After rescuing AMC’s The Killing from the cancellation graveyard last November for a fourth and final season, Netflix announced today that it would be releasing all six episodes of the season on August 1st.
Ironically for a show called The Killing, no series in recent memory has cheated death more frequently. The slow-burn murder mystery, which initially premiered on AMC, originally landed on the chopping block after just two seasons, following a frustrating first season finale that failed to answer the freshman run’s central question (“Who killed Rosie Larsen?”) and alienated viewers, many of whom didn’t give the show another chance.
However, after The Killing was cancelled in July of 2012, showrunner Veena Sud entered negotiations with the network, which led to the show being resuscitated the next year for a third string of episodes. The ratings didn’t improve, which led to AMC cutting the cord yet again. That’s when Netflix stepped in, reviving The Killing and reinstalling Sud as showrunner for one final, smaller season, which would allow fans a proper series finale (and force them to sign up for Netflix, if you want to get cynical about it). The streaming giant pulled a similar trick with cult fave Arrested Development, to successful results.
The Killing stars Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman as Seattle homicide detectives Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder. The first two seasons found the pair working together to solve the murder of teenager Rosie Larsen, unearthing a larger political conspiracy in the process. After that case wrapped up, the third season charted their efforts to track down a runaway girl and catch the serial killer on her trail.
Little details have emerged about the fourth season, though we know it will focus on Linden and Holder investigating a murder at a competitive all-boys military academy based outside of Seattle. With only six episodes in the season, it’s expected that Sud will accelerate The Killing‘s notoriously slow pace to tell a complete story while crafting a suitable send-off for the two characters.
Are you a fan of The Killing? And will you be watching when Netflix brings the show back for its swan song? Sound off below!