Television Pick: The Killing (2011-?)
When Netflix announced that they were going to be bringing The Killing back for a fourth and final season, a lot of people were confused. “Why would Netflix bring back a show that managed to piss off 90% of its viewers by the end of season one?” they asked. The simple answer, of course, is that the show had decent ratings on AMC and was streaming in solid numbers on Netflix. Another reason that a fourth season of the show was greenlit is that it had actually become well worth watching by the end of season three.
Set in the always rainy city of Seattle, The Killing is the American-ized version of Danish crime drama Forbrydelsen. Instead of your typical crime procedural, which usually has a case of the week format, this show has one case that is slowly unraveled over the course of a season. The first and second seasons cover the murder of Rosie Larsen, a local teenage girl, while the third season focuses on the death of a teenage runaway. Both cases are handled by the same pair of detectives, Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman).
As I mentioned before, though, the first two seasons of The Killing aren’t exactly anything to write home about. In fact, they are downright infuriating to most people. Every episode seemed like it was introducing new red herrings, and the fact that creator Veena Sud took two seasons to wrap up this mystery is rather annoying. With all that said, though, the show does still feature two excellent lead performances from Enos and Kinnaman, which shows why they deserve high-profile film roles (even if said films aren’t exactly great). The first two seasons also feature a litany of excellent supporting performances that help drive home the unfortunate nature of the crime.
When the third season did debut in 2013, it is safe to say that viewers weren’t exactly looking forward to it. However, by all accounts, this season blew away most peoples expectations and, while not as good as Mad Men or Breaking Bad, became one of the best programs AMC has put out. An engaging mystery draws you in and gripping performances from Peter Sarsgaard and Elias Koteas make sure you stick around to the very end.
I know the word of mouth around the show is still poisonous, but don’t be afraid to take a chance on The Killing. It’s gorgeously shot, full of excellent performances and while the third season is easily the best, the first two seasons aren’t the worst things ever put to screen. With the fourth and final season set to debut on August 1st on Netflix, now is as good a time as ever to catch up on the show.