Wednesday, April 6, 2011

"The Killing" -- Sunday night telescape shake-up

Getting gripped by yet another series -- the last thing I need. I took the chance on AMC's "The Killing" anyway. A couple of critics I trust think it's scripted drama's version of top-line couture. I don't know how to explain fully why it's so wonderful -- not yet. From seeing the pilot episode and the first, hour-long episode, twice each, I can at least promise you that it's shockingly compassionate, even to those who look most likely to have committed the title's crime. I can promise you extraordinary cinematography; "The Killing" does not get the visual treatment afforded most television dramas. This is a serialized movie. The colors they find in Seattle's loneliest corners make it into a film all by themselves. The young girl who was murdered comes vividly alive through the shock of her parents and friends. Like "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad", this storytelling takes its time. The actors bring  mysteries and questions just by the way they enter a scene -- they're that skilled and almost musical.
As for the police who will supposedly be the ones to solve the mystery -- they're the most merely human TV cops I've ever seen. Here's hoping "The Killing" remains the gift to the audience it is now. If not? The first two hours will always be in my file, under "How Good Can Scripted Television Get?"

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