AMC - The Killing - Page 2

 

Because I've seen this mentioned once or twice, can someone tell me why this is sloppy?  For one thing, the janitor was clearly a slob (see the rest of his room).  For another, I thought they were pretty average porno mags (i.e. they weren't child pornography, right?).  What would have made more sense?  To have them carefully indexed and sorted away in a closet somewhere.  I mean, his mom was blind.  Those mags could have been Highlights for Kids for all she knew.

 

ETA: In the interests of full disclosure, I went back and checked the teacher scenes from the third episode (the series is available on AMC's website at the moment) and I have to admit that it appears that the students ARE watching the video in the middle of the classroom.  The music playing does seems the same or similar.  Weird.

Edited by Mattioli - 4/14/11 at 7:20am

So... stupid question? What's all the blood in the cage from? Raped hymen/torn genital tissue? Seemed like a lot of blood for "just" that, but I admit I'm not too knowledgeable on the subject. Rosie was fairly bloodless when being chased in the opener, and drowned in the trunk. But that mattress looks like a murder scene.

"Son, why are all the pages stuck together?"

 

"MOM YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE THOSE CRAFT PROJECTS"

 

And come on, the mag's title was Nasty Cheerleaders. That's practically tabletop material. 

It's not that the mags were kiddie porn or that it even stretches credulity to have them lying out. But it's just cheap exposition to hammer the point that this dued is a PERVERT. Just like the boyfriend is CREEPY. In case you couldn't tell, he's playing super violnt video games and listening to loud music. It lacks any sort of the subtlety and patience that shows like The Wire (which this inexplicably keeps getting compared to) or Deadwood applied to their characters. Which is one thing if you're doing a cool action show like Justified, but when you're clearly shooting for prestige, it's a different matter.

 

Also, as to the confusion over the cell phone, we're they watching the video (they were), how'd the teacher find it if another message popped up to remind him he had it, etc. Real easy answer: bad writing.

Hey, when I used to live alone I would leave my porn all over the place. It just meant that I'm a slob who doesn't give a shit, not a pervert.

 

Or does it?

Hrm.  The Larsen mafia subplot seems kind of unnecessary. 

 

Still digging this, although I feel like I need a dose of Prozac after each episode. 

So the teacher being involved this early probably means he's not the killer, but I still called him as dirty.

 

Second prediction: Rosie is Rocketeer's daughter. Some one on the campaign staff has her killed to keep her quiet. Or it's the fiance.

"I get really bad nosebleeds."

 

 

......

Yeah, that was one of many things from last nights episode that game me pause.

 

So the goody do good politician takes a check from Cash Money for $50,000?  What about campaign limits?  I thought this guy was supposed to be the "politician that is unlike no other real politician" stereotype.  Isn't the legal limit $3000 per person?

The cops are becoming terribly inept.  "Sorry you ended up seeing grizzly pictures of your murdered daughter.  Won't happen again."  And "sorry I'm just popping into your daughters bedroom.  The door was open." 

Ughh.

Well, that was the first very interesting episode of the show.  Looks like the writers knew that we be thinking the teacher.  Also glad they did a "you would of been smarter" bit about last weeks email.

 

Now if only the political stuff was interesting.  I want something more than "he will build a mall" as a reason why I should be rooting against someone (Or is there some Seattle bias against malls?).  Also did the guy take the $50,000 and decide the money was best used via a billboard?  You getting hammered that you may of been involved in a murder and your way of combatting it isn't a TV blitz but a billboard?  Now I am hoping the mayor is re-elected.

 

The bit I'm most interested in.  In the opening sequence of events the one drug user was freaking out about what he thought the police had.  Ok, considering he calmed down after seeing what they did have, what did the guy think the police had.

 

The worst when they showed the footage of the girl at the party. The one where she just wants to live life. A good, long life.

 

Yeesh.

Yeah, this show kind of wears its misery like a cloak.  

 

I'm still on board but my affections towards this are wearing thin.

 

About the nosebleed. I've seen some really bad nosebleeds in my time and trust me you bleed a lot. You'd be surprised at how big a nosebleed can be. I'm talking about being drenched in blood Carrie style afterwards and having to go the emergency room and cauterize it because the girl was about to faint from the blood loss. Hey, that's a nice memory.

 

So the teacher is out of the running, too. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't even screwing Rosie. I'm betting the gay card is getting played next episode and the creepy letter was just shitty poetry or something. But the Viking Mob sub-plot came out of fucking nowhere. Also, we get it, the family is grieving. Spare us the five minute sequence of them picking a fucking coffin and the priest bullshit.

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I thought he was going into withdrawal from being detained so long.

