Forbrydelsen (The Killing) Season III
This show being what it is, I had to wait till I felt up to the inevitable darkness I was sure this last season of the Danish mystery series would contain. But now I marathoned it.
This season's theme seems to have been being a parent and the results your parenting (or lack of same) bring, which was an issue for all the main characters, from Sarah Lund and her now grown up son rejecting her and fearing his own parenting abilities, but her son's pregnant girlfriend befriending her and giving her a chance, to divorced parents Robert and Maja whose kidnapped daughter was one of the two cases driving the season, to the kidnapper whose actions were motivated by what happened to his own daughter and his neglect of her while she was still alive, to Prime Minister Kristian Kamper, the death of whose son is entangled into the season mystery. The thematic connection worked really well for me - I especially appreciated the unexpected Lund and Eva relationship forming which took on a cliché about mother-and-daughters-in-law and turned it upside down (i.e. Sarah Lund at first tries to blame her son's refusal to see her on the girlfriend because that's just easier, and the show lets her be flawed like this, but Eva refuses to behave according to cliché and Lund's slow letting her guard down with the girl and coming to care for her as a neat subplot. At the same time, the dark side of strong parental emotion was highlighted: the kidnapper has zilch compassion for anyone and his self justification relentless (even after Lund convinces him his initial assumption about the guilty parties in his daughter's fate was wrong, we don't get the sense he regrets for a moment what he did to the sailors, for example). That one of the reasons for his acts is the sense of guilt because he didn't take care of Louise while she still lived isn't the only parallel the show draws between him and Lund. Highlighting the differences as well - Lund not allowing the death of a suspect even if she's already mostly convinced that suspect is the killer - which makes the conclusion of the season and the show so shattering yet inevitable.
But before I get to that, some more observations on other matters. For the third time, we get a parallel political plot thread. The political character's position (each time a different character, though) moved upwards through the three seasons, so in the first season it was the mayor of Copenhagen, the second the minister of justice, and the third the prime minster. Though not the PM from the second season; in fact, none of his cabinet contained anyone from the previous season, so I take it this is a completely different government, which, given there are a few intervening years between seasons as can be seen by the age of Lund's son, is very likely. However, other things feel a bit repetitive. Given the previous seasons, I knew this third season, too, whould conclude that particular plot thread in having the main political character commit a moral sell out; its seems as if the show's head was incapable of coming up with a different story. Also, for the third season in a row the main political character had a male and a female sidekick (in all three seasons the female one was a loyal blonde), with whom he had at different points fallouts and reconciliations and who had done some questionable things out of their loyalty to him. In this particular case, because Kristian Kamper was so quick to turn on anyone, I was wondering why both Karen and Kristoffer were that loyal to him to begin with. But at least his selling out wasn't the character U-Turn it was for s2's character; I could believe it of him. It just was a lot of been there, seen that in the political storyline: mid-season, the political character has lost all support from other politicians (save his loyal sidekicks) because of his involvement in the crime storyline, making the point that fellow politicians always are the proverbial rats deserting the ships but Personal Assistants Are The Best, then there's a turnaround and the politician gathers power and support again and looks like triumphing, and then there's another turnaround and he's forced to choose between selling out or losing all, and he sells out. Don't get me wrong, while actually watching it I was entertained because it's well acted and the scenes were suspenseful. For all that I can see the larger point, especially in this season, about the corruption of power affecting everyone's lives - because Zeeland needs to stay in Denmark, the murder coverup becomes essential for so many parties - , I wish the author had found a way of conveying them a bit differently for a chance.
And while I'm nitpicking: Borch as The One Who Got Away for Lund smacked of retconning, but okay, there was nothing in s1 to contradict the idea she had a first love before Markus' father. (I'm still sideeyeing the implication her intimacy issues started by losing Borch rather than a mixture of character, circumstance and spectacular bad luck.) It was a bit of a storytelling short cut, too, in that after the events of the previous two seasons Lund opening herself up emotioally (either in a romantic or just friendly fashion) to another cop she's partnered with was so extremely unlikely, but by making Borch someone she's loved before it just about became possible. Anyway, the Doylist reason for Borch being that person was glaringly obvious in the last episode: because he's part of the Possible Happy Ending Lund is almost in reach of - her son is talking to her again and ready to reconcile, she's made a friend of her daughter-in-law, she's just become a grandmother with the new chance that presents, and she finally has a partner she can trust and who understands her work because he shares it - before it is snatched away by her action.
