Entertainment

‘The Killing’ stretches murder mystery into Season 2

Who killed Rosie Larsen? Maybe the answer should be, “Who cares?”

Or better yet, “Everyone killed Rosie Larsen.”

Rosie, it seems now, isn’t just a kid who joined an escort service and got done in, but is a metaphor for our time. Or something equally huge centering around corruption and politics in Seattle.

I don’t know about you, but when I became the No. 1 fan of “The Killing,” it was because I was invested in who murdered the kid.

This was a great murder mystery scheduled to wrap in one season. Brilliant.

But then it didn’t wrap, even though week after week we were handed yet another sure-thing suspect who didn’t pan out.

It’s the custodian. It’s the teacher. It’s his wife. It’s the councilman. It’s his assistant. It’s the entrepreneur. It’s the imam. It’s the mayor. It’s Belko Royce. It’s the councilwoman with the bad hair. It’s Rosie’s ex-boyfriend. It’s the kid’s father. It’s the skateboarder. It’s the aunt.

Dear God. You know how many more people there are in Seattle whom we haven’t yet suspected? This investigation is taking longer than the hunt for Jimmy Hoffa.

Is the new season worth hanging onto in the hopes we’ll have resolution? From what I’ve seen, the answer is yes. And no.

The premiere is actually very good. Of course, it would be a whole lot better if there were a new investigation into a new crime.

Poor, dead Rosie is looking more like a tragic bit of collateral political damage in the war of the rogues-es, as you’ll see Sunday night.

The premiere centers on Councilman Richmond’s battle for his life, as Det. Sarah Linden learns where he really was the night Rosie was killed. But the excuse for his presence is as lame as he is now.

Meantime, Sarah’s partner in not-crime, Det. Stephen Holder, may not be as dirty as we were led to believe either.

Loving husband, father and ex-enforcer for the Polish mob, Stan Larsen, is getting desperate again, while Aunt Terry is still vacillating from steady and reliable to unhinged nut job.

Det. Linden is still the flat-out worst mother in town who pawns her son off to so many people, I will be shocked if he doesn’t turn out to be the one who killed Rosie.

All that being said, there simply is no better acting on TV this season and, if there is, it, too, is on AMC.

Particularly brilliant again is Brent Sexton (Stan), who is just so good, he shines in his darkness — a huge accomplishment, considering he’s in the company of Mireille Enos, Joel Kinnaman, (Holder) and the others.

Do I want to watch the rest of the season? I don’t know.

Will I? Of course.