I have a simple question for anyone watching The Killing (on AMC): is it worth it? I’m about 4 episodes into the first season on Netflix and it seems like it could either continue to be pretty good, or just turn into one long tease. I still have scars from when Twin Peaks transitioned from a whodunit to an acid trip, so I’m sensitive about this kind of thing.
TV Question
by @heymistermix.com| 71 Comments
This post is in: Readership Capture, Television
anon
It drags a little as the season progresses and appears to become overly predictable but starts strong in the second. At the end of last season, I began to lose interest but now I can’t wait for the next episode.
the Conster
Add Lost to Twin Peaks, and yeah, what you said. I hate wasting time on TV shows that seem like they’re really going somewhere interesting, but end up just being a wankfest for TV writers, when I could waste time on shitty blogs like this.
OT, GDP up 2.2%. Not great, but chugging along.
S-Curve
The pace doesn’t pick up, and the use of red herrings gets pretty frustrating. But there are some good performances, particularly Joel Kinnaman as Holder, and it’s generally pretty to look at. (Semi-spoiler: A lot of people got really pissed at how the season ends.)
Rekster
Quit now that it is early in the series!
Bob2
QUIT NOW QUIT NOW BAIL BAIL BAIL
grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/46746/bill-simmons-hate-watches-the-killing-finale
Brian R.
God, quit now.
matt
abort, abort!
ilsalund
I tried to watch, but bailed half way through the 2nd episode. It’s just a gloomy, silly mess. At this point, they’ve made me stop even wanting to know who did the killing.
Linda Featheringill
Since I still have an afterglow from that event, I’m not sure that you want my advice. :-)
But The Killing:
I also did Season 1 on Netflix and decided not to do any more because it was emotionally draining. I am still sad when I think about how Mama broke.
If I’m watching shows for R&R, why should I put myself through all of that?
I have quit the series. I have lots of praise for it but don’t want any more, thank you.
hoi polloi
Word on the street is acid trip.
Linda Featheringill
@the Conster:
At least, it’s going in the right direction. Better than UK.
handsmile
SATSQ: (“Is it worth it?”): NO!
If you continue, you will despair of the hours wasted and wish unkind thoughts upon the show’s producers.
If possible, find yourself the DVD set of the original Danish television production.
I say this as someone who considers the first year of Twin Peaks the finest achievement in the history of that medium.
Tom
Not worth it. Watched all of last season. The first episode was awesome and it went progressively downhill until the ridiculous season finale.
I actually tried to watch the premier this year and made about 2 minutes in. I have zero desire to watch the show any longer.
Ryan S.
I put that show in the good acting but annoying plot category. Also in that category that Bri sci fi show Outcast. If you want something more satisfying in the crime show vein go with The Chicago Code
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
When I watched Twin Peaks I had the opposite view: I thought it was an acid trip masquerading as a detective show. It was always more enjoyable that way.
AnnaN
Good acting, awful writing, crappy plotting. Repetitive irritating use of red herrings. Repetitive use of same plot devices to generate false-feeling drama. Characters do not act consistently. Characters do not have normal responses in almost every situation. By the end of season one I REALLY disliked the parents. Which is a pretty impressive accomplishment by the show runner.
This sums it up nicely
hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/review-amcs-the-killing-returns-slightly-improved-for-sea…
Doc Sportello
I like it. Don’t hate me.
Linda Featheringill
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): #15
:-) That pretty much covers it, delightful little jewel that it was.
glasseater
i also watched season 1 on netflix. i heard a lot of people were pissed about the last episode, but i thought it was fine. the acting is superb (love joel kinamman as holder). i’m into the second season now and am starting to just want to know already how did the deed. the plot devices so far in the second season are not nearly as conventional as the first (no red herrings yet), and it looks like they are actually tracking the story to a conclusion, finally. the only thing i can say i don’t like about it is the irrelevant plot line about linden, her son and her ex-husband. it just seems thrown in as filler.
Maxwell James
Let me put it this way: if you persist, be prepared for at least one massive red herring IN EVERY EPISODE. And they will get worse and worse.
OTOH, I’ve heard the Danish original is far better.
Melville
We know how Rosie died. OF BOREDOM.
Dan
(Sigh) The mystery itself is incidental to the actual theme of the show: How various related parties accept and handle tragedy.
brent
As others have already indicated, it is best to quit now. It only gets worse and, if you are like most people, you will feel as if you have wasted an enormous amount of time if you make it to the finale. I am sure there is someone out there willing to defend the quality of the show on its merits but I have never met such a person.
