The Killing -- new series on AMC

[AuntiePam]

Debuts this Sunday.

From the Kansas City Star:

"Each episode of “The Killing” will depict 24 hours in the life of the investigation. That’s drawing comparisons to “24” from some critics, including NPR’s David Bianculli, who thinks the investigators, played by Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman, also interact a lot like Mulder and Scully from “The X-Files.” Other critics think the intertwined storylines about politics of the town are reminiscent of “The Wire” and “Murder One.”

Still, those are all awesome shows to draw from, and everyone who’s seen “The Killing” seems to like it. And just to be clear, “The Killing” is based on an acclaimed, addictive Danish TV series titled “The Crime.”"

It's being filmed in Seattle, which was home for 25 years.

Sounds good -- what do you think? I'm hoping it'll hold me for drama until Breaking Bad comes back.

[Erdosain]

I'd prefer to watch the Danish original first, but since I don't have that option, I'll watch this one. AMC is on a roll.

[guizot]

I haven't seen the Danish one. (But then, I'm not Danish, so don't shoot me.)

However, what I'd really like to see in this is a murder mystery where the identification of the murderer isn't really the point, but just a McGuffin.

[AuntiePam]

I missed most of the first hour -- thought it started at 9 p.m. -- but I really liked what I saw (the second hour).

My favorite part was when Holder (the detective)

SPOILER:

faked out the girls to find the cage

. That had me going for awhile -- not long though. You don't get this old and watch as much TV as I have without spotting a fakeout.

I hope they don't have it raining all the time though. Most of Seattle's "rain" is a gentle mist. I spent most of my time there without owning an umbrella.

[obfusciatrist]

Yeah, TV never does Seattle (or Portland) rain right, but it is late October/early November so constant reasonably heavy rain isn't unreasonable. And I grew up there and never owned an umbrella (just got wet, later was dry).

Quite enjoyed it so far.

The part that got to me a bit was

SPOILER:

the four level deep "discovery" of the body. The police finding the body, dad seeing the police find the body, mom hearing his reaction on the phone, and her kids watching her with no idea what is going on but it scares them.

[Tarwater]

It seems like it's going to be a fairly mediocre show. It's one step above other cop procedurals, but it's operating in a genre that's really become threadbare and tedious, and I think you can see that in a lot of the characters here, many of whom are arch-types straight out of How to Write a Cop Show 101. The only character worth watching is Holder, played brilliantly by Joel Kinnaman. He really steals every scene he's in. There's nothing original or likeable about any of the other supporting characters, with the possible exception of Rosie's mother, and maybe her father, who's been struck from the same lower middle class, blue collar proud hard-working loveable father mold they use for every other episodic cop procedural where they need a caring parent. And Linden is basically every female copy in every television show ever made, with the added bonus of being the Competent Detective Working One Last Case Before She Leaves. Hopefully they'll start to subvert some of the expectations and standards of the genre, otherwise I can't see it accomplishing a whole lot, in terms of being a good and worthwhile show.

[groovie]

Dang. I was hoping that AMC would do a good job with this, but based on your comments perhaps not. I'll check out the pilot anyway.

[ShelliBean]

I really liked it. I originally felt I didn't have a place in my life for another cop/crime drama but I decided to give it a shot when AMC force fed me the commercials for the past two days (earned your paycheck that time, didn't you Mr. Marketing Guy?)

The family is the typical blue collar, don't need money because we've got love, tough mom/loveable dad type. Part of the problem with them on things like Law and Order is that you only see them for 5 minutes and get to watch them Kubler-Ross in about half that time so you never really give a crap about them. The discovery mentioned by obfusciatrist was pretty damn good. The comment by the aunt at the end made me think that we aren't going to do the "10 minutes and everyone pulls together out of strength and love" bit. I found it just heartbreaking on the beach when the dad looks at the youngest kid and says, "We're gonna be ok. Right?" I like that there is some stuff that you just don't think about - what do you do with your kids when the cops are going through your house? You have to find something to do, it doesn't just magically happen during commercial.

When Linden picked that picture up and kissed it with the sweet little 6 year old boy I thought "oh shit, apple of her eye blah blah blah" and was pleasantly surprised to see that she had a pain in the ass teenager that is messed up with his move to a new city and stepfather, and that she keeps finding places for him to stay when she works overtime - because that's more like what really happens (to other moms, I don't know any detectives).

And I love the new partner, Holder. I honestly thought he was a creeper for a minute there - you don't know the characters. I also liked the body ID. The music and the way it was handled reminded me of the killing scene (maybe the body finding scene, been a while) of Dead Man Walking.

