Review for The Killing Series 1-3 Box Set (US Series)

Introduction

The remake.

So often a dirty word. So often something that goes massively wrong. And even if it does turn out to be any good, fans of the original will still find something to complain about or will sneer at you for only having seen the remake and not the precious original.

Which makes watching something that is a remake with an open mind rather difficult. If you missed watching it first time around, it was still hard to miss the people on the internet jumping up and down about jumpers, differing stories and season finales. If you have missed all of that, well done, and I’m making no further references here so you can watch without prejudice.

This set features the first three series (series 2 and 3 released for the first time in the UK), ahead of series 4 making its debut on Netflix. The Killing tells the story of the investigation of the death of Rosie Larsen, and a whole host of characters from Seattle who may or may not be involved with Rosie, her friends, and family.

The Killing is based on the Danish series Forbrydelsen. It starts out very similar to the Danish version of the show, but when you reach episode 2, things start to move in a different direction.

Video + Audio

I’m not sure about the video here. It veers between stunning and crisp HD, through to grainy/grim/grimy and dirty - this gets massively pronounced in some twilight scenes and also some of the indoor scenes in the Mayoral campaign office.

I’m thinking that this was all intentional (Seattle is often rainy and grey), and as first broadcast (but I’ve never seen it broadcast), but sometimes it looks so messy as to be a distraction…

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio soundtrack is a good one, dialogue is always clear, and there are some nice sounds dotted around the sound stage at various points. And that recent Nordic noir trend of using some atmospheric music to round out every episode works well here.

Conclusion

It’s a slow burner and no mistake. A few spoilers will follow, so stop reading now if you want to continue in blissful ignorance - I’ll just mention that I’ve really enjoyed this show and I think you should watch it. Ok, ready for mild spoilers? Last chance to back out…

So. That slow burn. It’s really essential. Each episode plays out over a day, and a lot can happen in a day. A lot of things that lead off in a lot of directions. A lot of coincidences. A lot of lying. But like a maze, where all of the walls all continually change, most of the paths you walk down don’t lead to the way out. You think you’ve found the way out, but just when you get to what you think is the end - boom - no way out. You have to retrace your steps and start trying to find another way out. And that way out will probably turn out to be another dead (pardon the pun) end. So you keep going. Eventually you will get your reward. Eventually. The best things come to those who wait.

Overall, the story works, because of all the characters involved, their changing motives, and the lies concealed behind the lies. The plot isn’t overly complex across the three series, and a few lucky breaks help investigations along. The partnership between Linden and Holden looks a bit obvious at the start but soon becomes something worth watching the show for.

Well worth watching.