Stu
I’m currently having this argument with my wife. I’m about ready to jump ship because there’s so many red herrings the writers could open a fish market. Four episodes into the second season and almost nothing has been resolved, almost no suspects have been eliminated, and the web of intrigue is becoming too convoluted and starting to contradict itself. Stay away and watch a show where the writers have the guts to make hard decisions about the characters.
merrinc
Not familiar with this show, sorry. But I just finished watching seasons 1 and 2 (IOW, all of them) of Jericho on Netflix instant. Sweet baby geezus, talk about terrifying.
Anna Granfors
Skip it and get your hands on a copy of the Danish original, Forbrydelsen. There’s a PAL DVD with hard-coded English subtitles available from amazon.co.uk. (Although it’s also retitled “The Killing”.) Søfie Gråbol as Sarah Lund is astounding, as are the rest of the cast.
Redleg
My wife and I have watched it from the beginning of the first season and we’re not about to stop. The second season seems to be a bit faster-paced than the first. We like the acting and the characters.
We actually like the fact that the series develops the characters and their life struggles so that it goes beyond just being a murder mystery.
gar
Quit now too many red herrings….
liz
DO NOT PROCEED. DO NOT PASS GO. DO NOT EVER START WATCHING THAT SHOW. And for all the squawking about the acting I find it pretty conventional. Mirelle Enos is gloomy and Kinnaman is just a scuzzy affectation.
But do please watch the Danish version ASAP.
Sloegin
JUSTIFIED is what you want to be watching; you can pick up seasons 1 & 2 on disc for about $20 each.
Birthmarker
They would have been much better off winding up this crime and starting on a new one. I thought the first episode of season 2 was pretty good and moved along. Then the next two were total fillers. Four wasn’t too bad. If I were in charge I would still wind this one up RIGHT NOW.
Having said that, there are moments of acting that are shockingly good. In the scene where Holder and Linden walk into the station and Linden’s ex is waiting, Holder steps in as if to defend her, then steps away when she says to give them some privacy, Holder does this turn away with his body that to me shows natural talent. That kind of acting can’t be taught, IMO.
Despite its flaws I still really like the series.
The problem with watching the original from what I can gather is that the format of the DVDs is incompatible with our players.
ohsuzanna
Stop now. I trusted the producers/writers that Season 2 would be better. It’s not. After forcing myself to watch three episodes of Season 2, I regret the time I’ve spent on it.
daveNYC
Is everyone using the same definition of “red herring”? I see claims of at least one an episode and counter-claims of ‘very few’. What’s the deal?
Southern Beale
We are watching The Killing and I guess it’s good, but I can’t help but think it’s a more serious, less loopy version of Twin Peaks. Like, Twin Peaks without the dancing dwarf.
Maybe it’s just me.
I really hate shows that just drag this shit on forever. I started getting annoyed with “Lost” for the same reason. The whole show was predicated on building suspense over a mystery that can never be solved or else the show will end. I hope The Killing wraps this case up and moves on to another story soon or I will lose interest.
But again, maybe that’s just me.
liz
@Southern Beale: Nope, they’re not solving the murder until the end of season 2. This is not a spoiler because people from the network have openly admitted it many times.
Bruce
The second season is dragging and becoming a chore to watch. I am getting very tired of the city councilman, whose story is increasing disconnected to the main story, and the female detective’s family problems. Who cares?
Nylund
In general, I think that any series that relies primarily on a single question will ultimately frustrate you. If they answer that question, the show ends, which the producers don’t want. If they never answer the question, the viewer gets frustrated.
There are ways around this problem, but it’s rare that a show can pull it off.
Froley
I bailed in the first season after about six episodes. Slow pacing and lack of “answers” are not problems for me as long as the writing and acting are exceptional (“The Killing” is just okay in both).
I was disappointed that “Rubicon” got cancelled. It had some of the same problems as “The Killing” but the acting was better and although it was a tough slog through the boring middle episodes, the last two episode were very good.
Shane in Utah
I agree with the general consensus that The Killing is bad and poorly plotted. I stuck with it through the end of season 1, but haven’t bothered with the new season. But it’s still WAY better than The Walking Dead. What is it with AMC shows that start promisingly and then get mired in their own plot pathologies? Only Breaking Bad has mostly avoided that fate…
Middlewest
@Bob2: It’s amazing in that article how he rates the main character’s level of “humanization” with how sexy she wears her hair and clothes. I’d think he was being ironic, but it’s ESPN.
