Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman) watch. Linden enters to question him, but Echols denies killing Rosie. She shows him a video of Rosie at the Halloween dance. He remains stoic. Holder ponders to Lieutenant Oakes (Garry Chalk) that Kris, desperate for meth, will soon crack. Oakes tells Holder that Holder looks worse than the suspect and to clean himself up. Linden sets up Kris so he sees Jasper (Richard Harmon) and his lawyer (Fred Henderson) entering an interrogation room across the hall. Holder hints to Kris that Jasper's lawyer is cutting a deal. Linden plays the cell-phone footage from The Cage for Jasper, who claims it's not what it appears to be. Across the hall, Kris explains that he would never hurt Rosie because she was nice to him. When shown the same cell-phone footage, Kris scoffs that the police don't know anything.

Darren Richmond (Billy Campbell) is told that Mayor Adams has opened an eight-point lead. Gwen Eaton (Kristin Lehman) suggests that he asks Tom Drexler, a wealthy entrepreneur who loathes Adams, to finance a media package. Richmond declines. Mayor Adams (Tom Butler) meets Jamie Wright (Eric Ladin) at a bar and invites him to join his “winning team.” When longtime donors spurn Richmond, Gwen Eaton secretly calls her father, Senator Eaton (Alan Dale), asking him to arrange a meeting between Richmond and Drexler. He admires her creativity, but criticizes her for having sex with Richmond.

At the high school, Sterling (Kacey Rohl) confesses that she's the girl in the cell-phone video. She explains that she was tired of never being noticed when Rosie was around and went to the Cage with Jasper, because she was drunk and he was nice to her, adding that she was wearing Rosie's costume because Rosie had left the dance. She also claims the blood found there was from one of her nosebleeds. Noting that Rosie sometimes boarded a bus after school, Sterling thinks that Rosie was secretly meeting someone. Holder says that he will follow up with the Larsens, but Linden says she will handle it, eliciting grumbles from Holder. Later, at the police station, she questions the Larsens about Rosie's possible affair. Mitch (Michelle Forbes) doesn't believe that has occurred. The Larsens then visit a priest (David Abbott) at a church to make arrangements for Rosie's funeral. Mitch fixates on the tortured Christ on the crucifix at the church. Mitch asks the priest where God was when her daughter needed Him.

Gwen Eaton and Darren Richmond arrive at Drexler's penthouse for a party also attended by Adams. In private, Drexler (Patrick Gilmore) gives Richmond a $50,000 check, claiming that he wants the mayor to know that he helped him lose the election. Richmond then secretly meets with Jamie Wright, who provides Richmond with an update on Adams and asks him how he knew Wright wasn't the leak. Richmond jokes that Jamie would have found a smarter way to ruin him.

Stan Larsen (Brent Sexton) drives his employee and friend, Belko Royce (Brendan Sexton III), to a suburban home. It was to be a surprise purchase for Mitch, but now he cannot afford it. Belko offers to take care of Richmond, referring to a contract killing. Stan replies that he doesn't do that anymore. He later enters a Polish restaurant to see Janek Kovarsky (Don Thompson), who scolds Stan about ignoring him for the past 17 years. After Stan explains his financial situation, Janek offers several thousand dollars, saying that family always comes first. Stan responds that they were never family, before taking the money. He later stashes the money in a drawer at his moving-company office. At their home above the business, Stan looks for a funeral dress in Rosie's closet. When Linden arrives to search the bedroom, she apologizes for their seeing crime-scene photographs earlier. Stan chastises her for not being honest with them.

At school, a boy mocks Sterling by approaching her at her locker and groping her, while suggesting a trip down to the Cage. Shaken, she fends off this sexual harassment and moments later, Mitch arrives. She sees Sterling in the hallway. She hugs Sterling, telling her that she's not to blame for Rosie's death. Sterling tells Mitch that Rosie was happy on Friday night and that she doesn't know whom Rosie may have been seeing. Later, teacher Bennet Ahmed (Brandon Jay McLaren) discovers Mitch on a bench in the hallway. He tells her that her daughter was a smart and eager girl. He shows her a copy of Rosie's favorite book.

Following Linden's orders, Holder rides the bus that Sterling had mentioned. He shows a picture of Rosie to the driver, but he doesn't remember every passenger's face. Holder is about to give up, when a new driver takes over. He shows this driver the picture and is told that she was an occasional passenger who rode to the end of the line. At the end of the bus line, Holder follows a student wearing a high school varsity jacket to the headquarters of the Seattle All-Stars after-school basketball program. He begins showing Rosie's photo around. He is directed to a photo of one of the teams, along with their coach, Bennet Ahmed. Meanwhile, Linden discovers several handwritten letters hidden in Rosie's room. She reads a lengthy one, which is signed "Bennet." At the high school, Bennet offers Rosie's book as a keepsake to Mitch.

