[HBO] True Detective

Daveman · Post by **Daveman** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 5:37 pm

I think he was really dirty from mowing the school property and that covered up his scars, which actually weren't all that bad as I recall.

Binktopia · Post by **Binktopia** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 5:54 pm

Also, if you recall, you didn't see who it was till the camera zoomed into the guys face, showing his scars. He was facing away from the sun, casting a dark shadow over his face. ( As far as i recall, it was a twist for me as an audience member). Plus, they were kinda far from each other, and were not checking him out, he was just a guy mowing a lawn.

Shrugs.

KKBlue · Post by **KKBlue** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:30 pm

MHS wrote:I think I'll skip S2 since it sounds like it's pretty bad. We were late to the party on S1, just watched it over the weekend (I can't stand Woody Harrelson or Matt McConaughay, hence the delay).

Wow! Give you credit for even watching! Pretty outstanding woman there, but you all already know that!

I didn't tune into the show (season 2) last night. Done.

MHS · Post by **MHS** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:39 pm

The only way they could have cast it worse for "Shannon's Personal Yuck list" would have been to add Kevin Costner.

No real reason for these biases, btw, all 3 of them seem mostly like decent-ish actors but they all just are like nails on a chalkboard to me in almost everything I've seen them in.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:52 pm

It seems doubtful that Nic Pizzolatto has the chops to carry the show by himself, despite his assurances to the contrary. As it was put in this write-up on the tension between Fukunaga and Pizzolatto:

...

But if Pizzolatto was so eager to bury the feud story last year, why is he taking potshots now? The answer could lie in the divergent paths each man's reputation has taken in the months since the season-one finale. After the underwhelming final installment, the wunderkind mystique fell off Pizzolatto like a heavy coat. His combative persona led to ill-advised tiffs with critics like Emily Nussbaum, particularly over the issue of the first season's female characters, and he found himself accused of plagiarizing some of Rust Cohle's best lines. Fukunaga, by contrast, got off nearly scot-free. His post-finale interviews were full of sharp, sensitive answers, and by the time the Emmys rolled around, he'd become the patron hunk of the thinking-woman's internet. For a large portion of True D's fan base, the matter was settled: Everything good about the first season was because of Fukunaga and Matthew McConaughey; everything bad was Pizzolatto's fault.

(You know what else happened at the Emmys? Fukunaga didn't thank Pizzolatto in his Best Director acceptance speech. Raise your hand if you think Pizzolatto has forgotten that.)

With Fukunaga and McConaughey gone this year, much of the preseason hype around True Detective centered on whether Pizzolatto could pull the same trick off alone, and it seems he's taken the implication personally. In the Vanity Fair profile, he seemed anxious to pin himself as the true creative spine of the show. The connection between the seasons, he said, was "Me. Crime, detectives, intimacies, ideas ... but it's all just me."

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 8:30 pm

Binktopia wrote:Also, if you recall, you didn't see who it was till the camera zoomed into the guys face, showing his scars. He was facing away from the sun, casting a dark shadow over his face. ( As far as i recall, it was a twist for me as an audience member). Plus, they were kinda far from each other, and were not checking him out, he was just a guy mowing a lawn.

Shrugs.

Yeah, that's the way I saw it too. At this point, he was just "the guy mowing the lawn" and wasn't a suspect. It wasn't until the later episodes where he had to try to remember where he'd seen the guy.

Anyway, what this season is showing me is that Vaugh is like the male equivalent of Kristen Stewart. He has the same bored/stoned look for every emotion. Though, it's likely that he doesn't care enough about the script...

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 12:09 am

MHS wrote:I think I'll skip S2 since it sounds like it's pretty bad. We were late to the party on S1, just watched it over the weekend (I can't stand Woody Harrelson or Matt McConaughay, hence the delay).

I did have one question from S1; how on earth is it so overlooked that Rust has a conversation early on with the guy with the scars but completely didn't bat an eyelash? I tried telling myself that maybe he only saw one side of his face, but no, he looks at him full-face. I tried telling myself that he was totally focused on catching Ladou, so he just blanked out the scar thing, but that goes against everything he's portrayed as. It strikes me as a huge plot hole that could have been super easily avoided, given that landscapers frequently wear bandanas or masks over their lower faces when mowing.

See the bottom of Page 2 (et al).

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Thu Jul 23, 2015 11:28 am

REGARDING Season 2:

I'm still not feeling much interest. Season 1 intrigued me enough with its weirdness and intensity to watch as it aired.

Season 2's extended emphasis - for a mini-series with limited eps. - on characters' dull back stories just killed the pace. If the intent was to focus on that aspect, it should have been done while moving the plot forward. The classic "show, not tell" would've been more compelling.

