Just over a year ago, AMC canceled “The Killing” following a second season that delivered anemic ratings. A few months later, AMC reversed itself and gave “The Killing” a third season renewal.
However, the third season of “The Killing” continued to decline in viewership and consequently, AMC has once again canceled “The Killing” (via Deadline). Based upon the Danish television series “Forbrydelsen,” “The Killing” debuted to 2.72 million viewers in 2011 and it quickly won praise for its direction as well as the performances of Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman as the lead homicide detectives, Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder. However, “The Killing” encountered a significant fan backlash when the first season ended without resolving the Rosie Larsen storyline and the show never really recovered from that.
One of the reasons for “The Killing’s” miraculous renewal last year was the increased profile it gave to Enos and Kinnamen, who began appearing more prominent movie roles (including Kinnamen’s starring turn in the upcoming RoboCop remake). But apparently the pairing of Enos and Kinnamen couldn’t bring back the initial audience that the series had once enjoyed.
Fox TV Studios is expected to shop “The Killing” around in the hopes of earning another reprieve, but its chances aren’t very good. The final episode of “The Killing” only brought in 1.48 viewers on its initial broadcast; which isn’t an enticing number. Nor will many networks be interested in saving a show that AMC gave up on twice.
If “The Killing” has a savior, it may be Netflix. It was Netflix’s interest in continuing “The Killing” that helped bring AMC back to the table for a third season. However, Netflix has rarely picked up canceled TV programs despite teasing its interest in continuing “Terra Nova” and “The River.”
Do you think that “The Killing’ should continue? Where do you want to see “The Killing” end up? Let us know in the comment section below!
