This is a list of characters from the AMC television series The Killing, which are based on the characters from the Danish crime series Forbrydelsen.
Main characters in all seasons
Sarah Linden Mireille Enos
Seasons 1 and 2 Sarah Linden is a detective in the Seattle Police Department, preparing to relocate to Sonoma, California, with her fiance, Rick Felder, and her teenaged son, Jack. However, her plans are put on hold when Rosie Larsen, a local high school student, disappears while her family is out of town on a camping trip. Linden's boss, Lt. Michael Oakes, partners her with Detective Stephen Holder, asking that she guide him through his first homicide case. Linden reluctantly agrees.
Linden is initially dismissive of the case, and intends on handing it over to the sex crimes division. However, upon revisiting the scene where some of Rosie's belongings were found, Linden becomes drawn to a nearby lake. There, the detectives find a submerged car with Rosie's body in the trunk. Linden becomes increasingly determined to find the killer as numerous leads go nowhere, going through several suspects.
Holder produces a photograph of Richmond driving the car that late fateful night and the man's alibi fails him. Richmond is arrested and Sarah and Jack prepare to finally leave town, but, before the plane ever leaves the ground, she receives a phone call in which she learns the photo had been doctored.
Linden takes Jack to another motel and avoids contact with Holder, whom she believes cannot be trusted. After being put back on the case, she continues to pursue more leads. Eventually she confronts Holder. He explains that he believed the photo was real, and that Gil (his narcotics anonymous sponsor) gave him the photo in order to bring down the Richmond campaign. While the two of them continue to investigate the Indian casino and the shady chief, Linden believes she is being stalked by an unknown assailant who leaves drawings on her refrigerator.
When Linden and Holder get into an argument on the island, they angrily split up to investigate. Holder gets into a confrontation with the Indian staff, who beat him up for nosing around. Linden panics when Holder doesn't return and calls a rescue team to search for Holder, who is eventually found. The two of them, determined they are getting closer to the truth, return to the casino—Holder causes a distraction while Linden sneaks up to the 10th floor, where Rosie used to take smoke breaks when she worked there. Linden discovers an unfinished construction site, where she deduces that Rosie was taking one last look at the city before leaving. Rosie then overheard someone and was most likely killed there. Linden finds a bloody keycard in the gutter but before she can reach it, she is knocked out.
She wakes up in a psychiatric hospital, where the psychiatrist tells her that the person who found her claims Linden was about to jump but was pulled back. Linden denies everything but the psychiatrist doesn't buy it, noting her past stint at a hospital in which she neglected herself and her son because she believed a previous case had actually not been closed despite an arrest. The drawing on the refrigerator turns out to be what the son of the murder victim was repeatedly drawing while he was waiting to be rescued from the room in which his mother was rotting. Holder and Felder, who turns out to be Linden's previous shrink, pull some strings to get her out of the hospital, but after this point Felder leaves Linden out of his life.
Linden and Holder return with a warrant to search the casino. Linden secretly procures the missing keycard, which opens the door into the Richmond campaign office. After obtaining the missing security camera footage from the casino, Linden sees Jamie Wright, who was present at a behind-the-scenes meeting between Ames and the Chief, in the elevator. Linden and Holder try to find Jamie but only find Gwen. They go up to Richmond's office, where Jamie has already confessed to beating Rosie and has a gun out. Holder shoots Jamie in a confrontation.
Linden breaks the news to the Larsens, where they find only Terry. Linden discovers a car with a broken taillight, indicating that her car was used the night of the murder. Terry eventually confesses she was the one who drove the car into the water with Rosie screaming in the trunk. Stan and Mitch are shocked, and Terry is arrested. With the case solved, Linden decides not to take another case after parting ways with Holder.
Season 3 After walking away from her detective's job with the Seattle Police Department, Linden takes a job with the Vashon Island Transportation Authority, working on the ferry docks. She is asked by son Jack to move to Chicago to be closer to him, as he lives with his father, but she avoids the question. She is dating a younger man named Cody, who seems unaware of her previous career. It is a year or more since the Larsen case and three years since the previous case, which caused her to be committed. She has now accepted that Ray Seward awaits execution for killing his wife, and she appears to have moved on. Detective Holder arrives at her door to tell her a teenage girl's body has been found. The description of the body reminds Linden of the case she has put behind her. Holder cannot compare the cases, as the Seward file is missing. He leaves his current case file with her.
