Last week, I started preparing everyone for the season two premiere of The Killing, which premieres this Sunday. Based on an interview with the head writer for the show, and based on several in-the-know TV critics, I really don’t think I’ll be paying attention to this season’s plot lines. They probably aren’t going to reveal Rosie Larsen’s killer until THE END of the second season. And the head writer thinks she’s an absolute and total genius for doing it that way too, and it’s like she doesn’t hear any of the criticisms.

So, compare my lack of enthusiasm for The Killing with my excitement for the new season of Mad Men. I couldn’t wait for new photos of any and all cast members of Mad Men. But when I saw these pics – of the premiere screening for The Killing – I was just filled with sadness. Mireille Enos is so pretty and so talented, and this could have been Joel Kinnaman’s big moment, where Hollywood sees a talented dude and makes him into a star. And… nothing. I worry that Enos and Kinnaman’s careers will suffer because of the crappy, unfulfilling writing on the show. Their characters look incompetent, and their performances are all over the place because of the crappy writing.

Still: Joel Kinnaman. Would you hit it? Or would you be too sad to hit it because you dislike the show? He gives off such a lovable-dirtbag vibe. I would have been into him like crazy in my early 20s. As it is now, I just can’t. It’s the show, but it’s also this horrible news: Joel Kinnaman is dating Olivia Munn. At least according to Olivia Munn’s publicist, who made sure to leak the information last night:

Sorry guys, Olivia Munn is taken. E! News confirms that the actress and former G4 host is linked to The Killing’s Joel Kinnaman, who took Liv as his arm candy to the show’s second season premiere tonight in Los Angeles.

Here’s what our source told us of the new duo…

“They have been together for about three months. They met last year, but they didn’t get together until just before Christmas,” the friend of the couple told us. “He is a super normal guy and she is a really down-to-earth girl and they just get each other. They are on the same wavelength intellectually, and they have the same sense of humor. It’s been going on for a little while and it’s heading towards being serious. They are extremely happy together.”

Our source also shared that the twosome are making no secret of their new relationship and sat next to each other inside the theater.

[From E! News]

For what it’s worth, I didn’t see any photos of Munn at last night’s Killing event, so maybe they didn’t really walk arm-and-arm or anything. But sure, I’ll buy that they’re together. Olivia hooks up with (“dates”) whichever famous dude will get her attention or help her career. And I think less of Joel for engaging in her crap.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

These are some photos of Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman in Vancouver, filming the second season of The Killing. The second season begins on April 1st. Obviously, April Fool’s Day, at 8 pm on AMC. The second season starts with a big two-hour premiere. Will you be watching? I’m still undecided. I recapped the finale last year, and at that point, I was still ambivalent about whether I would actively seek out the second season.

The show has many good points – great acting, mood, atmosphere, a complicated female lead (Enos) and the wonderful Swedish hottie-turned-dirtbag Joel Kinnaman. But the first season ended up being an unfocused mess, and the writing (especially in the last half of the season) did a great disservice to the characters, and to the fans of the show. At the time, I blamed the show-runner, a woman who seemed to think she was some monumental genius by not delivering on the implicit promise to REVEAL THE KILLER. Back in January, TV Guide’s Matt Roush discussed some of last season’s issues and the issues that remaining fans might have with the new season:

Question: For the legions who went ballistic over the non-ending, no payoff on Who Killed Rosie Larsen in lucky episode 13 of season one of AMC’s The Killing, here’s a pre-emptive Jeer for Veena Sud — who runs the show. I just read an extensive interview in Written By magazine (the monthly of the Writers Guild of America). For all those who were left hanging and vowed not to return, as well as for those who were led to believe that the murderer would be revealed in the first episode or two of next season as an enticement to give the show another chance — don’t hold your breath. According to the article: “For the record, who killed Rosie Larsen will not be revealed until THE END OF SEASON TWO.” The capitals are mine — for emphasis — and to show my anger at being manipulated. I for one will not be watching season two — nor will I be buying the DVD set for season one. So I count on you and TV Guide Magazine to tell me whodunit — while I use my time watching other shows. — Michael

Matt Roush: At least this time they’re being upfront about it. But yes, that admission does seem to have once again raised the hackles of those who felt so poorly treated by the way the first season ended (or didn’t) — which seems to be the prevailing critical opinion, though by no means a universal one. The Killing might have gotten away with extending the Rosie Larsen mystery instead of becoming an industry punchline if we’d been given some dramatic payoff along the way, instead of what now feels in retrospect to be an endlessly frustrating wallow in mood. I still find the show tonally interesting, and will stay with it through the second season, so yes, I promise to tell you whodunit when the time comes. If you still care.

