THIS POST CONTAINTS NOTABLE SPOILERS FROM LAST NIGHTS FINALE OF AMC'S "THE KILLING". Do not read if you have yet to watch the episode & don't want any spoilers.
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last warning
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So last night the season 3 finale of the AMC crime-drama "The Killing" was on. We finally got to the bottom of who was the Pied Piper, the person killing street kids & Trisha Seward.

In the end, Linden got her man......LITERALLY!

After going thru an assortment of Seattle's seediest people & Pastor Mike, the finale lead us down 1 more rabbit hole in Reddick before we came across the guilty mass murderer, Lieutenant James Skinner.

For weeks, many had the killer narrowed down to "either a cop or a corrections officer" and while that was a broad net to cast, since that entailed 1/2 the suspects, it made sense & in the end, was accurate.

As usual, the acting in last nights finale was stellar. The scene where Linden finally pieces together its Skinner, wow. You could almost literally read it going thru her mind, her processing the details, there was the shock, denial, confusion and eventually absolute certainty that the man she had been sleeping with was also the killer of at 21 (or more, he admitted there was more they would never find) girls.

The show was not with out flaws for me. I was a bit disappointed we didn't get our "Larsen family watching a video Rosie made" moment of closure for anyone. Danette, Kallie's mom, still doesn't know where her daughter is, although we all know now she is certainly dead as Skinners daughter had her ring. That was the only thing of note I thought was missing that season 2 had. If the writers really appreciate their fans, they will slip in 2 minutes into the season 4 (yes, I am cautiously optimistic it will happen) premiere to tie this loose end up. Get that woman her closure.

I also wasn't a fan of the IA scenes with Holder. I doubt if Skinner put in a complaint only an hour earlier they would have already come in & grabbed him without even talking to Reddick about it first. That felt unbelievable to me. But it gave Holder a chance to be his clever smart ass self. His trick to get Reddick back to the station by claiming there was a bomb in his car, brilliant. I laughed at his ability to think outside the box. It also helped advance the storyline when Holder realized Skinner was the killer, and managed to coerce Reddick to go look for Adrian while he tried to track down Linden & Skinner.

Of course there was some redemption. The Keystone Cop turned out to actually be a capable officer in the end. Carl Reddick, after making everyone hate him all season comes thru in the finale & finds missing Adrian Seward alive & well ( at least physically.). He even manage da couple great wisecrack remarks.

I felt some confusion as well. The Twitch & Lyric scenes left me unsure where that would lead. Twitch seemed willing to finally put his past behind him as we see him throw away a bag of drugs. Yet the last we see of Lyric, who seemed to be getting her life together as she now had an actual job, was smiling at a guy who clearly was looking to pick up a prostitute.

I thought it was interesting that this season ended with Linden making a massive error in judgment. I liked it. The reason, I just think its good to have cops with human emotion. They don't always make the right decisions. They too can be overwhelmed by emotions. She did, and it will be interesting to see how that's dealt with between now & season 4.

Season 3 of The Killing was, in my mind, even better than seasons 1 & 2. Although I felt the actual finale episode was a tad imperfect, the overall season was pretty much flawless to me. I REALLLLLLY hope whatever deal Netflix has with AMC to produce more episodes of The Killing already has a season 4 in there.

Below is an assortment of photos I took this season on the set of The Killing....Of course there was some Linden & Holder pics. But I also managed to catch Bullet, Adrian, Reddick & Skinner on set over the season. Including a few from the finale.

You can find all my photos from this season here http://canadagraphs.weebly.com/6/category/the%20killing/1.html

Last week on AMC's "The Killing" a monumental moment in season 3 happened. 

As Linden & Holder are at Joe Mills storage locker after a showdown with Joe. Linden looks thru all the missing rings of the girls that Reddick "found" (I say it in parentheses because it screams set up to me) and inside there, she finds the chain Bullet wore with her signature bullet on it. Linden hastily tries to get Holder's attention, she tries to prevent him from looking inside Joe's cab where he & another officer believe another body is inside the trunk. Of course, he doesn't hear her tell him not to open it over the walkie talkie & the officer pops the trunk. Linden gets there before they open it up & begs Holder not to look inside, but of course, against better judgment he does. They of course show us Bullets "faith" tattoo in plain sight, letting everyone know, it is Bullet's body in the trunk of the cab.

