Amid viewers' woes ‘Killing’ set to continue

When AMC’s detective thriller “The Killing” returns tomorrow at 8 p.m. for a two-hour premier, three things are guaranteed to happen: One, it’ll still be raining in the drab Seattle landscape. Two, Detective Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) will have gotten off a plane that would be on its way to sunny California where her fiancé would be waiting for her (an exhaustive storyline throughout last season). And three, we still won’t know the answer to the question that framed the first season: “Who Killed Rosie Larson?”

To the chagrin of many critics — and Twitter followers — the creators of “The Killing” left us with more questions than answers as the first season came to an end. Many, many — did I say many? — people were upset and a huge backlash ensued. Some vowed to never watch the series again. And I still cannot fathom why.

The major point that sparked the so-called controversy was a particular cliffhanger where we find that Detective Linden has been betrayed by her partner Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnamen) after he presented her with false evidence to convict Councilman Darren Richmond (Billy Campbell). At the last minute, we see Holder speaking with an unknown collaborator, revealing that the Councilman, although suspicious, probably had nothing to do with Rosie’s murder. In turn, this put the Councilman in a predicament, as we last saw him with the barrel of a gun in his face after Larson family friend Belko went to avenge Rosie’s death.

I thought it was a great way to leave things. It was a classic cliffhanger that left me pining for season two. That’s what television is for, isn’t it? — to snatch up your attention and leave you wanting more?

I guess I was in the minority. Apparently, viewers were so caught up in the whodunit that they couldn’t appreciate great storytelling. Because that is what “The Killing” is all about — telling the story behind the murder, not just revealing who did it as quickly as possible. We want to know the why, not just the who.

A common theme among AMC’s dramas (“The Walking Dead,” “Mad Men” — to name a couple) is that the creators do a great job at keeping our attention by providing passionate characters within their scripts, along with passionate actors to portray those characters — no matter how bizarre the character may be made out to be (Bryan Cranston’s Walter White from “Breaking Bad” is a perfect example).

With “The Killing,” rather than simply working the case week to week, the show focuses on the people surrounding the case — parents, the city, school teachers, and even the detectives themselves. There are so many characters surrounding the case, and yet they all stand out as individuals and not as just another suspect to be checked off the list. We see the emotional obstacle course each person goes through in order to cope with what has happened, and we remember them because each character is unique and played with such passionate force.

The creators of “The Killing” also know how to pace the show. It’s well done in the sense that the creators have given us one 24-hour day of the case per episode, making for 12 consecutive days of the case to match with 12 weekly episodes — I hope they continue this tactic for the upcoming season. There is no passage of time, therefore we are seeing what everyone else is seeing — which makes us view everyone as a suspect.

Unfortunately, at this point, the question of “Who Killed Rosie Larson?” seems to be on the back burner. “Will viewers return, despite not getting what they wanted in the finale?” is the ultimate question. We’ll just have to wait and see on both accounts, as both creators and critics — never have all the answers.

'Mad Men' returns after long hiatus

AMC — it’s the network to beat these days. Just ask the creators of “The Walking Dead” whose recent finale took in a record-breaking 9 million viewers. But as much as we don’t want to see the walkers go, it’s time to put the zombie season behind us and get back to the show that put AMC on the map in the first place: “Mad Men.”

After a 17-month hiatus (due to contract negotiations and scheduling conflicts) the ad agency that is Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is back and ready for a whole new year. We last left Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and company at the end of 1965, but the two-hour premier tomorrow night skips ahead six months to May 1966 — the dawn of the Civil Rights movement. Times they are a changin’, we can see that, but the question is: How do the times affect our beloved characters?

Now in its fifth season, “Mad Men” has established quite a basis for its characters. At the end of season four, though, those characters were given another layer of depth, and then some. We may not like what we see anymore, and it will be season five’s job to manage a balance between what we fell in love with over the years with where these characters are headed in the future. Here’s where we left off:

Don — Last we left our favorite playboy he had proposed to his twenty-something secretary, Megan, to fill a lonely void that took over his life in season four. Megan is half Don’s age and twice as spunky as Don’s ex-wife Betty (January Jones). She brings life to the table, and as a twenty-something in the ’60s, I’m sure she’s not done having fun in her life despite the proposal. Perhaps we’ll see that fun personality transfer over to Don and loosen him up a bit — that is if the two are even still together. Knowing Don, he simply could have called the whole thing off.

Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) — The young gun who’s always looking to climb the ladder at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce had just announced that he and his wife Trudy would be having a baby last season. This year I’m sure we’ll see how that new responsibility affects his work life — both his drive for clients and especially his relationship with copywriter Peggy (Elisabeth Moss), with whom he once had an affair with and got pregnant, leading her to give the baby up for adoption.

