A thread for The Killing, aka much-lauded Danish drama "Forbrydelsen" (with spoilers)

i haven't completely caught up so won't be contributing, but this series owns

http://gudrungudrun.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/screen-shot-2011-03-11-at-4-40-28-pm1.png?w=410&h=623

us remake starts on amc apr 3 but we'll prob want a separate thread for that

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_(U.S._TV_series)

Finally got up-to-date, episode 16 and still everyone looks a bit shifty. Read that the actors were only drip-fed the script so they don't even know what's going to happen. I've got my theories though *taps nose*

us remake starts on amc apr 3 but we'll prob want a separate thread for that

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_(U.S._TV_series)

― johnny crunch, Monday, 14 March 2011 11:43 (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

there is already a seperate thread for that

i'm not sure what episode i'm up to... 15 i think? maybe 16. they've just said that **spoiler** someone who works w/ the moving company is involved, which sort of disappoints me since right from the beginning my gf + i have been wondering what the deal is w/ that guy. hoping that since there's like 4 (?) episodes to go that it wont be him.

I'd probably best avoid this thread 'til my dvd arrives (April 4). I'm hugely intrigued though, nobody has a bad word to say about this. I caught about a minute of it on Saturday night (part of one scene) and it looked ridiculously stylised, all neon underlighting, but I'm putting that down to small sample bias.

There is lots of creeping around in the dark, that's for sure. I'm putting this down to the Danes being quite green. Why turn the main lights on when you can use a little torch instead?

do like this a lot but it's so ponderous at times and I've stalled at epi 5 for that reason

troels looks like limmy

that jumper costs 280 actual euros

Haha, yes, Troels does look like Limmy. And Pernille looks like Catherine Tate and Lund looks like Carol Branning.

I've read criticism of the similarities to other programmes: the round-up of where everyone is at the same point in time at the end of each episode (24) and the mayor's office/police station (The Wire). But I like all that stuff and I even like the spooky jingle they play whenever Lund does some Thinking. I suppose the only thing that annoys me a bit is that Meyer's character is quite 2-D.

It moves on pretty quickly after ep5, Cozen.

The initial ponderousness bothered me too, and also the slightly mechanical way that suspicion passes from one character to the next. Does get a lot better though, probably round about the time when she gives up on the chewing gum and goes back to smoking instead.

a lot of things like this drag (the Event, anyone?, that thing with the hobbit and the dead crows), because they have 20 plot points and 20 hours to fill so there's one thing per episode. or they throw things in and just confuse everybody (later Heroes). the Killing seems to be getting around this because they've spent time investigating plausible dead ends*

but introducing effectively new suspects in episode 16 is a bit of a cop-out, imo.

anyway, according to observer interview on sunday, series 2 exists (series 1 was 2007) and series 3 is filming. so here's hoping we'll get to see all those too.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/mar/13/the-killing-sofie-grabol-sarah-lund-interview?INTCMP=SRCH

* actually, Law & Order also does this, but in the space of a 1 hour show, makes my head spin sometimes.

BBC iPlayer has a 13 episodes at a time rule, where can I watch the first ones? Googling "The Killing" is not helping much at all.

stagevu.com

Thank you

Yeah, this has been totally worth my time, and I'm only five episodes in. I know everybody has been talking about Lund but (although I'm only at episode four) the real stars of this to me are Hanna's parents.

Because I'm terrible with names in my own language, never mind in Danish TV shows, I've found myself giving characters names like Mayor, Mother, Angie Harmon Lookalike etc

* I mean Nanna not Hanna, I did say I'm no good with names

the real stars of this to me are Hanna's parents

Yeah, the story of the victim's family is what sets it apart. It stays with them throughout and the way their relationship changes is really well done.

Got some good theories on the killer btw, but I don't really want to spoilerbomb this thread.

Haven't seen this yet but its funny how this kicked off just as Sky advertised like crazy how they hoovered up every HBO show.

xpost I am trying to get as many people as I know to catch up with me on this because I want to discuss it!

Also quite glad to discover that even with my basic Googling skills to try find a way to watch it online and read more of the hype, I've yet to have it spoilered for me at all.

loved the scene where they just lay into vaghn (sp), really horrible

for some reason he's been my prime suspect since early on: not sure how they insinuated it but they did

Finished watching the first series last night. Wow. The last episode is pretty much an hour of hands-over-the-face intense drama.

but introducing effectively new suspects in episode 16 is a bit of a cop-out, imo.

― koogs, Tuesday, March 15, 2011 10:01 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark

they didn't really: leon was in an early ep

i mean sure almost everyone is shifty in this so

Finished watching the first series last night.

