Reviewed by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban

I guess, by now it is no secret that I like mysteries. Apart from Castle and Bones, which I have already reviewed in this blog, past TV shows dealing with murder investigations I loved include: Life, Numbers and the very short lived, The Unusuals.
The Killing (AMC, Sundays at 10 PM EST) is my new vice.
Like is the case in Castle and Bones, The Killing portrays a male/female couple investigating a murder. But the similarities stop there.
Castle and Bones are light and humorous fantasies, in which the female characters chase the bad guys in designer’s clothes and high heeled shoes, their hair perfectly coiffed, their make-up intact, even after the run.
The Killing, on the other hand, is a realistic show, whose protagonist, the overwhelmed single mother of a 12 year old boy, dresses in jeans and sweaters and wears flats, no make-up and her hair pulled back in a pony tail.
And unlike Castle and Bones, which present a different mystery in each episode, The Killing covers the same murder (the killing of a high school girl) throughout the season.
Apart from following the two cops trying to solve the crime, the show also presents the point of view of the family of the murdered girl, and of her teachers, and friends and also follows one of the candidates running for mayor, implicated in the investigation because the girl was found in a car from his campaign.
In the different episodes, the focus changes from one group to the other and, as we get to know the different players, our beliefs on what happened are challenged.
The show is thoroughly engaging, the characters and even the weather (the persistent rain of Seattle) seem eerily real.
According to Wikipedia The Killing is based on a Danish TV series which, of course, I have never seen, so I cannot tell you which one is better.
If your taste is for realistic stories and 3D characters I recommend you give The Killing a try.
And if you want to watch past episodes follow the link below: