The Killing Cancelled by AMC – Again

It’s a case of television deja vu all over again, as Deadline is reporting that AMC has cancelled The Killing for a second time in 14 months. The third season of the crime drama, which wrapped up early last month and drew improved reviews over the first two seasons, was essentially flat with the ratings for season two, though Netflix agreeing to take on part of the licensing cost helped make the financials work.

“We have made the difficult decision not to move forward with a fourth season of The Killing,” AMC said in a statement to Deadline. “We want to thank our great partners at Fox Television Studios, creator Veena Sud, an extraordinary cast and the dedicated fans who watched.”

While The Killing‘s situation likely made the series profitable for the network, it couldn’t stand up to AMC’s upcoming programming, which includes period piece Halt & Catch Fire, spy drama Turn, and sci-fi pilot Line of Sight, the latter seemingly on track for a series pickup of its own. The Veena Sud-created series may be a known commodity and coming off its most positively received season, but the network seems to be going for bigger swings and a higher audience ceiling than what The Killing could offer, deal or no deal.

What will be intriguing to watch is how the chances of Low Winter Sun and Hell on Wheels will be impacted by the cancellation of The Killing. The former has not been able to get out of Breaking Bad‘s shadow enough to carve out an audience, while the latter has held up modestly well in its move to Saturdays, which coincided with a change in showrunner. If AMC happens to believe deeply enough in their upcoming series, there’s a chance that at least one, if not both, of the remaining unrenewed dramas could see themselves join The Killing in the AMC graveyard.

Did AMC make the right decision in cancelling The Killing for a second time? Is this good news for a show like Low Winter Sun, which has struggled to find an audience thus far? Will we see either Kinnaman or Enos on television again in the near future?