Unless it takes a nose dive, I'm going to keep watching. The Apprentice has been shifted to hulu status.

[Snickers]

So I saw the commercials, but not the series opener. Wasn't this called Twin Peaks back in the 80s?

[drm]

liked about 90%, but I did roll my eyes a few times with some of the more melodramatic scenes (like the one of the father looking at the picture his daughter drew...there were a few others). Also, those two boys (brothers of the victim) aren't great actors, but what can you expect from a kid.

Otherwise, I thought it was really good.

[simster]

Originally Posted by Tarwater

It seems like it's going to be a fairly mediocre show. It's one step above other cop procedurals, but it's operating in a genre that's really become threadbare and tedious, and I think you can see that in a lot of the characters here, many of whom are arch-types straight out of How to Write a Cop Show 101. The only character worth watching is Holder, played brilliantly by Joel Kinnaman. He really steals every scene he's in. There's nothing original or likeable about any of the other supporting characters, with the possible exception of Rosie's mother, and maybe her father, who's been struck from the same lower middle class, blue collar proud hard-working loveable father mold they use for every other episodic cop procedural where they need a caring parent. And Linden is basically every female copy in every television show ever made, with the added bonus of being the Competent Detective Working One Last Case Before She Leaves. Hopefully they'll start to subvert some of the expectations and standards of the genre, otherwise I can't see it accomplishing a whole lot, in terms of being a good and worthwhile show.

This - thank you - couldn't quite get it written out -

It seems they've gone out of the way to make every character 'unlikeable' to try and throw off the scent of who the killer is - they're trying too hard.

SPOILER:

not sure of his name, but the male assistant to the guy running for office - he's the killer - he's the only one they have gone out of the way to make 'likeable' - it's clearly not the opposition polical (too easy) - its not the family (too honestly distraught) - its not eh jerk boyfriend (again, too easy) -

[obfusciatrist]

Originally Posted by simster

SPOILER:

not sure of his name, but the male assistant to the guy running for office - he's the killer - he's the only one they have gone out of the way to make 'likeable' - it's clearly not the opposition polical (too easy) - its not the family (too honestly distraught) - its not eh jerk boyfriend (again, too easy) -

Weird, you thought everybody else was unlikeable and the only one I thought was particularly unlikeable is the one you thought they were trying to make likable.

What part of "here's how we exploit personal tragedy for political gain" is supposed to make him likable? My thinking was "I hope is isn't him because they're trying to make him look a dick, and so that's too obvious."

If it were and episode of SVU it would turn out to be the female detectives son and she's known it all along and is working to cover it up so that her S&M fetishism (the son found the pictures and it scarred him psychosexually) doesn't come to light.

[simster]

Originally Posted by obfusciatrist

Weird, you thought everybody else was unlikeable and the only one I thought was particularly unlikeable is the one you thought they were trying to make likable.

What part of "here's how we exploit personal tragedy for political gain" is supposed to make him likable? My thinking was "I hope is isn't him because they're trying to make him look a dick, and so that's too obvious."

If it were and episode of SVU it would turn out to be the female detectives son and she's known it all along and is working to cover it up so that her S&M fetishism (the son found the pictures and it scarred him psychosexually) doesn't come to light.

well, ok 'likeable' in the sense that of the entire bunch, he's less unlikeable than most of the others - he's clean cut, energetic and appears 'innocent' - all political folks try to do what he's doing, so he was set up to make the candidate seem 'more honorable' at that point of the episode - of course, by the time its over it'll be the detective's boss - or fiance - since niether got much screen time and were also presented as reasonably nice folks.

[salinqmind]

I'm not overwhelmed. I was hoping it would be much more entrancing than I found it to be, but I'll keep watching as I feel it will get much better. Yes, most everyone is unlikeable. That politician? Automatically loathesome, because, duh, he's a politician, a big phoney like a TV evangelist. The spoiled rich kid and his father, both loathesome. I'm counting on the show to get better. The thing that's worrying me is, the detective's wedding is delayed, and though the fiance sounded like an understanding guy, I'm afraid he's going to go off on her and say "get your ass home right now or we're through".

[obfusciatrist]

I guess where I get thrown off is I didn't find any of the characters (except the rich kid) to be presented as particularly unlikeable. Just not standard TV archetypes of "good person" or "bad person."

But I guess that's why it it's called subjective.