Production

In an interview with Mina Hochberg at AMCTV.com, Patrick Gilmore spoke about from whom he modeled his character, Tom Drexler: "The model they gave me was Mark Cuban. I don't think it's a direct impersonation, but it's definitely somewhere to start: a self-made millionaire, young, has the world at his hands and is able to manipulate the environment and the world around him. That's clearly something that Drexler has an ability to do." [1]

Reception

"A Soundless Echo" received favorable reviews. The A.V. Club's Meredith Blake rated this episode a B+, saying "In most other ways, the goal of this episode is establishing character and fleshing out backstory, rather [than] propelling the plot forward — though, on a show like The Killing, these things are all related anyway." [2] Teresa L. of TV Fanatic gave the episode 3.5 out of 5 stars and stated "It was good to get some idea of Linden's motivation, but future [episodes] might need to give us a little more excitement to keep things from getting a little stale." [3]

The episode was watched by 2.51 million viewers, a slight decline from the previous episode . [4]

Note

The letter discovered at the end of the episode is an excerpt from West with the Night by Beryl Markham. The letter states, "Dear Rosie, You're an old soul trapped in a young body. Go beyond the limits of what you know even if you're afraid. Try everything, feel everything, if only once. This passage made me think of you today."

"There are all kinds of silences and each of them means a different thing. There is the silence that comes with morning in a forest, and this is different from the silence of a sleeping city. There is silence after a rainstorm, and before a rainstorm, and these are not the same. There is the silence of emptiness, the silence of fear, the silence of doubt. There is a certain silence that can emanate from a lifeless object as from a chair lately used, or from a piano with old dust upon its keys, or from anything that has answered to the need of a man, for pleasure or for work. This kind of silence can speak. Its voice may be melancholy, but it is not always so; for the chair may have been left by a laughing child or the last notes of the piano may have been raucous and gay. Whatever the mood or the circumstance, the essence of its quality may linger in the silence that follows. It is a soundless echo." — Markham, West with the Night

Related Research Articles

"Pilot" is the pilot and first episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which premiered on April 3, 2011 on AMC in the United States. The series is based on the Danish television series Forbrydelsen and developed for American audiences by Veena Sud. The episode's teleplay was written by Sud and was directed by Patty Jenkins. In the episode, police detective Sarah Linden plans to retire but is asked to investigate the disappearance of Rosie Larsen, a young girl.

"The Cage" is the second episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on April 3, 2011 on AMC in the United States after the pilot episode. The episode was written by Veena Sud and was directed by Ed Bianchi. In the episode, police question Rosie Larsen's grieving parents. Rosie's best friend, Sterling, and ex-boyfriend, Jasper, enter the suspect list, which leads the detectives to new evidence found at the school.

"El Diablo" is the third episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on April 10, 2011 on AMC in the United States. The episode was co-written by Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin and was directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton. In the episode, councilman Richmond suspects a leak within his team. Sarah tracks down a witness, which leads to a suspect, while trying to work with her new awkward partner Holder.

<i>The Killing</i> (season 1) Season of television series

The first season of the AMC American crime drama television series The Killing premiered on April 3, 2011 and concluded on June 19, 2011. The series was developed and produced by Veena Sud and based on the Danish series, Forbrydelsen. Set in Seattle, Washington, this season follows the investigation into the murder of local teenager Rosie Larsen, with each episode covering approximately 24 hours. The first season covers the first two weeks of the investigation and has three main storylines: the police investigation into Rosie's murder, the attempts of her family to deal with their grief, and the fluctuating electoral fortunes of a political campaign that becomes embroiled in the case. It stars Mireille Enos as homicide detective Sarah Linden and Joel Kinnaman as rookie detective Stephen Holder.

"Super 8" is the fifth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on April 24, 2011 on AMC in the United States. The episode was written by Jeremy Doner and was directed by Phil Abraham. In the episode, Darren Richmond and his team plan an anti-crime commercial; Stan Larsen turns to Belko Royce for help in finding Rosie's killer; and Sarah and Holder question Bennet Ahmed and his wife.

"What You Have Left" is the sixth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on May 1, 2011 on AMC in the United States. The episode was written by Nic Pizzolatto and was directed by Agnieszka Holland. In the episode, the police further investigate Bennet Ahmed, which leads the Larsens to believe that he is a prime suspect. The mayoral candidates hold their televised debate, allowing the current mayor to bring up Richmond’s attachment to a murder suspect.

"Vengeance" is the seventh episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on May 8, 2011 on AMC in the United States. The episode was written by Linda Burstyn and was directed by Ed Bianchi. In the episode, Detectives Linden and Holder uncover more evidence about Bennet Ahmed; and Richmond’s decision to remain loyal to Bennet backfires.

"Stonewalled" is the eighth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on May 15, 2011, on AMC in the United States. The episode was written by Aaron Zelman and was directed by Dan Attias. In the episode, the detectives' investigation crosses paths with a federal one. Leaks of crime-scene photos to the press baffle both the police and the Larsens. Partial histories of both Holder and Richmond are revealed.

"Undertow" is the ninth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on May 22, 2011. The episode was written by Dan Nowak and was directed by Agnieszka Holland. In the episode, after their warrant for Bennet Ahmed gets quashed, the detectives question an acquaintance of his. Mayoral candidate Darren Richmond puts an end to any personal attacks on his opponent. The Larsens take justice into their own hands.

