I know it has had more than its fair share of critics but I liked the American version of The Killing. Let's face it, if it had come out of the blue we would all be raving. But it lived under a very large Danish shadow.
The two versions started almost identically, but at around the half way mark you could see them going their separate ways. The American went more along the lines of a straight thriller, where as the Danish spent a lot more time on character and atmosphere, so you had a real sense of empathy and unease. This made the Larsen's much more complex and sympathetic, in truth, I found their American counterparts a little wearing at times. Also I didn't really like the episode that seemed to ditch all the story-lines, you know where Linden's annoying kid goes missing. The Danish version incorporated it neatly into the narrative.
I've started out saying I liked the American Killing and haven't stopped slagging it off. Right, here is where it made a comeback, with the last two episodes (aired as one on Channel 4) I worried that they were just saying 'sod it let's just finish this thing' but I was wrong, it was tense and exciting with more twists and turns than than the world contortionist championships. An alarm bell did go off in my head, when Tahmoh Penikett turned up as Linden's ex husband. He's a relatively well known actor, to everyone who has seen Battlestar Gallactica and Dollhouse that is, so him being in only one scene made me think this might not finish tonight. And, unusually, I was right, we had a real cliffhanger ending. So, unlike the Danish version, there was no hard and fast conclusion. Where is the American Killing going? In truth, I'm looking forward to finding out.
Over
Pic http://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/3686204244/sizes/m/in/photostream/
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