The Killing had a pretty gripping storyline for its freshman season, which came to a close on Sunday night. Sure, it got a little sludgy near the middle, but it got through it and broke into a run for a fantastic finish. The series, which was recently renewed for a second season, however, did something unexpected: it didn't solve the mystery of who killed Rosie Larson.
The case, which consumed all of the first season, was expected by many to be solved in the finale. Instead, all the finale supplied us with was more twists -- albeit, deliciously shocking twists. One of those? That Linden's partner Holder turned in false evidence against Seattle mayoral candidate Darren Richmond. While that'll certainly have repercussions into the next season, there's something else that fans are probably more concerned about: just when are we going to found out who killed Rosie?
The answer you seek lies with The Killing's showrunner Veena Sud... and she's sharing!
Talking to TV Guide, Sud revealed that she did have a plan for revealing who killed Rosie, and it would happen soon: "Rosie's case will absolutely continue into Season 2," she said. "The murderer will be revealed in Season 2 and there will also be a new case introduced."
One thing Sud did emphasize, both in that interview and one with TVLine, was that the show was going out of its way to dodge 'formulas.'
"There were a lot of discussions about, 'We’re definitely not going to do the 45-minute procedural,'” Sud told TVLine. "Then we stepped back and said, 'Should we do a murder a season? But is that not creating yet another formula, and yet another expectation, and yet another way to put a bow on a gift and wrap it up really easily?' So then we very organically [determined that Rosie's story] still had other possibilities after 13 hours, after 13 days, so that’s where we went. It was risky, it was brave, it was bold – that’s what AMC is known for."
The Killing has been renewed for a second season, which will likely premiere on AMC in 2012.
This was gimmickery and just plain b.s. As far as "forumulas" I'd take marathons of Criminal Minds and Law & Order over The Killing any day. It was just total b.s. and a complete waste of my time. I won't be watching next season. I don't care about any of these characters. I don't care about Rosie or who killed her. I don't care about her crappy parents. I don't care about the politician or even if he was shot. I'd take Lennie Brisco (L&O) and Morgan & Dr. Reid (Criminal Minds) over these drab characters from The Killing any day of the week.
I don't really see what her talk of formulas has to do with the show that she's running. Yes, on other shows, cases do get wrapped up in 42 minutes. Obviously that's not what she's doing, as the case was going on for the whole season. Where they were supposed to break formula was with increased emphasis on characterization, and we didn't really get that. The characterization that we did get, they shot to hell for a twist that doesn't even make sense.
You are both spot on with your comments. The "anti-formula" talk is such pompous crap. There's a reason a murder a season works: because when you focus an entire season on one crime, you are setting out to tell a contained story, and stories have a beginning, middle and end. If this was a different show, where the murder case was intermixed with cases-of-the-week or any other compelling story elements, it might make sense to stretch the big mystery out for more than a season, but even that would be iffy and run the risk of alienating the audience. As it was, this show spent an entire season arc (by the way it's called "arc" for a reason, again with that beginning, middle end thing) on ONE mystery, where every single character was related to that ONE mystery, and only shown or characterized as far as how it related to that ONE mystery. To stretch that mystery into the next season as a cheap way of trying to manipulate viewers into returning when many otherwise would not have (and still might not) was the ultimate sign of hollywood trickery, which is the opposite of what the writer purports to be against in her interviews.
I do not understand why everybody is getting so bent out of shape. When Twin Peaks revealed Laura Palmer's killer, people fell off in droves. End of mystery, end of show. I'm sure the people involved with this show know this. Also, a lot of people were drawn to this show based on the premise similar to Twin Peaks. People should have known this was going to be the case. The show this is based on ran 20 episodes anyway. Besides, there is no end to the number of shows that wrap up their story in 45 minutes. Go watch them.