The Killing is a four season crime drama, but not a procedural like Law & Order, with forty four episodes that is set in Seattle, which follows Sarah Linden, a homicide detective, as she investigates one murder over the course of two seasons, hunts down a serial killer in the third and tries to solve the mystery behind a family murder in the fourth while an internal investigation endangers Linden and her partner. The first three seasons aired on TV, and the last appeared exclusively on Netflix. (Side note: how can the last season that appeared on Netflix get pulled from the streaming lineup? I thought that I had forever to watch this show.)
I am not into most mystery or crime dramas, but after enough people with similar tastes urged me to watch The Killing, I put in my queue. It also didn’t hurt that the main character is a woman with red hair, which, fair or not, reminded me of Scully from The X-Files and was a mark in her favor. I used to watch all shows in my room on a small TV then as I got older, I began to cultivate relaxation and the TVs got larger. If I have high expectations for something, I start in the living room, on the couch, without my smartphone. If it does not meet my expectations, I’ll retrieve my smartphone. Then I’ll move back to my room and multitask. If I’m watching it on my smartphone, I’m less multitasking than using the show as background noise. Unfortunately this description practically mirrors my relationship with this show that as I demoted the show, I think that it actually got better.
I’m probably in the minority, but I would recommend watching The Killing Season 3 and 4, not 1 and 2 with the exception of Season 2 Episode 10, which provides helpful setup for Season 3. I knew who did it in the first episode, and maybe this is the case with most crime dramas, but during the first two seasons, the murder investigation felt as if it was a thin veneer to explore all socioeconomic dynamics of society. I felt as if I was watching a soap opera, which isn’t a bad thing if you like soap operas, but I am not if there are no supernatural elements (Dark Shadows shout out). It also didn’t help that I correctly guessed in the first episode the identity of one of the killers. It is rare for me to suggest the following, but I would rather that a show not have any black people than have them and handle it the way that The Killing did. They aren’t innately suspicious for being black, but it just so happens that all the black people in Seattle are Muslim (I have no idea if this part of the script is realistic) and/or immigrants so we’re supposed to feel slightly less queasy about anyone being racist. They’re Islamophobic, but the show basically exploits the viewers’ suspicions about terrorism for a few episodes then drops the existence of any black people in any capacity for the rest of the series with one exception. Thankfully that exception highlights the series’ ability to depict LGBTQ characters as three dimensional instead of archetypes. Also if you’ve seen The 4400, you know that one of the suspects is a big old MacGuffin. I want my Michelle Forbes kicking ass and taking names, not in mourning!
The Killing’s unpardonable sin was that I thought Linden was driven, but incompetent, which is a deadly combination. Be a bad mother, a bad friend, but don’t be bad at your job! When she is careless with evidence in the first season, I wondered why she wasn’t fired. It may be more realistic to watch a show with incompetent cops, and it may even be the point of the series, but I hated it. I can just watch the news. I don’t need to watch twenty-six episodes during what little free time that I have watching a cop ruin lives accidentally. Hard pass!
Thankfully the tone of The Killing dramatically shifts during the third season, and I actually got invested in the series. If Season 3 Episode 1 were actually the pilot episode, I never would have picked up the cell phone or left the living room. The quality of the supporting cast skyrocketed: Peter Sarsgaard, Gregg Henry and Aaron Douglas! I actually guessed who the killer was, but dismissed it because I thought, “That typecasting would be ridiculous, but he does usually play bad guys.” Also I was seriously invested in Linden’s partner, Holder, and his friendship with his CI. I always thought Holder’s story arc was more interesting than Linden’s and found myself rooting for him exponentially as the series unfolded. The entire season was just a series of devastating gut punches, and the momentum felt credibly driven by the investigation as opposed to just a prurient look into the underbelly of society. Still it is about a serial killer who preys on young teenage runaway girls so if that storyline is too triggering for you, run the other way.
Season 4 of The Killing was a stronger character study. Joan Allen and Mireille Enos, who plays Linden, have a lot of great clashing scenes. It feels like Hannibal visually inspired the series and decided to step up their interior game to equal their exterior shots. I would actually continue to watch this show if Linden and Holder took a back seat to Henry as the lead investigator, which won’t be a surprise to Firefly fans who know his range. While the actually crime seems a bit Rube Goldbergian in order to have more demented and sinister elements to explore, I’ll sign a waiver because it was well done. I can understand why people were disappointed that the tv series was cancelled just when it was getting good, but it is better to leave on a high note, and really haven’t we tortured the regular players enough.
The Killing got stronger as it focused more on its central theme of what happens to lost children, especially once they become adults. Joel Kinnaman, whom I have apparently seen in many movies such as the reboot of RoboCop, Suicide Squad, Child 44, The Darkest Hour, the US version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but failed to make an impression, finally placed roots in my consciousness as Holder. He was the consistently best part of the show, and considering his character was not anyone on paper that I would feel inclined to root for, I think that shows tremendous depth.
The Killing is a great show to multitask with during the first two seasons though you could give your undivided attention during the last two and not feel aggravated. As someone who isn’t a fan of mysteries and prefers a more focused story than a sprawling mess, I would only suggest that you watch a portion of the series in order to save time, but it is disturbing though tastefully done so consider yourself warned.