Questions about the conclusion of The Killing

Obviously many spoilers here re the conclusion of the final (4th) season of The Killing: I don't think many fans of this series will be satisfied w/ the 4th season the core murder investigation is, as in the 3rd season, rather gory and preposterous, but I will say that the final 3 episodes really try to get at some aspects of the relationship between Linden and Holder, which is of course what's drawn us to this series in the first place. As they fight and turn on each other - under pressure of the investigation into Linden's execution of Lt. Skinner, the mass murderer, as the end of Season 3, we see some of the better writing and acting in the series; unfortunately, that's set against some of the crappiest writing and acting, which we see in their investigation of the Stansbury family murders and the hazing rituals as the military boarding school, a plot that we don't believe for a second and that makes little sense on examination. At its best, in the first 2 seasons that is, the series played of the Holder-Linden dialectic against an intriguing and far-reaching and for the most part realistic murder that stirred the Seattle community. The murder investigations went off the rails in the last 2 seasons, though, to the detriment of the show. Wondering what others think about the conclusion of the final season: Holder and Linden end in deep antagonism, and then we "flash forward" about 3 years and see that both have left the police force (I agree, how could they stay in after what they know and what's known about them?), Holder has broken off with what's her name his glass-of-water girlfriend but is a good single dad (yes, he loves kids and, yes, she was a total mismatch), and Linden has spent 3 years on the road - really? living how? doing what? That's not explained. She stops in Seattle to visit him, they briefly agree that their time driving around the city in her crappy car was the best time of all (echoes of Sentimental Education here? at least for me there were) and then she head off again on her solo journey - and honestly I thought it should have ended there but, no, the pressure of convention is just too great, and she comes back to him, they look at each other longingly, and embrace. Very sweet if it were an embrace as friends, but we're clearly meant to see that at long last each recognizes the rightness of their relationship - but how can we not know it will last about 10 days? that it will be all wrong? that it feels almost incestuous? No, she should be heading north to Alaska or something, not making yet another mistake and ruining what was good.

The Killing Season 4: What a falling otf

I am dutifully watching the final season, six episodes, of The Killing, but lamentably have to note what a falling off is there: the first two seasons were terrific, as Linden and Holder unravelled the complex case, Who killed Rosie Larsen? The 3rd season was not nearly as good as it went for a grotesque, sensational, and highly improbable case, as opposed to the original case which was, on the surface, more or a routine homicide that proved intriguingly complex and ambiguous as more facts emerged in each episode. The great thing about the first season was combined minimal and maximal approach: a lot of the focus was on the family of the victim, who at times were suspects themselves, and also on the politics of the city, as a mayoral candidate got caught up in the sweep of the investigation. And of course the developing relationship between Linden and Holder, made especially interesting in these two seasons as we never quite knew whether we could trust Holder. By the 3rd season, he was more rock solid and the two of them were like a thousand other buddy cops trying to solve a case. Few were satisfied with the wrapup of season 3, and that's where season 4 picks up, but the season never gets off the ground. L & H begin investigating another pretty gruesome case - the killing of an entire family save for the son who's at a military academy and immediately becomes a suspect. We know by now that the formula is to shuffle through a sequence of likely suspects, each one cleared in turn, until finally settling on someone we'd least suspect (or so they think - I figured out season 3 pretty quickly). The main element of the story (spoiler for those who haven't seen season 3) is L & H trying to conceal the fact that she executed Lt. Skinner at the end of season 4. There are so many loose ends to this plot element that it's not even worth analyzing or thinking about; I would say however, that episode 3 has a few fine moments centered on Holder, who, surprisingly, is beginning to crack under the pressure of concealing their crime - returning to drink and drugs, pretty much breaking up his relationship with a nice young woman (they seem a terrible mismatch, however), heading for the deep end. It's the personal stuff, not the baroque plotting, that can maybe save this final season of the series.

