The third season of the AMC American crime drama television series The Killing premiered on June 2, 2013, concluded on August 4, 2013, and consisted of 12 episodes.

Skinner creates a task force after Linden, led to a site by a drawing, discovers 17 dead bodies in a pond.

With Seward's execution scheduled the next day, he desperately accepts Dale Shannon's suggestion to pray, only to learn his cellblock mate's true nature.

[15] In November 2012, it was confirmed that Fox Television Studios were in final negotiations with Netflix in order to continue the series for a third season.

[16] Variety reported on November 30, 2012 that the show would be returning to AMC, planning for a May 2013 debut, with production set to begin months before that.

[17] On December 12, 2012, it was confirmed that cast members Billy Campbell, Michelle Forbes and Brent Sexton would not return for the third season.

[19] In March 2013, Netflix closed negotiations with Fox Television Studios with a deal to be the exclusive subscription service for the series' third season.

[21] In a May 2013 interview, Sud stated her inspiration for the third season came from Streetwise (1988), Mary Ellen Mark's book of photographs about teenaged runaways in Seattle.

Sud also stated she was "very fascinated" with Gary Ridgway, the serial killer of numerous females near Seattle and Tacoma, Washington in the 1980s and 1990s.

[22] In a separate interview, Sud said Peter Sarsgaard's character, Ray Seward, is inspired by Werner Herzog's documentary Into the Abyss (2011), about two men convicted of committing three murders in Texas.

[34] Linda Stasi of the New York Post gave the premiere high praise and focused on the runaways' stories, saying "These kids are so tough, so dirty and so helpless — yet somehow still hopeful — that it will break your heart.

The colors, or lack of them — the ALMOST reds and greens, smudged by deep shades of gray and brown... You start to think this isn't a TV show so much as the palette of a seriously depressed artist.

"[36] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix spoke of the premiere as "the closest thing to a fresh start the show is going to get" and added that "there are some promising developments here suggesting this could ultimately be a more rewarding viewing experience than The Killing 1.0.

"[37] New York Magazine's Matt Zoller Seitz compared the series' seasons, saying "As was the case with the first two seasons of The Killing, this new one takes its sweet, sweet time getting going, and as it slowly gains momentum, it carries itself as if it's the greatest series in the history of American television, single-handedly reinventing the police procedural for the 21st century.

Brian Lowry of Variety stated: "Beyond the central duo's initially sparsely connected threads and the splendid addition of Peter Sarsgaard as Ray Seward ... much of the narrative meanders — so slow, bleak and dreary, it's difficult to muster much interest as to when (inevitably) it's all going to begin to intersect.

"[39] Peter Sarsgaard received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the 4th Critics' Choice Television Awards.