 

As for the varied plots, it doesn't really bother me.  The show is titled, "The Killing".  They're simply tackling that event from a more global perspective, showing how it affects a community on multiple levels: from the political down to the familial.  I like it for that reason, although I'm sure many of those perspective will eventually tie more directly into Rosie's death itself.

 

That being said, for most of the reasons already mentioned, I thought this episode was the weakest of the bunch so far.  I start getting bored when the show veers off into the private life of Ginger Detective and this episode seemed to have an abundance of that.  How many episode are planned for this?
 

 

I like the two leads a lot but slowly, slowly realizing that this show isn't that good. Cake scene: WTF?

Heh, after last night's episode, I get the feeling I'd like the Swedish version A LOT more.

 

Seemed like a pretty straightforward scene showing the fiance & son bonding, to me.  Or did you mean "WTF?" in a "Who the hell cares?" way?

I liked the coffin scene with the creepy used-car-salesman funeral director. His sales pitch caused more skin crawling for me than anything else in this often dark and creepy show. It also worked well to contrast the "pretty box" with the images of their daughter they saw at the police station; it's fantasy vs reality.

Yeah, I'm not sure what's to complain about, it's just a short scene showing the two men in her life commiserating over how absent she is with the case taking over her life. It's a nice improvement over the awkward phone calls.

Danish, but whatever.

 

Point is, you would.  Having just finished the first season, I can say that if you don't mind putting up with the "Masterpiece theater"esque production budget, the original is a markedly better overall show.

 

This is turning into "The Walking Dead" -- strong opening, only to go steadily downhill and disappoint, with almost every single change from the source material weakening the story.  The political subplot is total shit, for example.

Edited by pervis42 - 4/19/11 at 9:24pm

Oops! My bad. I had it in my head that the Swedes were into really violent things. In addition to their love of smooth pop.

I don't think we've hit Walking Dead levels of bad quite yet. Well, not even close. For example, there are still characters that are interesting. The two mains, in particular, keep me interested in tuning in. And there seem to be some promising characters on the sidelines (Brenden Sexton's bud/co-worker to the mourning dad, for example). Certainly nothing's quite lived up to the punch of the first two episodes. But we are still early in. Be nice to see the mystery deepen without resorting to red herring after red herring, though.

 

Starting the pilot now. Worried. I have to look at this woman lead the whole show?

 

Pretty much. Though Billy Campbell is sprinkled in. 

 

She's great on the show. And married to Alan Ruck in RL!

Holy ugly. Would their kids even have faces?

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I feel your pain.  There should be some sort of law against casting gingers in lead roles.  That being said, she's pretty damn good in the role.
 

 

Enos is hardly ugly. And certainly what got me interested in the series in the first place. She was great in Big Love.

Argh!  I woman without makeup!  My eyes!  My eyes!  Seriously, I know she's not all glammed up for the show, but give me a break, guys. 

 

I'm not ready to write this show off as another "The Walking Dead" just yet.  The 3rd and 4th episodes haven't been as good as the pilot, but it's not like we've reached "misunderstood Latino gang is just protecting the nursing home" levels of stupid.

Enos is a decent actress who probably deserves better than this. I buy her in the role, which is more than can be said for cop actors on some other procedural shows. She has that intelligence and seriousness, and I believe it when they show her character trying to make things work outside the job, trying to hang in there despite having to deal with some really grim shit on a day to day basis.

 

It was just tonally weird to me. And unless Callum Keith Rennie turns out to be the killer (just like in Harper's Island) or something, his character on this show is sort of pointless unless he's sharing a scene with Enos.

I actually REALLY like the lead. It would be nice though if she could actually solve some mystery. Up to this point all of the evidence has either been stumbled upon or her partner has found it. I mean I guess you could count her finding the letters but her partner still figured it out first.

Yeah, he figured it out....following her orders!

 

Callum Keith Rennie better not have any involvement other than Linden's home life. Guy is a great actor, and can certainly play sinister...but having him involved in anyway undermines what they've shown us about Linden. She's got keen instincts. Well, she was fooled by the sex basement nosebleed, but WHO WASN'T? She's not engaged to a baddie. And if she is....

 

The show will certainly have Walking Deaded itself.

 

Grace, I hope you are not including me in your reprimand. I'm a fan of Enos' talent and looks. Plus, I loved her on The Dukes of Hazzard.

Well, she was the one that figured out where Rosie's body was by observing the teenagers with their fishing poles!  So, there's that, as well.

 

 

Grace, I'm sorry.  I don't believe that she's hideous, but she's not my cup o' tea.  It is what it is (and no amount of make-up is going to make a difference there).  As I said, however, I think she's giving one hell of a performance.

 

There are enough actresses that I want to fuck already. It's okay for one show to have one I just want to watch. Blue hue over blue balls, in this case.

