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Here are some excerpts from Jacob Clifton's recaps of The Killing on TWOP (I have no opinions of my own, because I'd just as soon defer to him. Emphasis mine.):
...Which is why 'The Yellow Wallpaper' is the scariest story of all time, because screaming I'm not crazy is just another way to prove you're crazy, which is the privilege gun pointed at the head of every woman every day of the year, which is what makes it the scariest concept in modernity.
...
Or the kindest, most accurate thing you could probably ever say about Sarah Linden:
"...The most interesting part of the Hero's Quest is the end... [T]he Hero comes back to town with magic powers, [knowing the Language of Birds], in contact with divinity, and everybody looks at him crazy. And the reason everybody looks at him crazy is because, by all standard measure and by all the things that make us a society and not a monstrosity: He is. He can't tie his shoes, he can't walk straight, can't balance his checkbook; he can't summon the right words to speak, because he's learned a better language. He is insane."
If Sarah Linden were a man, I promise you words like crazy and CPS [Child Protective Services] wouldn't even be a part of this story. He'd be dedicated, and righteous, and strong. He'd have conviction. Which makes the woman Sarah Linden, to my mind, even more of a hero -- a capital-h Hero, Orpheus descent into the Underworld, the whole bit -- and this show, in turn, a hundred times better than it needs to be.
It's my favorite story, probably, that can be told. It's the reason I love and write about the shows I love and write about, because it's always about knowing the truth in a world that says just knowing the dangerous truth is enough to condemn you, that the world and society save their own stasis by eliminating the ones who see behind the curtain. Starbuck, Sarah Linden, even Alicia Florrick make easy sense in this context. What I've never been able to do is convince anybody that Serena van der Woodsen, or the Pretty Little Liars -- despite being automatically pointless and shallow and stupid by virtue of being young women, of course -- are doing the exact same thing. Telling the exact same Yellow Wallpaper story, because it's real, and the conversation about how it's not real is a huge part of why it's real.
(Why no men in that list? First of all, boo-hoo. Second of all, there's no story there, because men aren't categorically silenced, which is why the categories of men that are -- gay men and men of color -- are generally writing about this and only this, which can be its own problem but certainly isn't something a TV network is going to bother with. Third, you have Jimmy McNulty -- or Jesus, for Christ's sake -- if you want to see how well that goes for men. Usually it ends up with John Locke in a pile of loveable crap like Lost or, Lord help us, those absolute a-holes from The River. But listen, if the CW ever buys a pilot about Jesus Christ, or Odin, or Mithras, or Harvey Milk, let's meet back here and chat about it.)
...Reading stories about the Descent and Return, the Harrowing of Hell, has been one of humanity's great joys for thousands and thousands of years. This show is about what that looks like now. And we bitch that it's depressing, or staid, or she's not a good cop?
Sarah Linden isn't a cop, she's a fucking demigod. It's supposed to be a drag.
...Which is why 'The Yellow Wallpaper' is the scariest story of all time, because screaming I'm not crazy is just another way to prove you're crazy, which is the privilege gun pointed at the head of every woman every day of the year, which is what makes it the scariest concept in modernity.
...
Or the kindest, most accurate thing you could probably ever say about Sarah Linden:
"...The most interesting part of the Hero's Quest is the end... [T]he Hero comes back to town with magic powers, [knowing the Language of Birds], in contact with divinity, and everybody looks at him crazy. And the reason everybody looks at him crazy is because, by all standard measure and by all the things that make us a society and not a monstrosity: He is. He can't tie his shoes, he can't walk straight, can't balance his checkbook; he can't summon the right words to speak, because he's learned a better language. He is insane."
If Sarah Linden were a man, I promise you words like crazy and CPS [Child Protective Services] wouldn't even be a part of this story. He'd be dedicated, and righteous, and strong. He'd have conviction. Which makes the woman Sarah Linden, to my mind, even more of a hero -- a capital-h Hero, Orpheus descent into the Underworld, the whole bit -- and this show, in turn, a hundred times better than it needs to be.
It's my favorite story, probably, that can be told. It's the reason I love and write about the shows I love and write about, because it's always about knowing the truth in a world that says just knowing the dangerous truth is enough to condemn you, that the world and society save their own stasis by eliminating the ones who see behind the curtain. Starbuck, Sarah Linden, even Alicia Florrick make easy sense in this context. What I've never been able to do is convince anybody that Serena van der Woodsen, or the Pretty Little Liars -- despite being automatically pointless and shallow and stupid by virtue of being young women, of course -- are doing the exact same thing. Telling the exact same Yellow Wallpaper story, because it's real, and the conversation about how it's not real is a huge part of why it's real.
(Why no men in that list? First of all, boo-hoo. Second of all, there's no story there, because men aren't categorically silenced, which is why the categories of men that are -- gay men and men of color -- are generally writing about this and only this, which can be its own problem but certainly isn't something a TV network is going to bother with. Third, you have Jimmy McNulty -- or Jesus, for Christ's sake -- if you want to see how well that goes for men. Usually it ends up with John Locke in a pile of loveable crap like Lost or, Lord help us, those absolute a-holes from The River. But listen, if the CW ever buys a pilot about Jesus Christ, or Odin, or Mithras, or Harvey Milk, let's meet back here and chat about it.)
...Reading stories about the Descent and Return, the Harrowing of Hell, has been one of humanity's great joys for thousands and thousands of years. This show is about what that looks like now. And we bitch that it's depressing, or staid, or she's not a good cop?
Sarah Linden isn't a cop, she's a fucking demigod. It's supposed to be a drag.