The Killing Season Finale Failure

Now, I hate Bill Simmons. I have for years. Hell, in 2008, I wrote an article in which I called him a “self-aggrandizing ass clown”. I still stand by those words; however, he occasionally makes good points. His article on the season finale of The Killing is a perfect example. It pretty much took the wind out of my sails on the literary smack-down I was going to lay on the episode. I will try and keep my points brief now.

The finale was a kick in the nuts (or for you ladies, a punch in the baby maker). I made a lot of excuses for this show over the past few episodes. I should have been put on payroll as a show apologist (you know, like all those people who still fawn all over Glee). When it started, I loved the three interwoven stories. They all compelled me, made me not upset when they moved from one story to the next. Then, it started to drag, where the only storyline I wanted to see was the police storyline, but only if I didn’t have to deal with Linden’s family issues.

I think I gave up during the episode “Missing”. It was hard to justify the episode at all. It was 45 minutes of Linden and Holder trying to track down her idiot kid. Um, don’t you have a murder to solve? The show finally dissolved to the point where I was only watching for the identity of the killer and any scene with Holder. That guy cracked me up. Plus, he was the only character I actually cared about. I got sucked into his storyline and nearly cheering for him when Linden pretty much anointed him a good detective. Then, the skullduggery started.

I actually liked the second to last episode, with Linden in Richmond’s home office, seeing her email continually pop up, and then Richmond shows up at the door. Classic stuff that made me want to watch the finale right then and there. However, I knew at that point that he didn’t do it. It was too easy. While watching the finale and seeing the noose tighten around Richmond, I kept thinking to myself that this is a very anti-climatic finale. With ten minutes left, I figured one of two things was going to happen. Either Richmond was the killer and the story would be lame or we wouldn’t know who the killer was and enrage the fan base. At this point, the lame ending would have been better.

I hated the fact that Holder’s betrayal came out of left field. I mean, with most major plot twists, you can look back and be like “how did I miss that?!” With this, you were thinking “huh?” After Holder’s confession of being a former addict and every sketchy thing being explained, there was no indication he wasn’t straight. Let me say that again, there was NO INDICATION HE WASN’T STRAIGHT! So, the only thing I know now is that Linden and Richmond didn’t kill Rosie. After that, it’s a crap shoot. Hell, thanks to the closing scene, we don’t even know if Richmond will survive; consider the writers had Belko rip off Jack Ruby. It’s like the writers were stuck with how to end it and were watching the History Channel, and then an idea struck.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Shame on the writers for having Mitch leave her husband and kids. That makes absolutely no sense. Did they even accurately explain why she did it? Or at least give us a reasonable explanation? I know the thought is that she needs to fulfill her dreams and that everyone gets on without her, but are you serious! Her sister is playing mom for a few weeks until she gets past the crippling depression. Sis is a stopgap, not a replacement. You think the family might need their mother? Of course, Mitch is the whole reason her husband is in jail, but that’s beside the point.

You know, that sad thing about all this was that Seamus and I were talking about the possibilities of a second season. I didn’t think it would work because it would capture the characters that helped make this season good. You couldn’t have an election as a backdrop. You couldn’t rely on the budding friendship/partnership of Holder and Linden. You couldn’t rely on Michelle Forbes being Michelle Forbes. They would need to reinvent the wheel. Well, now they don’t have to.

Instead, they are going to beat a dead horse and drag out this storyline for another season. I would have been apprehensive about reinventing the wheel, but would have come in with an open mind. Now, I’m going to be going into season 2 already pissed off and that’s not what you want. Nothing good can come from this and there really isn't any way to salvage it.