The murder of a Seattle teenager named Rosie Larsen devastates her family, threatens to disrupt a mayoral election and delays homicide cop Sarah Linden from moving to Los Angeles with her fiance. Stars Mireille Enos, Joel Kinnaman, Michelle Forbes, and Billy Campbell. The pilot was directed by Ed Bianchi, who has a lot of TV credits, including several episodes of The Wire and Deadwood. The series is being headed by Veena Sud, who has produced like a third of Cold Case and also wrote the pilot, and it is based on a Danish series called Forbrydelsen, which first aired in 2007 and is technically ongoing.
Last year, the conversation about AMC was much different. Mad Men and Breaking Bad are probably the best shows on TV, so that's a track record I can get behind, and it's that track record that encouraged me to endure a thirteen-episode season of Rubicon. But in April 2011, Rubicon has come and gone, and there's also been the very short first season of what looks like it will be a tolerable but nowhere near as good adaptation of The Walking Dead. And have you ever watched anything on AMC? It's one of the most annoying channels to watch on TV. I approached The Killing with trepidation. The two hour pilot didn't blow me away. But pilots can be tricky business and a strong series can have a mediocre pilot, or have strong pilots and be a mediocre series (see The Walking Dead). This is a big cast, and introducing them all at once was daunting. Of the ensemble, there are several standouts, including Mireille Enos' lead, as well as a few clear weak links, mostly the teenagers. Some moments of inspiration, some impressive performances, maybe enough to make this a worthwhile show, maybe only enough to fool us into thinking it is (see Rubicon). I'll give it the season.
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