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Adapting mystery: what went wrong with THE KILLING?
Nevena Georgieva
Posted: Wednesday, August 1, 2012 10:25 AM
Joined: 2/9/2012
Posts: 427


Last week, AMC announced that it has canceled The Killing, the Twinpeaksesque mystery series, originally hailing from Denmark, about the murder investigation of a teenage girl. The cancellation did not really come as a surprise to anybody, considering that ratings plummeted in the second season. After thirteen episodes of red herrings and Seattle precipitation, the finale of Season One failed to produce the real killer. (Spoiler: They needed thirteen more!) Without further ado, to those who watched the series: what do you think about the way the show stretched the quest for one murderer over the course of two seasons? And if you have seen the critically acclaimed Danish version, Forbrydelsen, what did you make of it? To everybody else: what do you think about adapting mysteries for the small screen in general? Are there rules that should be unbroken, such as a limit to the number of wrong killers before revealing the real one?

Colleen Lindsay
Posted: Wednesday, August 1, 2012 11:16 AM
Joined: 2/27/2011
Posts: 353


I don't know that anything went wrong with it; I think that the story wrapped up nicely after the end of Season Two, and I was assuming that it was a completed story arc. I didn't think there would be a Season Three, so I was surprised to hear that they had been contemplating one. I really enjoy this kind of slow storytelling, especially with crime drama. 

Nevena Georgieva
Posted: Wednesday, August 1, 2012 11:38 AM
Joined: 2/9/2012
Posts: 427


I finished the show in 2 weeks...so I really love it, too! And I actually liked that the writers took advantage of my knowledge of story development & resolution, and used it to surprise me even more.

I wonder, though, what it was like for people who had to wait several months for the show to resume. Yikes. AMC should have done a better job of managing the audience's expectations.

Btw, Netflix might buy The Killing, and in this case there will be a third season!
 

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