In addition to Kamper doing the by now standard thing for political main characters, there's also the strong implication that Robert won't be able to keep his promise to Maja and give up his business in order to now be there for his children; both grim subplot endings are caused by the business power of Zeeland. Which is also, when it comes down to it, what drives Sarah Lund's individual plot line to its conclusion. For it to work, the audience and Lund have to be convinced that the killer would, in fact, get away with it due to Zeeland's power, and be able to commit more murders (since Lund suspects Louise was neither his first nor last victim). Which drives Lund, who has seen institutional corruption and power interests trump justice a lot through the show, to abandon a core belief of hers and commit murder herself. I didn't see it coming until the last fifteen minutes or so, but then it dawned on me this would be the inevitable conclusion. As far as "detective story ending with the detective shatttered" go, it's not quite as devastating as Friedrich Dürrematt's Das Versprechen ("The Promise", in wihch the detective, having promised the mother of a murdered girl he'll find the killer, constructs the perfect trap for the killer - in the process ruining all of his relationships and morally comprimising himself - and then is foiled by sheer accident, literally; the killer dies in a car crash and thus never arrives at the trap - where he had every intention to go -, thus the detective is never justfied and ends up as an isolated madman). But it comes close. And yet, with this show, in retrospect it seems the only fitting ending, much like Blake wasn't planned as an ending of Blake's 7 but in retrospect seems to be inevitable. With one caveat: right now, I'm even inclined to want something more radical, because the show lets a shattered Sarah Lund make an escape, while my current instinct is to think she should have given herself up after shooting the killer, Borch's urgings be dammed.
As it is, the show leaves its audience with just two senses of emotional relief in the pitch black picture it paints otherwise; the kidnapped girl, Emilie, could be rescued and returned to her parents, and Eva and the baby are fine. But Sarah Lund, whereever she goes, will never be able to be a cop again, which has been her defining identity, and there won't be a future for her with her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, either. Thinking about this some more, I conclude Dürrematt's Matthäi only wins the "most devastating ending for detective hero" because the readers get a look of what becomes of him several years after the case. But I am glad I watched the show. Which earned its tragedy and made me care about both its heroine and the characters involved in each of the seasons, bringing them all to three dimensional life.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1002393.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
This season's theme seems to have been being a parent and the results your parenting (or lack of same) bring, which was an issue for all the main characters, from Sarah Lund and her now grown up son rejecting her and fearing his own parenting abilities, but her son's pregnant girlfriend befriending her and giving her a chance, to divorced parents Robert and Maja whose kidnapped daughter was one of the two cases driving the season, to the kidnapper whose actions were motivated by what happened to his own daughter and his neglect of her while she was still alive, to Prime Minister Kristian Kamper, the death of whose son is entangled into the season mystery. The thematic connection worked really well for me - I especially appreciated the unexpected Lund and Eva relationship forming which took on a cliché about mother-and-daughters-in-law and turned it upside down (i.e. Sarah Lund at first tries to blame her son's refusal to see her on the girlfriend because that's just easier, and the show lets her be flawed like this, but Eva refuses to behave according to cliché and Lund's slow letting her guard down with the girl and coming to care for her as a neat subplot. At the same time, the dark side of strong parental emotion was highlighted: the kidnapper has zilch compassion for anyone and his self justification relentless (even after Lund convinces him his initial assumption about the guilty parties in his daughter's fate was wrong, we don't get the sense he regrets for a moment what he did to the sailors, for example). That one of the reasons for his acts is the sense of guilt because he didn't take care of Louise while she still lived isn't the only parallel the show draws between him and Lund. Highlighting the differences as well - Lund not allowing the death of a suspect even if she's already mostly convinced that suspect is the killer - which makes the conclusion of the season and the show so shattering yet inevitable.
