"Whatever the mood of the circumstance, the essence of its quality may linger in the silence that follows. It is a soundless echo." - Beryl Markham

Bennet's letter to Rosie ended with a quote from Markham's West with the Night (possibly Rosie's favorite book), which seemed to sum up the feel of the episode. "A Soundless Echo," while quieter and more subdued, still echoed with grief, uncertainty, and malice.

Despite remaining a compelling and chilling focus on a brutal murder investigation, the episode did drag a little, especially when the focus turned away from the Larsens and Detective Linden.

I felt like the main focus of tonight's episode was the start of Councilmen Richmond's comeback. Tarnished by his association with Rosie's death and dealing with a leak in his office, Richmond needed money to regain the voter's attention; he got exactly what he needed, although not the way he wanted it.

Comprising his high morals, Richmond was helped by the old adage, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and received a healthy donation from Thomas Drexler.

In a more deftly executed power play, he insinuated Jamie into Mayor Adams's office to find the leak in his office. He is a lot more adept at this political game, which does make me suspect, as Drexler does, that he is just another easily corrupted government official.

Regardless, his campaign has only been slightly related to the Larsen case and it always feels like a distraction from the main plot. Until these two threads can be drawn together more tightly, Richmond's story will never be as interesting.

It is possible that the two plots will become more closely connected since Rosie's teacher, Bennet, is involved in Richmond's Seattle All Stars Program. The teacher's relationship with Rosie is still unclear, but he did write that Rosie was, "an old soul trapped in a young body." Sounds similar to the things pedophiles write their victims online.

After the video proved to be unhelpful, I thought the episode did a good job of presenting the next piece of evidence. The final scenes of the episode were particularly effective because of their clever editing. Scenes of Linden searching Rosie's room were interspersed with images of Holder following the bus route all the way to the All Stars Program, along with depressing moments of Mitch in a zombie-like state at her daughter's school, speaking to her daughter's teacher (and possible secret boyfriend). It was all very intriguing and unnerving.

The show is really good at slowly revealing important pieces of the puzzle. It does happen at a leisurely pace, but it feels more realistic that way.

Also, it will be interesting to see how Stan's shady past plays into the plot. His friend has already suggested "taking care" of Richmond and I don't think Stan will forget that thought anytime soon, especially after seeing those grim images of his daughter's body. Linden had better definitively clear Richmond before Stan takes matters into his own hands.

The episode gave Linden (and us) more evidence to ponder, but the most interesting piece of information was given by Linden's fiance. Rick asked if she was chasing another dead girl. He said he couldn't compete with a ghost. Perhaps Linden is drawn to this case because of past murder similar to this one, one she couldn't solve.

It was good to get some idea of Linden's motivation, but future episode's might need to give us a little more excitement to keep things from getting a little stale.

What did you think of this week's episode of The Killing?