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by salinqmind

The thing that's worrying me is, the detective's wedding is delayed, and though the fiance sounded like an understanding guy, I'm afraid he's going to go off on her and say "get your ass home right now or we're through".

Yep, that situation would be annoying. But we don't know why she's moving to San Diego (or Sonoma?), wherever. How did they meet? Did they meet in Seattle and he took a job in California? We don't know yet, I guess. If he's expecting her to leave her job and take the kid away from his friends, fiance better stay understanding.

Delaying the wedding should be no big deal anyway. Didn't she say she had three weeks to plan a wedding? Maybe she's not that interested in getting married.

I managed to catch most of what I missed but still didn't get the beginning. Why were the detectives so pissed off at the dad? They show up at his house, leave a card with the wife and say dad needs to call them. Then the detective sees the pink bicycle and asks mom "Do you have a daughter?" That was confusing. Why were they there in the first place? Did dad not tell his wife that he'd reported Rosie missing? Why were they mad at the dad?

[Son of a Rich]

Are television viewers ever going to be murdered out? Has there ever been a dramatic cop/detective show whose plots weren't centered around someone being murdered?

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by Son of a Rich

Are television viewers ever going to be murdered out? Has there ever been a dramatic cop/detective show whose plots weren't centered around someone being murdered?

The Wire. There were killings, but the focus of law enforcement was busting the drug ring.

[tarragon918]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

Yep, that situation would be annoying. But we don't know why she's moving to San Diego (or Sonoma?), wherever. How did they meet? Did they meet in Seattle and he took a job in California? We don't know yet, I guess. If he's expecting her to leave her job and take the kid away from his friends, fiance better stay understanding.

Delaying the wedding should be no big deal anyway. Didn't she say she had three weeks to plan a wedding? Maybe she's not that interested in getting married.

I managed to catch most of what I missed but still didn't get the beginning. Why were the detectives so pissed off at the dad? They show up at his house, leave a card with the wife and say dad needs to call them. Then the detective sees the pink bicycle and asks mom "Do you have a daughter?" That was confusing. Why were they there in the first place? Did dad not tell his wife that he'd reported Rosie missing? Why were they mad at the dad?

It's Sonoma, wine country. We didn't really see much about their relationship or why they were moving to California just now. She and he have secrets too, apparently!

The Dad's credit card was the other thing found at the field, along with the pink sweater. That's why the cops were looking to talk to the Dad--they didn't even have a body at that point, nor did they know that there was a daughter in the family, hence the reaction when she realized it was a girl's bike. The parents didn't even know/realize that Rosie was missing yet.

I think this is going to be a really good show, or at least it has the opportunity to be that. It's great too seeing Mirielle Enos, whose work I'm familiar with from Big Love. I just wish it wasn't going to be so dark! Heh, it will be quite dark in places, I suspect. I have no idea who the murderer is, but I do NOT like that male aide to the candidate. I'm thinking either he or the lady either one has been providing the leaks from the campaign. The councilman has some big secret too, Og only knows what!

I haven't had a chance to see the Borgias series on SHO yet - that looks to be good as well. I guess I'll be watching one of these on demand.

[The Second Stone]

I thought it was one of the best things I've seen on television. I don't care for the moving/marriage subplot because it doesn't seem to go anywhere, but the rest is about people who are like people.

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by tarragon918

It's great too seeing Mirielle Enos, whose work I'm familiar with from Big Love.

So that's where I've seen her! I hope she has better luck with her pony tail than she had with the braid.

Thanks for explaining the part I missed. Wow. Clever writers. I like how they did that.

[Shark Sandwich]

I liked it too, but I'm not really sure how I feel about the characters yet. I'm still trying to find the hook that's going to keep the female detective on the case and not flying off to California. If she's going to stay simply because she started the case well, I'm not a police detective so I'm not sure how realistic that is. I thought they'd reveal that she had a daughter that was killed in the same fashion, or some other formulaic thing that you see in shows/movies of this type. Guess that's not a bad thing.

Also, as a parent of two young daughters, the first two episodes were heart wrenching to watch.

[John Mace]

I liked it. Seems like they did an excellent job of setting things up-- defining who the characters are, what their issues are, and how this might possibly play out as it goes forward. Isn't the main character one of the Juniper Creek twins that married Joey in Big Love? And of course we all recognize Ensign Ro.

[Eyebrows 0f Doom]

Originally Posted by simster

well, ok 'likeable' in the sense that of the entire bunch, he's less unlikeable than most of the others - he's clean cut, energetic and appears 'innocent' - all political folks try to do what he's doing, so he was set up to make the candidate seem 'more honorable' at that point of the episode - of course, by the time its over it'll be the detective's boss - or fiance - since niether got much screen time and were also presented as reasonably nice folks.