Why Season 3 of The Killing was disappointing

I've really enjoyed the AMC series TheKilling though let's face it Season 3 was a big dropoff in quality. Not only because I figured out the killer by half-way through the season, or sooner (I won't give it away - but will note that any attentive viewer will recognize the pattern from Seasons 1 and 2 and systematically cross every character about whom "suspicions are raise" from the list of likely suspects - no series indulges more in red herrings than this one). I continue to really like the two lead characters, Linden and Holder (played so well by Enos and Kinneman) - but have to say that I probably would not get the characters so well had I not seen the first 2 seasons - season 3 does not stand well on its own in that regard, as Enos's opaque qualities become even darker and more obscuring - and most of all we don't have a complex relation between the two). The relative weakness of Season 3 touches on something Enos said in her NYTmag interview recently: what makes the series special is its particular concern for the lives and the plight and the feelings of the victim, and her family. That was a huge element in Seasons 1 and 2 - Rosie Larsen's family were as deep and significant to the plot as the cops (and the politicians - completely eliminated from 3); in season 3 we barely know the victim(s) - after all there are 21of them, a real mayhem, with no clear motive - unlike the killing in seasons 1 and 2 which were all about figuring out the motive - let alone the victims' families, thought there are some half-hearted attempts to highlight the mom of one of the missing girls, esp. in the last 2 episodes. So, you get right down to it, and The Killing becomes a pretty good cop drama, but it's lost most of the unique qualities that made the first two seasons a real drama about a city, and a family, and a couple of cops, in various forms of crisis. I wouldn't mind seeing the series continue - there's a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of 3 - but I hope it can regain its mo-jo.

Season 3 of The Killing not as good as first two seasons - and here's why

I am enjoying The Killing Season 3, though with some serious reservations. Strengths are to a degree the elements that carried me through the first 2 seasons, notably the fine performances of Enos and Kinnaman (?) as the lead detecties tracking down who killed Rosie Larsen - Enos especially strong in the role, tough, dedicated, unflappable, but vulnerable at the core. Kinnaman terrific as the young cop and who emulates street talking ghetto folks - in one of the more memorable lines, a teenager asks him: Anyone ever tell you you're white? Well, both are still at it and strong in Season 3, and Seattle (Vancouver actually but who's counting?) still drizzly and evocative, cops still working a really tough shift and piecing together the clues through hours of drudgery not sudden and improbable coincidence or confession. That's enough to keep me going. However: one thing that made seasons 1/2 so strong were the many interweaving plot lines that led to a kaleidoscope of suspects including every character but Enos herself. Also, the personal saga of Enos - her background as a foster kid, her tough first marriage, her protection of her son, and her doomed-to-failure engagement - all made a seemingly opaque character much more deep, and more human. That's all gone - season 3 in a way could be any pretty good police procedural. Also, the investigation is far more gruesome and bizarre - a serial killer who has killed many young street women over seemingly many years - I get that he might not be caught so easily - in fact I think something like that happened in the Northwest, but surely people would be aware of crimes of this magnitude and would not suddenly discover a dozen corpses floating in a pond near the airport. Everything is leading us to think that the killer will be a lowlife who frequents the street haunts - all of which tells me that probably won't be so. But the reason season 1/2 worked well as a plot is that we knew the killer had to be someone already introduced - whereas in season 3 new characters keep passing through - suspect of the week - not as effective as establishing a cast of characters and shifting the suspicion around over time.

Killing Softly: End of Season 2 answers (most) questions

Probably will be spoilers here, so beware - conclusion of Season 2 of The Killing very effective and much more satisfying that conclusion of Season 1, which left wide open questions and resolved nothing. At end of Season 2, we do know who killed Rosie Larsen, and the killer's identity will, I'm pretty sure, surprise all viewers and at the same time make sense within the parameters of this sometimes unfathomable plot. I'm not sure I buy into Jamie's willingness to attack and beat up Rosie, much less to chase her through the woods; not sure I believe he could or would tie and bind her and dump her in the trunk of the campaign car. Not sure I understand how he could have summoned Ames to the scene of the crime, or why. But Terri's presence along with Ames makes sense, and her role in the killing is very surprising and haunting, and I'll leave it at that. Clearly, the team producing the Killing wrote this season as a likely conclusion, while leaving loose a few strands that can draw us into Season 3, which is out there waiting (though not yet on DVD): Why does Richmond so quickly patch things up with the developers and the Indian tribe, in fact why does he spring Ames and Jackson from jail? He must have a deeper motive. Who's body has just turned up near the airport - any connection to this case? In any case, both M and I found Season 2 of The Killing totally engrossing, despite its many manipulative false leads and improbabilities (Rosie in no way seems like a troubled teen who would run away; how could she be working in a casino without her parents' knowing?; isn't the coincidence that brings her together with Terri at the end a bit beyond belief?; could Jamie be as crazy as he seems at the end? - he sure his that side of himself for a long time). Lindon/Enos is a great, strong, if somewhat opaque character; sidekick Holder/Kinnaman grows into the role and becomes increasingly important as a counterweight to Enos's solemnity and focus. I would guess Season 3 will focus even more on Seattle politics, which can be a risk, as at hear this is a police procedural and not a political drama. I'll watch, though.

