Hoods77

I enjoyed Season 1 for the "noir" direction and the clever plot - very Scandinavian in tone as mentioned by others. Have not yet watched Season 2 so hope it's up to scratch.

Sure there are lots of holes in police procedures, but I don't trouble myself too much with reality when watching great fiction.

Lennie James in particular is outstanding acting the troubled, charismatic DI Gates, and Gina McKee does a good as the ultra-manipulative temptress Jackie Laverty. The rest of the cast put in good solid "backup". Deserving of a special mention, young Gregory Piper is absolutely brilliant as Jake Pilkington and, if his truly nasty character is anything to go by, who would want to be a British city cop???

English council estates get the usual bad wrap, and the police force doesn't fair too well either. Plenty of corruption, indifference and red tape on show.

Brits really do it best.

I was quite hesitant about watching a US production of The Killing after reading negative reviews comparing it to the Danish original, but in the end opted to do so and am very glad I did. What an excellent production! I love the understated mood that somehow manages to amp up the tension so much better than a lot of the hysterical, overacted BS one CAN get with some American crime-themed shows. This one is a standout.

The acting is excellent: the case bring their characters to life subtly but forcefully. And -- hallelujah! -- the people are real, they LOOK real, and they are credibly flawed, and not the laughable, plastic and pretty TV stereotypes we are usually subjected to. Think Bones (for example) ... and if the thought makes you want to vomit, you will love The Killing. If you are a Bones et al fan, go watch The Killing for a lesson on how it should be done.

There is more and more good stuff coming out of the USA ... good news for those of us craving quality entertainment.

I downloaded this mainly to see how homegrown gal Rachel Carpani is faring in the US - she does her best with the lousy scripts and their eye-rolling predictability, but has not so far shone. A shame, as she's a pretty good actress when given decent material. Sadly if this show is going to be her leg up into the US TV scene it won't lift her far. I haven't been surprised or even entertained to any great degree by an episode yet, but as I firmly believe 95% of TV series suffer first season growing and adjusting pains for both the actors and the script writers, I am prepared to give Season 2 a try. (A classic example of growing pains is The Shield - the first season reeked, but it ended up being one of the most excellent police dramas ever.)

Also, this show smacks of being an attempt at a female-oriented version of Blue Bloods, which is an infinitely better show. The premise of one member of a family of cops going into IA is full of potential, but regrettably, so far, Against the Wall fails to deliver, for me.