AMC's twice-canceled detective drama 'The Killing' gambled in its third season with the addition of award-winning character actor Peter Saarsgard, and now its fourth and final Netflix run has been given similar acclaim. Oscar nominee Joan Allen will join the Seattle murder-mystery series in its final six episodes, taking an important role in the military school setting Holder and Linden come to investigate.

According to Deadline, Allen will take the role of military school head Margaret O’Neal, dishonorably discharged from the military from her involvement in a questionable incident during one of her tours in the Gulf. In addition to the natural discipline outlined in the original character description, Margaret has a deeply buried maternal instinct, one she has projected instead onto the troubled academy boys she is charged with molding into men.

Casting remains ongoing for several roles of the military school youths central to the story, as well as for Sarah Linden's (Mireille Enos) biological mother, who will appear in several episodes. In addition to ‘The Killing’ season 4′s military school backdrop, the new run of episodes will most likely see what became of the relationship between Holder and Linden after the season 3 cliffhanger of "From Up Here / The Road to Hamelin" saw the latter gunning down her serial-killing former partner in cold blood, against Holder’s advice.

Netflix has yet to set a target date for 'The Killing''s final run, but what say you? Are you on board for the fourth and final season with a little Oscar-caliber to its cast?

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