[From TV Guide]

You can read the referenced Written By magazine article here – I could only get halfway through it before I decided that The Killing’s writers simply don’t give a sh-t about balancing character and story development with the reasonable, implied expectations of the audience. I understand that The Killing’s writers are trying to create complex characters living in a realistic, morally ambiguous world. That’s fine. But it’s also a television show with an eight-month hiatus – be realistic about THAT too. Do you really expect the average viewer to remember (or care enough to remember) the nuances of the first season when there was absolutely NO PAYOFF? Some of the writers of The Killing came from Damages, and THAT is how the show should go. One central, complicated mystery/storyline told per season. New season, new mystery. You give your audience a payoff at the end of the season.

Here’s another huge peeve: instead of building the puzzle pieces around the police investigation, the story and the characters went off on so many tangents that the two lead cops – Linden and Holder – look like incompetent idiots. If they were investigating the murder of someone close to me, I would want them off the case. It took them two weeks to search a car and trace the murdered girl’s footsteps on the night she went missing. That kind of ambivalence to how a real investigation is conducted does a disservice to the characters, truly. Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson would have gotten a confession in the first 48 hours.

So, basically… I’m still very undecided whether I want to stick with this. Will you be watching it?

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

**This post contains spoilers for The Killing’s finale, and the entire season.

Part of me is still processing what happened on the finale for The Killing. I was told that at the end of the season, I would know exactly what happened to Rosie Larsen. I didn’t find out, and now I’m kind of over it. Let’s recap the finale: the episode picked up on last week’s cliffhanger, with Det. Linden in Darren Richmond’s home, staring at his computer, realizing that he was the “John” that hired an underaged escort (Rosie). I’m sure it was supposed to be suspenseful and we were supposed to be worried that Richmond was going to hurt or harm Linden in some way, but I was convinced he wouldn’t do anything. Maybe Billy Campbell is a really wonderful actor, or maybe he’s sleep walking through the part, either way, I’ve never bought him as the killer, or a man capable of any kind of violence. He just doesn’t seem threatening in the least. That didn’t stop Linden and Holder from deciding that he was the dude, and they ended up arresting him AT HIS RALLY, which is a political catastrophe that could have easily avoided.

Throughout the finale, there seemed to be several moments that could have led to some bigger revelation. Closeups of Gwen excited me, because I had always pegged her for the killer. My theory was that she followed her lover/candidate and saw that he was meeting the same under-age escort time and time again, and Gwen decided to take Rosie out. But then the finale had Gwen doing weird stuff – confessing to Linden that Campbell’s alibi was crap, acting all weepy and emotional. I still think something weird is going on with her, but I guess I should admit that my theory was wrong…?

I put that question mark because we still don’t know who did what to Rosie. The finale ended without a definitive answer, and all we really know is that Darren Richmond is likely being framed, although we don’t really know by whom. It looks like my guy, my boyfriend, Det. Holder is a dirty cop who knowingly accepted manufactured evidence to frame Richmond. It also looks like that weird guy, Belko, is going to kill Richmond, Lee Harvey Oswald-style. And that’s pretty much how the finale ended – Belko hadn’t pulled the trigger, Linden realizing that their case against Richmond wasn’t really that air-tight, Holder meeting with his shadow-conspirator. Oh, and Mitch left her husband. I hope to God Mitch isn’t in the second season. I want to punch her in the face.

Here are some random thoughts, just because I don’t know how else to organize it:

*After TWO WEEKS of investigating (within the world of the show), Holder and Linden finally got around to tracing the likely path Rosie took to get into the forest where she met her death. So we finally have the timeline, sort of. Is it just me, or should they have nailed down the timeline WAY before the finale?

*Linden was pissing me off, the way that she got so emotional about the way Rosie was “hunted” and how she confronted Richmond. I found that very unprofessional, and I normally love her. She got way too emotionally involved in the case.

*I love Rosie’s dad (and I love the actor playing him), but I felt like they were just glossing over how he almost beat to dear that poor Muslim teacher. Oh, he helped Mohammed’s wife! That makes it all better! NO IT DOESN’T.

*I get the feeling that we’re supposed to think that the frame-up job on Richmond was done by his political opponent. If that’s really what happened, I will be sorely disappointed. It’s a mayoral race, not the presidency! I just don’t buy that a political opponent would arrange a murder and a frame-up, just to get at his opponent in a MAYOR’S race. Perspective, please.

So, meh. Will I be watching next season? Probably, especially if they’re doing it over the summer, when there isn’t much else on. But it still pisses me off. I appreciate that they’re trying to do a different kind of storyline, and a different WAY of telling the story, but realistically, Americans aren’t going to care enough to remember all of the details of the show FOR A YEAR while we wait for the second season. I’m really disappointed.

Photos courtesy of The Killing/AMC.

Since it’s so slow today, I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight one of my new boyfriends, and one of my new favorite shows. The guy in these photos is a Swedish actor named Joel Kinnaman, and he’s currently starring in The Killing. This Sunday will be the big finale for The Killing. At first, I was like “I’m not going to watch this stuff, meh.” And then AMC had a little marathon of four episodes, and I was hooked. It’s not “the greatest show on television” but it is at times very, very good, with some streaks of “infuriating” and “WTF?”. They also just got renewed for a second season – which upset me at first, but now I’m hoping that this season will be the end of the “Who killed Rosie Larson?“ story line and they’ll have a new crime to work next season.

