Kara’s 2011 TV Goodness All-Stars: The Killing’s Mireille Enos 

I had never heard of Mireille Enos before she blew my mind in the pilot of The Killing. Here was a woman so focused and driven it was impossible for her to disengage from work, even though it was supposed to be her last day with the Seattle PD. The murder of Rosie Larsen became her obsession to the point where her relationship with her fiance and her son suffered horribly. And that initial tension and distrust with Joel Kinnaman‘s Holder? So believable and uncomfortable. Here was a guy who was supposed to be taking over for the departing detective but Linden just couldn’t and wouldn’t let it go. 

I know a lot of people were disappointed with the season finale. Yes, we’d been led to believe Rosie Larsen’s murderer would be caught or at least named. Even though I felt tricked too, the performances are what’ll bring me back to this series when it returns. First and foremost? The wonderfully talented Mireille Enos. There are so many things I like about the way she breaths life into this character. She’s stoic and quiet. There is almost no way to know what she’s thinking or feeling unless you ask her. But when she wants you to know exactly what she’s thinking you can read it on her face. She’s thorough and resilient. She and Holder came up against a lot of false leads and misinformation but managed to push through to find some truth to further their investigation.

The fact that she was ready to leave the case to Holder and go to Sonoma to be with her fiance indicates how much she loves Rick, not how capable she thinks Holder is – at first. I just loved her partnership with Holder in the beginning because it was so prickly. And I loved that it was Sarah who was making it so difficult. She treated Holder like he was new and didn’t trust him to do anything. The way Mireille Enos played that was just brilliant. The looks, the tension in her body, she made it so believable and even a little delicious. And when she finally came around? It felt earned. She had a partner she could trust and count one and that’s huge for Linden. Too bad it was so short lived.  Even though everyone thinks they’ve got their man, Linden knows her partner lied to her and she’s not going to let that go.

Her relationship with her fiance – the always great Callum Keith Rennie – and even her son Jack were so relatable. When Sarah talks to or interacts with her fiance you can see and feel how much she loves him. Her relationship with Jack isn’t great but there were some great moments between them. My favorite is when Jack has taken one in the back at a paintball party and Sarah shows him how to shoot his gun properly. I loved that.

I don’t know about you, but I want to see where all this goes. I want to know who killed Rosie Larsen but more than that I want to see how Linden solves the case and how it affects her and those around her. How will Mireille Enos play it when Linden confronts Holder or when a new detective (the recently cast Mark Moses) arrives? I’m looking forward to finding out.

Season Two of The Killing returns in 2012.