The Killing is a crime drama that aired on AMC for three seasons, then it was announced that the series was being cancelled. Netflix decided to add a fourth season, which would only consist of six episodes. This would give the viewers, who had followed it from the beginning, a true closure to the series, which most thought that it deserved.

The series starts out by introducing to us the perplexing, homicide detective duo, Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman, RoboCop). Thes two are challenged by their secret pasts involving mental illness and drug addiction, which they are forced to put aside in order to solve several intricate, highly publicized murder cases. Their first case revolves around the disapearance and murder of a Washinton teenager, Rosie Larsen (Katie Findlay). Her parents, Mitch (Michelle Forbes, In Treatment, True Blood) and Stan (Brent Sexton, Judging Amy), became so distraught by the murder of their daughter, that things were surely not going to turn out good for them.

Sarah, being the verteran detective, leads the investigations with her knowledge and experience. All the while, she is struggling with being a single mother to her son, Jack (Liam James). Holder strives to maintain a relationship with his one and only sister, who has lost all faith in his ability to be drug free and human. Sarah decides to resign from her position and take her chances on trying to live a normal life, but is soon pulled back into the darkside where she is forced to reopen a former homicide case, that she thought was closed.

With the Larsen case behind them, they are sooned faced with a more complexed murder case, that involves the torture and killing of young homeless victims. Holder becomes deeply attached to Bullet, (Bex Taylor-Klaus), who tries to help him solve these heinous seriel murders even though her life will be in jeporady. The streets are a very dark place that many young and old alike, are forced to live and survive. The young teenagers become prey for the psychotic lunatics that will go to every exttreme to get their fix, even if it means they may get caught and convicted of their crimes.

Holder and Sarah continue to fall into the dark world of depression, anger, and drug addiction, while trying to hold onto what little normalcy that they have left to solve crimes and maintain relationships with those they love.

In the fourth season, they are once again faced with a very bizarre murder crime, which revolves around the only surviving victim and cadet, Kyle Stansberry (Tyler Ross). The twisting and grueling tale of the Stansberry family murders becomes too much for Sarah and Holder. Even though they work diligently to solve the crime, will this be the last murder case that the detectives work together?

Review

The Killing is a mysterious crime series that will keep you on the edge of your seat, throughout all four seasons. One minute you will be accusing the father, then the priest, then the colonel, and at times you may question Holder. Could he have possibly had a hand in the murders? The most touching scene throughout the entire series is when the Larsen family is gathered around their small television set to watch a short video of Rosie before she was murdered.

This is a great show that everyone should definitely watch. It shows how murdered victim’s families are torn apart by their murders. Some families may survive such casualties, but some cannot. This show also shows how one parent will stay behind in an attempt to raise the remaining children in a normal, loving environment, while the other parent runs away to maintain what little sanity they have left. 

Although, the first season was enthralling, it was a little drawn out. All in all, I liked the last season the best. I feel that Tyler Ross’s acting was superb and how he brought his character, Kyle to life just shows how talented he truly is. I liked Joe Kinneman’s character, Holder, but there were times that his cheesy dialouge really irked me. I give this series 8 stars.