You're Killing Me

With Kitkat's internet prowess, Fauntleroy and I never long to be informed of the latest and greatest trends in all things pop-culture. And quite often beyond. Melancholia and one very odd zombie pilot aside, we have rarely been led astray.

He was bang on the money with AMC's The Killing. Based on a Danish series, it chronicles the murder of Rosie Larsen. The first season was suspenseful, stressful, action packed and really first rate. Well, with the exception of a completely irrelevant episode about Sarah Linden's (lead homicide detective) son Jack.

That's the first sign that a TV series is being drawn out rather than getting to the point. Think about the entire second season of LOST. For the most part, those back stories were pointless.

From the sounds of this, you might think I spend a lot, in fact too much time, watching TV. I can unequivocally say that I do not. I don't even have cable and get a whopping 3 channels. I did however have a nighttime soap addiction growing up, and I think The Killing needs to learn a couple things from some of it's more successful predecessors. 

They have clearly learned the art of the cliffhanger from Dallas. Spoiler alert! Darren Richmond getting shot was no "who shot JR?" as we saw who did it. Following that up with the picture from the bridge though, now that was good. 

However, the rate at which the show is making any and all characters the prime suspect seems to be putting them on a slippery slope to the 1985 - 1986 "dream" year of Dallas and we ALL know what happened after that. Or, as they call it in the business, The Killing is starting to jump sharks.

The other parallel I will draw is to the much hyped and fantastic first season of Twin Peaks. Piper Laurie and Sherilyn Fenn, enough said. The entire first season had everyone on the edge of their seats, coffee and cherry pie in hand, questioning "who killed Laura Palmer?"

By the end of the first season though, Joan Rivers correctly answered that question on her talk show with "who cares?"

Who killed Rosie Larsen? Let's just put us all out of our collective misery, copy Twin Peaks, and say it was her father. Done.

Kitkat, your my monkey and you'll dance when I tell you to dance, now dance! Or find me something else to watch on Thursdays.