Linden has the Seward file in her attic. It contains the drawing of a grove of trees that Adrian Seward repeatedly drew the night his mother was killed. Linden returns the new case file to Holder, suggesting it is not the killer's first murder. Holder mentions the girl's missing rings and broken finger and asks if Seward took "trophies" as well. Linden says no and ends the conversation. She visits her old partner, James Skinner, to discuss the Seward case. She says Trisha Seward's finger was broken postmortem and her wedding ring was never found. Skinner reassures Linden that Ray Seward is guilty. At Linden's car, James's wife, Jennifer, tells her to stay away, saying that she has forgiven her husband but never wants to see Linden again. On a ferry, Cody tries to comfort Linden, but she ends their relationship.
She visits Ray Seward. He claims to have sold his wife's ring to a pawn shop but never mentions which one. When she shows him Adrian's drawing, he says he never had a son. She visits Adrian's foster home and sees him happily playing in the backyard. She notices a drawing on his bedroom wall that is identical to the drawing in the Seward case file, except that this drawing has buildings next to the grove of trees. She recognizes the buildings as the abandoned factory where the recent victim was found. Linden returns there with the new sketch and matches the trees from the drawing with a nearby grove and then makes her way through the trees to discover a pond with scattered corpses rotting in biohazard bags.
Skinner, now the head of Special Investigations, gives Linden a badge but cautions against further pursuing the Seward case. She then warns him that his wife knows about their past affair. She admits to Holder that there is a possible connection between Trisha Seward's murder and the others: Trisha's finger was broken and missing a ring, just like Kwon. At a school playground, she introduces herself to Adrian and asks if he remembers her from working on the Seward case. She asks why he added a factory to his drawing. He asks to see his dad and she agrees to look into it. The coroner estimates the bodies were in the pond for three to five years; all were killed within a six-month period. She asks if any bodies had broken fingers. He confirms some had broken and even severed fingers. While the coroner continues to try and identify the bodies, she and Holder view recently discovered pornographic tapes that had been created just before another girl disappeared.
Stephen Holder Joel Kinnaman
Seasons 1 and 2 Stephen Holder overcame a difficult childhood, got a college degree, and became interested in police work, namely the Narcotics Department. While working undercover, he became addicted to methamphetamine. This affected not only his job but his family life, as he stole a prized gold coin from his nephew in order to buy drugs, although he kept it as a reminder. His boss found out about his drug use and he sought treatment, including attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Because of his attire and demeanor, he became successful as a detective and was promoted to the Homicide Division.
His new boss, Lt. Michael Oakes, introduces him to the outgoing homicide detective, Sarah Linden. Oakes hands them a case and asks Sarah to help him begin his career in Homicide. Her mind on leaving, along with Holder's unusual style of detective work, put the two at odds with each other, at times. The new case concerns a missing teenaged girl. When very little evidence is originally found, Sarah wants to turn the case over to the Sex Crimes division, but Holder insists on checking out a name found on an ATM card. They visit the Larsen residence and learn a teenaged girl is missing. They later find the girl's body in the trunk of a car that has been submerged in a lake. Although Holder uses his style once again with certain suspects, no arrests are made. The detectives begin to check out the car, which was originally reported stolen by City Councilman Darren Richmond's staff. After Oakes tells them they need solid proof to check out the staff, they learn that Richmond himself has no alibi for the night in question. Holder then produces a photograph of the man in the car that night. Richmond is arrested. Sarah leaves Holder to process the paperwork. Sarah later receives a phone call in which she learns the photo had been doctored. As of the end of Season One, Holder has been successful in pinning the girl's murder on Richmond.
It is revealed that his narcotics sponsor Gil Sloane has been insisting that his career will be advanced as a result of the photo. However, once Holder realizes that Richmond is innocent after all, he distances himself from Gil and tries to apologize to Linden. He nearly lapses into his old drug habit, but Linden rescues him from a downward spiral. Holder continues to assist her in the Larsen case. He is brutally beaten by Nicole Jackson’s guards when he investigates the casino without a search warrant. He helps Linden pin down Jamie Wright as a murder accomplice and later shoots Jamie in order to protect Linden.
Following Jaime's death and the arrest of Terry Marek (who was also revealed to be an accomplice), the Rosie Larsen case is brought to a definite close. He and Linden part ways, with him continuing to solve cases for the Seattle department while Linden decides to quit the force and move away.
Season 3