The Killing III (Forbrydelsen, 2012)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Killing III (Forbrydelsen, 2012) – S. Sveistrup

I thought I should see the show through to the end, so I teed up the 10 episodes of Series 3 of this police procedural which mixes detective work with coalition politics (and personal drama).  True to form, it was compulsively watchable; I’m not sure, however, if you watched the third series first (without having seen the first two) that you could get the same out of it.  The show was a big hit in its native Denmark (and also in the UK) but star Sofie Gråbøl has vowed that this was the last outing for intense (and awkward) Detective Sarah Lund. Certainly, the ending of Series 3 leaves only the slightest chance for a Series 4 (but writers have certainly found ways to move forward with even the most emphatic finales – it could all be a dream!).  Here, Lund and her teammate from PET (e.g., the Feds) Mathias Borch (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), also a former lover, struggle to find a kidnapper who seems to have a vendetta against the local shipping magnate, a big donor to the current government. When the kidnapper also kills the deputy district attorney, the detectives find they need to solve an old case that was possibly closed as part of a cover-up – which leads straight to the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition who are neck-and-neck in the current election campaign.  As before, viewers need to keep track of numerous plot threads at the same time – but that’s the fun of this series.  The acting and plotting remain strong.  It’s a good time to quit while they are ahead – but whoa that ending!