History YMMV / TheKilling

** The Pied Piper, [[spoiler:James Skinner]], is the despicable madman who serves as the ArcVillain for season 3. A seemingly-kind family man, the Piper is in actuality a brutal SerialRapist and SerialKiller of [[WouldHurtAChild teenage girls]], or even younger. With his career of evil starting when he beat a teenage prostitute to death [[DisproportionateRetribution for disrespecting him]], the Piper began kidnapping, raping, then [[SlashedThroat murdering]] teenage girls. Years ago, when the Piper realized a young boy may have spotted him committing his crimes, he seemingly planned to kill him, before settling for murdering the child's mother then [[FrameUp framing his father]] for it. Having amassed 17 confirmed victims over the years, while boasting dozens more, the Piper continues his spree throughout the season, raping and killing numerous more girls before viciously murdering [[spoiler:Bullet]] for discovering his identity. When cornered by Sarah Linden for his crimes, the Piper reveals his mindset that the girls he kills aren't even human; just "garbage" that doesn't deserve to live, while taunting her about that fact that she had fallen deeply in love with his public persona. Even when beaten, the Piper goads Linden into executing him, wanting to drag her down with him even after he was dead and gone. Though claiming at one point to "not kill children", this claim is immediately thrown back in his face with the fact that many of his victims were as young as 12, showing that his statement was either twisted hypocrisy, or just a method of screwing with his foes. A complete maniac who believed he was in the right for removing the stain of "trash" like [[DisposableVagrant the girls he killed]] from the world, the Pied Piper is shown to be nothing but a misogynistic psychopath who gets his kicks from murdering people no one will ever miss.
** Goldie is a minor criminal from season 3, appearing in only the second, third, and fourth episodes, yet makes the most of his limited screentime to be one of the series's most depraved characters. Known around the streets for being a creepy thug, Goldie quickly establishes his wickedness when, after catching the homeless teen Bullet sneaking into his apartment to look for her best friend, he proceeds to brutally beat and rape her. When confronted by the police, Goldie is revealed to not only deal in child pornography, but also has a long record of [[WouldHurtAChild molesting]] and [[SerialRapist raping]] underage girls, with him shrugging them off as "misunderstandings", and claiming that one 13 year old girl was "begging for it". As a final way to screw with the police, Goldie publicly humiliates them by making them think he plans to assault a woman, before revealing she is actually his "mother". Though [[KarmaHoudini weaseling his way out of the majority of punishment for his crimes]], Goldie's crimes were all too apparent and disgusting to all who interacted with him, and he made his mark as the show's first wholly irredeemable villain.

* MomentOfAwesome: "I'm not Stan." [[spoiler:Said by Alexi right before assassinating local mob boss Janek Kovarsky. Alexi spent his childhood plotting revenge against Stan for killing his father, but after befriending Stan's lovely daughter Rosie, he decides not to go through with it. Thus, when Alexi finally learns that Kovarsky forced Stan to kill his father, his vengeance is swiftly delivered.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: A heavy-voiced narrator describing the adventures of "Mr. Unger" may make some people think of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDrfHj3j398 this]].

* TheChrisCarterEffect

** The Pied Piper ([[spoiler: James Skinner]]) crossed it when he snapped and raped then murdered a teenage girl. Afterwards, he never looked back and kept doing to to dozens more over a number of years.

* NightmareFuel

** Goldie is a minor criminal from season 3, appearning in only the second, third, and fourth episodes, yet makes the most of his limited screentime to be one of the series's most depraved characters. Known around the streets for being a creepy thug, Goldie quickly establishes his wickedness when, after catching the homneless teen Bullet sneaking into his apartment to look for her best friend, he proceeds to brutally beat and rape her. When confronted by the police, Goldie is revealed to not only deal in child pornography, but also has a long record of [[WouldHurtAChild molesting]] and [[SerialRapist raping]] underage girls, with him shrugging them off as "misunderstandings", and claiming that one 13 year old girl was "begging for it".As a final way to screw with the police, Goldie publicly humiliates them by making them think he plans to assault a woman, before revealing she is actually his "mother". Though [[KarmaHoudini weaseling his way out of the majority of punishment for his crimes]], Goldie's crimes were all too apparent and disgusting to all who interacted with him, and he made his mark as the show's first wholly irredeemable villain.

