Months ago, we were surprised (if somewhat skeptical) to hear that AMC's murder-mystery drama 'The Killing' had been pulled off the scrap heap, and begun working toward a third season to be co-financed by Netflix. When AMC officially announced 'The Killing' season 3, however, Netflix recieved nary a mention, so how will the streaming service be involved? New details on where to see 'The Killing' season 3 early on Netflix inside!

At long last, the true culprit has been revealed and Netflix has announced its involvement in reviving 'The Killing' for a third season, despite moderate ratings and mixed critical reactions in the first two. Netflix will indeed take part in some of the production cost, while the show's third season will be available for streaming on Netflix some three months after its finale, an uncommonly short amount of time between broadcast and home media. The show's second season was added to Netflix Instant recently as well.

"Our agreement with Netflix played an extremely significant part in the studio's strategy that enabled us to bring 'The Killing' back for a third season," said David Madden, president of Fox Television Studios. "We are delighted to be in business with Netflix to deliver season 3, as well as past seasons of 'The Killing' to a broader audience worldwide."

In addition to the recent casting of 'BSG' vet Aaron Douglas, 'Flashpoint's' Hugh Dillon, Johnny Ray Gill and Peter Sarsgaard’s role as fellow death row inmate and sinisterly dominant “lifelong convict” Tom Seward, ‘The Killing’s' third season also boasts among its cast Amy Semeitz, Max Fowler and Elias Koteas. Series leads Mireille Enos (‘World War Z‘) and Joel Kinnaman (‘RoboCop‘) will reprise their roles as Detectives Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder, respectively.

The new season of the AMC drama will open up a year after the close of the Rosie Larsen murder that dominated the first two seasons, with Linden having left the force until ex-partner Stephen Holder’s search for a runaway girl leads him to discover a gruesome string of murders that connects to Linden’s previous murder investigation.

Having already begun its shoot for a likely summer debut, ‘The Killing’ season 3 understandably won’t involve the Larsen Family, nor will seasons 1 and 2 regular Mayor Darren Richmond (Billy Campbell) appear.

Are you excited to see 'The Killing' season 3, whether on AMC or Netflix Instant? Tell us what you thought of the first two years in the comments!

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