Unusual Suspects: Everyone in The Killing is a potential perp

In a rare disagreement, I am surprised that friend AW completely dismisses The Killing, which M and I continue to find very engaging on almost every level - sure, it's over the top at times and highly manipulative, adding new clues and information episode by episode though we would expect that the cops would have uncovered a lot of these leads in the first few days of investigation, and, more disturbing, many of the leads are there just to tease us along and keep the series moving. Still - the series does keep moving. Enos/Linden remains a strong if somewhat opaque lead character, her partner, Holder, a very funny and sympathetic sidekick as a unconventional undercover cop with a troubled past and a hip-hop attitude. At end of episode 8 of Season 2: the story obviously now focusing on the Indian casino as the scene of the crime, but it's less clear by the day (each episode = one day) what Rosie was doing at the casino - as we hear now that she may have been a maid (not a juvie hooker). How her family would not have known this is mysterious; and why the cops top brass would go to such lengths to cover up this murder is also mysterious, and my never be satisfactorily answered. Some issues that need clarification at this point in the series: why is Richmond, paralyzed from a shooting and running for mayor, still key to the story? I suspect that he will again become a suspect - there's something suspicious in his refusal to say where he was on the night of the killing. What will Stan Larssen uncover through his posting of a reward for info (the scene when the woman tries to convince him she knew Rosie was excellent)? What about Stan's wife, Mitch, who's basically fled from the family and from the marriage - M has always been suspicious of her, her lack of concern about Rosie's initial disappearance? I think some of the early-on suspects, particularly father of Rosie's boyfriend, will circle back into the story - even Holder, we suspected him at one time - but I don't expect a rapid or clean conclusion, as apparently there is a Season 3 en route. Who dunnit? Coulda been anyone.

The Killing - or, The Red Herrings

Watching now Season 2 of The Killing and despite the fact that it's an obviously manipulative show - honestly, it should probably be called The Red Herrings because we soon see that the pattern of the show is to introduce one likely suspect after another, only to exonerate in one manner or another and leave them in the rear view mirror, to the point where, by Episode 4 of Season 2, we're thinking not could this guy be Rosie's killer but why is he innocent? And how? - and you do get the dreaded feeling that the show will never conclude, at least not in a satisfying way - and yet - it's still very compelling episode by episode, especially because of the two leads, Mareille Enos as Linden and her partner, Holder (sorry I don't have actor's name), who's like what Eminem would be if he were a cop. The plot twists do keep me thinking, and I do have my theory - from way back early in Season 2 - that (possible spoiler) it's the angry dad of Rosie's rich boyfriend who did the killing; we'll see. Maybe. Love the look of rainy Seattle, even though I know it was filmed in Vancouver. But it does convey the feeling of a small and somewhat out of the way city with its own hip counterculture, and culture.

Not disappointed in the end of Season 1 of The Killing

Lot of spoilers to come so don't read this if you haven't seen the first season of "The Killing," an excellent series that was worthy competition to the slightly more upscale and broader in scope thriller Homeland in competition for this year's awards. Both were deserving - and make of this what you will but both are based on original series from Europe. Since when did America begin importing pop culture? Many have noted that the final episode of The Killing was a disappointment in that at the end of Season 1 we still don't know who killed Rosie. I disagree - I don't think we need to have the same expectations for closure in a series that we have in a traditional detective novel of segment of episodic TV. The season ended with the sense of completion of a full arc of the story - the arrest of mayoral candidate on the murder charge - but it should have been obvious to most viewers that his arrest does not resolve all of the unanswered questions and open problems. So at the very end there's that surprising twist: Det. Holder, Det Linden's partner, appears to be a crooked cop - faking evidence, on someone's behalf, to pin the crime on the yuppie mayoral candidate. Of course, I'm sure that's not what it seems, either, and we'll learn much more about Holder - whom all of us, including Linden, were beginning to like, thanks in large part to the unusual episode 11 that pulled both of them away from the murder investigation and built their friendship, as Linden searches for her son who's been cutting school. Marielle Enos as Linden is the heart and soul of The Killing, just perfect for the part of the tough, smart, stubborn, emotionally troubled detective. Among the elements left loose at the end of season 1: why would Holder fake evidence in the investigation and on whose behalf? why would the candidate get so involved with a prostitution ring, and did he in fact have Rosie in a campaign car on the night she was killed? Why does he come home soaking wet - what's his explanation? If he didn't kill Rosie, who did and why? What's with Rosie's mother - why was she so uninvolved with Rosie? And Rosie's aunt - is there more to her than meets the eye? She actually drew her young niece into a prostitution ring? Why on earth? We know very little about the death of the candidate's wife. What's the story there? Is there anything to Rosie's father's ties to the mob, or is that just a red herring. What about family friend Belco - the last scene shows him shooting the candidate (echoes of many political assassination attempts in the U.S., as well as All the King's Men) - he obviously fails, but is he involved with Rosie in any way? Is there more that the teacher can tell us if he recovers from his coma? These are just some of the questions - and it's to the great credit of the plot that almost every element seems credible, part of a fairly typical, though high-profile, murder investigation in an American city.