Much like the teeter-totter relationship Holder had with Bullet, the fans were much the same. 
Many loved the wisecracking street kid who acted as a
protector of the other street kids despite being somewhat on the small side.
Some hated her because they couldn't relate to the character or didn't like her persona.
One thing was for sure though, everyone who is watching season 3 of The Killing had an opinion on Bullet.

Born Rachel Olmstead, Bullet seemingly CHOSE to become a street kid despite coming from a financially well off family. Her dad still sent her money, unlike many of the other youth who only made money by exchanging sexual favours or hustling in other ways. With only 3 episodes left, there are a lot of questions to be answered about Bullet's past, and her demise. Will we get them all? Hard to say.

- Why did she choose the streets over her family? Did she do so because of problems with her family? Or was it because Lyric, who she harboured an epic crush on, ended up there?
- Who killed her? (it really seems unlikely it was Joe)
- Did she leave any clues for Holder in all the messages she sent him who it is?

Tonight will be the 1st of the final 3 episodes ( 2 weeks - next week is a 2 episode finale). It will be the 1st episode Bullet will not be part of. But that doesn't mean she cant still be "in" the show, whether thru her voice messages to Holder, or maybe a video on her phone? I just feel her death is going to somehow have a sizable impact on finding the true killer, and not just because Holder is gonna go all Robocop (haha, see what I did there) on anyone that might get in the way of him finding out the truth, including his own partner.

I saw Bullet ( played by Bex Taylor-Klaus ) on set twice this season. 

First time, I had NO CLUE she was even a cast member. She  just looked like some random street kid background person to me. Ther ewas little to no info  about the upcoming season out at ths time. Had I stuck it out at the set a bit longer that day I would have known they were filming the scene where Holder confronts her on the overpass & she tells him she will take him to Goldie's apartment. I got 2 photos of her on the set, but they are so small, and I wasn't focusing on her, that she's barely visible on them.

The last time, they filmed a scene 2 blocks from my house.  She did a scene where she chats up a street kid "Poochie" to get some drugs (played by Bryce Hodgson from "X2") & of course learns Angie, the girl with the missing finger who saw the killer was leaving town...which of course, is the start of the end for Bullet. 

I of course blogged about that last sighting http://canadagraphs.weebly.com/6/post/2013/05/photos-from-the-set-of-the-killing-filming-season-3-with-joel-kinnaman-mireille-enos.html unaware still who I was photographing, or, that it would be the last time I would see her on set.

Tonight, maybe we'll get some insight into Bullet's last day. If we're really lucky, we'll get some insight into her past too.
I sure hope, by the end of next weeks 2 hour season finale, we will know the answers to what happened to her & of course, who is the street kid killer.

Here are some of the pictures I got of Bex on set the two times I saw her. Some are re-posted from my earlier blog. But there is a few that I didn't post last time. Enjoy. Watch tonight & next Sunday for the finale to 1 of the best seasons of television there has been this year.

You can find Bex Taylor-Klaus, the girl who brought the character of Bullet to life on twitter http://twitter.com/IBexWeBex

THIS BLOG POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR AN EPISODE OF SEASON 3 OF "THE KILLING". Please do not continue reading or viewing photos if you do not want any spoilers prior to the episode airing.
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Last Warning
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On August 4th, the 3rd season of the hit crime drama "The Killing" will wrap up with a 2 hour season finale & we will find out who the street kid serial killer is.

Of course, till then, lots of speculation on who is, or isnt the killer. Everyone (myself included) has theories on who it is, and why this person or that person cant be the killer.

On the 2nd to last day of filming for the season I caught up to them filming on a quiet street in the Queens Park area of New Westminster for scenes at the Skinner family house.

On this particular day there was 2 cast members on set. Elias Koteas ( James Skinner) & Mireille Enos (Sarah Linden).  I chatted with a few people that day, including the people who owned the house they were filming in & a couple fans who had been there earlier & on the prior filming day before the weekend.

I was told 2 things about the set that I didnt get to see myself.
1- A scene earlier that day was done where Linden was sitting in her car with her gun drawn (never quite got the details if someone was in the car with her, or if she was pointing it at someone outside.)
2- The previous filming day, Joel Kinnaman (Stephen Holder) was on set, and had a scene with Linden where they are knocking on Skinners door.

Notably absent from the set, were Skinners wife & daughter... which I thought was odd since it was their house.

What does all this mean for the finale? Who knows. This could possibly be an innocuous moment between Linden & Skinner after the case was wrapped. It could be a monumental moment that is vital to telling us who the killer is. Really, it could be anything else in between. We will just have to wait to see.

