Who Killed Rosie Larsen? (AMC Series "The Killing")

Anyone else checking this out? The tag line, "Who Killed Rosie Larsen?" is certainly reminiscent of Twin Peaks "Who Killed Laura Palmer?", but by the previews, this looks to be a more dark series, without the humor that Twin Peaks had. AMC has been so good with their shows (Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Rubicon, Walking Dead) that I'm gonna give this a go and stay with it awhile, even though I'm usually not drawn to cop procedurals. The only person I recognized from the preview was Mirelle Enos who played twins on the just ended HBO show "Big Love". Looking at the credits, I see Michelle Forbes is in it too.

2 hour pilot is tonight on AMC!

 

Watching this now. Mireille Enos is fantastic. As a long time fan of film noir and mysteries, this really captures the dark edge of life. I am looking forward to following this series...already set on the DVR so I don't miss any of the episodes.

 

I thought the premier was EXCELLENT. Very dark, very good. I liked basically all the actors, and the lead, Mireille Enos was, as you say, fantastic.

I thought they were able to bring the parents' trauma to the screen really well.

I'm all in on this series.

The only thing that disturbs me are the AMC promos, which sadly remind me of the late, and sorely lamented, Rubicon.

 

Oh Dear, a US remake....
The Danish original is superior
It aint no Twin Peaks..

 

Ken ,have ever seen a good US remake?

In Danish subtitles, in the rain and dark, and in Copenhagen with Swedish links, it makes good sense.
That series runs to 20 x 1 hr episodes.

However they nicked the concept from 'the Spiral' a tough violent Paris based series running now on BBC 4

 

I don't care if they adopted a Danish original. I am basing my like of this show on what I've seen so far.

I agree that the "last day" bit is cliched, but I am sure that will play into that character.

The one thing I didn't quite understand is that when the police were searching the fields, I thought they got a call that the girlfriend was located with that scumbag guy on the island. But the next thing you know, they were dredging the lake and the dad was also heading toward the lake. I didn't quite understand how everyone suddenly converged on that lake.

 

Yeah, I basically assumed that. And while I like space in the narrative (assumes intelligence on the part of the viewer), I don't usually expect much of that on TV. I guess that's why I found it odd. It wasn't a problem for me. Just odd for TV. Good odd.

 

The first 2 episodes were very good. I have set the DVR to record this as well.
Anybody notice the Twin Peaks type music that is played throughout the show?

 

I didn't know t his was a remake. Maybe I'll check out the Danish original later, but I'm gonna judge this on its own merits. I have seen both the original "Insomnia" and the US remake. I thought the remake equaled the original. Certainly no reason to dismiss this and claim one superior over the other at this point.

 

But why do it?
Challenged by Danish subtitles?
Big hit over here.

 

Twin Peaks without David Lynch and just a compelling show. From reading about it, it's clear it's not just a murder-mystery but also focuses on the effects of the murder on the people close to the victim. Strong cast, excellent writing, extremely atmospheric and intriguing storylines. Love it.

As for a remake of the Danish original; not quite. It is inspired by the original so they felt free to tell their own story. See? Now you can watch both.

 

Just curious: How many episodes of this US version have you seen so far that you are ready to immediately proclaim it to be inferior?

 

I havent seen it yet, but it will be inferior because remakes always are
It runs to 20hrs in the original
Subtitles make it somehow more intriguing.

 

Pretty good first episode. I liked the prank that the other cops played on her at the beginning with the blow up doll at the crime scene. And I liked what they did with the ex-narcotics cop who was replacing her, but now is obviously working as her partner. He seemed to have no tact in his dealing with people - like the way he went fishing with the school counselor, trying to see if there was some inappropriate relationship between he and Rosie. He seems like a real a$$, one of those cops who assumes everyone is guilty of something, so there are no innocents. But being an ex undercover officer he obviously knows how to relate to youth culture and how to get information, as his tactic with the soccer players showed. I'm surprised Linden seemed so tone deaf on how to deal with kids. You can't just put a bunch of high schoolers in a room and ask them all in front of each other a question and expect an answer. She could have said, "anyone who knows what the color red looks like, raise you hand" and nobody would have raised their hand.