The Killing v Homeland: Two great, but very different, series

Finished episode 9 (of 13) of the excellent series "The Killing," and it still completely holds our interest: I love the simple structure, each episode a single day in a 13-day investigation of a murder - no flashbacks, and much (though not all) scene from the main detective, Sarah Linden's (?) point of view. The story, you'd expect, is full of false leads and even red herrings, but they are very well worked in: they don't seem like a screenwriter's attempt to keep the story moving (as in, for example, the popular but to me idiotic The Usual Suspects and many other movies of that ilk); the twists and turns are exactly what a detective would deal with in a complex murder investigation. This is also one of the few murder mysteries to get the scope and mood of the operations down right: it really feels like the kind of crime and investigation, against the background of a mayoral election and neighborhood racial tensions, that would and does take place regularly in every mid-sized to larger city (Seattle, in this case). As M. points out, this series actually carries a message to viewers, which is: don't jump to conclusions. The detectives, particularly one of them, are pushing against the edges, eager to make an arrest before they have all the facts in hand, and, in episode 9, this leads to some dire consequences. In a very plausible way, as the plot unfolds, we see that our first impressions may be way off the mark and the seemingly guilty may be innocent - but finding out who is actually guilty proves to be extremely elusive, which is what makes this series work. The actress in the lead is terrific as well. The theme of terrorism and of American Muslim communities becomes important at about episode 7 or 8 - this has become a real trope of mysteries and thrillers these days, and seems to echo some of the same notes played in the equally strong Homeland - but the two series are vastly different in mood and in context: Homeland, on the surface, is about a vast conspiracy to destroy the U.S. government, and, in fulfilling this end, becomes a story about people and their emotions and flaws and weaknesses; The Killing, on the surface, is a story about the murder of a young girl who was otherwise a completely ordinary high-school kid, and, in fulfilling this end, becomes a story about the conflicts and forces and hatreds pulling apart American society.

Who dunnit?: My prediction, after 4 episodes of The Killing

Very much enjoying Season 1 of "The Killing" 4 (of 13) episodes in; it's adapted from a Danish series, and I kept waiting and hoping that the original would show up on netflix, but I guess it never will - we'll have to settle for the U.S. remake, which is pretty good in its own right, though I wonder about the Seattle setting - can we really accept Seattle as a hotbed of corrupt municipal politics? In any case, the mayoral race is one of many strands in this inriguing plot, about the murder of a high-school girl and the attempt of a detective who's about to leave the force and move to California, remarry, and start a new life (day after day, she's never quite able to leave) and her partner, in waiting to take over her post, who looks like a slacker but shows surprising interrogation skills, especially in his forte, undercover drug work (to say he looks the part puts it mildly). The many strands include the dead girl's working-class parents, of whom the mom, M. thinks, has a back story to tell; the wealthy and gentrified reform candidate for mayor in whose car trunk the dead girl was found, various slacker friends from high school, a teacher who may be getting a little too close to his students, any number of people who'd want to put the mayoral challenger in a bad light, including possibly double-dealing campaign workers and the mayor himself, and other less likely suspects. The plot is very tight, mostly credible (though as in almost every detective movie or book, clues fall just a little too easily into their hands, in order the move the story along), and I really like the austere structure - the Danish influence maybe? - of having each episode cover a single day in a sequence of 13. Just for the record, I'll predict right now the murderer (though from what I've read there may not be a clear answer at end of Season 1): I think it's the bullying dad of Ames, the rich kid who'd had a brief fling with the dead girl: we know he's cruel and physical (the girl was brutalized before death), he could have known the girl through his son, and there are a number of unanswered questions around him: why wasn't he present at his son's interrogation? why no reference to a wife or partner? I don't, however, know how he could have come into possession of the candidate's car.