Set in Seattle, Washington, the series follows the various murder investigations by homicide detectives Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman).
The Killing was again cancelled by AMC in September 2013, but Netflix announced in November 2013 that it had ordered a fourth season consisting of six episodes to conclude the series.
The season resumes the investigation into the murder and reveals secrets about the Larsen family as well as a possible conspiracy within the campaign race and the Seattle police department.
Sud describes the series as "slow-burn storytelling in a sense that every moment that we don't have to prettify or gloss over or make something necessarily easy to digest, that we're able to go to all sorts of places that are honest, and dark, and beautiful and tragic, in a way that is how a story should be told.
[30] Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 94% approval rating with an average rating of 8.5/10, based on 36 critic reviews; the website's critics consensus reads, "The Killing is a slow burning mystery with an eerie, multi-dimensional story propelled by thoughtful writing, believable characters, and realistic horror, even if its season finale was unsatisfying.
"[32] Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker gave it a B+, saying, "The acting is strikingly good" and that "[s]ome viewers may find The Killing a little too cold and deliberate, but give it time.
"[33] Alex Strachan of The Vancouver Sun said the series "is soaked in atmosphere and steeped in the stark realism of Scandinavian crime novelists Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson" and that it "is not as much about a young girl's murder as it is a psychological study of what happens afterward, how a tight-knit community tries to recover and how a dead child's mother, father and siblings learn to deal with their pain in their own private ways.
"[34] Matt Roush of TV Guide applauded the series, calling the acting "tremendous" and saying that he "was instantly hooked by the moody atmosphere of this season-long murder mystery set in Seattle."
He went on to say, "What really stands out for me, in this age of cookie-cutter procedurals, is how The Killing dramatizes the devastation a violent death has on a family, a community, on the people involved in the investigation.
"[40] "[The show] began last spring looking like the smartest, most stylish pilot in years," complained Heather Havrilevsky in The New York Times Magazine.
"[44] The Washington Post's Hank Stuever stated: "My own enjoyment of The Killing begins and ends with the gloom so brilliantly conveyed by its pace and performances.
"[45] Brian Lowry of Variety stated the series remained "compelling," adding that "the writers... are adept at overcoming the stodgy pace by dangling tantalizing clues near each hour's end, creating a strong pull to see what transpires next.
After citing Jamie's early revelation as "melodramatic silliness," Bibbiani added: "The rest of the episode gets its job done, with one major, glaring flaw.
Club rated this finale a C−, calling it "so unconvincing," adding "I couldn't believe how little all this resolution affected me after The Killing so thrillingly took my grudging engagement for a ride a few weeks ago.
This is the same show that delivered Richmond’s hospital nightmare, the hunt for Holder, the anti-Western standoff "Sayonara, Hiawatha," and the crazy train of the last two weeks?
[58] In March 2013, Netflix closed negotiations with Fox Television Studios with a deal to be the exclusive subscription service for the series' third season.
[73] As of January 2019[update], the complete series is streaming in the United States on both Hulu and Amazon Prime Video, with none of the seasons hosted on Netflix.
Users could peek inside Rosie's dresser, look under her bed, listen to her answering machine messages, flip through her vinyl record collection, and explore her laptop computer to access her social networking profile, vlogs, photos, and emails.
[77] AMC's The Killing website also featured exclusive sneak-peek and behind-the-scenes videos, trivia games, numerous photo galleries, episode and character guides, a blog, and a community forum.