The Killing is an American television show that originally aired on AMC. It's a remake of a Danish police procedural called Forbrydelsen, which translates into "The Crime." The show centers around Detective Sarah Linden and Detective Stephen Holder, partners who investigate murders in Seattle, Washington and over the course of their investigations, discover the dirty secrets of their city and the institution they work for. The Killing was cancelled twice over the course of it's run, and yet, despite that it managed to survive and wrap up the story and journeys of Linden and Holder.
First, the series was cancelled by AMC, right after its second season. This can probably be tied to the fact that the season, which, like the first one, centered on the murder of Rosie Larsen, did not have particularly strong ratings. The aforementioned second season also explored the working class community of Seattle, an investigation that leads Linden and Holder into the world of city politics and the nearby Reservation Casino.
The end of the first season was a bit surprising, in that a lot of fans had assumed the season 1 finale would wrap up the investigation. Instead, the episode ends with a twist, and the investigation continues in season two. The showrunner, Canadian Veena Sud, always intended for the series to use two seasons to conduct its investigation. And season two did exactly that, which meant that while there were still some character related lose ends, the main plot of the show's premise was wrapped up in time for this first cancellation at the end of Season 2.
But The Killing would return to AMC for a third season, despite the initial cancellation. This was all thanks to Netflix, who helped resurrect the procedural for a 12-episode third season, partly based on the engaging dynamic between Linden and Holder. The two are broken, damaged people who have a very complex and fascinating relationship with each other -- and with the people around them. The great writing and the way these two related to each other made the decision to bring back the show for a third season feel like the right one.
In the third season Linden returns to the force and helps Holder investigate a serial murderer targeting underage homeless girls. She discovers a connection between his case and an old case of hers that still haunts her. The new investigation really helps elevate the show in Season 3, giving it a fresh, yet familiar feeling. But it isn't just that -- Season 3 is a strong season, one that focuses on emotional storytelling and highlights a different part of Seattle than the first two seasons. Linden and Holder do solve the case this time, but the story is far from wrapped up by the end of the Season 3 finale. Despite the twist ending and the clear set up of a fourth season, however, the series was unfortunately cancelled again.
Netflix would however, jump in again renewing the show for a final 6-episode Season 4. The explicit intention of this decision was to wrap up Linden and Holder's stories and give them a proper send off. Season 4 then follows Linden and Holder as they deal with the fallout of their decisions in the Season 3 finale, and as they investigate the murder of a local wealthy family whose son, a student at a military academy, is the only survivor. At the end, the finale does jump forward a few years in time at the end to let the audience know where Linden and Holder ultimately end up, giving the story a perfect conclusion.
The Killing is a moody, atmospheric American police procedural which only ran for four seasons, but was actually cancelled twice in that short 44 episode run. The show survived the cancellations mostly thanks to Netflix, who worked with AMC to produce the series' third season and picked up the series for a fourth and final season in order to wrap up the story as intended. Considering the show wasn't very big in terms of ratings, it's quite the accomplishment that it survived not only one, but two different cancellations in order to tell its story in full.
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