AMC has just added the original drama The Killing (no relation to the Kubrick film) to its programming slate, which Deadline notes extends the network’s “perfect pilot-to-series ratio,” with full episode orders granted to all five of its scripted pilots (alongside Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Rubicon, and The Walking Dead). Of course, maintaining a perfect pilot-to-series ratio is pretty easy when you only commission a pilot every couple of years or so—and who knows whether its “Confederate soldier riding the ‘you-raped-my-wife’ vengeance train” show Hell On Wheels will be the one to spoil it—but okay.
As for The Killing, the show sounds like AMC’s most straightforward to date, at least superficially: It’s a crime drama from Cold Case executive producer Veena Sud (based on the Danish miniseries Forbrydelsen) about a police investigation into the murder of a young girl, told from the three distinct perspectives of the grieving family, the detectives, and the suspects. The story also expands to examine local politics and, according to the press release, “As it unfolds, it becomes clear that there are no accidents; everyone has a secret, and while the characters think they’ve moved on, their past isn’t done with them”—so AMC is taking pains to illustrate that this is more than just your average procedural.
Also of note: The Killing stars Mireille Enos (most recently seen as twins Kathy and Jodeen on Big Love) as the lead detective and True Blood/Battlestar Galactica’s Michelle Forbes as the grieving mother, which suggests it may be the first truly female-dominated series on the network. And while a perfect pilot-to-series ratio isn’t all that impressive, given AMC’s perfect-so-far record of interesting-to-amazing shows, it’s safe to say we’re cautiously optimistic. After all, it's why we keep reporting on every show they acquire, which we'll continue to do until they finally make one that outright sucks.