Plus, VV doesn't come across well as a physically tough fellow, TK seems vacant (drugged even, as if he'd just woken up for his scenes), RMCa tries too hard to be hard, CF's okay but stuck with stereotypical cop with anger issues, mean ex-wife, alcoholism, job problems. With characters like this, focusing on them, rather than action or plot, just makes the whole thing seem even duller.

Frankly, if my brother didn't come over to watch on Sundays (the guy's income is well over 10X the national average but he won't pay for HBO, another story!), I wouldn't keep watching.

He left for a twelve-day Hawaii vacation last week and I didn't bother to watch Sunday. I'll catch up. I get the feeling that the Season One was a fluke and that MMc and WH carried the plot more than I realized. Season Two's just drifting along like a leaf in a slow moving river.

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Thu Jul 23, 2015 11:46 am

Anonymous Bosch wrote:It seems doubtful that Nic Pizzolatto has the chops to carry the show by himself, despite his assurances to the contrary. As it was put in this write-up on the tension between Fukunaga and Pizzolatto:

...

But if Pizzolatto was so eager to bury the feud story last year, why is he taking potshots now? The answer could lie in the divergent paths each man's reputation has taken in the months since the season-one finale. After the underwhelming final installment, the wunderkind mystique fell off Pizzolatto like a heavy coat. His combative persona led to ill-advised tiffs with critics like Emily Nussbaum, particularly over the issue of the first season's female characters, and he found himself accused of plagiarizing some of Rust Cohle's best lines. Fukunaga, by contrast, got off nearly scot-free. His post-finale interviews were full of sharp, sensitive answers, and by the time the Emmys rolled around, he'd become the patron hunk of the thinking-woman's internet. For a large portion of True D's fan base, the matter was settled: Everything good about the first season was because of Fukunaga and Matthew McConaughey; everything bad was Pizzolatto's fault.

(You know what else happened at the Emmys? Fukunaga didn't thank Pizzolatto in his Best Director acceptance speech. Raise your hand if you think Pizzolatto has forgotten that.)

With Fukunaga and McConaughey gone this year, much of the preseason hype around True Detective centered on whether Pizzolatto could pull the same trick off alone, and it seems he's taken the implication personally. In the Vanity Fair profile, he seemed anxious to pin himself as the true creative spine of the show. The connection between the seasons, he said, was "Me. Crime, detectives, intimacies, ideas ... but it's all just me."

Yeah, once you've lost the New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum, you're toast among her dozens of readers. Her criticism often consists of "Are there strong, superior women in the show, movie, book" and "The French version was better." The Vulture article makes claims (about Pizzolato's fame/infamy) that don't amount to much. If the ten percent of 1/16 of one percent of the public who read Nussbaum and the Vulture (and agree with 'em) frown on Pizzolato's work, well: so what? If it's interesting and exciting, people will watch regardless of how many (or how few) noble female lead characters there are. If the show's dull, no noble characters of any gender will matter.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Thu Jul 23, 2015 4:43 pm

i would tend to agree, in that I don't see the Nussbaum "tiff" as all that significant.

But it seems hard to argue that the loss of Fukunaga has not had a significant negative impact on the quality of the show. And perhaps also the accusations of plagiarism surrounding Pizzolatto (given that Rust Cohle's Ligottian dialogue made for some of the most entertaining aspects of S1).

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Thu Jul 23, 2015 7:18 pm

Amen about S2 having been negatively impacted by something. I'm not too cognizant of the behind-the-scenes stuff so I can't get into the effect of this or that person leaving. I'm only going by what's on the screen...zzzzzz

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 2:28 pm

Yeah, it's definitely being negatively impacted by something. We're 6 episodes into it now, with only two more to go. I'm still watching it out of curiosity more than anything, but the most significant thing since the big shootout happened in episode 6 and even then, manages to not be so interesting. One thing I've learned with this episode: Vaugh looks silly while pointing a gun. Maybe that goes hand-in-hand with his inability to sell the tough-guy role. He looks so casual in everything he does.

So, we've had a lot of time focusing on Vaugh, a lot focusing on Farrell's character, and even on McAdams, all with storylines of their own. But where does that leave Kitch's character? It's like he's been summarily forgotten with no story of his own. The only time we ever see him now are when they're all together. He's totally a non-player. That being the case, they probably should have killed him off during that big shootout. But they're having him hang around, for whatever reason.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 10:07 am

Rumpy wrote:Yeah, it's definitely being negatively impacted by something. We're 6 episodes into it now, with only two more to go. I'm still watching it out of curiosity more than anything, but the most significant thing since the big shootout happened in episode 6 and even then, manages to not be so interesting. One thing I've learned with this episode: Vaugh looks silly while pointing a gun. Maybe that goes hand-in-hand with his inability to sell the tough-guy role. He looks so casual in everything he does.

