i haven't been keeping up because the original exists, but the US reaction is sort of interesting
The first was the revelation that the mysterious Muhammed did, in fact, help abduct the Muslim girl Aisha, not for purposes of molestation or murder, but to save her from genital mutilation prior to an arranged marriage. That "The Killing" would toss off a twist like this suggests a racist mentality more troubling than anything explored in the show's pat images of discrimination against Seattle's Muslims. Female genital mutilation is a political and cultural powder keg that deserves to be placed at the center of a series, or at least a multi-episode arc within a series, rather than treated as a handy way to strike a character from a list of murder suspects.
well, if the expert dramaturge matt zoller seitz says so, i guess...
― if white indie hipsters could fly this place would be top gun (history mayne), Tuesday, 31 May 2011 07:49 (twelve years ago) link
mzs's vitriol towards this show is pretty entertaining. I mean the show is a massive disappointment but mzs goes SO hard at it every week.
― Clay, Tuesday, 31 May 2011 08:18 (twelve years ago) link
this past week was way better.
― akm, Tuesday, 31 May 2011 16:59 (twelve years ago) link
the resolution of this is going to be lame.
i mean, really?
― daria-g, Monday, 13 June 2011 02:57 (twelve years ago) link
the grand canyon shirt thing, now that i think of it, is dumb. but i don't really have any problem w/ this show -- are most of peoples issues w/ it unique to the US version and totally changed from the original?
― how to turn your swag on 3D (some dude), Monday, 13 June 2011 03:05 (twelve years ago) link
i haven't seen the original! my issues with this.. well, i am still watching so whatever, i still enjoy it although the writing can be flat at times.. and the twists just too contrived. also, 'orpheus' - is this supposed to be cryptic or is it intentional that it takes about 5 seconds to figure out who they're pointing to with that?
― daria-g, Monday, 13 June 2011 03:10 (twelve years ago) link
well they introduced that name and then indicated who it was in the same episode what 20 minutes later? so there wasn't any attempt to build suspense.
― how to turn your swag on 3D (some dude), Monday, 13 June 2011 03:13 (twelve years ago) link
yeah i think my irritation is more 'what kind of fool would use that name on his email' because the answer is 'a goth who lives in his parents' basement'
― daria-g, Monday, 13 June 2011 03:17 (twelve years ago) link
renewed
― Gukbe, Monday, 13 June 2011 22:35 (twelve years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/TUNdm.jpg
Why does he receive campaign emails at his orpheus account?
― polyphonic, Monday, 13 June 2011 22:42 (twelve years ago) link
yeah I wondered that too, sloppy. although maybe he has forwarding set up on one of them.
― akm, Thursday, 16 June 2011 23:20 (twelve years ago) link
anyway resolution of this is going to bug me becaues I do not feel that richmond was suitably set up to be the killer; he is too smooth and stuff which is weird but this just seems out of the blue to me. so maybe they are going to surprise me? I don't know.
am I to belive rosie was working as an underage call girl, her aunt (who was also a call girl with the same service) didn't realize it, and rosie, despite being photographed all dolled up in the atm camera, was wearing a grubby old grand canyon sweatshirt to her last visit with a john? what?
― akm, Thursday, 16 June 2011 23:23 (twelve years ago) link
She wasn't wearing the shirt. It was in the laundry.
― polyphonic, Thursday, 16 June 2011 23:24 (twelve years ago) link
I think it's either Gwen or Jamie or...ah, I don't give a shit who did it any more. Just one more episode and I don't have to think about watching this show again.
― righteousmaelstrom, Thursday, 16 June 2011 23:32 (twelve years ago) link
plz could one of you has also seen the original Forbrydelsen series simply let me know if The Killing follows the same plotline note for note? I have seen the first four or five eps, over the course of which it seemed esp. dutiful to Forb., but stopped & have not gotten back to it. I was thinking about catching up, but will prob not bother doing so if it is just basically hitting ALL the same plot points (suspects etc.) as the original. i have purposefully avoided web chatter on it in case it does go off on its own path & I might end up spoiling it for myself..
― Heady Snobbin (Pillbox), Friday, 17 June 2011 00:37 (twelve years ago) link
i have heard that the ending is different. beyond that i don't know. i watched a trailer for the american version and the lighting, music, and tone were so exactly the same that it seriously gave me the heebie jeebies. like an alternate universe. this is not my beautiful house! who am i???