You swine!

Just got the last two to watch. Don't think it's Vagn, I know he's a bit odd but he seems to genuinely care about the family. Where are you up to mayne?

#18, the one shown on bbc4 last weekend

was irl shocked by what happened to a major character

Yeah, that was bold, I thought that was someone who might feature in future series too. The one new character that has been introduced late that might turn out to be quite dodgy is Leon's brother. They also seem to be keeping Morten away from suspicion, which I'm finding a bit odd considering his closeness to Hartmann. Got dodgy eyes as well, it's always a sign.

"someone who might feature in future series too" -- exactly.

it's not clear what leon's brother does. but he is rich (?) and wears a suit while leon is a removal guy/cabbie. there's some story there, and i guess an explanation of how leon is mixed up in what seems to be a wider conspiracy -- brix (the police chief, that's his name right?) seems to have done something very bad this last ep. i mean, leon didn't pull the trigger did he?

I was trying to read the expression on the dude's face just before the bad thing and it wasn't really one of recognition imo. Think that the oh-look-leather-gloves bit was a very deliberate attempt to confuse us, but I'm not gonna fall for that.

My wife said something weird the other day: why did they have that thing about the new shoes in the first episode? And talking of expensive shoes, did we ever find out who bought the boots?

i thought meyer looked surprised above all

i guess holck bought the boots. maybe not, but that seems plausible enough.

but whose new shoes? i have forgotten!

We might have misremembered this but I think that the very first scene in the town hall was Morten telling Hartmann about his new shoes on their way to some meeting. Significant (what happened to his old ones?) or was it just a quirky way of introducing them?

> was irl shocked by what happened to a major character

i thought they fumbled this with that terrible cliche. (trying not to give too much away here)

hadn't spotted leon in earlier episode.

vagn and the dad have been involved with nastiness before, beating people up. he referred back to it when they were about to give the teacher a thrashing in the van. the two of them also seem to owe the boyfriend's dad a favour.

thought them uncovering leon's deserted flat, complete with death gallery, was done too fast - they'd've got 2 whole episodes out of that earlier on.

the bigger cliche would have been him surviving (like kima in 'the wire')!

yeah vagn and pops are shady and the thing in the basement is well suspect -- though i sort of feel those mean cops planted it

otm on the boyfriend's dad -- he has to come into it somehow

Boyfriend's dad seems more of an organised crime sort of guy than a rapey psycho, and that's how he ties in with Dad and Vagn and their shady past imo. I mean, this is a serial killer at work isn't it? Not sure why they haven't investigated more old cases though.

this is a serial killer at work isn't it?

Actually scratch that, I'm daftly assuming that both murders were done by the same guy, but there are inconsistencies in the way they were disposed of, so maybe it was two different killers? But they were in the same location, so it looks like at least the same person dumped both bodies (maybe they were being blackmailed, seems like some money has been changing hands between that one guy and his bro). But then that whole necklace thing... gah!

ok i don't actually think this but: vagn and leon had a sideline in disposing of bodies. maybe sometimes for organized crimey dude. sometimes for highly-placed murderers. hey it could happen.

Looking forward to check this out, but is it better than Spiral? That was the last euro-thriller to get all the critical raves, and it turned out to be, er, rubbish.

xp lol @ that, but I don't want it to be Vagn cos he's turned into quite a sweet character. The water pistol thing, his real anguish at seeing the mum and dad fall apart, the way he only wanted dad to beat a little bit of shit out of the teacher.

I don't know what Spiral is!

this has become a major saturday night pleasure.
current routine : eat with kids. drink red wine. watch crappy saturday night gumph. kids go to bed. watch this + more red wine.
subsequently, the catch up prior to the start of each episode is vital.
best thing on non-sky/cable tv in ages.
there was a time i thought they were referencing twin peaks with bloke-cop always eating, and there was even a scene with a lady who i thought was going to become similar to the log lady, making me for a week or two theorise it was going to go all surreal.
thankfully, it hasn't, and has kept me and my better half guessing/reguessing for last 2 months.
brilliant.

there was a time i thought they were referencing twin peaks

Absolutely, don't forget the video tapes of the dead girl.

yeah the pics from the american remake look super twin peaks

Towards the end of something like this, I start thinking of characters who appeared early, then disappeared from the radar but could be mixed up in it somehow. Rie's dad, for example, and the first police chief who left possibly Knowing Something and was replaced by dodgy Brix. Boyfriend's Dad also a good call, hadn't thought of him.

Rie's dad, for example

oh! that is a good point. yes. i think rie stayed true but obviously has something else in play.

Rie's dad is pulling strings somewhere for sure.