"I'll Let You Know When I Get There" is the tenth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on May 29, 2011. The episode is co-written by series producers Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin and is directed by Ed Bianchi. In the episode, the detectives are forced to restart their investigation into Rosie Larsen's murder, but are pointed to a new suspect. Mitch Larsen receives a strange phone call about the family business. The Richmond campaign staff is given an interesting piece of information about their boss.

"Beau Soleil" is the twelfth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on June 12, 2011. The episode is co-written by Jeremy Doner and Soo Hugh and is directed by Keith Gordon. In the episode, the detectives investigate the link between Rosie Larsen and casino camera footage. Mitch Larsen learns that her jailed husband, Stan, has drained their bank account. The Richmond campaign gets new life as the Mayor's takes a hit.

"Orpheus Descending" is the thirteenth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on June 19, 2011. The episode is co-written by series creator Veena Sud and Nic Pizzolatto and is directed by Brad Anderson. In the episode, the detectives investigate Darren Richmond’s involvement with Rosie Larsen. Mitch and Stan Larsen discuss their family's future. Belko Royce takes action to protect the Larsens.

<i>The Killing</i> (season 2) American crime drama

The second season of the AMC American crime drama television series The Killing premiered on April 1, 2012, concluded on June 17, 2012, and consisted of 13 episodes. The series was developed and produced by Veena Sud and based on the Danish series, Forbrydelsen . Set in Seattle, Washington, this season follows the continued investigation into the murder of local teenager Rosie Larsen, with each episode covering approximately 24 hours. The season culminated in the closing of the Larsen murder, with the discovery of those involved with the murder.

Reflections (<i>The Killing</i>) 1st episode of the 2nd season of The Killing

"Reflections" is the fourteenth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on April 1, 2012 as the first of a two-part second-season premiere. The episode is written by series creator Veena Sud and is directed by Agnieszka Holland. In the episode, Sarah remains in Seattle to try to solve Rosie Larsen's case once again, after learning Holder's evidence of Darren Richmond was doctored. Belko Royce is arrested for shooting his mother and Richmond. Gwen and Jamie learn that Richmond has recovered from surgery but is paralyzed below the waist.

"Openings" is the nineteenth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, and the sixth of its second season, which aired on April 29, 2012. The episode is written by Aaron Zelman and is directed by Kevin Bray. In the episode, Sarah Linden investigates the Larsen family; Stan Larsen's past still haunts him; Mitch Larsen continues to help a runaway girl ; and Darren Richmond gets a surprise visitor.

"Sayonara, Hiawatha" is the twenty-second episode of the American television drama series The Killing, and the ninth of its second season, which aired on May 20, 2012. The episode is co-written by executive producers Nicole Yorkin and Dawn Prestwich and directed by Phil Abraham. In the episode, Sarah Linden obtains Rosie Larsen's keys, which allow access to the casino's tenth floor; Stan Larsen learns of son Tommy's bad behavior at school; Mitch Larsen meets David Ranier ; and Darren Richmond asks Nicole Jackson to assist the police.

"Bulldog" is the twenty-fourth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, and the eleventh of its second season, which aired on the AMC channel in the United States on June 3, 2012. It is written by Jeremy Doner and directed by Ed Bianchi. In the episode, the detectives gain access to the casino's tenth floor, which only causes them to elude the police; and both Stan Larsen and Darren Richmond make decisions that affect their futures.

"Donnie or Marie" is the twenty-fifth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, and the twelfth of its second season, which aired on the AMC channel in the United States on June 10, 2012. The episode is billed as the first of a two-part season finale. It is co-written by Wendy Riss and Aaron Zelman and directed by Keith Gordon. In the episode, the detectives look to Richmond's campaign staff for suspects, while he gets ready for the election; and Mitch and Stan Larsen try to get their family back to normal.

"What I Know" is the twenty-sixth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, and the thirteenth episode and season finale of its second season, which aired on the AMC channel in the United States on June 17, 2012. It is co-written by series developer Veena Sud and Dan Nowak, and is directed by Patty Jenkins. In the episode, the detectives close the Rosie Larsen case, arresting the person responsible; the Larsen family prepares to leave their former home, but not before learning a family member was involved in Rosie's death; and Darren Richmond becomes Seattle mayor only to learn that campaign manager Jamie Wright was involved in Rosie's death. The episode was originally the final episode to air due to show's cancellation, but the show was revived by AMC in early 2013.

References

  1. "Q&A - Patrick Gilmore (Tom Drexler)". AMCTV.com. September 26, 2011. Archived from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  2. Blake, Meredith (April 17, 2011). "A Soundless Echo". AVClub.com. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  3. L., Teresa (April 18, 2011). "The Killing Review: A World Full of Secrets". TVFanatic.com. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  4. Seidman, Robert (April 19, 2011). "Sunday Cable Ratings: NBA, 'Storage Wars,' 'Ax Men,' 'Khloe & Lamar' + 'The Killing,' 'Breakout Kings,' 'Sam Axe,' 'Game of Thrones' & Much More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 23, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2012.