Bulldog (The Killing)

Lore & Background

In the episode, Sarah Linden insists on retrieving a City Hall keycard from the casino's tenth floor, and Stephen Holder reminds her they need a federal warrant. Gwen Eaton agrees to obtain a warrant through her senator father after Linden insists that any action can change how the city is run. Senator Eaton points out that casino manager Nicole Jackson is one of his biggest political supporters, and Gwen threatens to publicize that he knew Mayor Adams kissed her when she was 14. Meanwhile, Janek Kovarsky threatens Stan Larsen's family unless Stan kills Joseph Nowak for talking to police; Alexi Giffords overhears Stan say he killed Alexi's father for Janek as part of a deal to leave the mob. Later, Alexi shoots Janek in his car, saying "this is for my father."

Reader's Guide

The episode received positive reviews, with Sean McKenna of TV Fanatic rating it 4.8 out of 5 stars, calling it "one of the best episodes of the season" and noting it marked "pretty much every moment with something rather significant and thoroughly absorbing." The A.V. Club's Brandon Nowalk rated it a B−, saying the episode "is such a mess that the only semblance of control comes from the obvious manipulation of every plot point." William Bibbiani of CraveOnline called the episode "strong" but noted it had moved far from its roots by making Rosie Larsen feel unimportant in her own murder investigation. The episode was watched by 1.67 million viewers with an adult 18-49 rating of 0.5, marking a return to normal seasonal ratings.

Did You Know?

• The episode was written by Jeremy Doner and directed by Ed Bianchi.
• Gwen Eaton threatens to publicize that Senator Eaton knew Mayor Adams kissed her when she was 14.
• Alexi Giffords kills Janek Kovarsky in his car, saying 'this is for my father.'
• The episode ends with Linden and Holder using the keycard to open Richmond's office door, not Mayor Adams'.