That’s just about enough. E-titfucking-nough.
The second season of The Killing concluded this past Sunday; and a bunch of critics (Time, MTV, Entertainment Weekly) had to try and save face. They have no idea how to do that so they just looked really hard for something to bitch about. They’ve been hating on The Killing since the 1st season ended without resolving the titular murder mystery. The second season brought the mystery to such a poignant and beautiful end; it had critics scrambling. It was tough to continue their bitchy talking points in the face of what has now proven itself a masterfully assembled story. Maybe if I work at it enough I can suck at life enough to review TV for Time.
Yes, the 1st season (the show is more or less about a murder investigation) ended without revealing the killer. How dare a TV show do something nobody’s ever done before!?! The same assholes (other than MTV: they are the main perpetrators) moan about the lack of quality programing. What they mean is they wish M.A.S.H.had never gone off the air. Fucktards. God forbid a show take risks.
I love The Killing. Or maybe it’s loved. The show has not yet been renewed for a 3rd season. But it should. Breaking Bad is entering its last (per the creator not the network) season and then AMC’ll just have Mad Men, a mediocre zombie show, and a shitty western.
Why do I love The Killing?
1. The mystery. The show begins as a bloody sweater is found in a random field outside Seattle. Cops aren’t even sure there’s been a murder. Detective Linden (who is leaving Seattle in 5 days with her son and fiance to marry and live in Napa) is handed the case so she can train her replacement; Detective Holder. The diminutive Linden isn’t the type to do things half assed; and her gut tells her somethings wrong. They eventually find a trail that leads to a lake. The victim is found tied up in the trunk of a car at the bottom of said lake. All we know is she has her father’s credit card on her and the car belongs to the campaign of a local politician running for mayor of Seattle. And after talking to some people; the detectives come across about… 38 or so suspects. We’ve got a flat who-done-it. Always loved those; ever since Agatha Christie. And this one touches so many different people so believably that you really don’t know who did it until they flat out tell you.
2. Linden and Holder are fucking awesome. Linden (Mireille Enos, Big Love) is a slightly-taller-than-dwarf-height former foster child who uses her massive OCD in the service of the greater good. Her pending marriage and single mother status are constant distractions from her mentat like thought process. She loves both her fiance and son; but she’s finding the fucking killer. Holder (Joel “soon to be Robocop” Kinnamen) comes off as the acme of douche bag when we meet him. Its an act. He’s always working. If you think he’s trying to pick up some teenage ass or score drugs or if you think he’s being horrifically rude; he’s at work. He’s like a dog whisperer for people with something to hide. Oh and if you think he’s being a pussy; that’s him at his most dangerous. Because you’ll get juuust too close or cocky.
3. The Point of the Show. It’s not who killed Rosie Larson (chick in the trunk). That’s what everyone who bitched about the ending to the first season missed. And its not a portrait of city and the forces at war in it like The Wire; and it certainly doesn’t share that show’s gleefully encyclopedic knowledge of modern bureaucracy. The point of the show is the surface of people and what lies beneath. People are flawed creatures who have limited control over what they desire. If they want what they want, there are trade offs and sacrifices. Nothing is without cost. And the piercing light of a murder investigation peals back the surface and forces everyone to deal with what is beneath. And what is beneath is not pretty. But that’s not the whole truth because the closer you get to the desires and motivations of people you realize its not pretty because its beautiful. But nobody said it wasn’t sad.
4. The slow burn. The show is masterfully paced. One might say it has a formula; in that whatever you assume the direction of the plot will be; you are wrong. And usually tragically wrong. Many times there will seem to be enough facts to safely assume what’s going on. And someone usually suffers for that assumption. The show paints a picture, slowly and methodically, but each episode manages to get rocking and rolling. And you lucky bastards who haven’t seen the show yet will get to watch it marathon style. Which is probably the best way to watch it but you’ll lose a couple days. If you have all the episodes; I bet money you won’t be able to watch less than 6 in a row. Your work will suffer.
Do yourself a favor and check this show out. And after you’re done crying at the end you’ll thank me.