No way, at this point he's coming across to me as a top suspect (with his whole "It'll be even better for you if the girl is dead!" thing), however I hope that they don't make it that obvious. Or maybe I am just too familiar with all the usual Law & Order tropes - it's never the first suspect or the most obvious one right off the bat (angry ex-boyfriend, political candidate), it's always someone peripheral but who comes into play later on.

Actually, the first thing I thought was that it was dad's racist co-worker.

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by John Mace

Isn't the main character one of the Juniper Creek twins that married Joey in Big Love? And of course we all recognize Ensign Ro.

Yep, she's the one who died when her braid got stuck in the door of the pickup.

Who's Ensign Ro?

Did you guys recognize Brent Sexton from Deadwood. He played Harry Manning, the guy who wanted to start a volunteer fire department.

[ShelliBean]

Ensign Ro is the mom - she was on Star Trek a hundred years ago.

My first thought was that is was the current mayor trying to undermine the new candidate's campaign.

[Skara_Brae]

Originally Posted by salinqmind

The thing that's worrying me is, the detective's wedding is delayed, and though the fiance sounded like an understanding guy, I'm afraid he's going to go off on her and say "get your ass home right now or we're through".

Funny, when I saw Callum Keith Rennie's (the fiancee's) name in the credits, my first thought was "I bet he's the killer." He's played a bad guy in about everything I've seen him in. He seems like a nice guy in this, but it will probably turn out he's abusing the son, or something.

Are they going to be introducing new characters? Or is this it for the suspects?

[Lakai]

The show is walking well traveled ground, but it's doing it well enough for me to continue watching.

I love how the show treated the discovery of the body. That scene is very special to a crime show, and has been done a million times before. There is just no way a murder mystery can skip over the discovery of the murder.

What was different here was that the first episode ended with the discovery of the body, where as with all other shows the body is discovered at the beginning. They even faked us out a couple of times making us think the body would be discovered at the start of the show.

They took their time to set up that scene and it really delivered. From the shot of the trunk opening up to the father breaking down in primal screams. It was the same scene from a million other cop shows, but with far superior acting, set up, and directing. I hope they can manage to do the same thing with other glossed over scenes from cop shows.

I also like what the show is doing with Linden's sidekick. At first it looked like they were working the corrupt and incompetent cop angle, but then they switched gears once he found the cage. The guy just doesn't have the social grace that Linden does, possibly because he grew up around gangsters and drug dealers. But that doesn't mean he's a bad cop, he just has a different skill set, which as we saw can be very effective.

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by Skara_Brae

Are they going to be introducing new characters? Or is this it for the suspects?

Someone posted summaries of the first six episodes at TWOP. If they're accurate (I'll box this),

SPOILER:

new suspects will be introduced.

.

I'm trying to figure out how the killer could be unconnected to the campaign. Sure, the car was reported stolen, but we have to assume it was a false report. Otherwise all this time with the campaign is wasted.

[drastic_quench]

Originally Posted by Tarwater

It seems like it's going to be a fairly mediocre show. It's one step above other cop procedurals, but it's operating in a genre that's really become threadbare and tedious, and I think you can see that in a lot of the characters here, many of whom are arch-types straight out of How to Write a Cop Show 101. The only character worth watching is Holder, played brilliantly by Joel Kinnaman. He really steals every scene he's in. There's nothing original or likeable about any of the other supporting characters, with the possible exception of Rosie's mother, and maybe her father, who's been struck from the same lower middle class, blue collar proud hard-working loveable father mold they use for every other episodic cop procedural where they need a caring parent. And Linden is basically every female copy in every television show ever made, with the added bonus of being the Competent Detective Working One Last Case Before She Leaves. Hopefully they'll start to subvert some of the expectations and standards of the genre, otherwise I can't see it accomplishing a whole lot, in terms of being a good and worthwhile show.

This is my take on it as well. Pass, but I'll read the spoilers in six months or whenever.

[Tangent]

Originally Posted by ShelliBean

Ensign Ro is the mom - she was on Star Trek a hundred years ago.

She got promoted to Admiral (Cain) for Battlestar Galactica.

[Argent Towers]

There are enough motherfucking police procedural shows. I'm sick to death of them. When will they ever think of anything original?

[Diogenes the Cynic]

I tried watching it last night. Got through about a half hour of it. The acting is really bad, especially that actress playing the lead. Also that politician guy.

