Guest Blog Post: Acadia Reviews AMC’s The Killing
Well, color me surprised! My good friend Acadia, one of the head honcho’s over at The Superficial Gallery, volunteered tonight to write a post for my site. He’s quite the movie aficionado and is always telling me what shows and movies I MUST watch, so please take a moment and read his review of AMC’s The Killing. And if you feel inclined, please feel free to leave a comment on your thoughts on the show. I have not seen it yet, so I’m leaving it up to all of you to decide whether or not I should take the time and watch it.
ENJOY!
I’m three episodes into AMC’s The Killing and I’ve decided that I’m going to stick with it. That said, I have some issues. Not anything you haven’t heard before, probably. “Who Killed Rosie Larsen” (and why), the tag line is pretty much the same as “Who Killed Laura Palmer” from Twin Peaks. It’s even set in the same state (Washington). So what’s different? Well, without David Lynch, I’m pretty sure that there isn’t going to be anyone carrying a log around but there are still a hell of a lot of things that I find too similar to be an accident.
If you want to see what I mean, then do the following.
1: Watch the first hour of The Killing. You can get it at AMC. Now, this might be a spoiler, but the girl in the show dies. And the girl has parents. So at one point, the parents find out their daughter is dead. That scene is one of the most wrenching I’ve seen in a while.
2: Watch the beginning of Twin Peaks (it’s on Netflix Instant). Watch the parents find out that their daughter is dead.
3: Say WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!?
So, now I have to wonder just how similar they will end up. I know that AMC fashions itself as basic cable’s HBO, but the spy thing (Rubicon) ended up being so convoluted that people got sick of it, and if people do a little research on Twin Peaks, they would find out that people sort of got sick of wondering about who killed Laura Palmer, too. I have my doubts. Involving politicians and revealing that the victim was up to more than met the eye is a tactic that I sort of saw coming, and I’m no TV genius. So I guess I’m saying they better do something to get me excited really fast. Maybe some Madchen Amick!
I’m not saying it isn’t well acted (it is) or that there is no potential (there is) but I’m worried that I’m not going to get something every week to keep me all riled up. And that brings me to what I am comparing the show to: Harper’s Island. Remember that show? It was on in the summer and it was a locked room mystery set on an island? And every week someone new got killed until the end when the number of suspects was crazy small? THAT’S how you do a mystery. Don’t worry about having to give the characters depth. Just kill them. Nothing enters the plot unless it helps people try to figure it out or it kills someone.
So, as of now I’m giving The Killing three out of five knives. That’s based on three episodes. I wish it was called “The Killing of Someone Every Week” but it isn’t. So I will continue to watch the somber-faced ginger detective and wallow in the sadness of everyone involved in the case. I will check back with you in a couple weeks to let you know how I think it’s progressing. I’d also like to know what you think. Did you see Twin Peaks? Compare them! Or compare it to Wipeout. I don’t give a crap. It’s not my site. ZING!