Thing that puts me off the boyfriend's dad is maybe a bit ridic, but wouldn't the producers avoid having a muslim as the villain of a major series like this considering the cartoon controversy in Denmark a year or so before this was made?

Not that anyone would protest against it or anything, but they might just be sensitive towards portraying muslims as the bad guys.

i definitely don't think he's the major villain -- but they have been sensitive to that, and to denmark's racial politics, they had a muslim guy wrongly accused, and hartmann vindicated by backing him

So, were we happy with how this ended?

Keeping it spoiler-free, but even though there were still loose ends I thought the quality of the drama, especially the scenes in the basement and the woods, more than made up for it.

is it me or are the doors to the offices in the police station terrible looking? like some terrible marbling effect.

thought the penultimate ep was str8 fire

a few probs with it, i guess... i hope that the old cases are a part of the next series

coz the cops seemed a bit unnecessarily shifty no, if there wasn't a high-up conspiracy, if it was just vagn, right? so brix telling lund not to pry must have meant something.

kind of funny but i can't keep track of 'what happened'

I thought it was just because Brix was worried that Lund might find something connected to City Hall and make his hopes of career progression suffer, a "trying not to bite the hand that feeds" affair.

I thought the ending suggested that there was more to it than had been revealed - Lund looked like she was still mulling things over in her mind as she walked outside in the final sequence, and Troels' phone call to Brix seemed a bit ambiguous to me - but Lund had finally realised her own "crime", if you will, was getting too wrapped up in the case.

yeah my gf + i were trying to sort of recap it, and we couldnt remember a lot of the reasons for difft things... like what was the deal with the bloody room downstairs at the school? how did that tie in

thank goodness for iplayer to help recall the bits that the red wine has fugged up.
way too many questions were flying around on sunday morning between my wife and i.
still one of the best tv dramas in a long time.

yeah no question

Just finished watching this. Some absolutely killer scenes (the hoodie moment! the bloodstain!) and some nice plot symmetries too but there are lots of niggly things that are still bugging me (he dumped the car in the water - how the hell did he get back to civilisation afterwards? I can't get apparent ages to fit the timeline either). Also a massive clue from earlier which they didn't make a big deal of or bother spelling out later, but in hindsight I should have picked up it (remember that plaster on that one guy's neck?)

Thinking about that top and wondering about its age. Did matey boy find it at the storage place and put it on there? To conceal his identity or as an act of remembrance? Couldn't have been in his wardrobe all that time, right?

xpost was the bloody room not where Oliver and Lisa (ie the classmates) had sex, and she tried to jump up because the pal Jeppe was filming it on his phone and she cut her arm?

Few eps into the second series after finishing the first in record time.

I agree with folks that I never could quite piece together what exactly the series one killer *did*, there are some details [spoilery stuff removed, I'm sure you can pick some] that don't hang together at the end.

If you'll notice the second and third series are half the length of the first one, which is a smart decision. At a certain point in the first series they've considered so many main characters main suspects that it gets kinda absurd. They address that a bit in the show, but still. That and the fact that everyone lies to the police routinely and wait until they're shoved in a cell before they start explaining why they're not the guy, which creates drama but gets crazy after a while. The English title of the show really should be I Should Have Told You ...

But it's still awesome. I like how Meyer becomes the reasonable cop over time and Lund becomes the loose cannon. Lund's full-on OCD is cracking me up; it's funny how every popular detective in fiction is essentially Holmes, a socially dysfunctional, borderline autistic savant.

Reading up on this has led me to Engrenages too, so I'm stoked. It's nuts having access to entire seasons of shows these days, it's like crack

If you'll notice the second and third series are half the length of the first one, which is a smart decision. At a certain point in the first series they've considered so many main characters main suspects that it gets kinda absurd.

yeah. think in the end this show was as much about the characters as the mystery, so that although it was convoluted, it was still good. in a way, troels had very little to do with the case, given the amount of time we spent with him even after he was eliminated as a suspect. i did expect more from that storyline, some cover-up of real guilt, idk. will watch again in a year or two.

I saw all of it. Season 2 was great as well. Such a great series. As I'm a knitter, I kept checking out her sweaters. lolol

not sure if i'll wait for s02 to come to UK television. presumably subtitled versions are out there somewhere. but first i will watch the US remake, if it's any good.

Is it not possible for people to discuss the series without spoiling it for others?

not really. rule of thumb: if the series has been broadcast, it's fair game. but sorry!

Maybe get a mod to put a warning in the thread title?

yeah ive asked

Oh damn, yr quick.

Lund psyching herself up in the police car to do what she knew was stupid but necessary was fantastic. Spiral back on BBC4 this weekend with the astonishingly beautiful red headed defense attorney.

