Even Nanna herself becomes a character - whereas normally the victims are just seen as dead bodies and smiling photographs, we get to see a touching video she filmed before her tragic death.Īnd then we come to the politicians. That means that her occasional flashes of anger mean so much more, and her ill-advised attempt to have a one-night stand is just awful. Ann Eleonora Jørgensen as Pernille, on the other hand, somehow manages to convey a huge amount of emotion just by sitting quietly. That doesn't mean your heart doesn't break when he goes to the petrol station and just can't hold in the tears anymore. It's refreshing to see a murder case in which the victim's father is actually not a particularly nice guy - he's a violent and quick-tempered vigilante. The thing is, all of the characters in this show are complex. When Lund comes across Meyer sitting with his wife and family at the station, you see a completely new side to him - just at the point when you need to care. Every so often, tiny little scenes pop up to make you feel differently about the characters.
When he first turned up, I never thought that I'd be upset if something happened to him, but when the time came, it stung. Meyer is an insufferable, politically incorrect buffoon at the beginning, but he slowly starts to become likeable. It's probably partly because the characters always seem to have more than one side.
Similarly, Meyer and Lund's relationship could be that old crime drama standard - two cops stuck together who don't get along - but for some reason it just worked. Lund isn't really a maverick - although in the end she's forced to become a 'cop who doesn't play by the rules', it never seems forced or clichéd. Sofie Gråbøl has said that she doesn't think of Sarah Lund as a stereotype, and she's right. Pernille and Theis's quiet devastation was, well, devastating. You never normally see the victims' families in crime dramas, except for the odd anguished scream. And this wasn't just a standard murder story - it was also a character study in grief. Not only that, but with the shenanigans at City Hall we also got political intrigue, corruption, and ruthless ambition. Just when you thought you'd figured it all out, something happened and forced you to think about everything all over again. Spreading one murder case out over 20 hours of television meant that you never quite knew where you were.
Normally crime dramas present us with a dead body, introduce a maverick cop, and have it all wrapped up in time for a cup of tea. If you're still catching up do not read on - spoilers lie ahead.Īs Charlie Brooker told us when we chatted to him recently, The Killing is basically "well made pop TV".
Now it's all over, there's time to take a breath and think about why exactly it captured an audience and what on earth we should do now that it's off the air! We could talk about it for hours, so we've only picked up on a few points, but feel free to get involved in the comments below.
Who would have thought that a slow-burning, subtitled, Danish crime series would have been such a cult hit? It picked up higher ratings than Mad Men, fashion columns have drooled over Sarah Lund's marvellous collection of jumpers, and people have started practising their conversational Danish (all I've learnt is how to say 'thank you', but it's a start). So, it's almost a week since The Killing - or Forbrydelsen as we've taken to calling it - came to a close on BBC Four.