The Killing: Episode One
A crime drama created by AMC, I found The Killing appealing for analyse as not only does it fit in with The Identity's part broadcasting channel, and part of it's genre. But the themes of love, family and mystery are a helpful comparison to my own work, and my previous research on Doctor Foster.
The Killing Season One Trailer
My Plot Summary
Detective Sarah Linden is ready to leave the force and move to California with her fiance Rick and son Jack. But once a blood soaked piece of evidence is found at a crime scene that leads to a family with a teenage daughter, Sarah starts to suspect that something could have happened to the girl known as Rosie Larsen. Refusing to leave the investigation behind, Sarah searches all areas to find out if Rosie is dead or alive.
Themes
Family
Love
Death
Mystery
Fear
Characters
Sarah Linden: Main character. A detective that's about to leave the force and move away with her son and fiance. She seems to value her job but her family more. But once she starts on her investigation into Rosie Larsen's disappearance, she feels that she needs to continue.
Rick: Fiance. He seems to love Sarah and her son, and is looking forward to them moving to California with him.
Holder: Detective. He's unconventional as a detective in appearance, but seems to be keen to find out the truth about Rosie Larsen.
Stan Larsen: Rosie's father. He suspects that Rosie has run away with a troublesome boyfriend, and is determined to find her. But is devastated when she'd found dead.
Mitch Larsen: Rosie's mother. She tries to assume that Rosie is misbehaving, but is terrified about her daughter's disappearance, and desperately wants her found. She too is devastated when she finds out that Rosie is dead.
Darren Richmond: Politician. He initially seems to be a caring and grieving man, who wants to run for city mayor. But his car has now been found to hold Rosie's body.
Sterling: Rosie's friend. A shy young girl who covered for Rosie when she planned to see Jasper, by saying that Rosie stayed with her. But comes under questioning when Rosie disappears.
Rosie Larsen: Missing girl. Rosie seems to be loved by a lot of family and friends, but is slightly misguided in who she gets into relationships with. See is seen as terrified and running before her death.
Jack: Sarah's son. He seems to be a nice boy, but is angry at his mother for moving them away with her fiance.
Jasper: Rosie's boyfriend. He's seen as a dangerous person for Rosie to spend time with, and is suspected of bringing Rosie to stay with him, except she's found to not be there.
Visual Style
Almost the entirety of The Killing is dark and dull in tones and lighting, with blue tones to signify the down beaten mood and locations. In the beginning of the episode, we see a large use of dark settings with characters using flashlights to highlight key objects or people, such as Rosie being chased in the first scene, and Sarah inspecting what she believes to be a crime scene soon after. The setting of the killing appears as a run-down area, with lots of decaying and dull locations and with varying rainfall throughout the episode. While the entire episode is set with a dark, mysterious and depressing mood through location, weather, tone and colour, the only place that appears to be visually full of life and colour is Rosie's now unused bedroom. Which is full of colourful clothes, bedding and photographs, signifying how bright and upbeat life was before Rosie was taken.
Run Time
0-10 minutes: Sarah Linden jogs through the woods in the daylight, at the same time we see a girl run through the woods in the dark, screaming and being chased. The girl, shaking and crying, hides behind a tree before she is found. What appears to be the next day, Sarah finds a dead animal in the same place. Named as 'Day One', Sarah arrives at a crime scene to find that it's actually a surprise bon voyage party for her. She returns home to her fiance Rick, whether they prepare for moving away together with her son. As she packs up her office, her replacement, Holder arrives and they discuss a recent case. Their boss enters and tells them to go to a new crime scene together. They get to know each other on the car journey and Holder and a homeless looking girl put their middle fingers up at each other through a window without Sarah noticing.
11-20 minutes: The pair arrive at the crime scene and are given a blood soaked jumper as evidence. Sarah notices a large cross tattoo on the back of Holder's neck. They discover the credit card of a Stanley Larsen and decide to investigate. We then see Stan Larsen enter a store to pick up an order of raw meet when he receives a call telling him to come home. He goes home to his wife Mitch, who he seems to have a positive relationship as they laugh together. The pair talk about their daughter and her future before he leaves. Moving on to a man standing at a grave appearing upset, he answers the phone to someone named Jamie and leaves. He's then addressed as Darren Richmond as he enters his workplace, where he seems to be sleeping with his co-worker, Darren also seems to be a successful politician. Later, Linden and Holder arrive at Mitch's address and question her about Stan. Sarah asks if they have a daughter and she says yes, and that she stayed in town while the rest of the family went camping. Mitch realises that she hasn't talked to her daughter for days, and looks immediately concerned and upset.
