Reactions to The Killing

Some thoughts on the past two episodes, "Hope Kills" (3.7) and "Try" (3.8):

*One quibble I had with the first few seasons was that the show was a victim of its own mystery format.  A suspect made to look extraordinarily guilty at a certain point wasn't likely to prove the killer, because then the plot would be resolved before the run of episodes had completed.  I didn't have the same problem with these two most recent episodes when the wavering finger of suspicion pointed squarely at Pastor Mike.  First off, there's the question of how the present crimes connect with the old Seward case, so I had to consider that the show was prepared to reveal the teen girls' killer with several episodes left to go.  Secondly, I appreciated what the writers did with Mike's character, revealing how the man's good intentions backfired on him and how his unfortunately-checkered past has come back to haunt him in the present (leading him to the desperate act of abducting Linden).

*The scenes where Linden is forced at gunpoint to drive around the city were incredibly tense (and very well acted by both players).  What I loved most of all, though, was Linden's reaction (collapsing exhaustedly to the ground) the instant the situation was resolved.  It seemed a very realistic response to a prolonged experience of stress, and reinforced just how hard Linden had worked to hold herself together during the ordeal.

*I've still got Carl on my radar.  Was a subtle clue offered when Det. Reddick is the one seen hauling Pastor Mike--the last prime suspect--toward the squad car (and then later sitting across from him in the interrogation room)?

*That hangman's scaffold constructed for Seward gave off a definite In Cold Blood vibe.  Also, the scene where the cuckolded Becker gives his son a tour of the execution apparatus (hoping to impress the boy and earn his respect) was quite good, working on several levels at once.

*It's interesting to see how a more-than-just-professional relationship between Linden and Holder is starting to develop (a perhaps-natural outgrowth of everything the two have been through together while working their cases).  I wonder: are Linden and Holder heading down the same road that Mulder and Scully traversed in The X-Files?