Really, Really Good TV Series

The Killing is in at least its second year, which is surprising because it's one of the low-key, realistic, non-trendy shows that usually do not appeal to the hip young audiences and is quickly canceled. However, when one realizes that this show is on AMC, it makes sense that it's not just one of the best "cop" dramas on TV, but also one of the best TV shows period. The premise is similar to the popular Keifer Sutherland series 24, with Linda the lead investigator in the case of a murdered teenager found in the trunk of a submerged car. The goal is to investigate the murder along with Linda, putting together the clues with her, and the twists and turns she takes are complicated, frustrating, and believable from the seats on the couch.

The setting is Seattle, where it rains far too much for a desert rat's liking, so we see Linda, long hair pulled back into a pony tail and dressed in jeans, boots, and a pea coat, dragging herself from one lead to another in the constant rain. Linda is not only not a fashionable lead character, but her personality could use a lot of work if her goal were to make friends. She is intense, often to the point of exhaustion, and her intensity interferes with her life as a single mother of a 13-year-old son, as well as with her somewhat pending marriage and relocation. When she catches a case, it is her sole focus to the point of personal sabotage.

Her partner in solving this crime is totally unlikeable, seemingly untrustworthy, and trying too hard to be a badass cop -- but he anchors Linda in reality, especially when he's been up for 48 hours and heads for bed, rather than following-up on a lead that he determines can wait until he's had some sleep. He's been an undercover cop, so he has a tendency to use deception to open doors with witnesses and/or potential suspects, pretending, for instance, to smoke weed with teens at the victim's high school to provide him with a reason for conversation with the otherwise reluctant high schoolers. He uncovers good leads through somewhat unconventional methods, then Linda uses her conventions to follow-up.

This show allows the tension to build with no one saying a word sometimes. When Linda stares at the evidence, there is no requisite room filled with smart-talking peers to break her concentration. When she's upset, she shows it physically, but keeps it internal. Sometimes, the clues that are seemingly going nowhere open with a startling clarity, such as this past episode wherein the word "Adela" and a number written on a piece of paper found between the pages of a book appears on a ferry moored at the dock where Linda finishes a morning run. When Linda uses the random note as another step in the investigation, she also figures out the key the young victim had: it opens the door to a room in a casino along the route of the Adela.

I find myself caught up in the plot, not just watching it. I find myself getting inside Linda's mind, not just watching her. I find myself shivering from all the damned rain and wonder how anyone can do their job under those circumstances. I feel badly for Linda that she's alienated her fiance, her one friend, and her son, but can empathsize with her need to finish what she's started, rather than walking away for personal reasons.

The Killing is a great series. I do not know if the previous season is available at the AMC website, but I know that this season is. I recommend The Killing to anyone who wants to know what has happened to good TV.

OKAY: updating. Her name is Sarah Linden, not Linda, and the sidekick's name is Holder. The series orginated in Denmark, but this is the first American season of it. The website shows lots of information, some interactive aspects, as well as a tracker feature for those who really get into the story and want to investigate along with Linden and Holder. Some viewers claim that they have already solved the murder, but everytime I think I have, the show takes a turn and I'm back at not having a clue who done it.