TV Review: The Killing, 2.1 and 2.2 - 'Reflections' and 'My Lucky Day'

rating:4

So here we are at the second season of AMC's The Killing €“ a return that's likely to be met with a much lower degree of anticipation than it was the first time the show came around. Let me get something out here right off the bat €“ I had absolutely no problem whatsoever that the Larsen murder wasn't solved at the end of last season. That isn't to say I didn't have a problem with the season one finale €“ I had plenty, but they had less to do with the lack of resolution and more with the way it was all handled. You see, The Killing's original promise was that it was going to be a show revolving around the ripple effects of a murder. It was supposed to be a character study, more focused on how a tragedy affects individuals than it was on finding an answer. Season one sometimes did that, and whenever it did, it did it well. But as the season continued on, the show began to put more emphasis on its plot twists and less on its characters. The finale served as the ultimate example of this trend €“ bucking nearly everything it had established about its characters in favor of slapping us in the face with a big, dumb plot twist. For The Killing to survive a second season, one thing was certain €“ it needed to stop obsessing over misdirection and hone back in on its characters. Thankfully, a great deal of our two hour return into the world of The Killing does just that. It's really nice to see these characters again €“ the show has always had a very strong cast at its disposal and the acting, as usual, is top notch. We spend quite of bit of time with all of them in these two episodes, to mostly great results. The dynamics between Linden and her son Jack, for example, seems more strongly drawn in these two hours than it was in the entirety of the first season. The scene in which she buys the poor kid dinner from a hotel vending machine sticks out in particular €“ the emotion on both of the pairs' faces speaks volumes about where they currently stand with each other. It's the same case with everyone, really. Stan Larsen's struggles with the murder of his daughter and his slowly crumbling family seem more poignant €“ Mitch is gone, his kids are scared, and his frustrations with the failures of the police force are becoming ever-increasingly justified. He's world weary, and you can see it every time he's on screen. Even the show's most hollow key players €“ Jamie and Gwen €“ are written and played with much more humanity and a deeper characterization than they ever were last time around. Jamie spends the latter half of the premiere struggling with the knowledge that Richmond is paralyzed from the waist down, and Gwen, who was more a plot point than anything else last year, genuinely appears to be both enamored with and broken by her relationship with Richmond. So if they've made strong steps toward getting the characters back in order, what about the plot? The biggest thing The Killing needed to figure out was how to address and fix the Holder twist. In the season one finale, it was revealed that Holder falsified evidence with a mysterious partner in order to make an arrest on Richmond. This hurt the character and hurt the show in a big way €“ the idea of Holder being a villain not only betrayed the character but didn't seem like something that could hold up if it was continually ran with. Thankfully, the show handles it as gracefully as it possibly could. As it turns out, Holder isn't part of some larger conspiracy €“ at least knowingly. He truly believed Richmond was the killer €“ taking the plunge and turning in false evidence in order to guarantee Richmond would be put away. This puts Holder in a much better position than it was implied he would be where we last left off. Instead of being a plant that was in on the bigger conspiracy (whatever it is) all along, Holder is simply a pawn €“ a cop with good intentions that nevertheless is willing to commit immoral acts to accomplish them. This also sets up a new dynamic with Linden €“ she spends the majority of the episode avoiding him until he's reduced to a panicked, desperate man banging on the front door of her hotel room. Furthering Linden and Holder's conflict with each other beyond petty differences is a move that comes with a lot of risk, but in this episode, it actually works fairly well. It's obvious they're going to need each other as the case grows deeper and more dangerous, but with all trust between them severed, there's no telling how or when that will happen, and that has a lot of potential. If it's not already clear, this premiere was a whole lot stronger than anyone could have predicted it would be. It's very apparent the show runners have made moves to address and fix the problems of the past. In turn, a lot of the promise that The Killing's always had is more apparent now than it has been in a long time. There's still plenty that could go wrong, and there's no telling whether or not the show will revert to its weaker tendencies as the weeks continue on. But for now, consider "Reflections€ and "My Lucky Day€ as the show's successful bidding for a second chance. Only time will tell if it spoils it.