By Shane Carver
Those Who Kill premiered March 3 on A`&E’s murderingly good series Bates Motel.
This wasn’t the first time that the network has done this. They premiere brand-new shows in between two other mildly successful shows then are disappointed because they don’t produce the same ratings.
Those Who Kill drew approximately 1.4 million viewers, whereas its more “seasoned” counterpart, Bates Motel drew roughly 3 million viewers. A&E allowed the show two episodes before they viciously ripped it out of their schedule and out of my heart. Needless to say, I was quite distraught when I found out the news that it was over. Reminiscent of a bad break up, it left me heartbroken, and balled up in a corner crying, eating Ben & Jerry’s.
I was extremely excited for this show not only because I consider myself a crime show afficianado, but because my favorite actress played the lead in it. I requested off of work to watch it (don’t tell my boss). I even posted minute-to-minute updates about it on Facebook (I lost four friends when this happened; it was worth it).
The show centered around a newly promoted homicide detective, Catherine Jensen (portrayed by Chloe Sevigny) who worked hand-in-hand with a semi psychotic college professor, Thomas Schaeffer (portrayed by James D’arcy). Predictably, they would have had major chemistry, fall in love with each other slowly (usually takes about seven seasons) then they have an ultimatum: do I chose the man/woman I love or my career? Ultimately they choose each other and the show then becomes one about them trying to hide their relationship, or they run away together and the series ends. The typical crime show, right?
There are only 5,000 other shows who have the same sequence of events: Bones, Grey’s Anatomy, Law and Order: SVU (we all knew that Benson and Stabler were meant to be).
So, yes, I get it: people are tired of cop shows where the main characters fall in love and mess everything up. However, it seemed that the show had a really dark, James Patterson-esque feel to it, and I think it could have really gone somewhere if they had let the plot develop. Networks cancel shows that have so much potential if they don’t immediately enthrall views that of their longer lasting shows like Bates Motel and Duck Dynasty, in A&E’s case. A&E claimed that they want to re-launch the show, most likely an entire ten episode season at once on a later date, according to Deadline Hollywood.