Just finished Series 2, which in some ways is better (more concise) - the character of the Justice Minister is really endearing, I don't think you'd find someone like him as a gov't figure on a US drama.

Count me in for one of those sweaters!

Taking a break from being tubeglued to crime TV to get back to the human race - when I come back it's on to Spiral, glad people dig that. And redheads.

NOT THE CRISPS - NEIIIIIIIN

Should have embeddinated that

http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DKaDk0YdCWjI

Guuuuuh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaDk0YdCWjI

I got really, really addicted to this. There are some excellent, excellent performances by the cast. Some of the subtle looks and facial expressions and inscrutable interiority you get out of the characters is fucking excellent. In fact pretty much everyone was excellent. Eventually got kind of fatigued by Troels Hartmann but mainly because, unlike The Wire, the political superstructure really had fuck all to do with it. Someone stole a car in episode one and that's still all it was in the end. The Jan Meyer buddycop was my favourite though. He was just unbelievable the way he is simultaneously this gun-toting hardass and a guy who says "I promised my wife I'd keep a job for more than three weeks."

I just finished it this morning and I realize when I think back to the initial suspects (that semi-retarded guy who tied up an old woman for absolutely no reason) how distended the plotting of the show had really been. It would probably work better if you watched only one episode a week... A few days later you've sort of forgotten and you're ready for someone else to be the main suspect. Watching it on DVD or downloaded kind of compresses everything too much (whereas the Wire seemed to work even better the more of it you watched in a sitting).

In a weird clumsy way I like how practically everyone was the main suspect at some point. I was even considering Pernille Birk Larsen at one point. Or some weird combination of Pernille Birk Larsen and Troels Hartmann (who misleadingly seemed to recognize each other in a hallway early on in the series... with weird music playing over the top). Kept wanting them to introduce satanists or something but oh well.

The Jens Holck thing was, I think, where the series started to tip over into something that didn't really have all its marbles... like almost in a Tommy Wiseau way, but obviously still outwardly very serious and well-done.

(not reading this thread - yet) I'm on ep. 15 & wondering what five more episodes are going to consist of. I mean, Jens H could not have been a red herring, right?.. I have to say that I did pick him for the deed pretty early on (always the quiet ones), but now I am generally dumbfounded & loving it completely.

I hope the US version takes a different path so that watching it won't simply be a retread.

Who is the American actor who looks just like the actor that played Brix? I can't place him.

Jan Meyer was the best! That actor has the Dutch/Danish face going on that always reminds me of these:
http://www.weirdotoys.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/puppets01.jpg

sweepy ambient music for emo scenes sounds quite a bit like the slowed-down Bieber Ros thing that made the blog rounds last year.

not reading this thread but i just watched the first two episodes back to back and.... wow.

it's like a very, very, very good wallander except this time wallander is the irritating sidekick instead of the main character.

i loved how she pops a piece of gum into her mouth at home, like 10 minutes after she's woken up (how simple it seems to establish a character, when it's done like this).. and then when she's arrived at the "crime scene" (actually an elaborate gag played on her by her colleagues) she's still chewing that gum.

Who is the American actor who looks just like the actor that played Brix?

dunno about this, but I thought Brix resembled a roided-up Bez.

i can't find downloads of season 1 (especially the early episodes) on the usual sites. surely some mistake?

^ check yr webmail

thanks, i was searching in a particularly stupid way and missing all that. all set now.

so are we talking about US Killing on this thread? cause it's awesome.

yeah it's really good
something is up with the aunt imo - the one who's always at the larsen's house
also the other detective, he's a former gang member isn't he? is he moonlighting as a private investigator on the side?

A thread for AMC's The Killing, a remake of much-lauded Danish drama "Forbrydelsen"

xp

thanks!
by the way how can one see the original here in the US? i can't find it anywhere

It is hard to see the AMC version objectively, having binged on Forbrydelsen over the past two weeks. So far, it seems to be following the same tack, which I'm hoping will change (for the sake of variety) - I don't see how it can't, being that the AMC version will be seven eps shorter than the OG.