But before I get to that, some more observations on other matters. For the third time, we get a parallel political plot thread. The political character's position (each time a different character, though) moved upwards through the three seasons, so in the first season it was the mayor of Copenhagen, the second the minister of justice, and the third the prime minster. Though not the PM from the second season; in fact, none of his cabinet contained anyone from the previous season, so I take it this is a completely different government, which, given there are a few intervening years between seasons as can be seen by the age of Lund's son, is very likely. However, other things feel a bit repetitive. Given the previous seasons, I knew this third season, too, whould conclude that particular plot thread in having the main political character commit a moral sell out; its seems as if the show's head was incapable of coming up with a different story. Also, for the third season in a row the main political character had a male and a female sidekick (in all three seasons the female one was a loyal blonde), with whom he had at different points fallouts and reconciliations and who had done some questionable things out of their loyalty to him. In this particular case, because Kristian Kamper was so quick to turn on anyone, I was wondering why both Karen and Kristoffer were that loyal to him to begin with. But at least his selling out wasn't the character U-Turn it was for s2's character; I could believe it of him. It just was a lot of been there, seen that in the political storyline: mid-season, the political character has lost all support from other politicians (save his loyal sidekicks) because of his involvement in the crime storyline, making the point that fellow politicians always are the proverbial rats deserting the ships but Personal Assistants Are The Best, then there's a turnaround and the politician gathers power and support again and looks like triumphing, and then there's another turnaround and he's forced to choose between selling out or losing all, and he sells out. Don't get me wrong, while actually watching it I was entertained because it's well acted and the scenes were suspenseful. For all that I can see the larger point, especially in this season, about the corruption of power affecting everyone's lives - because Zeeland needs to stay in Denmark, the murder coverup becomes essential for so many parties - , I wish the author had found a way of conveying them a bit differently for a chance.
And while I'm nitpicking: Borch as The One Who Got Away for Lund smacked of retconning, but okay, there was nothing in s1 to contradict the idea she had a first love before Markus' father. (I'm still sideeyeing the implication her intimacy issues started by losing Borch rather than a mixture of character, circumstance and spectacular bad luck.) It was a bit of a storytelling short cut, too, in that after the events of the previous two seasons Lund opening herself up emotioally (either in a romantic or just friendly fashion) to another cop she's partnered with was so extremely unlikely, but by making Borch someone she's loved before it just about became possible. Anyway, the Doylist reason for Borch being that person was glaringly obvious in the last episode: because he's part of the Possible Happy Ending Lund is almost in reach of - her son is talking to her again and ready to reconcile, she's made a friend of her daughter-in-law, she's just become a grandmother with the new chance that presents, and she finally has a partner she can trust and who understands her work because he shares it - before it is snatched away by her action.
In addition to Kamper doing the by now standard thing for political main characters, there's also the strong implication that Robert won't be able to keep his promise to Maja and give up his business in order to now be there for his children; both grim subplot endings are caused by the business power of Zeeland. Which is also, when it comes down to it, what drives Sarah Lund's individual plot line to its conclusion. For it to work, the audience and Lund have to be convinced that the killer would, in fact, get away with it due to Zeeland's power, and be able to commit more murders (since Lund suspects Louise was neither his first nor last victim). Which drives Lund, who has seen institutional corruption and power interests trump justice a lot through the show, to abandon a core belief of hers and commit murder herself. I didn't see it coming until the last fifteen minutes or so, but then it dawned on me this would be the inevitable conclusion. As far as "detective story ending with the detective shatttered" go, it's not quite as devastating as Friedrich Dürrematt's Das Versprechen ("The Promise", in wihch the detective, having promised the mother of a murdered girl he'll find the killer, constructs the perfect trap for the killer - in the process ruining all of his relationships and morally comprimising himself - and then is foiled by sheer accident, literally; the killer dies in a car crash and thus never arrives at the trap - where he had every intention to go -, thus the detective is never justfied and ends up as an isolated madman). But it comes close. And yet, with this show, in retrospect it seems the only fitting ending, much like Blake wasn't planned as an ending of Blake's 7 but in retrospect seems to be inevitable. With one caveat: right now, I'm even inclined to want something more radical, because the show lets a shattered Sarah Lund make an escape, while my current instinct is to think she should have given herself up after shooting the killer, Borch's urgings be dammed.
As it is, the show leaves its audience with just two senses of emotional relief in the pitch black picture it paints otherwise; the kidnapped girl, Emilie, could be rescued and returned to her parents, and Eva and the baby are fine. But Sarah Lund, whereever she goes, will never be able to be a cop again, which has been her defining identity, and there won't be a future for her with her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, either. Thinking about this some more, I conclude Dürrematt's Matthäi only wins the "most devastating ending for detective hero" because the readers get a look of what becomes of him several years after the case. But I am glad I watched the show. Which earned its tragedy and made me care about both its heroine and the characters involved in each of the seasons, bringing them all to three dimensional life.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1002393.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.