On the set the day I was there, both Elias & Mireille stopped to sign autographs for those who asked while they were there.

The Killing cast & crew have always been great with fans & regulars. Really hoping this was not my last encounter with them.

Below are the pics from that day. My buddy joked with me, after not having seen Mireille in a few hours of being there he was really only waiting around to  see what colour sweater he had this time.. Must say, if The Killing ever has a wardrobe sale here, there will be a sizable section devoted to hoodies &  sweaters.

The Killing can be seen on Sunday night, on AMC. Season finale is August 4th.

Last week I caught The Killing filming a few scenes in a neighbourhood in southwest Vancouver.

For the second time in a row, no sign of the shows 2 main leads Mireille Enos or Joel Kinnaman for the scenes I saw being filmed. Instead, I was treated to a "wow, I didnt recognize him" moment when the I saw the actor who plays "picasso kid" Adrian Seward, the son of the death row inmate Ray Seward (played by Peter Sarsgaard) & did not recognize it was Rowan Longworth, who I know from "Fringe" where he was bald.

I saw Rowan film a couple scenes. The first saw himw alking up a street, bouncing his soccer ball like a basketball. He stops a couple times, looking behind him, clearly feeling uneased about something. Then, he sees something right infront of him that freezes him in terror as he drops his ball & just stares blankly. What, or who, is it?

Later they filmed a scene of a car coming down the street towards Adria (obviously what he sees), but who is driving it? What importance is it to the story? Did he see the killer? Or someone else?

Later they moved on to a school, where they filmed him leaving the school ground, as I left, they were prepping the car to put a camera in the back seat.

Since this wasnt filming for the finale (I think.. theres a 0.01% chance they shot scenes out of episode order) I doubt Adrian saw the killer (or he did, and they will draw us away from, then back to this person?) , and the driver didnt look like his dad Ray, so who did he see? and what will their relevance be to the story arc?

As I'm typing this, the 2013 Leo Awards are going on at the Westin Bayshore Hotel & Convention Centre n Vancouver. I will have a run down of the eveing & the red carpet arrivals later this weekend.

I decided to put editing photos off for a bit, so I can bring you a short, exclusive quick 1 minute chat I had with Ben Cotton about his current role as the seemingly do-good Pastor for the street kids on season 3 of AMC's The Killing "Pastor Mike".

I knew going in, he wasnt going to let any show secrets go, but it didnt mean I couldnt ask. Mostly just his experience worrking on the show & with the street kid characters.

I've been a fan of Bens for a while. First caught my eye on "Harper's Island", then on "Hellcats". If you ever get to see his adult themed mockumentary puppet movie "Sunflower Hour" (so far still not available on DVD anywhere, or Netflix....WHY??) you must, its worth the time. I was really excited to see him added on to The Killing because I know how good he is, and was hoping he wouldnt be a quick 1-2 episode cast off on the show. With him portraying Pastor Mike, a character that a LOT of the fans on different boards are suspecting could be the killer...its safe to say, he'll be around a lot more this season.

Ben is a nominee at the 2013 Leo Awards as a Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Feature Length Drama - for his role in "In No Particular Order" & Best Performance by a Male in a Short Drama for "Late"

Over the few weeks I have caught up with the filming for season 2 of the AMC crime drama "The Killing" on a few occasions.

If you read my blog with any level of regularness (is that a word? well, it is now) you likely saw my blog awhile ago with my 1st photos of Joel Kinnaman on set with his new partner Gregg Henry as they take off in a car chase here http://canadagraphs.weebly.com/6/post/2013/04/amc-critically-acclaimed-drama-the-killing-is-filming-its-3rd-season-despite-originally-being-canceled-giving-countless-other-shows-hope-of-a-resurrection.html

I've caught up with Holder a couple other times since then and once before then.

First time was in March.

I actually saw Mireille Enos very breifly that day at a scene at a school yard. Shortly after her scene, they changed locations to an long overpass that goes overtop of railroad tracks. There I ran into Joel Kinnaman for the 1st time and was taken aback by the very professional looking attire Mr. Holder was wearing. Gone was his trademark hoodies, replaced by a suit & trenchcoat.

More recently, in the last week of April I found them 2 days in a row.

The 1st was a night scene of Holder in his more usual attire of a hoodie & driving with a female teenage street kid that he meets up with under an overpass. Because of how dark it was, I really didnt get much in the way of photos that night. Took a few of the fake rain they were making by having a guy standing ontop of the overpass spraying down to the street they were filming on with a firehose.