BGinCHI
Agree with most of the comments above on the first season (it meanders, turns into pointless melodrama, and isn’t worth it), but also the great performance by the guy who plays Holder.
Second season is marginally better so far but every time Michelle Forbes’ character is in it I want to smash the TV.
Very poor writing.
AnnaN
@DaveNYC
I use red herring in the classical. It is a clue which purports to lead unequivocally to the guilty party (or major factor in a mystery) but which is false and its only true purpose is to lead the viewer/reader astray.
This happened over and over in the series. ANNOYING,
Upper West
@Doc Sportello: I love it! Doc — You are right and everyone else is wrong (or at least doesn’t have our good taste, or at least a taste for gloomy, “procedurals” with rain beating down constantly (even for Seattle), flawed but compelling characters, Seattle mob figures (who knew?), complicated plots with a lot of twists, and incredibly incompetent police whose mistakes lead to very bad news for innocent suspects).
What’s not to like?
I like the second season even better than the first and the characters have really gotten inside my head. (Even though there is no one particularly likable.) It’s must see for me more than ever now.
Two suggestions: Never watch it live on TV — with a show this moody, the last thing you need is mood-killing commercials every five minutes.
Try to find a friend, colleague who also watches it — it’s great “water-cooler” fodder to try to untangle the plot.
retr2327
I’m still watching, but I find that the most enjoyable part of the show is reading the blogs that make fun of each episode, so that should tell you something. There are a lot of much better shows around, for sure.
One show that never seemed to me to get the attention it should have was “Brotherhood,” from a view years back, about two brothers in Providence, R.I., one a politician and the other a criminal. Excellent acting, great plotting and character development, interesting themes, the works.
JeffH
@Middlewest: It’s Bill Simmons, he’s got serious issues with women…
punkdavid
I liked The Killing for most of the first season but like many, I violently hated the way they ended the season. I decided to give the first episode of the second season a chance to see if they could salvage the wreck they had made, and they’ve done a surprisingly good job of it.
In spite of how pissed off I was about this show at the end of season 1, I would recommend it.
Jay C
Count me among those seriously underwhelmed by The Killing: yes, there are good performances in it (Joel Kinnaman, especially) – and the photography is a good degree better than the standard cop-show norm; as is some of the dialog and characterization… BUT:
To me, the whole storyline and tone was telegraphed in the first episode of Season 1, which I read as “this killing is going to f*ck everybody’s life up to the max – and they’re going to spread the misery out over 13 episodes” Actually, 26: which doesn’t make it much better.
I don’t necessarily think that TV should be all fluff and predictability, but IMO, The Killing falls short: Scandinavian writers and producers usually present murder-mysteries as background to expressions of existential angst, gloom and cynicism: I’m just not sure it makes for good TV….
Aet
Get out while you can. It’s worse then Twin Peaks.
FridayNext
Like so many have said GET OUT NOW!!
One thing I didn’t see mentioned above is just what shitty detectives the two leads are. I won’t go into too much detail but they miss a lot of obvious clues until the plot needs them to be followed. A lot of this show is very good, which makes the writing and plotting so much more regrettable and needless. Plot twists should be anchored in the narrative not thrown out higgledy-piggledy by weak writers.
Oh, and the lead detective is a shitty mom. That does’t detract from the main plot, but makes me like her a lot less. Am I the only one who doesn’t find the archetype hero who ignores their family for the sake of justice for a stranger completely ass-backward? She isn’t even doing her job anymore because her last day was the first episode. What is she gonna do when her kid grows up to do drugs and turning tricks in airport restrooms to get her attention?
smintheus
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): Problem with Twin Peaks was that it started as comic send-up and then forgot to be funny.
Maxwell James
Just to pile on some more – this very entertaining Matt Zoller Seitz review gets at the heart of the problem with the show. Spoilers for season 1, I guess, but WTF cares?
smintheus
@Nylund:
Except when the question is something along the lines of “What is wrong with these people anyway?”
doug
@Nylund:
One of the rare shows that I thought had a really good single-season mysteries was actually Veronica Mars Season 1. The later seasons faltered (still decent watching), but that one did it right.
I too enjoyed Twin Peaks just as a head trip, but I went into it knowing it was a 2-season mind-job, so my expectations were not betrayed.