Peggy — At the conclusion of last season, Peggy took a big step forward by single-handily saving Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce from a serious drought in cash flow — after the agency’s biggest client Lucky Strike took their business elsewhere — when she signed a panty-hose account. A big deal for sure, but unfortunately Don’s engagement announcement over-shadowed her news. In this season, it seems Peggy could have a new understudy in Megan, relinquishing her role as sole female copywriter and giving Peggy a run for her money just as she’s finally felt what success feels like.

Joan (Christina Hendricks) — Bombshell secretary, or newly appointed Director of Agency Operations at the agency, Joan was in the midst of deciding whether to keep her pregnancy, knowing well-enough that it wasn’t her husband Greg’s baby — as he is serving overseas. The baby, as we know, is from her go-to-guy Roger Sterling (John Slattery), with whom she had always had a long-term affair with before she was married, but happened to make another return to once her hubby was bound for Vietnam. Last we saw she was leaving the abortion clinic, having decided to not ‘take care of it’ as she told Roger.

Will she have a baby in season five? And what will that do to her career at Sterling Draper Cooper Pryce? After all, it is the ’60s, and not many women held both a career and a family life back then. The big question is, will she tell Greg that it’s not his?

Betty — Don’s ex-wife was last seen firing her children’s long-time nanny Carla, and packing up her family’s things — along with newbie husband Henry — to move into a new house for a fresh start to things. Daughter Sally had been acting out quite a bit, and we’ll see if the move did anything to help, or whether son Bobby will follow in her sister’s footsteps. The question with Betty is, despite her new house and husband, will she truly be better off, or will she still be the same cruel, woman we’ve all come to have a love-hate relationship with?

Only time will tell, and luckily we don’t have to wait much longer to find out. The good news is under the new contract negotiations signed by creator Matthew Weiner another two seasons were agreed upon, so at least we know we have a few more years of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce antics to come. Until then, let’s enjoy 1966 while it’s (finally) here.

Van Halen's still got it

It was an interesting experience, and an epic one — all at the same time. At 25 years young, I had the chance to hear Eddie Van Halen shred the guitar like no other. I had the chance to see David Lee Roth perform his heart out, complete with high kicks and plenty of splits. And at the same time, I had the chance to see “Celebration,” “Jungle Boogie” and “Ladies’ Night” performed by Kool and the Gang. Really? Yes, really.

Sunday night I got the news that my dad had scored tickets to the Van Halen show at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday night. Having been “brought up” by my dad on such music as Van Halen I knew I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. And despite it being N.H. Town Meeting Day — a crazy night in the newsroom world — my very kind and thoughtful editor knew I couldn’t pass up that opportunity either, and I was free from the hustle and bustle of the newsroom to go rock out with the best of them.

Well, that is after openers Kool and the Gang took to the stage.

To me it seemed like an odd pairing. Don’t get me wrong. I respect all music, and I respect Kool and the Gang as musicians. I just never in my life expected to see them open for an 70s rock band. And never did I expect to hear wedding staple “Celebration” performed live and in concert.

Despite my notions, the majority of the audience boogied the night away, and it was fun to see adults a few decades my senior let loose. And when an Ohio couple who showed up late uttered their disappointment in missing the Gang perform, I couldn’t help but laugh it off. This Gang must have created some lasting memories at some point, and the audience was all about bringing those memories back.

That was my mildly interesting experience. Then came the epic experience: Van friggin’ Halen.

The Van Halen boys (Alex on drums, Eddie on guitar and Wolfgang on bass) along with singer David Lee Roth took to the stage around 9 p.m. And I must say, they kept things fairly simple. No pyro. No rising platforms. A few strobe-light moments. And only one mishap — a fight down on the floor between two biker-clad women, to which David Lee Roth stopped the show completely and told them off. Aside from that, Van Halen kept things fairly intimate in a way — a simple backdrop mish-mashing current concert footage with footage from earlier years played behind the band throughout the night. It was all very classy for the rock stars.

The four-piece opened the show with “Unchained” off their 1981 album “Fair Warning.” Following through with 23 more songs — including major classics such as “Panama,” “Hot for Teacher,” “Runnin’ With the Devil,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman,” The Kinks “You Really Got Me” and John Brim’s “Ice Cream Man” — the band played what seemed like a very quick hour-and-a-half show.

To close out the rockin’ show, Van Halen performed everyone’s favorite — “Jump.” Rather than jumping around on stage as David Lee Roth does so in the classic video, he decided instead to bring out a giant black and white checkered flag and run around the stage with it as confetti rained down. Random? Sure. But I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Saddled in between those and a few songs off their newest album “A Different Kind of Truth” a couple solo performances from Alex and Eddie made for an intense night. Eddie’s 10-minute solo really showed off his insane skills and it proved that he, along with Van Halen still got it.