The Killing

I am not someone who typically watches a lot of the new crime investigation shows, most of them are very similar and repetitious however The Killing was really able to catch and keep my attention from the very beginning. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact this show doesn't jam one case into a 1 hour episode with little to no character development. The Killing focuses on one complex murder case per season with many surprising twists and turns that will have you continuously asking who did it?

Joel Kinnaman plays a very likable, colorful detective who is somewhat new to his life of sobriety. Due to his past drug use he has a very keen eye to what goes on in the streets which has allowed him to become very good good at his job and a very useful player on the Seattle police department, he also has some of the funniest one liners that he deliver without coming of corny. Mireille Enos is his partner who also at times is haunted by her past and when initially watching this show her amazing acting really stood out, she was a great pick and fits the role perfectly.

The 1st season was a breath of fresh air in the crime drama genre, the second season was tasked with a sub par storyline, but season 3 I must say has had the best start of the whole series that has me counting down the days till the next show. I highly recommend The Killing and after almost being canceled I hope this show finally gets the views it deserves!

I had to watch this twice, the two hour premiere that is. I think what struck me most was the calm and slow storytelling. When TV is drowning in unrealistic CSI's et al (where investigators cook up fingerprints to techno music in dimly lit rooms), every time we pass a CSI on channel surfing my husband always says 'don't they ever turn on the freakin lights in that office?' and we both laugh.

This is police work as it really is, plodding, unexciting, procedural, a lot of driving, mixed with a bit of clever intuition, slammin good.

Every character is a suspect, the story can go anywhere, so promising.

If anyone was worried about the state of the serialized TV drama going too far down the f-word/porn route, all arguments that only subscription HBO or Showtime dramas were good bc they used nudity or cursing bc 'that's how real life is'...this is yet another AMC show that shuts them all up. Don't get me wrong, I love my Trueblood and huge fan of Sopranos et al, but this show isn't a 'guilty pleasure', its just a pleasure.

I am writing this after the first season finale, and I came to this without expecting much and what a shocking pleasant surprise it was and absolute gem of a thriller.

I rarely give a rating of 10, there would always be some part that would be missing and something goes wrong in any department, nothing ever went wrong with this.

The whole first season is one murder case, so you can expect some slow pace, and slow pace doesn't always mean a drag, and "The Killing" is the best example for that, the pace is deliberately set to slow, to let all emotions, settings to sink in, the show gives you very subtle clues and you would swear that know who killed "Rosie Larsen" and think it is your idea, which is most often first proved right then wrong :) The acting, direction, screenplay, music a absolute top notch, a lessen that other crime thrillers (CSI, Criminal Minds, Suspect Behavior et. al.) should take a note of this epic of a thriller.

If you haven't watch it yet you are missing an epic.

Stunning, brilliant, searing and unending emotional commitment from stars Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman. Kinnaman has gone on to a little project called Suicide Squad and is leading man material - I like that he is a unorthodox hero that's been dragged thru the gutter, an ex-junkie with a heart of a lion. Enos is the surprise here. Feral, caustic work and she is often unlikable and yet you love her for her humanity. The series has tough police work and tough cases that are unflinching and, at times, stomach churning. Excellent supporting work from Billy Campbell (career best) and Brent Sexton and Michelle Forbes' scenes - particularly early on is literally the best thing you will ever see on television. She and he both deserve Emmys.

The best season is Season 4 and it is heartbreaking and breathtaking at the same time. I will not spoil the ending, but I will say this. I was sobbing as it came to an end hoping and wishing it would not conclude with such adroit and dry-eyed heaviness and I was rewarded. I cheered thru my tears. I cheered for my television. I cheered for writers that found humor and home and love in this mess of a show and that's why I am rating it 10 Stars! The Killing wears it's heart on it's sleeve and beats you senseless and - at the end - gives you the one emotion that truly matters. Watch and you'll know what I mean.

"The Killing" is an adaptation of a Danish TV series, and was billed to me as "Twin Peaks meets 24". Well it certainly does seem like an updated "Twin Peaks" so far, minus some of the bizarre twists and turns. Not that there's anything wrong with that, beautiful-girl-murdered is a time-tested premise that makes for a good crime drama.

In the first two episodes I was relieved to find some serious, quality television. The story isn't terribly remarkable - so far we know that a pretty typical teen girl has been murdered, that her parents are genuinely crushed with grief, and that the detective who caught the case, Sarah Linden, was due to leave the job and move to San Diego to get married had the case not come up.

The story is told with impressive direction and good enough writing, with plenty of details and realism to hook in most viewers. Like any good mystery, the introduction simply raises questions, and gets the viewer to care about what's going on. Mission accomplished.

The music is a bit hokey, drifting into melodrama at times, but that's the only real fault I can find. This is a fine start. It seems unlikely to dethrone "The Wire" as a pinnacle of realism but it's already better than any crime drama the networks have going. I'm looking forward to the next episode.