Hey, I'm not saying you have to find you have to find her attractive.  Let's just not act like it's some sort of affront on your senses to look at a woman who is, at worst, average looking.  It's not like she's playing a model.  It really only bothers me because I actually found it refreshing to see someone in a role like this who didn't look like Detective Barbie.

 

And sorry, Kevin, that wasn't directed at you.  And, I agree, if Callum Keith Rennie ends up being the killer this show will be dead to me. 

I'm in the same boat. The cop dynamic is cool, but everything else is pretty hammy. Also, I'm not quite sure what's supposed to set this show apart from Murder One, Damages or any number of other mystery shows...

15 years?

That was a part of it.  But he was expecting his friend to flip on him about something (even if it wasn't about the murder) until he saw that tape and realised they didn't have anything.  I doubt it was going to be just a drug charge.  I calling it that even if this guy was not involved in the murder that he know something that will shed light into Rosie's murder.

 

 

Three points:

 

1. The kids on this show are particularly bad actors. That has to be one of the worst withdrawal scenes I've ever seen. Plus, how long could he possibly have been in there from where the last episode ended, that he's already detoxing.

 

2. I'm putting the chances that her fiance is involved as pretty strong.

 

3. In what world is Enos, make-up or no, not attractive?

Pretty sure she could solve something if she quit chewing on gum.

To be fair, quitting smoking is hard.

As if they couldn't make the political plot more generic, was anyone else really annoyed by the rich guy who was basically a surface-level clone of a Mark Cuban type?  Not enough people on this show feel too removed from stock characters, and it's got me wanting to stop watching.

This show reminds me a lot of Rubicon: An intriguing premise that starts out promising, then it just stays in that one mode until I stop caring. There's a difference between "slow burn" and just "slow," and I'm just about done with this show.

 

C'mon, that last scene was a gem. The political hopeful trying to get out from under the dead girl... by wrapping his arm around the teacher who's about to be arrested on suspicion of fucking and killing her.

Awesome. Funniest thing I've seen all week.

Callum Keith, stop creeping around the edges, shooting the camera weirdo looks! You are a concerned fiance. That is it!

 

I'm sticking with the show because of the two mains. Those characters are great, and would be interested in following them into season two. But I agree about the glacial pace. The parents are both amazing, but more X-Files, less Rabbit Hole!

Gotta say, the father's breakdown at the gas station was fucking harsh. 

 

I'm still with the show, but all the political stuff is kind of D.O.A. 

Yeah, sharing same sentiments with everyone else. This episode was an improvement in that they didn't dismiss the teacher within ten minutes and move onto the next red herring, and also there weren't any annoying teenagers.

 

However, the scene with Rocketeer (I seriously can never recall the name of his character, which really kind of points to how weak of a character he is) and the mother in the supermarket seems to discount my previous theory about a past fling b/t them, so nip that one. I'm now calling it as the fiance, or the mayor, who couldn't be more of a one-sided caricature. Seriously, it's Seattle. How am I supposed to buy an open homophobe and racist drunkard as the mayor of Seattle?

Pretty much agree. Whenever the show is between the two detectives it livens up considerably.

Although the political stuff wasn't as crap as previously, the grief and the agonized crying on the floor I could do without. And I will never accept Callum Keith Rennie as non creepy. You cannot cast the guy in something like this only to have him play the out of town boyfriend. Something is going on.

I suppose I am just a retard or stupid because I find this show fascinating. I am anxious to see how the different stories connect. I am also surprised how much I care about a character being murdered although I never got to know her. I like the slow burn and it is just about what I expected. *shrug* Like I said, I am either dumb or my standards are too low.

Yeah no way that teacher killed her. I don't think they are going to make their only non-white character the killer. There might be an affair but thats it. Also yeah that evil politician is horribly written. Im sure there are guys in politics that are wildly racist, sexist and homophobic but what are the odds they work all 3 into a 5 minute conversation, part of which was actually in front of a black guy?

One big problem with the show is if you're at all familiar with any Scandinavian police dramas, this is utterly generic and derivative, even for a remake. The characters, cinematography, pacing, music, everything feels like it could've come straight from the many Wallanders, Becks, etc. we have. And that's even without seeing the Danish original. Hell, I feel like the Canadians have been doing shows like this better for a few years now. But I can understand how in a TV landscape of Mentalists and CSIs this show is a welcome exception.

 

Still, the main issue is the characters. I just don't give a damn about any of them. One should feel for Rosie's parents and I like both actors a lot, yet apart from the pilot I've been dozing off during their scenes. I think there's a seed of greatness in the pairing of Linden and his partner, and if/when season two is about a different crime sans the politics, I'll be tuning in for that.

 

Between this and the nosedive The Walking Dead did after the pilot, AMC is having some trouble with its programming quality-wise.

 

Go watch Due South.