THE KILLING Returns From the Dead... Again

Article first published as THE KILLING Review Season 4 on Seat42F.

THE KILLING, which ran for three seasons on AMC and has been canceled twice before, returns for an abbreviated fourth, and most likely (though one can never say for sure with this show) final, season this week on Netflix. Picking up moments after season three left off, the six hour-long episodes remaining seek to both solve a new case and deal with the aftermath of the previous year’s cliffhanger.

Lest you have forgotten, as year three concludes, Linden (Mireille Enos) shoots her boss and former lover / partner, James Skinner (Elias Koteas), who ends up being the serial killer she is hunting, twice, despite the fact that he is unarmed and kneeling before her. Holder (Joel Kinnaman), a witness to at least the second bullet, freaks out, knowing there is no way for Linden to claim self-defense. Fearing she is about to be locked up, season four’s premiere has Holder scrambling to cover for Linden, who is still in shock, and thus not protecting herself as she should be.

This begins with our characters in a precarious position. As the day after unfolds, it becomes clear very quickly that there are loose ends the detectives might miss. Try as they might to hide the truth, it seems likely that Skinner’s murder will eventually come out. We’re left wondering if both Linden and Holder will go down, as well as what punishment they might face. Could their actions be justified, given the circumstances, or could fate intervene and protect them, even as the body surfaces?

 

My instinct is to say that yes, things will work out all right. THE KILLING is a dark, depressing show, and not everyone makes it out alive. However, Linden and Holder are the glue between the seasons. They are also the good guys who give up everything in order to find justice. They deserve to get away with this. Fans will root for them to stay hidden.

That being said, I could see a twist at the end of the series where Linden dies in a blaze of glory, her son living far away, and she really having nothing left to lose. She’s always had a bit of a martyr complex, so why not make it official? I suspect a better prediction can be made after meeting Linden’s mother (Frances Fisher, Resurrection), though, whom abandoned her as a child, as that will surely help set Linden’s momentum.

Holder, on the other hand, has plenty to live for. He has his romance with Caroline (Jewel Staite). He also gets some surprising news in the season four premiere that will make it even harder to see him go down. Plus, now that the air has been cleared between them, on even footing since both got a punch in, Holder’s friendship with Reddick (Gregg Henry, promoted to full-time) seems to be sticking. So I think Holder is safe, successfully having turned his life around and found his purpose, even without Linden around. But we’ll see.

I don’t think Holder and Linden will end THE KILLING as a romantic couple. There is a moment in season three where it could happen between them and it doesn’t. There really hasn’t been anything else to point them in that direction since, nor is there in the first episode back, so it would feel forced to go there at this point. That’s fine. Too many shows led by an opposite sex pairing feel obligated to turn the emotional bond into something involving sex. Sometimes, it’s fine if it doesn’t, especially if one or the other can find happiness with someone else.

Now, despite all the character development and furthering of existing arcs, season four has its own case to investigate. Our duo are led to a crime scene where a family has been brutally slaughtered and the evidence points to the surviving son (Tyler Ross, Zombieland), whom a bullet grazed in the head, and who is suffering memory loss. There are a number of pieces of evidence that don’t add up, including some strangely severed piano wires, so it’s uncertain if the kid is guilty, making for another juicy mystery.

Does season four need this sort of murder to look into? After all, the show has always been best when dwelling on the pathos of the players, and this could be done with Linden’s deed. But instead, the writers decide to squeeze one more bit of police work out of our leads. On one hand, they do have a job to do so it makes sense for them to keep doing it. On the other, with a scant six hours left (granted, all six installments are likely to be ten to fifteen minutes longer than in previous seasons), one might wish for a focus on the principals more than new stars, with Joan Allen (Luck), Sterling Beaumon (Red Widow), and Levi Meaden (The 100) joining Ross among the fresh cast. Ah, well. The decision has been made, so no sense dwelling on it now.

In all, THE KILLING delivers a relatively intense, very compelling fourth season premiere. It’ll be interesting to see how creator Veena Sud chooses to wrap it up.

All six episodes of THE KILLING’s final season will be available on Netflix beginning this Friday, August 1^st.

Zombieland: The Series

Article first published as Zombieland: The Series on TheTVKing.

Amazon has recently released a bunch of pilots they are considering picking up for series, depending on the public's reaction to them. One such entry is Zombieland: The Series. Based on the hit movie Zombieland, different actors play the four roles from the film, and the action continues not long after the events from that endeavor.

I loved Zombieland: The Series's opening. It's two people sitting in an office. One of them, Ainsley (Tim Bagley, Web Therapy, Monk), thinks he is having a very bad day, and his sympathetic co-worker, Sheila (Rachel Cannon, Underemployed), is listening with a kind ear. But his issues involving someone mispronouncing his name and getting his sandwich wrong pale in comparison to the apocalypse taking place behind them, clearly visible through the window, as zombies attack and eat people.

It's a fantastic comedy bit, showing the contrast between the problems before the disaster and after. The two actors, sadly short-lived, play the scene with such earnestness, my attention is not completely pulled away by the action outside. Their last few moments of blissful ignorance of the crisis is amusing, and because the scene is so extended, thankfully, making for a memorable hook.

I'm not sure it's necessary to use the end of the Ainsley / Sheila scene to introduce one of the show's leads, Tallahassee (Kirk Ward, Forrest Gump), but it doesn't really hurt anything either, so I won't complain about that.

From there, the story follows the film, picking up after the central foursome have been together for some time. They decide that it's time to expand their group, but every person they find to try to join them soon dies, usually from a zombie attack. They just can't catch a break!

Zombieland: The Series retains much of the same comedic elements from the film, as well as the structure. We hear about Columbus's (Tyler Ross, Boss) rules for surviving the apocalypse. There is a count of how many times Tallahassee references female anatomy. They hang out in an IKEA. I even like their On-Star pal, Detriot (Kendra Fountain), whom they frequently talk to, but have not met.

But there is also some things that seem more irreverent. The way they don't bat an eyelash when witnessing a gruesome muder-by-zombie could be a sign that they have hardened themselves, but it's played for laughs, and since they are actively looking for new friends doesn't quite gel. They don't seem at all concerned about the danger around them, whereas the movie built up some suspense. Yes, we know that these four aren't in any real peril, but Zombieland: The Series doesn't even try to pretend otherwise. What the show does well is deliver a punchline. What it doesn't really do is make us care about the characters.

The only real attempt at pathos in the "Pilot" is when we learn that Columbus and Wichita (Maiara Walsh, Desperate Housewives) have broken up. It's unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected, based on their varying personalities. Once the immediate danger has passed, and life has returned to what now passes for normal, Columbus is just too eager. It is doubtful the couple is finished, but rather, the writers are just trying to add some tension to the story, and it will be an ongoing romantic arc for the characters.

The biggest problem with Zombieland: The Series, though, is that they have recast the four lead roles. I'm sorry, but these four performers, who are fine for a standard sitcom, pale in comparison to the amazing actors in the movie. Drawing parallels is inevitable, and the show loses across the board. The smarter move would be to keep the same universe and tone, but make the cast play different people, rather than the same ones film-goers are already familiar with. This form of goofiness certainly has a place, but the elements aren't quite combining right yet.

Zombieland: The Series also stars Izabela Vidovic (Help for the Holidays) as Little Rock, and the "Pilot" is available now on Amazon.com