Crime shows usually have a slow paced plot line, meaning the questions aren't answered at the end of the episode. The plots usually take up the entire season before the case is solved. Unlike soap operas, there aren't any minor plots and the shows focus solely on solving the case. I will be analysing The Killing season 3 episode 8.
The two main characters the show focuses on are the Detectives Stephen Holder and Sarah Linden. Detective Holder is taken as a laid back type of detective but in this episode the audience sees another side to Holder. Holders friend has been found murdered by a child serial killer, this deeply affects Holder and he shows the audience a very emotional side. These emotions quickly get the better of him when he is shown punching another detective, however, this causes the audience to feel empathetic towards Holder because they know if they were in his position, they would probably have done the same. Felling empathetic towards the characters is what the show is aiming for as it help the audience feel more involved with the show, as if they were the ones going through this therefore adding to the tension and drama. Linden is quite similar to Holder but is more emotionally aware than he is. This is because she has a son and during these cases she constantly relates things back to her son, this helps her when speaking to the families and allows her to invest more emotion into the cases, this allows the audience to see the case from the detectives point of view adding to the feeling that the audience is a part of the show.
Crime shows usually have more plot points and acts than Sit-coms and Soap operas. This makes the narrative structure more complex with a wider range in plot points. The episode starts off with Act 1, this is the mother of a missing child is putting up missing posters before returning home and being beat up by her husband. The detectives then arrive asking about her injuries and deciding that her husband may just be their number one suspect in the child murders. Plot point 1 is where the detectives enter a storage vicinity which is suspected to belong to the killer, upon arriving they find fresh cigarette buds and realise the killer is nearby. Act 2 would be when the detective go after him to try to apprehend him but Linden ends up being attacked, the suspect is then apprehended when Holder gets there and stops him from harming Linden more. Once arrested they come to the decision that this man is there guy. Plot point 2 would be when Linden speaks to a child whose mother has been killed, this child informs them that it is that man who murdered the child's mother. Plot point 3 is when the wife from Act 1 informs the detectives that her husband was away on a camping trip during the time the mother was murdered so it couldn't have been him.
Through out the entire episode, The Killing used low-key lighting to add to the effect that there are dark themes during the show this heightens the tension needed through out. There was obvious usage of different cameras, a fixed camera and a handheld but only one used at a time. When the detectives where talking about Holders drug past the camera used was the fixed camera, this allows the viewer to focus on the emotions passing between them. The fight scene between Linden and the suspect however used a handheld camera, made obvious by the shaking the camera does whilst the person moved. This allows the camera to move with the characters, getting close up of their faces to catch the emotions and build tension in the viewer as it creates the feel that the viewer is stood there watching this fight happen.
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