I think the acting and characterization in The Killing is mostly excellent, but the atmospheric quality of Forbrydelsen was just so off-the-hook AWESOME, that I don't see how TK can transcend its redheaded-stepchild status w/o some major plot variations.

unless it is currently available through Netflix in the US, you will have to resort to piracy.

xp

god this was great! watched all 20 episodes in record time. lot of 24 in it, but they handle the twists very, very well, i thought.

for some reason he's been my prime suspect since early on: not sure how they insinuated it but they did

― BIG GERTRUDE aka the steindriver (history mayne), Wednesday, March 23, 2011 7:53 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

gf and i called vagn early too--the thing that made me suspect him was the scene where theis is showing him the house and mentions that nanna is going to live on the top floor, and vagn has this kind of awkward shifty thing going on. but there are so many good twists that id basically eliminated him until the 3rd-to-last episode or something.

the whole thing kind kind of goes off the rails ca. 16th ep but youre so deep at that point it doesnt matter. meyers death really shook me.

i kind of wish they had taken the shady echelons-of-power stuff about town hall/rie's dad/the original police commander further; those threads got abandoned somewhere along the way with only vague mentions.

weird to me how similar a lot of the actors looked to established h'wood actors? or maybe i was just looking for it after a while

lund - girl from freaks and geeks
rie - gillian anderson
pernille - fraces mcdormand (btw i HATED this actress' weird tic of opening her eyes real wide and flicking them around)
theis had a kind of brian dennehy thing going on.

anyway this is one of the best series ive seen a while! are the 2nd and 3rd seasons as good? (are there english subtitles for them yet?)

oh and the shady police commander (blix? brix?) - tom noonan

also lol at lund's son disappearing about halfway through the series, fuck that kid, i hate it when detectives have families

the acting was pretty good through the whole thing but i thought the guy who played jan meyer and the guy who played theis really killed it, above and beyond the rest

lund - girl from freaks and geeks

kinda, but i think that was a lot to do with the donkey jacket thing

just finished this. incredibly slow start. nearly gave up about 4 or 5 episodes in, but ended up watching the last 10 in one of those lost weekends (via box sets)

still don't get what rie was supposed to have done wrong? she seems to admit to cleaning up the outside of the flat, but so does morten?

agree about the political stuff. i was expecting a big conspiracy thing. maybe that was intentional misdirection. felt like a missed opportunity though (see also the FBI conspiracy stuff in the miami vice movie). the city hall scenes were the ones i looked forward to.

RIP meyer.

Sofie Gråbøl is my nu-god

If I could be her, I would

(see also the FBI conspiracy stuff in the miami vice movie).

this is my read:

john hawkes is a former informant of crockett and tubbs, whom they passed over to the feds. one night while they’re trying to take down herc from the wire, they get a call from a tearful hawkes saying "badness is happening right now."

what's happened is, he’s set up a meet-n-greet between the aryan brotherhood and some fbi undercovers; but the aryans have the feds rumbled, and they don't have any backup. crockett and tubbs warn the local bureau chief but it’s too late and the feds get killed, and so does hawkes’s fam. he then steps under a lorry.

so the unchill aryan bros have cut into the feds and the feds need to plug the leak. crockett and tubbs are hired to go undercover as boatmen and get intel on the aryans' suppliers,* which turns out to be a large operation with hubs in the triple frontier and haiti.

when c & t are bringing in a big shipment, they give out different information to different branches of the fbi, and that way they’ll sus out who’s feeding the aryans with information.

it call goes sideways because the bad guys take naomi harris hostage.

*ok this bit is maybe murky

felt like a missed opportunity though

yeah, totally, especially cause danish tom noonan bro was nice n creepy

FBI conspiracy stuff in Miami Vice "resolved" (abandoned) after C & T let the guys know how to find the leak. I have a feeling there was meant to be more but they had to quickly change the ending because Foxx refused to go back to South America to film the actual climax of the film. Or maybe Mann just stopped caring about that particular plot at some point. Either way the movie is all the better for it, imo, whereas the conspiracy stuff in The Killing is just boring red herrings.

it wasn't boring imo, i liked the characters enough

the only stuff i found boring-ish was the grieving parents

a little goes a long way

http://allfiberarts.com/2011/sarah-lund-white-sweater-motif.htm

yeah i think i understood the fbi conspiracy stuff in miami vice nrq, it's just it seemed to be an open thread at the end of the film.

i guess the killing was different: not an open thread so much as a red herring. would have liked it not to be a red herring because it was cool though (max otm about tom døønån, he was great!)

any thoughts on this? i am probably being dim:

still don't get what rie was supposed to have done wrong? she seems to admit to cleaning up the outside of the flat, but so does morten?

is it something to do with suppressing the photo... hang on nah that was morten?

idk

she maybe screwed that guy?

> http://allfiberarts.com/2011/sarah-lund-white-sweater-motif.htm

RONG. isn't symmetrical and the left bit is too close to the middle.

if i may draw your attention here:

Rolling iPlayer and 4OD and iTVPlayer 2011

This is being repeated on BBC4 just now. Second episode 10pm tonight, first is on iPlayer, and it's tied with Only Connect as the biggest reason to continue the existence of BBC4.