This takes place in Seattle, but is filmed in Canada like so many things are. Still, could they avoid having actors say "about" like "a boat" the way Canadians do? Native Washingtonians don't speak that way, do they?

 

Always? How small minded of you.

I don't see why subtitles would inherently make something more intriguing. That just sounds like you fetishize "foreign" cinema/TV.

Now if you don't mind, I started this thread to discuss the show airing on AMC on Sundays, not the Danish one. Can we stick to the topic please?

 

Yes, let's, because after that response, I'm officially ignoring everything ROLO46 posts here.

Anyway, I watched the first two last night and I am very impressed so far. The acting is pretty good to great across the board, but I gotta say that I'm not in love with that newbie male detective ex-narco dude. I'm sure his character is supposed to be somewhat abrasive/annoying, but I found the actor was overdoing it a bit? He sure seems like an a**hole in any case...

 

I think that the detective is a much more complex character than that. If you noticed there were a few times when he revealed a more empathetic side to his character. He plays bad cop to Mireille Enos' good cop but appears to have much more depth than just 'nasty cop' - or at least that's what I saw watching the first two episodes. I think both actors are portraying quite unique characters.

 

Yeah, I think her "partner" is going to turn out to be quite nuanced, like, it appears, most of the other characters. I'm interested in the big tattoo on his neck. It suggests either he went deep undercover or pulled himself out of some sort of gang during his younger days.

Apparently, each episode will be ~1 day, chronologically.

 

Not sure where you got that from, maybe you have seen more that the first 90 mins, but I watched the first 2 episodes last night and it's a virtual shot by shot remake, just with less good actors and less atmosphere.

Really wanted to love this as I adore the first 2 series of the original, but it all just seemed so unnecessary.

Mireille Enos is OK but just lacks that huge and yet quiet presence that Sofie Gråbøl has. Lund/Linden is essentially quite an unlikeable character but Gråbøl plays her so you can still emphasise and respect her, I just found Enos a bit unlikeable. Her fiance is also COMPLETELY unbelievable.

The Meyer character's ******e traits have been emphasised and is way more ham-fisted than the subtle portrayal of Malling, and I hate the West Wing style sidekicks for Billy Campbell's (who is quite good) version of Troels. Give me Morten and Rie any day.

The mother and father are OK, but again, nowhere near the towering performance of Bjarne Henriksen.

This sounds like I'm slagging it off - I'm not, it's a perfectly good start to a series but we've already seen it in a better form. If they had thrown in a couple of new characters or changed a relationship dynamic or two it might feel a bit more worthwhile but I kept finding my attention drifting and pining for Gråbøl.

For the people who can't read subtitles it will suffice I guess but I just found it a bit pointless (a bit like that Psycho remake that Gus Van San did - it's OK and it's still essentially 'Psycho', but if you have the choice of watching both in front of you, why wouldn't you choose the Hitchcock version?).

oh.. and the jumpers aren't as good...

Great discussion here on the long journey from original to the remake including a comparison of the first 5 mins of both.
http://video.tvfestival.dk/?poditemid=9368

 

Hmmm...I didn't find Enos' character unlikeable in the least. She clearly has very very big protective emotional walls around her, but what the first scenes, with the co-workers and the blow-up doll, and then with the fiancé, establish is that there is an inner warmth.

And as for the fiancé...how could you find him unbelievable? We hardly know anything about him, other than he went without her. He doesn't, at this point, seem particularly...anything...other than, to the extent we know, in love with Enos' character.

 

Thanks for the breakdown... especially useful coming from someone who has seen both versions.

 

It's also worth noting that the producers of Who Killed Rosie Larsen have specifically said that since this is not advertised as a remake, they are not bound to the original script. In particular, they noted that one of the characters in the show will be revealed to be from another planet with a hidden agenda, and that that differs from the original show. (This was in the context of a quote to the effect of "The title of the series is 'Who Killed Rosie Larsen', but the better question might be "What Killed Rosie Larsen?'")