I'm forced to agree with Kevin. I had some interest in the series around mid-season, but as it's grown longer, it's also gotten much, much weaker, with last week's episode -- Scully and Mulder; er, Linder and Holden drive around in the torrential tropical downpours that are apparently Vancouver's -- er, Seattle's main feature -- being the shark-jumping moment. Even my long-suffering wife, who was very high on the series, virtually threw up her hands during that one.
I disagree about the depth of the characters. I find the details hammered in with sledge-hammer subtlety, and the detectives are possibly the dumbest and most careless ever shown on television. (I realize that the "realism" of the series means they won't be Columbo, but I'd expect at least Barney Fife levels of competence.) A friend is sending me copies of the original, which I look forward to with great interest, but if the intention of this show was to examine how a murder affects families, cops, and a community, that interesting idea has degenerated into what I find to be a third-rate melodrama about rain, stupid cops, and hateful families. I'll stick around to see the denouement, but wouldn't return for a second season on a bet. --Dave Sikula On Jun 9, 11:13 pm, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > On Sun, Apr 10, 2011 at 2:44 AM, Adam Bowie <[email protected]> wrote: > > I've not seen the AMC version, but in the UK we've just finished seeing the > > original 20 part Danish version (which dates from 2007/8). It's easily the > > best drama I've seen this year. > > > The detectives are not like your usual ones (Ken Levine viciously took > > apart the standard procedural the other day), and it's not Twin Peaks like > > in that everyone thing is in the realm of the ordinary. We get deep into the > > characters and care about them. How often does a series based on murder > > actually take account of the victim's family? We usually get a teary > > interview and that's it. Everyone's smiling at the end of the episode having > > cracked the case. > > > I'd liken The Killing - again, at least the Danish one - to 24, but only > > because of a vague real-time device (each episode is roughly 24 hours), and > > because later on there are twists and turns. Indeed the closest series must > > probably be series 1 of Murder One. > > > The Danish series is on DVD in the UK, but you'll need a region free DVD > > player if you want to import it. > > > On Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 6:55 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> I think I'm growing tired of TV shows that profess to be dark and edgy > >> just becuse they use a grey filter over the camera lens. The first two > >> episodes are available for free on iTunes. The story was not > >> compelling, and the characters were virtually nonexistent. It is sort > >> of a poor man's "Twin Peaks," and I wasn't all that fond of the actual > >> "Twin Peaks." If you were, you might enjoy this series. > > >>http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTVSeason?id=424... > > I don't know if Kevin stayed with this show, but I have, and it really has > been terrific. I agree with Adam that it really is not much like Twin Peaks, > except it is in the Pacific Northwest, and it is about a murder > investigation. I don't think the 24 comparison communicates very much what > this show is like, but Murder One kind of does (though not really many > lawyers or courtroom scenes). I am not sure what Kevin was reacting to, but > I would say the character development is deeper, more complex and nuanced > then just about anything you are likely to see on television. The story is > also complex and compelling, but not the kind of high concept narrative that > you can see coming in the first episode. I recommend it highly to anyone who > has missed it and has a chance to catch up with it on some platform. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
