The Killing

[MarkGrace]

The challenge for us with this series is going to be avoiding the people who have seen the Danish version and who want to tell everyone who the killer is. I was reading The Killing page on facebook and had to stop because there were too many tools dropping hints.

From what I've read, they've changed the story from the Danish version so people don't know what's going to happen.

[MarkGrace]

Spoiler for spoiler:

The part where the parents told the boys about their sister, on the beach, killed me. That was seriously hard to watch. Good t.v. I'm annoyed for the lead detective because of what her LT is doing. But of course I knew she'd stay.

I also got the feeling that perhaps the incumbent mayor may have had something to do with the girl ending up in the councilman's campaign car. Did anyone think that? Remember that Jasper's (the rich kid) is apparently the biggest water-front land owner in town or something, and the incumbent's campaign is riding on the waterfront revival project. Just a thought.

Spoiler for spoiler:

A good thought, but the comment about Jasper's dad was that he owned half the Mercer Island waterfront property -- MI is all residential. The waterfront revival project was in reference to the Seattle waterfront, which is a commercial area.

[falafel]

Spoiler for spoiler:

The part where the parents told the boys about their sister, on the beach, killed me. That was seriously hard to watch. Good t.v. I'm annoyed for the lead detective because of what her LT is doing. But of course I knew she'd stay.

I also got the feeling that perhaps the incumbent mayor may have had something to do with the girl ending up in the councilman's campaign car. Did anyone think that? Remember that Jasper's (the rich kid) is apparently the biggest water-front land owner in town or something, and the incumbent's campaign is riding on the waterfront revival project. Just a thought.

Spoiler for spoiler:

A good thought, but the comment about Jasper's dad was that he owned half the Mercer Island waterfront property -- MI is all residential. The waterfront revival project was in reference to the Seattle waterfront, which is a commercial area.

Spoiler for MI spoiler:

Ah, that makes sense. I think I knew that about MI once upon a time. Still, Jasper's dad is a powerful dude. Its no coincidence that the girl ended up in the councilman's car. Jasper and his buddy were more than likely pawns for much more powerful players.

[DapperDan]

I finished the Danish version the other day. Overall it was really great and I highly recommend it. It starts slow and probably would have been better with a few less episodes, but the second half of the season is fantastic.

Spoiler for Mild spoiler about the end:

The ending was a little bit of a letdown. The culprit was more mundane than was built up to be.

I've started on the second season. It's both better and worse. It's more focused on the investigation and less about secondary storylines, but at the same time it's weakened by not having a "victim's family" story. It tries to replace the "victim's family" story with a family that touches the investigation in multiple places, but it doesn't really work.

[BigPiney]

I finished the Danish version the other day. Overall it was really great and I highly recommend it. It starts slow and probably would have been better with a few less episodes, but the second half of the season is fantastic.

Spoiler for Mild spoiler about the end:

The ending was a little bit of a letdown. The culprit was more mundane than was built up to be.

I've started on the second season. It's both better and worse. It's more focused on the investigation and less about secondary storylines, but at the same time it's weakened by not having a "victim's family" story. It tries to replace the "victim's family" story with a family that touches the investigation in multiple places, but it doesn't really work.

Were there subtitles with this?

[DapperDan]

Were there subtitles with this?

Yes, it was on BBC earlier in the year. The second season will be on later this year and I expect some better subs will pop up then, but the current ones are passable.

[MarkGrace]

Really liked this week's episode. The political story was at times feeling like its own thing, and the show aligned it better with the overall story this week. And nice shout out to tacoma-raised neko case there at the end.

[il Padrino Ute]

Did anyone know that the actress playing Det. Linden attended BYU? It would seem that she's LDS - or at least raised LDS - and is now married to Cameron Frye.

[UteStar]

Did anyone know that the actress playing Det. Linden attended BYU? It would seem that she's LDS - or at least raised LDS - and is now married to Cameron Frye.

From earlier in this same thread, it is talked about: http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showpo...5&postcount=31

[il Padrino Ute]

From earlier in this same thread, it is talked about: http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showpo...5&postcount=31

I'm obviously a hack. Sorry 'bout that Gracie.

[Green Lantern]

Has anyone else given up on this show? I can't believe how terrible it's become. The whole "one episode per day" format has really turned the show into a drag. At this point it's like a mediocre episode of Law & Order drawn out over several weeks. I'll put my specific complaints in spoiler tabs:

Spoiler for suckiness:

Wow, what a waste of time that whole Bennett thing was. It was clear from the beginning that he wasn't the killer (again, the limitations of the format: they weren't going to get on the right track that early in the season) but to end up on a detour filled with possible Muslim terrorists and genital mutilation? Ugh. Felt like bad 24 territory.

