The Killing
- Movie Mike80
- Aug 20, 2014
- 3 min read
The Killing has had a very interesting and tumultuous history. Its first season aired on AMC and received good reviews as well as good ratings. The big draw was a fantastic ad campaign that begged the question "Who killed Rosie Larsen?" Throughout the course of the season we followed troubled detectives Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman) as they uncovered clues to the mystery. Season 1 also chronicled Rosie Larsen's family and how they dealt with the tragic loss of their daughter.
It was a really solid season highlighted by Enos and Kinnaman who had great chemistry with each other and whose characters were very interesting. Things were going great and AMC seemingly had another hit on their hands to add to Mad Men and Breaking Bad. That is until the show runners made one of the biggest mistakes in TV history.
After teasing us all season with the assumption that we would find out who killed Rosie Larsen at the end of the season, the show decided to not reveal who the killer was in the season finale. The fan base (me included) was outraged and demanded answers. We felt cheated by the ad campaign that all but assured us we would have a resolution at the end of the season. Show runner Vena Sud stands by the statement that the show never said they were going to wrap the story up at the end of season 1. All the damage control the network tried was futile. The damage was already done.
Season 2 debuted to a fraction of the audience. It was clear that the viewers had abandoned the show after being deceived the year before. Poor ratings and an uneven story led to The Killing being canceled after season 2. Shortly after, AMC announced they would bring the show back for a 3rd season. Season 3 was pretty solid, but ratings still suffered and the show was canceled once again. It looked like The Killing was finally killed, until NetFlix stepped in and purchased the show for the fourth and final season. All 6 episodes are available on NetFlix right now and they are surprisingly good. Season 4 of The Killing may be the second best season next to season 1 (until the misguided ending that is). Having only 6 episodes is a blessing for a show like The Killing. There are no filler episodes and the story is able to move at a nice pace. NetFlix suits a show like The Killing perfectly because you can binge watch it in one or two sittings. That's perfect with a show that has a mystery. It makes it a lot easier to remember what's going on without tons of recaps or exposition.
I won't go into much detail about the story, but it deals with a young boy accused of killing his whole family. The boy attends an all-boys military academy. The season also deals with the fallout from the end of season 3 and how Linden and Holder deal with the repercussions. I won't go into much more detail than that in case you want to watch season 3.
Once again, the two detectives carry the show. This is especially the case with Holder, who happens to be one of my favorite characters on TV. He's like Breaking Bad's Jessie Pinkman with a badge.
The Killing will probably end up just being a footnote on the TV landscape, but it was a very solid show that sported a few very good seasons. Especially the first and last. It's too bad they handled the end of season 1 so badly. I can't help but think of what the show could have been with better management.
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