AMC has dropped the hammer on The Killing for a second time, effectively extinguishing fans’ hopes of a fourth season.
Troubles began for The Killing starring Mireille Enos (World War Z) and Joel Kinnaman (RoboCop) at the conclusion of Season 1 when the show failed to answer the question posed during promos “Who killed Rosie Larsen?” Viewers felt they had been deceived despite strong ratings and critical response, and that negativity carried forward into the second season where ratings took a dip of nearly 30 percent despite promises from AMC that the question would be answered by Season 2’s conclusion.
Despite Rosie Larsen’s killer being outed, the ratings decline was too much for AMC and they cancelled the series. In an unusual move, the series was revived for a third season in a deal between AMC, FTVS and Netflix that saw new episodes appear on Netflix to stream shortly after their aired on AMC.
Even with a new case and new cast outside the two main stars, Season 3s ratings failed to climb above those of Season 2. With a meager 563,000 adults in the important 18-49 demo, AMC was left with no choice but to pull the plug — again — and kill The Killing once and for all.
AMC had hoped The Killing would be a ratings star and follow in the footsteps of Mad Men, The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad. Maybe if Rosie Larsen’s killer would have been outed in Season 1 it might have as the writing and talent was definitely in place.