I'm not sure if that needed to be hidden, but my other complaints are more general:

• Linden's fiancee is a complete waste of time--He exists only to show up and say "I hope this doesn't turn out like last time!" Yeah, she gets too involved in her cases and one time it got really bad. We get it.
• The characters on the political side are cartoons--The mayor may as well be twirling his Snidely Whiplash mustache every time he shows up on screen.
• Michelle Forbes, who I've always liked, just has me cringing every time her grieving mother character has a scene. I think it's showing the limitations of her range as she mostly has her matted hair and weepy eyes do the acting for her.

What does this all add up to? A major disappointment. Were my expectations too high because of the excellent pilot and the network on which this show appears? It's possible, but regardless, I've got no desire to watch any more episodes.

[MarkGrace]

Yeah, it hasn't been very good. That said, I actually thought last night was the best in several weeks.

Obviously Bennett wasn't the killer, but I don't know what you do with a show like this. Any character you introduce before the end of the show and your audience is automatically thinking "well, it's not him because it's still way too early for the killer to be revealed." When I read about the show, I thought they'd be following a whole group of suspects throughout the season and kind of keeping multiple balls in the air, so to speak. But that's also problematic because it's difficult to juggle so many characters and I'm not sure an investigation is ever really like that. Not that I know, but it seems like detectives would do what they're doing here, which is follow their best lead until it runs out.

[UteStar]

Has anyone else given up on this show? I can't believe how terrible it's become. The whole "one episode per day" format has really turned the show into a drag. At this point it's like a mediocre episode of Law & Order drawn out over several weeks. I'll put my specific complaints in spoiler tabs:

Spoiler for suckiness:

Wow, what a waste of time that whole Bennett thing was. It was clear from the beginning that he wasn't the killer (again, the limitations of the format: they weren't going to get on the right track that early in the season) but to end up on a detour filled with possible Muslim terrorists and genital mutilation? Ugh. Felt like bad 24 territory.

I'm not sure if that needed to be hidden, but my other complaints are more general:

• Linden's fiancee is a complete waste of time--He exists only to show up and say "I hope this doesn't turn out like last time!" Yeah, she gets too involved in her cases and one time it got really bad. We get it.
• The characters on the political side are cartoons--The mayor may as well be twirling his Snidely Whiplash mustache every time he shows up on screen.
• Michelle Forbes, who I've always liked, just has me cringing every time her grieving mother character has a scene. I think it's showing the limitations of her range as she mostly has her matted hair and weepy eyes do the acting for her.

What does this all add up to? A major disappointment. Were my expectations too high because of the excellent pilot and the network on which this show appears? It's possible, but regardless, I've got no desire to watch any more episodes.

Yeah, it hasn't been very good. That said, I actually thought last night was the best in several weeks.

Obviously Bennett wasn't the killer, but I don't know what you do with a show like this. Any character you introduce before the end of the show and your audience is automatically thinking "well, it's not him because it's still way too early for the killer to be revealed." When I read about the show, I thought they'd be following a whole group of suspects throughout the season and kind of keeping multiple balls in the air, so to speak. But that's also problematic because it's difficult to juggle so many characters and I'm not sure an investigation is ever really like that. Not that I know, but it seems like detectives would do what they're doing here, which is follow their best lead until it runs out.

I am torn. I kinda agree with both of you. The thing that I do like is that it is not a typical murder/detective show. There are ups and downs in the investigation. Not every suspect pans out and sometimes it is just a complete dead end. It can be maddening and frustrating but I like how the detectives are just confused and perplexed about what is going on.

[MarkGrace]

Just finished this week's episode. The last two weeks have been among the better episodes of the season. Still clunky in parts and has plenty of problems, but overall better than the middle section. I thought the ending this week was legitimately well done, though obviously another in a series of red herrings.

[SteelBlue]

Spoiler for Killer Finale:

The problem with this show all along, as others have pointed out, is that early episodes are always red herrings because you know they can't reveal the killer until the end. I did however expect that they would actually reveal the killer in the end.

I don't like that they're carrying the same case into a second season. I also feel like the twists at the end were too much. It's starting to feel like one of those hospital shows where every conceivable thing has happened to one little group of physicians.