In a an article on AMC passing on picking up any pilots (largely because it has a full slate of shows to air already), Variety's Stuart Levin writes that the The Killing is looking likely for a second-season pickup.
The Killing premiered to 2.7 million viewers before pulling back to just below 2 million viewers (1.977) million on Sunday. Sure, it's not exactly The Walking Dead, but neither is anything else on AMC ratings-wise. Its ratings so far are better than the first three seasons of Mad Men, and pretty close to how Mad Men performed in its fourth season.