The next day however, I found Joel & Mireille on set between scenes hanging out. While I again was unable to see much of the actual scene, since they had lots of skrims around the car they were filming in to block out the very sunny weather we were having that day, I did manage quite a few pics of the stars hanging out chatting & sharing some laughs.

A couple days ago I caught the crew filming near my house. This time, no cast I was familiar with. The scene consisted of 2 street kids having a conversation at the edge of an alley with 1 telling the other to be carefull out there.

Currently, Joel's upcoming feature film "Robocop" a reboot of the 1980s classic is doing some shooting in Vancouver. I caught up with Joel at that set Friday night, and will post some pics from that set as well later this week. In the mean time, here is the handful of pics I have from the recent shoots for "The Killing"

Season 3 of The Killing will begin airing on AMC starting June 2nd

EDIT - 1 of the street kids in the scene I alluded to is "Bullet" played by Bex Taylor-Klaus
You can find more on her character & other characters for season 3 here
http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-killing/cast

Some people dont know this but... AMC renewed the critically acclaimed cop drama "The Killing" awhile ago for an unexpected 3rd season.

After canceling the show about a pair of cops who solved the 2 season long querie "Who Killed Rosie Larsen?", AMC opted to bring it back after lots of fan support & a deal that was reached between Fox Television Studios & Online streaming service "Netflix" to produce the 3rd season.

As a fan of the show, I am excited by this news. As an autograph hound, overjoyed, as Joel Kinnaman (RoboCop ) and Mireille Enos (World War Z ) seem to only being going up in star ratings with their major roles in these 2 anticipated releases.

last time I blogged about this show, it was for the season 2 finale, as I GUESSED (or predicted, however you want to call it) Rosie Larsen's killer would be Aunt Terry. http://canadagraphs.weebly.com/1/post/2012/06/for-2-years-we-all-have-asked-who-killed-rosie-larsen-tonight-we-find-out-on-the-killing-i-know-for-sure-it-was-not-me.html it would also be the last blog I ever did in that blog section.

Lots has changed since season 2. All the main/secondary cast from the 1st two seasons are gone but Holder & Linden. We now find Stephen Holder ( Joel Kinnaman ) donning Detective duds & not his trademark slacker/sleazeball look he carried throughout the 2 previous seasons as a narcotics cop turned homicide investigator. Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos ) is no longer on the force, but is drawn back in after a case Holder is working on connects to a string of murders connected to a case she led (perhaps the mysterious case referenced several times over Seasons 1 & 2).

New to the cast will be Peter Sarsgaard, Elias Koteas, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Hugh Dillion, Gregg Henry & Amy Seimetz as well as many more.

The premiere for season 3 is still several weeks away, but I caught them a couple times out filming scenes for the upcoming season. The 1st day I got to set just as Mireille Enos did a scene at a school in the playground. Shortly after she wrapped, and Joel Kinnaman came to do scenes a block away at an walking overpass. I didnt take any photos that day that were too impressive. A few days later they returned to the area on the other side of the train tracks the overpass covers to film a scene where Holder & his new partner (I believe Gregg Henry, but cant be sure) are staking out a complex when a car comes screeching out & takes off from the area leading to the new Detective & his partner to follow.

The 1 notable I have noticed missing this season so far that I saw at so many sets in season 1 & 2, rain towers. While they did soak the streets down, they didnt have the massive rain towers working to give the impression of a monsoon level rain that the creators gave Seattle, Washington in seasons 1 & 2.

With The Killing returning for a 3rd season after its cancelation, many other shows that have been canceled are looking at its resurrection as a sign that their show too can be brought back. Maybe Netflix, who has helped Arrested Development return as well will be a major force in bringing shows back for 1 or 2 more seasons for fans who are devoted to trying to push for another season or two of their favorites. Could TNT hit "Leverage" garner this type of consideration?  We will see as time goes on how Netflix handles the influx of canceled shows & the rabid fanbases wanting to resurrect their favorite shows. If only this option existed when "Dead Like Me" was unjustly canceled by Showtime.

Here is a handfull of photos I took of the scene being shot earlier this month for season 3 of The Killing

EDIT - These are photos from episode 4.
They are of Holder & his new partner Reddick (Gregg Henry) , chasing after 1 of the suspects Goldie ( Brendan Fletcher ) & another woman.