The Killing: Season 1-3 DVD Review

Amongst the plethora of television thrillers, mysteries and detective stories, the Nordic Noir genre is undoubtedly the one of the moment. As people turn away from your standard city cop thriller, a bleak Scandinavian vibe is satisfying the urges and they’re slowing down the pace in favour of character-led drama – where people actually have to work things out.

Originally a Danish series called Forbrydelsen, the US version of The Killing, written and produced by Veena Sud, took all the good things and thankfully kept them (including the knitwear) in this equally exciting and absorbing television drama. Just as season four of the Emmy-nominated The Killing comes to Netflix, we’re excited to share the news that you can pick up seasons 1 to 3 on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time as one complete collection and also as single disc releases, with season 2 and 3 making their UK home entertainment debut this week.

You may have wondered why I mentioned knitwear before, well, that mainly is because of the renowned jumper-wearing detective Sarah Lund, who in the US version has been renamed as Sarah Linden and is portrayed by the brilliant Mireille Enos. She’s the lead homicide detective is assigned to the murder case of 17-year-old Rosie Larsen, alongside partner Stephen Holder, played by man of the moment Joel Kinnaman, in a series soaked in atmosphere, it’s a slow-burning, crime thriller.

In the first season, Politician Darren Richmond (Billy Campbell) prepares for his Seattle mayoral campaign and Rosie’s family try to continue a life without her after her brutal demise. As the evidence slowly surfaces and the stories start to interlock, Linden drifts further and further from her plan to retire to California with her fiancé. The question that begins as a small part of things becomes the centre-piece of everything…Who killed Rosie Larsen?

As the seasons move forward, we delve deep into the darkness of the Rosie Larsen case and what happened. After the case closes, Sarah Linden stops working in homicide but ex-colleague Holder (Kinnaman) discovers a host of gruesome murders that link back to some of her previous cases…and before you know it, she’s dragged back into the life she’s been trying to escape as she needs to know what’s happened. The series co-stars Peter Sargaard, Elias Koteas, Amy Seimetz and is worth your time as it really lifts up again after season 2, so we’re very eager to see what comes next!

[usr=4]  The Killing Season 1-3 is out now to buy on Blu-ray and DVD.