21-30 minutes: Now in a school, a young girl walks through the halls asking people if they've seen Rosie and Cameron. A woman questions the young girl (Sterling) about Rosie Larsen, who Sterling claims stayed at her house over the weekend but as she talks her nose begins to bleed. Elsewhere, Mrs Larsen is still being questioned about her daughter, she tells them that she was wearing a pink sweater - which matches the sweater found at the crime scene. Sarah looks at Rosie's room, full of colour and photos. Mitch is told that the last time Rosie's friends saw her was on Friday.
Later, Darren visits the school to make a speech, from the conversation with his co-worker/lover, we can gather that a female in his life died, potentially a wife or daughter. Darren's speech is postponed by an investigation that begins for finding Rosie. Sterling sees the Sarah, Holder and other police offers and walks in the other direction, making a phone call. The pair then question Rosie's teacher, who says that she was wearing a costume. Holder attempts to get the teacher to say that Rosie's attractive for a reaction, which he denies, seeming bothered. Sarah then receives a call from her son's school and leaves. Sterling is then seen meeting a boy named Kris, who she asks if Rosie spent the weekend at a boy called Jasper's house, to which Kris says that he probably wanted to hook up with her. A disturbed looking teenage boy is then seen playing video games, while a girl groans in the background. Sarah picks up her son who was found smoking, he seems resentful towards his mum for her moving them away from his friend. Holder calls Sarah and she returns to work.
31-40 minutes: Mitch is seen attempting to call her husband with no luck, her other children return home and ask for Rosie. Stan calls back and she begins to tell him about Rosie. The police continue to search the field crime scene for more evidence or a body. Stan keeps his wife calm and tells her that he'll find Rosie before leaving. Sarah and Holder trace Rosie's steps through the woods, trying to track her moves. Meanwhile, Darren receives a call from a woman named Meg, who tells him that people know about his hidden trips. Later, Sterling arrives at home to find Stan angry and questioning her about Rosie, she tells him that Rosie's at Jasper's house, he then calls his wife and tells her not to worry. Sarah is told by her boss that Rosie's at Jasper's and that the investigation's over. At Jasper's house, Stan bursts in to look for Rosie, but Jasper tells him that Rosie isn't there and the groaning girl is revealed to be someone else. While Sarah is on the phone to Rick at the crime scene, she notices a clue. The police head to a nearby lake and find a car, which they pull out of the lake.
41-45 minutes: Sarah and Holder watch as the car is lifted, and Stan calls his wife from his car to tell her that Rosie wasn't with Jasper and that he's going to the park where they found her sweater. Looking devastated as he arrives at the crime scene, he leaves his wife on the phone and gets out of his truck. Meanwhile, Sarah and Holder investigate the car and open the trunk, where they find Rosie's body, laying in a pool of water. Stan cries out for Rosie while Mitch hears on the line. Sarah, looking sympathetic, walks to Stan and tells him that she's sorry, making him realise that his daughter's dead. Mitch falls to the floor in tears, crying out for Stan, as she too realises that Rosie's dead from her husband's screams. Holder tells Sarah that the car Rosie's found in belongs to Darren Richmond's campaign. Photographs are taken of Rosie's body, as we see Stan fall to the ground in tears on the street, while Mitch does the same at home. Sarah looks on at the body, looking inquisitive.
Comparisons, Observations & Inspirations
When analysing how many characters were introduced, represented and explored throughout the first episode, it is clear that a number of characters can be brought to life in a short amount of time. However, in my opinion, not enough is learnt about the main character, Sarah, in this episode, as the focus seems to be more on learning about who Rosie was before her death.
In contrast to the recently analysed series Doctor Foster, The Killing seems to use a much larger amount of dialogue for explanation than visuals. I feel that while often dialogue is necessary, visuals can be much more stimulating as a way of explaining a situation or character's feeling than simply verbally explaining this to the audience. Also, while it seems appropriate to use dark tones for a hostile situation in the episode, I feel that the colours were too dull, steering away from situational and atmospheric expressions through tone and colour, and creating a more plain and boring effect for a story-line that's so stimulating. While I plan to create a dark mood for my own visuals, I would lean further towards Doctor Foster's example, and use brighter tones of blue and contrasting light to create an atmosphere.
Lastly, I feel that a large amount of content was able to placed within 45 minutes. Although the first ten minutes only establishes that something bad has happened to a young girl, and that our main character is Sarah, a detective that's moving away with her family. The next thirty-five minutes allows for the investigation of Rosie Larsen to start, and build up suspense not only for the characters, but for the audience, allowing us to point fingers at who could be involved, and where she could be. However, I see finding Rosie's body at the end of the episode as a story tied up and concluded, with a simple 'who did it?' situation remaining for the next episodes. For my own three episodes and plot, I plan to create much larger cliff hangers to keep the audience hooked, and not have the story fully wrap up until the end of the final episode.
I think that analysing both Doctor Foster and The Killing, alongside comparing them to each other and my own work, has allowed me to decide the best way to approach my character representations, storytelling and visuals. I now feel more knowledgeable on what is best for my series and what I should avoid.
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