Loving this. *must not look up to find out who was the murderer*

oh ffs, keep meaning to catch this, but episode one is now no longer on there. will have a rootle around on the 'net i guess.

finished this tonight. have to say it was good however after a while it's gets a bit cyclical and you never believe whoever ABSOLUTELY MUST BE GUILTY is guilty. it starts to get a bit irritating near the end.

Last episode is one of the most colossal letdowns I've had with a TV series, given it shows so much of the stuff from earlier in the series to have been pointless contrivance that's utterly ludicrous. I mean, the Jens Holck stuff - why would he have run someone over, then tried to kill Lund WHEN HE WASN'T EVEN GUILTY OF ANYTHING TO COVER UP?

Sorry if that's spoilery - had a look upthread and didn't think I was guilty of more than anyone else who'd finished the series. But that annoyed me so much.

Yeah exactly, and the whole "let's get Sarah Lund arrested" thing was such a cheap shot. It didn't feel natural and was just part of the crescendo. The first few eps work cos you can't tell where it's going but after that it's basically building certain cases against anyone which you know will fall through.

Yep: why were the police authorities so concerned that she would uncover the fact that ... a racist, pervert manual labourer was involved. Red herrrings are good in thrillers, but there has to be a purpose to them; they have to be resolved. Otherwise its a cheap trick: any crap writer can throw in unresolved conspiracies; the trick, if they are not the actual denouement, is to resolve them in a satisfactory manner. Once a writer sets them up, they have made an implicit promise to the viewer: "I'll be back for these later." The writers of The Killing set them all up, then just left them there, which absolutely anyone can do; it turned out to be based on a whole series of broken promises. Unforgivable.

i basically agree w. ^^.

the show hasn't rally 'stayed with me'. but i liked the characters, thought it was well put together, liked the mileu (bbc4-viewer potential city-breaker? yeah i guess), found it suspenseful, and so it's easily worth seeing once. and i'll watch the second season.

i can't really remember the solution, but the show hinted at a much bigger political conspiracy and failed to follow through, iirc.

Just finished this - I for one was glad the murder wasn't a political conspiracy, it would have felt ridiculous.

Last episode is one of the most colossal letdowns I've had with a TV series, given it shows so much of the stuff from earlier in the series to have been pointless contrivance that's utterly ludicrous. I mean, the Jens Holck stuff - why would he have run someone over, then tried to kill Lund WHEN HE WASN'T EVEN GUILTY OF ANYTHING TO COVER UP?

Eh? He was guilty of having an affair with a schoolgirl using another party's flat and bribing a civil servant to keep quiet about it. That's not murder-level obviously but in normal political terms it's a career-ender and possibly illegal as well.

It only doesn't make sense if you assume it's calculated. Given all the above, when said schoolgirl was then found murdered having been attacked in a flat he'd been in, having made the bribes and tried to cover them up... he just became certain he was going down for it and panicked. It seemed like an open-and-shut case for everyone except Lund.

Also, I'd had Vagn pegged as the killer from very early on so was happy that played out. I don't understand why it's unforgiveable to so heavily hint at a conspiracy and for it then to turn out to be something else. What with him and Weber both being the guilty parties = never trust a loyal confidante with no initial discernable plot function.

finished this tonight. have to say it was good however after a while it's gets a bit cyclical and you never believe whoever ABSOLUTELY MUST BE GUILTY is guilty

By the third or fourth time this happened I just started to enjoy it, thrillers kind of have to do things like that to string the suspense out. Still, it did annoy me the number of times Troels Hartman had a "hey, we're in the clear!" kind of moment and then made some big public statement that then immediately blew up in his face. How many times did that happen?

Also the actors playing Nanna's parents were totally the best thing about this. And Meyer, I loved that guy.

Poor Meyer!

never trust a loyal confidante with no initial discernable plot function.

looool

Also I don't think Rie actually did anything wrong? Except maybe fucking that guy but equally maybe not. Hartman was just extremely paranoid at that point and a massive dick to her. But then he couldn't actually go back on that without hanging Weber out to dry, which would in turn break his career.

If I was a fictional citizen of Copenhagen I'd have been out on the streets in protest at the completely farcical state of my political system and police force but no one really seemed that arsed? And then Hartman just became mayor by default? Bit weird.

Does anyone know when the Killing 2 gets to be shown on the BBC? I thought it was scheduled for Autumn?

1st November according to someone on the Facebook page. DVD available on Amazon on 12th December.