― 40% chill and 100% negative (Tracer Hand), Friday, 17 June 2011 10:26 (twelve years ago) link
it made me feel like i was in existenz.
― 40% chill and 100% negative (Tracer Hand), Friday, 17 June 2011 10:40 (twelve years ago) link
Hmm, very good finale. Guess I'll keep watching this when it comes back.
― polyphonic, Monday, 20 June 2011 03:03 (twelve years ago) link
Wow fuck this show
― lemon kerrang! (jjjusten), Monday, 20 June 2011 03:14 (twelve years ago) link
no doubt
i knew that other detective was up to something on the side
― daria-g, Monday, 20 June 2011 03:21 (twelve years ago) link
however (WHY AM I THINKING ABOUT THIS) if he is involved in trying to frame richmond, seems like it's done out of convenience more than anything given that they spent half the show investigating bennett
― daria-g, Monday, 20 June 2011 03:30 (twelve years ago) link
This is a pretty good breakdown of everything dumb about this show:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/orpheus-descending,57743/
― polyphonic, Monday, 20 June 2011 06:41 (twelve years ago) link
loooool so I'd heard that there were only 13 episodes to this, so I was like, wow, they really tightened up the plot. But no, they just stopped halfway through!
― 40% chill and 100% negative (Tracer Hand), Monday, 20 June 2011 09:42 (twelve years ago) link
I mean, that episode in the original, where she's on the plane with her son and you can see the gears turning in her mind and you're like "oh my god, she's not going to stop the plane on the runway.... is she??" was AWESOME but if the season ended there i'd want to throw my TV out the window
― 40% chill and 100% negative (Tracer Hand), Monday, 20 June 2011 10:02 (twelve years ago) link
srsly thats what they did??? what!!
― just sayin, Monday, 20 June 2011 10:07 (twelve years ago) link
you crazy americans
Jesus, this show.
― jaymc, Monday, 20 June 2011 13:26 (twelve years ago) link
haha srsly? serves you right for not speaking danish.
― lol j/k simmons (history mayne), Monday, 20 June 2011 13:33 (twelve years ago) link
I just gave up on all of the absurdities in the last episode: How can you threaten to tell the husband of the wife who had the affair with Richmond about the affair when it is on the front page of the newspaper and would also, presumably, be the lead story on the 5 o'clock news? Why didn't Bennett Ahmed's wife recognize the man who nearly beat her husband to death? Why did the hospital let Stan into Bennett's room in the first place?
I know the answer: Not to further the plot, just to churn up drama. Such poor, poor writing. I can imagine many people who haven't seen the Danish version would be hesitant to watch it based on this show. (raises hand)
― righteousmaelstrom, Monday, 20 June 2011 14:37 (twelve years ago) link
yeah to all those points.
I was pretty positive about halfway through blonde campaign worker woman did this out of jealousy. In fact I was positive it would turn out to be her until the ending when it looked like cop dude got into a car with someone else because she was with coucilman guy (sorry I can't remember anyone's name on this).
I'll still watch this next year even though it is ridiculous. It's like the early years of 24 where I excuse all kinds of dumb shit because it's still entertaining.
― akm, Monday, 20 June 2011 14:42 (twelve years ago) link
"blonde campaign worker woman did this out of jealousy" = killed rosie, that is
heh, people are SO MAD about this, guys, i was telling you for MONTHS to just download the danish one, and no one listened, and now look at you
― ☂ (max), Monday, 20 June 2011 14:44 (twelve years ago) link
I actually don't care so much that we didn't learn the identity of the killer; I've gotten the impression that some people think that AMC/Veena Sud betrayed some implicit promise by not revealing it in the final episode. But the writing on this show is so frustratingly sloppy -- and, as righteoumalestrom points out, always in the service of big dramatic moments and confrontations, even when such scenes makes little realistic sense. I have to think that a lot of people who honestly like this show have been fooled by the show's production value, narrative device, and network imprimatur into thinking it's "quality TV."
― Don Rickles on the Dime (jaymc), Monday, 20 June 2011 15:39 (twelve years ago) link
I'm not mad about it, it's just tv. The writing is sloppy but I'm still interested enough for s2
― daria, Monday, 20 June 2011 15:47 (twelve years ago) link
think this is being trailed on ch4 at the moment - they are being very oblique about it with the ads just saying 'who killed ... larson'
― koogs, Monday, 20 June 2011 16:02 (twelve years ago) link
I have to think that a lot of people who honestly like this show have been fooled by the show's production value, narrative device, and network imprimatur into thinking it's "quality TV."