** Goldie is a minor criminal from season 3, appearning in only the second, third, and fourth episodes, yet makes the most of his limited screentime to be one of the series's most depraved characters. Known around the streets for being a creepy thug, Goldie quickly establishes his wickedness when, after catching the homneless teen Bullet sneaking into his apartment to look for her best friend, he proceeds to brutally beat and rape her. When confronted by the police, Goldie is revealed to not only deal in child pornography, but also has a long record of [[WouldHurtAChild molesting]] and [[SerialRapist raping]] underage girls, with him shrugging them off as "misunderstandings", and claiming that one 13 year old girl was "begging for it".As a final way to screw with the police, Goldie publicly humiliates them by making them think he plans to assault a woman, before revealing she is actually his "mother". Though [[KamraHoudini weaseling his way out of the majority of punishment for his crimes]], Goldie's crimes were all too apparent and disgusting to all who interacted with him, and he made his mark as the show's first wholly irredeemable villain.

* CompleteMonster: Curiously, none of the main killers. However, a minor character in the third season, Goldie, is a violent pimp and unrepentant serial rapist of underage girls, who keeps a collection of pornographic videos of homeless teens forced into prostitution. When he catches Bullet searching for Kallie in his building, he holds her at knifepoint, then brutally beats and rapes her. Worst of all he faces no punishment for this, only for his illegal porn videos.

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* AssPull: Oh so much. Especially once it's revealed who killed Rosie. The actor's performance throughout the show until that point was certainly ''not'' what you'd expect from someone who knew they were responsible. Thankfully averted by the reveal of the Pied Piper, which had hints and foreshadowing leading to it, and it cast a significant part of the show into a new light.

* AssPull: Oh so much. Especially once it's revealed who killed Rosie. The actor's performance throughout the show until that point was certainly ''not'' what you'd expect from someone who knew they were responsible.

* CompleteMonster: Curiously, none of the main killers. However, a minor character in the third season, Goldie, is a violent pimp and serial rapist of underage girls, who keeps a collection of pornographic videos of homeless teens forced into prostitution. When he catches Bullet searching for Callie in his building, he holds her at knifepoint, then brutally beats and rapes her. Worst of all he faces no punishment for this, only for his illegal porn videos.

* GrowingTheBeard: The third season, which focuses on a new case altogether, has been significantly better-received than its predecessors.

** The murders of the Pied Piper in season 3.

* UnresolvedSexualTension: Linden/Holder.

* JumpTheShark: After about three or four episodes. This might constitute a new world record. Season two seems to have gone back to the original premise, though...

* AssPull: Oh so much.
** Especially once it's revealed who killed Rosie. The actor's performance throughout the show until that point was certainly ''not'' what you'd expect from someone who knew they were responsible.

* JumpTheShark: After about three or four episodes. This might constitute a new world record.
** Season two seems to have gone back to the original premise, though...
* MomentOfAwesome: "I'm not Stan." [[spoiler: Said by Alexi right before assassinating local mob boss Janek Kovarsky. Alexi spent his childhood plotting revenge against Stan for killing his father, but after befriending Stan's lovely daughter Rosie, he decides not to go through with it. Thus, when Alexi finally learns that Kovarsky forced Stan to kill his father, his vengeance is swiftly delivered.]]
* NightmareFuel: Rosie was [[AndIMustScream locked in a car trunk while the car was pushed into a lake]], and [[BodyHorror she ripped off a few fingernails]] trying to get out before she drowned. The shot of her body sitting in the trunk of the car does not help.

* TearJerker: When Mitch and Stanley tell their sons what has happened to their daughter, Rosie.
** Every scene with Rosie's family.
** Holder [[spoiler: begging Linden to open the door, and then walking away and leaving his badge on the floor in the hall.]]
** Just the fact that the reason for Rosie's death was that she [[spoiler: just wanted to make a nice film for her family and]] ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

* ArcFatigue: The fact that the show takes two full seasons to identify Rosie's killer really aggravated a lot of viewers.

* NightmareFuel: Rosie was [[AndIMustScreamlocked in a car trunk while the car was pushed into a lake]], and [[BodyHorror she ripped off a few fingernails]] trying to get out before she drowned. The shot of her body sitting in the trunk of the car does not help.

* NightmareFuel: Rosie was locked in a car trunk while the car was pushed into a lake, and she ripped off a few fingernails trying to get out before she drowned. The shot of her body sitting in the trunk of the car does not help.

* ShockingSwerve: A lot of complaints about the first season finale came down to one of these where it was revealed [[spoiler: Holder delivered faked evidence that fingered Richmond as the killer.

* ShockingSwerve: A lot of complaints about the finale came down to one of these where it was revealed [[spoiler: Holder had faked evidence that fingered Richmond as the killer]].

** Just the fact that the reason for Rosie's death was [[spoiler: that she just wanted to make a nice film for her family]] and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Rosie was locked in a car trunk while the car was pushed into a lake, and she ripped off a few fingernails trying to get out before she drowned. The shot of her body sitting in the trunk of the car does not help.