By Amalia Newhagen, Staff Writer
The Killing will undoubtedly leave your mouth hanging open by the time you finish the pilot episode. It’s nothing like the stereotypical murder mystery, but instead focuses on the corrupt, shady part of a murder investigation involving not only the suspects of the crime, but the family members as well.
Although shows like Criminal Minds, or Law and Order are comparable to this one, those episodes always end on a positive note even though the audience just witnessed a horrific murder. Viewers watch the profiling team laughing, or socializing at a dinner party as if none of them remember the serial murders they were investigating just hours ago. The Killing differs from these types of shows and explores the audience’s dark emotions as well as the characters. If you’re planning to chow down on some popcorn and watch a light-hearted murder mystery, I hate to disappoint you, but this is really not the show for you.
The pilot episode of The Killing is directed by Patty Jenkins (Monster and Wonder Woman for Warner Brothers) with showrunner/creator Veena Sud at the helm. The show captures a realistic perspective of the gruesome murder of seventeen-year-old Rosie Larson (Kadie Findlay.) It takes place in dreary Seattle where the viewer can almost feel the fog through the screen. Classical music is frequently played throughout the show as well to create a powerful effect on the watcher.
The episode opens with Sarah Linden, played by Mireille Enos, (The Catch, World War Z, If I Stay, and The Captive) at her last day on the job as a homicide detective who plans to move to California and begin her new life with her fiancé and teenage son. Her plans change when Rosie Larson turns up missing, leaving behind a bloody sweater and her dad’s credit card in an abandoned park solely visited by drug dealers and prostitutes.
Linden’s ready to hand the job over to Stephen Holder played by Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad, Robo Cop) but she feels an instinct to find Rosie as if she were her own daughter. The team eventually finds Rosie in the trunk of a car underwater in a lake, but the episode is based more on the investigation and interviewing of parents, Stan and Mitch, (Brent Sexton and Michelle Forbes) versus the discovery of the body itself.
Sarah Linden is portrayed as a solemn character that cares a whole lot about her son and other people in her life, but has a hard time expressing any emotion besides seriousness. Stephen Holder on the other hand is characterized as a shady-looking detective who looks like he’s on some type of drug. Overall though, Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman play their parts pretty well. They depict each character realistically and manage to capture the viewer. I would highly recommend purchasing or watching The Killing, because it gives the viewer what no other show can nowadays: authenticity.