Just as I was putting the finishing touches on my super-positive (not at all) review of last night's episode of The Killing, news broke that AMC has decided to renew the murder mystery show for a second season. More The Killing means more red-herrings, more gaping plot holes, more questionable detective work, more rain! Hooray!
"While not a breakout hit of the size of The Walking Dead, murder mystery The Killing has defied the common downward ratings trajectory for a heavily serialized drama by keeping its ratings steady while garnering cult following and major awards attention," Deadline says. The renewal announcement means that of the five original series to air on AMC, four have survived into their sophomore season. (Rubicon is the one show that was cancelled after its first season ).
The first season of The Killing comes to a close this Sunday and the central mystery ("Who Killed Rosie Larsen") is to be finally solved. (Although there is some ambiguity about this. A.V. Club is reporting that "according to some early reviews, reportedly there will be a twist or tangent that serves as something of a cliffhanger to stoke interest in a second year.") So, where does the show go from here? I assume that it will focus on a whole new victim and set of suspects. But, will Linden and Holder stay on? I'd be OK with that I guess. What about show-runner Veena Sud? Honestly, I would feel much more comfortable with a second season of The Killing knowing that the show was in more, shall we say, capable hands.
I haven't seen this week's episode yet, but in general I've been higher on this show than you have Lucas. So in any event I'm happy that The Killing has been renewed -- more atmospheric gloominess to look forward to! :-)