To me it just came off like another Law and Order type cliched procedural. I could also do without the relationship crap.

[drastic_quench]

It made me realize how much I miss FX's innovative PI show Terriers.

[boytyperanma]

Saw this show pop up and knew nothing about it, googled and found it has connections to Cold Case, one of my favorite shows. Watched the first episodes and it's got my interest but I'm not yet in love. I'll see how it goes.

I don't care for the main character, she's no Lilly Rush. The partner and the husband aren't catching my interest either.

This isn't the first show to go with a long running investigation angle, and my experience has been making the viewers wait till the end of a season for the conclusion kills interest.

The procedural template calls for a crime being solved nearly every episode making each episode stand on its own. This goes against that template and demands the viewers recall and keep track of what went on in the earlier episodes. I think that's just putting to much work in the hands of the regular viewers and makes it impossible for the occasional viewer.

[Corliss]

I loved the show! I thought the part about Holder giving the girls pot was actually left open to interpretation. Holder was already smoking when the girls approached him and said "OMG, are you smoking pot?" I don't why the girls would ask him that particular question unless Holder was indeed smoking pot. I thought Holder behaved rather skeevy around young girls more than once throughout those two episodes. I think future episodes will reveal just what kind of person he really is, and how low he will go to acquire information. It should be interesting!

[Shark Sandwich]

Originally Posted by Corliss

I loved the show! I thought the part about Holder giving the girls pot was actually left open to interpretation. Holder was already smoking when the girls approached him and said "OMG, are you smoking pot?" I don't why the girls would ask him that particular question unless Holder was indeed smoking pot. I thought Holder behaved rather skeevy around young girls more than once throughout those two episodes. I think future episodes will reveal just what kind of person he really is, and how low he will go to acquire information. It should be interesting!

I'm probably wrong here, but I got the impressoin that he wasn't really smoking pot, and was hoping the two girls wouldn't be able to tell the difference. He saw the brown-haired girl smile at him in the hall, and figured that was his mark, and being "cool" would be the way to earn their trust. To me, it was reinforced by the same girl taking a hit, and then about 30 seconds later saying, "Man, I am SO stoned right now."

I know, I know. The chances of a couple of high school kids not knowing what pot smells like is a bit of a stretch.

[Corliss]

Originally Posted by Shark Sandwich

I'm probably wrong here, but I got the impressoin that he wasn't really smoking pot, and was hoping the two girls wouldn't be able to tell the difference. He saw the brown-haired girl smile at him in the hall, and figured that was his mark, and being "cool" would be the way to earn their trust. To me, it was reinforced by the same girl taking a hit, and then about 30 seconds later saying, "Man, I am SO stoned right now."

I know, I know. The chances of a couple of high school kids not knowing what pot smells like is a bit of a stretch.

Well then I'd say that Holder is either more intuitive than I thought or just plain lucky to be able to anticipate that much in advance just how these girls would respond to him. But this is also why I said that it seemed pretty open for interpretation. They left it to the audience to draw their own conclusions one way or the other, or at least that's how it seemed to me. But this was just part 1, wasn't it? It'll be interesting to see what Holder does in future episodes. I think we'll truly see what he's all about as the show progresses. By the way, I agree, high school kids not knowing what pot smells like IS a bit of a stretch.

[obfusciatrist]

Yeah, I swung back and forth on that one.

Part of me thought he just saw girls eager to seem more worldly than they were and went with it when they reacted to his hand rolled cigarette (which just looks cooler) as marijuana.

The other part of me figured that he came from working undercover so certainly isn't uncomfortable with the idea of using minor illegal behavior to get people to trust him. But this does suggest that either a) he's always carrying his pot around on his person, which seems like a bad idea for any cop, or b) he scored some there on campus, which also seems like a really bad idea.

[Dewey Finn]

I'm assuming that it was real marijuana, although he was smoking it merely to get the kids to open up, and it worked well. (One can assume that a former narcotics officer knows how to get pot quickly and quietly.)

[Eyebrows 0f Doom]

I don't think it was actually marijuana, and the girls clearly had no idea what they were smoking. The one girl saying "I am so stoned" immediately after taking one small hit made it obvious to me that the girls were not familiar with marijuana and were just pretending to so they would seem cool for the cop.

