Approaching 10,000 words on the novella. Thought of a couple of things that I need to address, so I’m going to have to backtrack a little on my next session. I’m still not sure exactly how the story is going to wrap up. I have to get the previous incarnation of it out of my head, because that’s not going to work any more.
I started reading The Night Season by Chelsea Cain on my Kindle yesterday. This is her fourth book and the first which probably doesn’t feature serial killer Gretchen Lowell (since the title doesn’t have the word “heart” in it). It does have the other series characters, though. And it’s rainy, just like in The Killing. There’s an eager young female journalist who’s been in the previous books and is something of a Lizabeth Salander-lite.
A reminder of my Storytellers Unplugged essay from yesterday for the non-weekend crew: Rejection, rejection, rejection…acceptance! Rejection, rejection…
So, The Fall of Sam Axe. What to say? Fun, light, witty. Glad to see a cameo from Jeffrey Donovan early on. Otherwise this was a complete standalone, although I read that some of the characters from this prequel movie might make a return appearance in the new season. Co-star was the woman who played Nikki on Lost. Lots of explosions, some witty repartee, a couple of kisses, some banter between Sam and his bosses. A bunch of people with machine guns who couldn’t hit the side of a barn from fifteen paces, apparently, up against some sheep farmers with single shot rifles. The obligatory smarter than average teenager. I watched with only one eye while playing Angry Birds on my new iPad. Yeah, it was that kind of movie.
A friend from England recently sent me the Danish miniseries that is the basis for The Killing. It received a lot of attention when it aired on BBC4 earlier this year. I was surprised to see how much it rained in that series, which might explain why it was translated to Seattle for the AMC edition. The original seems darker and grittier in general, and that is due in large part to the actress who plays the lead detective, whose name is Sarah Lund. The actress said that she found her way into the character when she decided to play her as if she were a man. There’s nothing frilly about her, though she’s pretty enough. She’s all hard edges and tunnel vision. There’s some of that in the AMC version, but not nearly as much. Her relationship with her replacement/partner is more contentious in the Danish series, too.
The American version has a different killer, so I didn’t worry about being spoiled. They’re also telling parts of the story in a different order. Last night’s scene with the globe, for instance, didn’t come until at least the 15th hour of Forbrydelsen (out of 20 hours—the Danish version is about 50% longer).
A big theme of the series is the way accusations of guilt cling to people. We see that already in the AMC version, with the candidate for mayor suffering a political setback merely because a car from his campaign was involved.
The scene at the church, discussing the funeral, is almost a duplicate of the Danish version. However, the bit about the infiltration of the mayoral campaign is being handled differently, so there are plenty of reasons to watch this one having seen the original. I really hope they have the guts to do some of the things that transpire later in the Danish series, because they are completely unexpected and quite stunning.
