'The Killing': TV review - latimes.com

Although it is based on a popular Danish series, the show that AMC's "The Killing" most quickly evokes — with its brooding skies, ominous waters and complicated murder-mystery cast — is "Twin Peaks," a fact that AMC seems more than happy to leverage. "Who Killed Rosie Larsen?" is the show's promo, a direct homage, or rip-off, of "Who Killed Laura Palmer?," a question that kept American audiences enthralled for two seasons (though in hindsight it feels like more.)

But "The Killing," which premieres Sunday, is not "Twin Peaks," nor was it meant to be; although they both revolve around the murder of a young girl under the lachrymose skies of Washington state, the similarities end there. While "The Killing" will probably not cause the stir of the David Lynch classic, it promises to become something even more valuable: a show that is visually poetic, normatively compelling and, most important, sustainable for a good long haul. Though one doesn't like to use blurb words, the first two episodes are riveting, and if the third slows down considerably, it's still pretty darn good.

via latimes.com