There are a lot of cop dramas on television, but even the marketing for Low Winter Sun has shown AMC’s new program to be a little more outside-the-box than what audiences have come to expect from most crime dramas. Low Winter Sun will tell the tale of a couple of cops who must cover up the death of another cop after killing him. That drama will be central to the narrative and it shows in AMC’s new key art for Low Winter Sun, which focuses on Mark Strong’s character, Frank Agnew.
Low Winter Sun’s brand new poster tells us that Frank Agnew is both a cop and a killer, an idea that has been explored a little bit in Fox’s fledgling drama, The Following. Of course, while Ryan Hardy killed the murderer of his father as a youth and continued killing bad guys as a cop, Frank Agnew will be dealing up close and personal with a recent cop-on-cop murder. That sort of killing has different motivations and different ramifications, and as the previews and press releases for the new drama have stated, it will put the Detroit detective in an uncomfortable position with the city’s underworld.
As the poster notes, Low Winter Sun is being brought to the small screen by the same network that put Breaking Bad on the air. It’s pretty telling that AMC is trying to market a dark series with wishy-washy morals to the same audience that Walter White and co. generate. Breaking Bad is set to premiere its fifth and final season on August 11. With the prominent series ending, AMC must be looking to fill the niche, and isn’t shy about directing new viewers to Low Winter Sun. In fact, the network is pushing this transition so hard that Low Winter Sun will premiere after Breaking Bad on the 11.
Low Winter Sun is based on the U.K. two-parter of the same name, which also starred Strong. In its new form, the drama has been adapted for an American audience, and while Strong is at the heart of the marketing and the narrative, the real star of the early marketing efforts has been Lennie James, who co-stars in the drama and seems to be involved in the cop killing that kicks off the series. You can see the two actors talking morality and secrets in the trailer, below.
Low Winter Sun was written by Criminal Minds’ Chris Mundy, who also serves as an executive producer and as showrunner on the drama. The series hasn’t been as heavily marketed as stuff like The Walking Dead or Breaking Bad, but from what we’ve seen, it should be a solid effort. If you want to give it a shot, you can check out Low Winter Sun beginning on Sunday, August 11 at 10 p.m. ET.
