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Problems with ‘The Killing?’ Bingo.
It’s no mystery that a lot of people think AMC’s anti-procedural murder drama “The Killing” moves too slowly.
Viewers and critics seemed especially perplexed by the timing of last Sunday’s episode, which barely mentioned the central Rosie Larsen murder and completely abandoned the show’s political plot lines in favor of character building between the program’s two detective leads, sublimely portrayed by Joel Kinnaman and Mireille Enos. While the consensus was that it was a quality episode with terrific acting and writing, fans expressed frustration that an episode that failed to move the murder investigation along an inch appeared so late in the season.
I have my own problems with “The Killing,” but the slow pace and the placement of that episode are not among them. I remember that the show moves in real time and it’s quite possible that a pair of detectives thrown together wouldn’t share this kind of emotional bonding until after they’ve spent a week and a half in each other’s company. Furthermore, the reason for the down time that made the bonding time possible — a 24-hour wait for a search warrant — seems totally plausible to me and adds to the show’s realism.
My gripes with the show have more to do with somewhat sloppy writing, mostly evidenced by hyper-coincidental, deus ex machina moments — more often than not, what little progress is being made in the murder investigation seems to spring from implausible, lucky breaks than solid police work.
So while there’s definitely room for improvement, let’s not urge “The Killing” too press too hard on the accelerator … that’s what crashed “Twin Peaks.”
Maybe this show will be more satisfying when it gets to DVD and Netflix and viewers can watch an episode a day; I think a show that moves day-to-day hard to pull off when we only see the characters once a week (although hour-to-hour seemed to work okay for Fox’s “24”).
In the mean time, if you’re bored silly by the show but figure, ‘hey — I’ve put all this time into it and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to ride it out for two more weeks,’ print out this hilarious bingo card from TV.com and drop a marker every time you spot “a promo for the show playing during the show” or hear “1990s slang, yo!”
What’s your take on “The Killing?” Do you know who killed Rosie Larsen? Do you care? Check out this sneak peak for Sunday’s episode and sound off in the comments below.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Entertainment, Random thoughts
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By Dale Roe
June 10, 2011 4:34 PM | Link to this
Hey, Greg. I can totally understand your decision. I have studiously avoided spoilers (and I appreciate your discretion in that regard) but it might be a mistake to think that the killer in the U.S. version would be the same as the Danish version. Then again, maybe not. I hope to find out in a couple of weeks.
By Greg
June 10, 2011 4:19 PM | Link to this
After watching the first 6 episodes, I slowly became less interested in watching the rest of the show and wasting my valuable Sunday nights. I started to understand why AMC would fit a sub-par show just perfectly before the on set of Breaking Bad's return and total domination.
Just because I didn't want to lose any time that I invested in the show, I did some research on the Danish version known as 'Forbrydelsen' and eased my mind on who the killer actually was. No spoiler alert here... it's not that exciting.