1st november is a tuesday though. and these things are traditionally on the saturday.

they are currently showing the wallander films. last saturday was 'man who smiled' and next saturday is 'one step behind'. there are 2 more after that (firewall, pyramid) but the first is a two-parter. so i'd say the 5th or the 12th.

Sarah Lund fashion is so ubiquitous right now - I walked through a shopping centre today and saw nothing in windows but patterned knitwear.

tomorrow, bbc4 (and on front of radio times)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017h80m

Beeb cuts back on sweariness

Don't think the swearing was particularly obtrusive in the first series - I don't think I even noticed any - but maybe I'm just desensitized to it.

I didn't notice it at all.

Thread needs Danes, are there any on ILX?

Didn't finish season one (got careless with the recording -- was on ep13), so just glad I can pick up on s2 independently of what happened, apart from a 'return from exile'.

Given some of the disussion from upthread it sounds like 10 eps is a good thing. Personally thought the 'this must be the guy' theory with any case falling apart by the end of the ep was a by product of putting a *day-by-day* investigation under the microscope. I was enjoying that.

Lund is not convinced
DURATION: 02:50
SERIES 2, EPISODE 10

Lund wants more information
DURATION: 01:13
SERIES 2, EPISODE 8

Lund pursuing suspect through an abattoir
DURATION: 02:36
SERIES 2, EPISODE 7

Where's the discussion for the 2nd season?! A lot more suspenseful than the 1st, I say. Possibly because death toll a lot higher.

ILX packed up during most of the month in which it was on hence the lack of discussion.

In the Sandox I said I enjoyed it, someone did say there were a lot of plot holes but I didn't get round to asking what those were - not that attentive, in need of repeats.

In the end I did like the political sub-plot although at the end 'the pact' just seemed like some sort political dark ages nonsense that was just placed there for Sarah to shoot to shit. But the politician was great, liked the shots of him strutting around with a toothbrush.

Also liked Sarah's reduced interaction w/her family. The whole 'no time for family' is a cliche I seldom care for in cop dramas however her scene w/parents in the taxi was the comic highlight (couldn't they go in separate taxis, sheesh!).

The reduction of episodes did allow for more suspense, felt trashier because of higher death toll, and I am always going to like that more.

**SPOLIER** One big plot hole was why did that one guy blow himself up? He was supposedly opposed to extremists and yet he kidnapped someone then detonated a suicide bomb. Didn't make a bit of sense, especially considering his innocence.

**More Spoliers** but wasn't he in a conspiracy with the Danish secret services, so the way I saw it was:

- He hated extreme islamists
- his crime was to let certain messages go by/not be interceted/flagged up, as this was an op that murdered Taliban informants (but also one in which innocents died)
- I think the kidnap/blowing himself up was to put all the guilty on himself, the guilty go free, allowing them to carry further naughty ops, killing more extremists. He didn't blow himself in a shaopping mall, it was an old military site where and no one else died

Anyone for Brogen?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/jan/06/the-killing-sanish-drama-borgen

Not sure its gonna work. There is a real taste for crime, really. Put in the politics, just don't forget to bring a corpse.

Sorry Borgen

I think the kidnap/blowing himself up was to put all the guilty on himself, the guilty go free, allowing them to carry further naughty ops, killing more extremists. He didn't blow himself in a shaopping mall, it was an old military site where and no one else died

The putting-all-the-guilt-on-himself bit sounds plausible, but don't forget he almost blew up two police officers and Raben's wife in the process. Can't remember the details of some of the other bits that seemed a bit dubious, gonna have to tease them out of the recesses of my brain.

The way I recall he let Raben's wife go w/ease then displayed the explosives allowing both Lund and Srange enough time to run off.

Any reports on Borgen? I might start watching this on iPlayer

V much liked episode 1, family dynamic excellently done. Not sure I have the attention for something politics based though. Both Lund's partners from Killing 1 & 2 are in this btw.

Yes, (Killing Spoiler!) I kept expecting Strange actor to go on a murder spree. Not sure the politics will be enough for me either. I do really like some of the characters though. The spin doctor guy looks to be a good baddie.

they've done ok, especially episode 4 where they moved beyond the coalition-building back and forth. i liked the greenland montage, for instance.

I've just finished the first episode of Bron/Broen or just 'Bridge'. It's got that Killing gloomy feel. Anticipating watching the second one. I did love Borgen in the end. I liked how she transitioned from unlikely politician to, lets just say 'learning on the job'. There should be a collective scandinavian tv thread!

I really enjoyed the first two episodes of Bridge, partly because it uses the same central plot device as Bon Cop, Bad Cop.

It has the same kind of Northern European industrial noir feeling as The Killing but there's lots of comedy there as well.

anyone watching the third series? why does no-one finish their sentences on this show?