Warren Terra
Sad to hear all these negative reactions. I’ve heard great things about The Killing from the UK, but those were referring to BBC broadcasts of the Danish version, with subtitles (or maybe dubbed?). Shame the one i can easily get is so widely reported to be inferior.
rikryah
thanks for telling us about the show. I was gonna give it a try, but will not
karl
Haven’t seen The Killing, but my experience is that every show goes downhill very fast. I watch only Breaking Bad and nothing but Breaking Bad; each time I worry that it’s been written into a corner or is about to J the S it works it all out.
Michael James
Didn’t even know there was a US remake of “The Killing”. In the UK, we’re all used to the Danish original version which is one of a number of “Scandi-dramas” mainly being shown by BBC4, the other big one being “Borgen”, a sort of Danish “West Wing” equivalent, although like “The Killing”, it’s one story over a whole season. They do single episode series as well though- ITV3 has Lars Mikkelsen who played the mayor in the original “Killing” taking the lead in “Those Who Kill”. There’s even interest in drama from outside Scandanavia, with BBC4 showing Italian drama “Inspector Montalban”.
All of these are in subtitles BTW. Dubbing is regarded in the UK as a bit of a joke, mainly thanks to a series of atrociously dubbed Brazilian and German soaps that appeared on UK daytime TV in the early 1980s.
Eric k
Season 1 is a really bad tease, they waste most of the season on red herrings that are so bviously red herrings you want to throw things at he writers.
So far in season 2 though they seem to have learned from their mistakes, I think we learned more in the first 2 episodes of season 2 than in the entire first season
PeterJ
I’m going to add my 5 cents to the others who have advised you to get the Danish original instead.
Some US remakes are better, but this isn’t one of them.
David M
It’s really hard for me to recommend this unless there’s absolutely nothing else in your Netflix queue. That said, I’ll probably keep watching it, but the episodes will sit unwatched on the DVR for a while before I get to it again.
And I second all the other complaints about the show that people already mentioned.
El Cruzado
@Anna Granfors: This, +1000
j mcguire
The Killing is a Great show; it’s just not built for Americans. Almost midway through the 2nd season, the mystery is still EXPANDING, with no end in sight.
I don’t get the mainstream critics (talkin’ ’bout YOU, Mo Ryan) who threw up their hands and declared the show a failure, just because there wasn’t a payoff to their liking @ the end of Season One.
Maybe I just got my meds right, but it’s my kinda show.
Harley Peyton
Stop before its too late!!!
Sorry about the acid trip.
The Other Chuck
Twin Peaks was by David Lynch. You can’t say you weren’t sufficiently forewarned that it was going to get weird.
YellowJournalism
I second the love for Season 1 Veronica Mars. If you’re in the mood for some good mystery or some excellent modern-day noir, that’s your show. I really liked the second season more than most people, although a few points kind of bugged me. The third season is mediocre with a few gems thrown in there that make it worth slogging through. Plus, the acting was always wonderful. Made me a fan of Kristen Bell for life, despite crap like You Again.
Tim O
@S-Curve: I agree somewhat. Yu begin to wonder if this is a story about a really good unconventional and personally flawed detective, or a really bad detective that is easily duped.
Jules
No.
Watch the Danish one instead.
At the end of the first season you’ll at least know who killed Rosie, unlike the US version. Plus the 2nd season of it has a whole different mystery to solve.
(seriously, I was so pissed that they did not answer that question in the 1st season of the the US version that I’ve not watched any of season 2.)
Rekster
@Melville: That!
Rekster
Watch “Life on Mars.” The BBC version. Don’t know if it’s on Netflix but it is excellent. The US version was pretty good though the finale sucked.
MI 5 is on Netflix, I believe. It is my ALL TIME most favorite TV show. Another BBC gem. The first season is a little slow but after that, Hold on to your Hat! One thing about the BBC shows is that they have NO qualms about killing off a MAJOR character.
lawsipan
The Killing is exactly my cup of tea. I managed to spoil myself about it before ever having watched a whole episode (that is, spoil myself about how season 1 ends) and then forgot about it till it appeared on Netflix instant.
Now, since I know how season 1 ends, I’m less likely to HATE it (a lot of the hate seems to stem from the fact that things are not wrapped up neatly at the end, but that’s the kind of story I really like in the first place) so I’m ready to slog through. I’m recording season 2 on my DVR while I’m watching season 1 on Netflix.
Also, when was the last time you saw a lead female character that didn’t wear makeup and wasn’t conventionally “sexy” on American TV? Never, that’s when. So I’m inclined to love it just for that very reason.
Lauren
If you’re into dark and rain, stick with it. Occasionally, it’s morning, but that will pass quickly.