Joel is 31 years old, and it took me most of the season to realize that he is not, in fact, American. He does an absolutely perfect trashy dirt-bag drawl and he’s utterly believable as an ex-addict cop. But listen to him speak Swedish:

HOT. But you can’t even hear a trace of that when he’s doing his American cop. Coincidentally, he’s tight with one of your boyfriends, Alex Skarsgard. You can keep Alex – I’ll take Joel. Anyway, Joel has been getting lots of recognition in Hollywood because of The Killing, and he’s lining up English-language films as we speak. I’m looking forward to seeing him in more stuff. Meanwhile, here’s a new interview Joel did with TV Guide about The Killing:

TV Guide Magazine: Holder was so mysterious throughout the whole season, with different layers being slowly revealed. How much did you know about him when you started this role, and how did that affect how you portrayed him?
Kinnaman: Preparing for this part was very much about describing Holder’s back-story that we found out in episode 8, and I had that with me during the whole period. When we shot the pilot, it hadn’t really been decided how long he had been clean so I was preparing both physically and emotionally. I think originally he had been clean for two weeks and then they made the decision that he’d been clean for six months, which I think was a good choice. I also thought that that reveal was going to come a little bit earlier. And I think for the audience that kept the suspense and the feeling that they don’t really know if this guy is a good guy or a bad guy. But for me, playing it was a bit frustrating because that also meant that I couldn’t use all colors while playing it. They wanted to keep it minimal, more one directional having that suspicion grow about him so the reveal has a bigger effect. So after that, it was very relaxing for me because I could sort of be Holder 100 percent and it let me play with different kinds of colors. I did a lot of ride-alongs with the county sheriffs, with the narcotics units. They’re really tough. They don’t always act that nicely to people. They deal with so many people that are lying every day, so they don’t really give people the benefit of the doubt. I had a lot of that coming into this, and that came from the undercover narcotics where there’s not really any room for niceties.

TV Guide Magazine: How much did you know about the other characters when you started?
Kinnaman: I didn’t know that much. I had watched the Danish originals so I had my perception of them from there, but otherwise I didn’t really need to know anything about the other characters because it played out in the script.

TV Guide Magazine: How happy were you to get out of the rain after wrapping the season?
Kinnaman: I was very happy! I was about to drop kick one of those rain tower operators at several occasions. I was like, ‘Really, I’m trying to be emotional here and you’re spraying a hose in my face? I have no respect for that and here you are putting yourself in harms way, my friend.’ [Laughs] But the city of Vancouver provides a lot of real rain — they do that really well. A lot of the times when the rain towers were up, it was actually raining. But when we’re shooting, a drizzle doesn’t always show up on film so they added the towers to really get that.

TV Guide Magazine: Going back through the season as a whole, do you have a favorite moment or scene that you’re really proud of?
Kinnaman: I have a couple. Definitely playing the NA scene where Holder reveals him being an addict, that was one of the high points for me, personally, shooting the show. But then also shooting episode 11 with Mireille [Enos]. It was one of my better weeks of my career. It was very, very satisfying. And then in the end of the scene in between Linden and Holder when we’re sitting at the hamburger joint and she reveals kind of where she comes from. Right at the end of that scene, we had a moment where it felt like I saw deep inside of her and that really scared her and she ran off. And that was one of my more satisfying moments as an actor.

TV Guide Magazine: With the announcement of a second season, what are you most excited to explore about Holder next year?
Kinnaman: I want to be made lieutenant. [Laughs] I have no idea where it’s going to go, but if I could just fantasize: He’s now six months sober and that’s a very delicate time. He’s under a lot of pressure. I wouldn’t be surprised if sobriety is going to be difficult. So we might see a little falling off the wagon.

TV Guide Magazine: So just spill it, who killed Rosie Larsen? Did you guys have any betting or pools on set?
Kinnaman: We did, there is a pool. I’m not going to tell you who I’ve got my money on, but I’ve got my money on somebody.

[From TV Guide]

Sigh… shall we talk about what might happen on the finale? Let me do this:

SPOILERS:

I don’t think the mayoral candidate guy, Darren Richmond, did it. It just cannot be that easy. My choice since the very beginning Richmond’s blonde, uninspired, right-hand woman, Gwen, but honestly, it just has to be someone associated with the campaign, right? My mom thinks it’s the skuzzy billionaire guy, but I feel like that’s too “on the nose” too. My point all along has been this: who would Rosie Larson, a teenage girl with a modicum of street smarts, get into a car with? Rosie would get into the car with A) someone she knew, or B) a woman. That’s why I think it’s Gwen. Gwen knows her boyfriend/candidate is boning this young girl, and she offers Rosie a ride home to talk about love and life, and Gwen drives her to an isolated spot and kills her. That’s my theory.

Photos courtesy of WENN.