The Killing is the new Arrested Development. The American crime drama based on the original Danish Forbrydelsen will get a fourth and presumably final six-episode season to air exclusively on Netflix.
The news of the gritty, Seattle-based whodunnit’s resurrection comes just two-and-half months after AMC announced it was cancelling the series. On September 10, 2013, the cable channel made it clear it would not order more episodes of the program, as its third season more or less flatlined in terms of ratings and critical appeal.
That wasn’t the first time AMC tried to end the series, either. The Killing has a history of avoiding death.
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AMC originally cancelled the show after the conclusion of its second season back in July 2012. Then, in January 2013, the cable channel brought another 12 episodes back thanks to a unique partnership with Netflix. Lacey Rose at The Hollywood Reporter notes the first two seasons of The Killing gained a following on the on-demand streaming video service. That led to a deal between Netflix and AMC that gave the former rights to episodes of The Killing 90 days after air. Netflix paid a premium for the smaller distribution window (normally Netflix would’ve had to wait about a year to stream episodes of the new season), which gave AMC the financial incentive to give The Killing another go.
“The rich, serialized storytelling in The Killing thrives on Netflix, and we believe that it is only fitting to give Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder a proper send off,” said Cindy Holland, Vice President of Original Content for Netflix. “We are looking forward to offering fans – both existing and new – a series that we know is perfectly suited for on-demand viewing.”
No word yet on a release date, but The Killing’s stars Mirielle Enos and Joel Kinnaman are signed on board for the Netflix-only mini-season, in addition to showrunner Veena Sud. Hopefully she finds a way to end the series in much better fashion than she did the first season.