Yes. Because that's standard realism-tool. No one finishes their sentences in

We don't have time for that now - we have to bring the entire department where the killer isn't

I watched it, but I still haven't seen the final two episodes. How far are they in UK?

the last 2 (of series 3) are on this saturday

i still love lund but the plot has gotten tiresome esp. the political aspect

Yeah the problem w/this last series is the whole thing being so tied up with the PM's office. Additonally never quite believing the outcome of the kidnap would've determined the outcome of the elections, or that the opposition would use the kidnapping to score political points as that has a danger of backfiring.

Then you have the ending...again, would Lund step outside the law here? Other possible endings on a postcard please.

Go to admire the craft to keep you watching.

On episode 12 season 1. It's gripping as hell, though the 'He did it! Oh wait he didn't' structure could wear thin soon.

Danes seem to like smoking indoors a lot don't they?

Season 1 > Season 2 > Season 3. Still, this one was was good though. With hunky Borch showing his love and Mark making amends, with his newborn it was only going one way for Lund.....

Loving the 1st season. Is it bad I watched 14 episodes in a day. I tried to stop, but I just had to know what happened next.

Only passing out from tiredness stopped me. I intend to finish the last 6 tonight. I have seasons 2 & 3 ready, but I will leave it at least a week before starting them.

I haven't read the thread as I don't want to know, but I think I have an idea who I want it to be/who it is...

it's so good. just finished the second series myself. the first series was excellent, but i think i enjoyed the second even more. making it 10 episodes instead of 20 was the right choice, it was a lot tighter with fewer loose ends/red herrings. i'm going to take some time before watching the third series.

currently watching the sort-of knockoff series broen/bron. the plot and characters are a bit more csi and less bleakly realistic, but it's good fun and having the action switch between malmø and copenhagen is a genius move.

i prefered Broen / Bron (The Bridge) purely because of the red herring thing in the killing.

The french thing, Spiral, also well worth a watch (4 series now)

\ /
V
!
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sara!jevo
'84!
!
!

On to episode 20 now. I'll have to dig out Broen / Bron & Spiral.

Will report back in 59 minutes.

boo, my little drawing didn't work.

Excellent.

meyer's bananas

The Bridge is back on BBC 4! First two episodes were really good.

lol

— Did you forget to log off?

— No way! … I don't know

The Bridge is good. Martin's charachter seems to have a more sympathetic on Saga's Aspergers like traits in this series.

—Are you walking out on your mother's speech?
—Yes, that's exactly what she's doing.

i was enjoying how no one on danish tv is familiar to me, and then i start watching 'borgen' and there's lund's old partner meyer in a new role, doh

oh man 'borgen' is so watchable, way more compelling than 'forbrydelsen'

it's like if they took all the sorkin shit out of west wing and just left you with the drama of governing

also half of it is about journalists so it is also better than the newsroom

there's lund's old partner meyer in a new role, doh

VERY different character as well

find Borgen extremely over-rated. The Greenland episode, oozing with Scandi goody-goodyness really threw me off the whole series.

i like how she started out all full of life and then became dead inside

the circle is drawn a little too closely, i think. like after their green party muslim friend quits government, there he is again 1-2 episodes later in their PEACE IN AFRICA episode to act as translator between the african presidents. they didn't have any professional translators in for that shit??

even ol bengt had basically disappeared before nyborg had to fire him. makes it seem like she runs the country w/ basically one pr flack and her secretary and civil servant. then again, it only has a population of 5 million.

So caught up with season 2 of 'The Bridge', well up to episode 8 anyway.
Saga Noren is such a BOSS!

Oh man, what an ending!

troels looks like limmy

― cozen, Monday, 14 March 2011 12:33

LOL

Just finished S1 of this. Good stuff! Would like to read the thread but don't want to see S2/3 spoilers.

Ha, that's a bit like us -- we snagged a cheap used Blu-ray import of all three seasons last year and saw the first, but haven't had a chance to do the follow-ups.

Got S2 lined up. Cheap used sets is usually how I do TV series'. Of course now I'm intrigued by The Bridge...

Saga Noren is such a BOSS!

I feel like I'm going to miss her when the show ends, although I've only watched the first two seasons so far.

The villains in seasons 1+2 of The Bridge were kind of ludicrous but heck it's very good entertainment.

oh, this is probably a better thread to bump.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03bnc34

The Bridge series 4 starts on the 11th, on BBC2(!). all 30 previous episodes currently available on iplayer if you feel like a binge.

I'm down with any scene where Saga and her partner are in the car and she's aggressively questioning him about his sex life.

you may like this then (turn on subtitles):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ4bMOU23D0