[Corliss]

Could it also be possible that Holder was indeed just standing around and actually getting high for a moment of personal leisure? He may have not been doing it with the intention of letting the girls "take a hit." Remember, it was the girls who approached HIM and they asked "are you smoking pot?" That itself would seem to show that the girls knew what Holder was smoking, perhaps because of the distinctive odor. Again, he may have decided as a quick, unplanned, last minute move, to use these girls for information. One of the girl's reactions saying that "she's so stoned" could be that she's inexperienced in smoking pot but that doesn't mean they don't know what it is, how it smells, etc. And I'm sorry, but Holder comes across as a total rogue. The first two hours of the show revealed his roguishness quite effectively. Getting these girls high does not seem beneath him at all.

[Sage Rat]

Originally Posted by guizot

I haven't seen the Danish one. (But then, I'm not Danish, so don't shoot me.)

However, what I'd really like to see in this is a murder mystery where the identification of the murderer isn't really the point, but just a McGuffin.

Twin Peaks?

[guizot]

Originally Posted by Sage Rat

Twin Peaks?

Before my time.

[Tarwater]

Originally Posted by Corliss

Could it also be possible that Holder was indeed just standing around and actually getting high for a moment of personal leisure? He may have not been doing it with the intention of letting the girls "take a hit." Remember, it was the girls who approached HIM and they asked "are you smoking pot?" That itself would seem to show that the girls knew what Holder was smoking, perhaps because of the distinctive odor. Again, he may have decided as a quick, unplanned, last minute move, to use these girls for information. One of the girl's reactions saying that "she's so stoned" could be that she's inexperienced in smoking pot but that doesn't mean they don't know what it is, how it smells, etc. And I'm sorry, but Holder comes across as a total rogue. The first two hours of the show revealed his roguishness quite effectively. Getting these girls high does not seem beneath him at all.

Given his conversation with Linden preceding the incident, his leading of the conversation with the two girls, and his sudden and immediate disinterest in them once they told him where the local kids hung out to get high, I find it really difficult to believe that his primary motive for being there was anything else than juicing a couple of young, gullible teenagers for information. He put himself directly in the path of the two girls -- it seemed to me like they had to walk by him to get where they were going, which I presumed was a storage locker or whatever. I mean, he was in narcotics before this, wasn't he? Manipulating the two girls for information by leveraging his rebellious status as a drug-user is exactly the kind of thing he'd have done a hundred times before during his tenure in a narcotics unit.

[Tangent]

Originally Posted by boytyperanma

This isn't the first show to go with a long running investigation angle, and my experience has been making the viewers wait till the end of a season for the conclusion kills interest.

Like AMC's own Rubicon. Which I actually liked, but man was it slow-paced.

[Lakai]

Originally Posted by boytyperanma

This isn't the first show to go with a long running investigation angle, and my experience has been making the viewers wait till the end of a season for the conclusion kills interest.

The procedural template calls for a crime being solved nearly every episode making each episode stand on its own. This goes against that template and demands the viewers recall and keep track of what went on in the earlier episodes. I think that's just putting to much work in the hands of the regular viewers and makes it impossible for the occasional viewer.

This show isn't for viewers who can't remember a plot that goes on for more than two episodes. People who watch these types of shows don't do it for the mystery. They do it because they like the characters and want to see what happens to them.

It's no coincidence that AMC keeps developing shows that don't have plots contained in one episode. They've had success with Mad Men and The Walking Dead, which both put up good cable ratings and both aren't accessible to casual viewers.

[Chefguy]

I must be watching a different show than some of you. I thought it was very well acted and extremely well edited. I'm not sure exactly what you guys think would be a new twist on a cop show; maybe it just doesn't have enough car crashes and gratuitous violence to hold your attention.

[Erdosain]

Originally Posted by Chefguy

I must be watching a different show than some of you. I thought it was very well acted and extremely well edited. I'm not sure exactly what you guys think would be a new twist on a cop show; maybe it just doesn't have enough car crashes and gratuitous violence to hold your attention.

I agree completely. I thought it was a little slow-paced, but very good and miles better than any other police show currently on TV. I wish they'd show two episodes a week like they did last week: that would help keep the pace up without sacrificing the careful and methodical way they're building this.

I can't think of any police procedural show on TV right now that doesn't have a Mystery of the Week. That's what they have to do to keep it going 22 episodes a year. Thank god cable is here to give us shorter, tighter story lines.

[Tarwater]

Originally Posted by Chefguy

I must be watching a different show than some of you. I thought it was very well acted and extremely well edited. I'm not sure exactly what you guys think would be a new twist on a cop show; maybe it just doesn't have enough car crashes and gratuitous violence to hold your attention.

No, I just expected something good.