― Don Rickles on the Dime (jaymc), Monday, June 20, 2011 11:39 AM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark
kind of feel this way about every AMC show, personally, they're all pretty flawed, usually from a plotting standpoint, imo
― The bigman from the glorious 'e street' band (some dude), Monday, 20 June 2011 16:43 (twelve years ago) link
curious if all the plot holes or lapses of logic/realism are unique to this version of the show or if some of them were carried over from the Danish version
― ForbezDVDelsen (some dude), Monday, 20 June 2011 16:50 (twelve years ago) link
I've only seen four episodes of Breaking Bad, so I don't feel qualified to comment on it, but I definitely don't feel that way about Mad Men.
― Don Rickles on the Dime (jaymc), Monday, 20 June 2011 17:01 (twelve years ago) link
Mad Men has fewer plot problems than The Killing/Walking Dead/Breaking Bad/Rubicon, but i don't find the plots compelling (though i know i'm in the minority on that)
― ForbezDVDelsen (some dude), Monday, 20 June 2011 17:04 (twelve years ago) link
― ForbezDVDelsen (some dude), Monday, June 20, 2011 12:50 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
iirc there are a couple hanging threads and unexplained bits and a plot whole or two but nothing so big or annoying that the show becomes unconvincing. the danish show is great, it does get pretty nuts-in-a-bad-way toward the last 4-5 episodes (probably more annoying if you have to watch it 1 ep a week instead of all in a row) but the finale is super satisfying
― ☂ (max), Monday, 20 June 2011 17:04 (twelve years ago) link
the gambit of ending the season right in the middle of the original's season is pretty weird -- i wonder if this means season 2 is going to stretch out the last 6 episodes of the Danish 1st season, or divert more into new territory. or maybe they'll just adapt every season of the Danish version into two years worth of shows so that they never run out of source material?
― ForbezDVDelsen (some dude), Monday, 20 June 2011 17:12 (twelve years ago) link
danish first season is 20 episodes, so ending it right in the middle sorta makes sense
― ☂ (max), Monday, 20 June 2011 17:15 (twelve years ago) link
i sort of wanted the danish version to get even crazier, but you become attached to the main characters and that's enough to keep you watching even if it is a bit 'everyone's a suspect'.
― lol j/k simmons (history mayne), Monday, 20 June 2011 17:33 (twelve years ago) link
it may be "right in the middle" but it's not a tidy halfway point -- AMC wouldn't do a 7-episode season, so it raises the question of whether they're going to have it be half the Larsen case and half introducing a new one, or resolving that one early and moving on, or stretching it out for another 13 episodes.
― ForbezDVDelsen (some dude), Monday, 20 June 2011 17:47 (twelve years ago) link
Veena Sud said, "I can tell you there will be a resolution to this investigation in season 2 and there will also be the emergence of another case in season 2, but I can't tell you specifically where either of those happen."
― Don Rickles on the Dime (jaymc), Monday, 20 June 2011 17:49 (twelve years ago) link
I'm not mad about it, it's just tv. The writing is sloppy but I'm still interested enough for s2this!
also it makes me really sad to see my dear seattle depicted in such a dreary light. most of the city (and weather!) in this show don't seem anything like it, really. (probably because it wasn't filmed there, but it irks me that someone is continuing the old 'oh it's pouring rain all the time!' cliche).
― tehresa, Tuesday, 21 June 2011 18:19 (twelve years ago) link
i like 'mad men' v much but don't care about the plot tbh
― daria-g, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 00:39 (twelve years ago) link
Mad Men is a character study and plot is absolutely peripheral to the show, like Sopranos. Breaking Bad is much more of a mix of plot and character. Killing is all plot and could really use some more character.
― akm, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 01:08 (twelve years ago) link
point is AMC's whole "story matters here" marketing angle is kinda funny considering the storytelling problems their shows have almost across the board
― cr?m margera (some dude), Wednesday, 22 June 2011 01:23 (twelve years ago) link
Think Breaking Bad and Mad Men are pretty solid storytelling-wise, at least for their needs. I've got 5 episodes of The Killing left, and the storytelling is woeful (though it really is just as bad as the original).
A blog post by Myles McNutt about the The Killing's threat to AMC's brand.
― Gukbe, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 01:28 (twelve years ago) link