This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A&E "Those Who Kill" (Monday, 11 p.m.) is the latest in a long line of TV shows about serial killers, and the big twist here is that the main character is a - gasp! - woman.
This angle was sort of fresh and interesting when "Cagney & Lacey" did it 1982. Not so much now.
Chloe Sevigny ("Big Love," "American Horror Story") stars as Catherine Jensen, a newly minted Pittsburgh police detective. She is - gasp! - headstrong and not real good at following orders. She doesn't get along with either her partner (Christopher Michael Holly) or her boss (Utah native James Morrison).
But she has a forensic psychologist (James D'Arcy) on her side. And for reasons that aren't clear, he doesn't get along with her boss, either.
Monday's premiere centers on a case in which several bodies are found inside the machinery at an old factory, but the ensuing mystery isn't all that compelling. There are plot twists that sort of make sense and that we can only presume will make more sense in future episodes, but it's pretty much clear as mud.
This is a show that's attempting to find itself, butseems to have no idea where it's going. And Sevigny, who's so good playing crazy, is considerably less good at holding our attention as a considerably less crazy lead character. And that's a problem when she has to carry this series..
"Those Who Kill" is not the worst serial-killer show on the air right now. That (dis)honor goes to Fox's laughable "The Awakening."
But this is the second-worse serial killer show on the air right now. And that's pretty bad.