First episode impressions: ‘The Killing’ Season 2 (TV review)

“The Killing” (8 p.m. Central Sundays on AMC) continued to unfold like a great page-turner in its two-hour Season 2 premiere on Sunday, delivering a lot of new surprises and questions but most importantly providing the “Whew!” revelation we were all hoping for: Detective Holder (Joel Kinnaman) isn’t a bad guy after all.

Granted, he does try to take a shortcut to a promotion by accepting forged evidence against mayoral candidate Richmond (Billy Campbell), but it turns out he’s being taken advantage of by much more corrupt people within the Seattle Police Department — people who may even be behind the Rosie Larsen killing themselves.

Still, Holder will have some ‘splainin’ to do to former partner Linden (Mireille Enos), who rightfully doesn’t trust him; about a dozen times in these two eps, she doesn’t pick up when he pops up on her caller ID.

Although I look forward to Linden and Holder getting back together and working this case as partners again soon — in a rogue fashion now — it’s cool to see them tracking down information separately in these episodes, with Linden proving Richmond’s innocence (it was a suicide attempt he was hiding, not his murder of Rosie) and Holder uncovering the police corruption. In fact, Linden is suspicious of Lt. Oakes (great seasoned actor Garry Chalk), too, which is why she’ll probably hear Holder out in the next episode. Holder discovers that the fix is in rather easily because the conspirators don’t consider him a threat at all; I’m very much looking forward to Holder’s eventual revenge.

“The Killing” continues to provide great Seattle settings (Vancouver is the stand-in), both interiors and exteriors. I love the Larsens’ apartment, with that stairwell that runs along the side of the garage. I love the crab-fishing riverbank and the big industrial-looking bridge. I love the detectives’ messy office in the police station. Apparently the show will have less rain this season in response to viewer complaints, although frankly, I loved that aspect of Season 1; regardless, Seattle continues to lushly pop off the screen.

The show’s interest in realism extends to sticking its nose into stunningly difficult situations. In Season 1, we saw the step-by-step grieving process of the Larsens, no punches pulled. Now we see Richmond’s assistant Jamie’s (Eric Laden) inability to inform his boss that he was paralyzed by Belko’s (Brendan Sexton III) bullet from the cliffhanger. The head surgeon casually, but believably, tells Jamie that yes, he will inform the patient that he’s paralyzed, but patients tend to figure it out for themselves, so don’t get too worked up about it. It makes sense that the doc would be rather blasé: He’s seen this before. Still, we feel Jamie’s devastation and panic.

While the characters, the style and the scene-writing are all outstanding, the most important thing to “The Killing’s” long-term prospects is the mystery. The TV landscape currently features several convoluted plots where I don’t entirely grasp what’s going on (“Revenge,” “Ringer,” “Fringe,” “The Secret Circle”). Among those, “The Killing” is the best. No, I don’t know where it’s going, but I get the sense that the showrunners know what they are doing. (And, indeed, they have announced that Rosie’s killer will be revealed in the Season 2 finale; consider that the final page of the novel, although there could be a Season 3 that launches a sequel of sorts.) What does the photo of the tattooed arm mean? I have no idea, nor am I supposed to, but the clue itself is just kinda cool, you know?

I think “The Killing” would benefit tremendously from a post-episode talk show, like “The Walking Dead” has with “Talking Dead.” There’s a lot of stuff to unpack in regards to the mystery and character motivations (plus, I think guests on “Spilling about The Killing” could have fun complaining about the whiny kids, of which “The Killing” brats outnumber “Walking Dead’s” Carl three to one, with the Larsens’ two boys and Linden’s one).

But, for me, it also comes back the vibrant world of “The Killing,” whether it’s raining or merely about to rain. I wouldn’t mind spending an extra half-hour in this world every week.