I thought he was pretty good in the kitchen scene with Farrell, but he's clearly overshadowed by Farrell's superior acting. Still that scene was perhaps the best in the series so far to me. The dialog wasn't terribly groan inducing (damning with faint praise), and the actors (particularly Farrell) did a good job with it. But I totally agree that Vaughn toting a gun later in the episode was weird. It reminded me of the gangster parallel to Tim Robbins trying to throw like a baseball player in Bull Durham.

Rumpy wrote:So, we've had a lot of time focusing on Vaugh, a lot focusing on Farrell's character, and even on McAdams, all with storylines of their own. But where does that leave Kitch's character? It's like he's been summarily forgotten with no story of his own. The only time we ever see him now are when they're all together. He's totally a non-player. That being the case, they probably should have killed him off during that big shootout. But they're having him hang around, for whatever reason.

They still have to resolve his closeted-in-denial-about-to-be-a-father storyline. I'm not sure what they can really do with it with just two hours left and a bunch of other stuff to wrap up, though. I think they tried to fit too much into this season and are having trouble focusing. They probably could have dropped Kitsch's character and storyline from the show altogether and improved everything else.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 3:06 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: I thought he was pretty good in the kitchen scene with Farrell, but he's clearly overshadowed by Farrell's superior acting.

Yeah, of the two, Farrell is definitely the better actor. He's more diverse overall, having played different kind of roles throughout his movies. Vaughn is just out of his depths. He's like a fish out of water. I guess maybe he wanted to try something different, but this wasn't the best choice. The only worse casting could have been Adam Sandler instead.

Rumpy wrote:So, we've had a lot of time focusing on Vaugh, a lot focusing on Farrell's character, and even on McAdams, all with storylines of their own. But where does that leave Kitch's character? It's like he's been summarily forgotten with no story of his own. The only time we ever see him now are when they're all together. He's totally a non-player. That being the case, they probably should have killed him off during that big shootout. But they're having him hang around, for whatever reason.

They still have to resolve his closeted-in-denial-about-to-be-a-father storyline. I'm not sure what they can really do with it with just two hours left and a bunch of other stuff to wrap up, though. I think they tried to fit too much into this season and are having trouble focusing. They probably could have dropped Kitsch's character and storyline from the show altogether and improved everything else.

I don't have as much a problem with the number of characters as others have, but yeah, he could have easily been dropped to focus on McAdams, Farrell and Vaughn.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 3:53 pm

“Please articulate the percentage you require in order to transact with me.” One of the lines Vaugh's character says in the 7th episode. Yeah, I wish I was kidding. Sounds like something a robot would say... Say it once more with enthusiasm, Frank!

One of the cooler things this season has done are the opening credits. The lyrics keep changing from episode to episode, and this time actually foreshadowed what was going to happen in the episode.

http://kotaku.com/last-night-s-true-det ... 1721843884

KKBlue · Post by **KKBlue** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:35 pm

Rumpy wrote:One of the cooler things this season has done are the opening credits. The lyrics keep changing from episode to episode, and this time actually foreshadowed what was going to happen in the episode.

Yeah, I came in here just to see what cha all were writing. Won't and have not gone any further than episode 3 despite the pretty cool neat-o opening. Cool catch Rumpy! When we watched the opening, the excitement was very high because how could one go wrong with T-Bone? Maybe I'll watch only the opening credits, ha!

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Tue Sep 01, 2015 3:58 pm

So, the finale. Those of you who bailed early made the right call. I stuck with it out of curiosity, and I can say that it didn't improve at all throughout. The problem is the pacing. There isn't any. It's a show where you keep waiting for something significant to happen, but it keeps you wanting for all the wrong reasons. It's dreadfully dull, and downright tame for an HBO show, and it never really develops into anything. There are only about 3 moments where the pacing might increase, but that's about it. They could have eliminated a few characters and shortened the number of episodes to make it a stronger narrative, but on the whole, it just felt like nothing really happened. They saved most of the faster pace for the finale, and even then, it was rather lame.

The acting. Where do I start? The dialogue as you all know, is terrible. In the finale though, I started to wonder if perhaps they were all ad-libbing their lines, that they were perhaps in on some kind of joke. There's already that earlier line spoken by Vaugh's wife with "Where's this all going?", and in the finale she says, "You can't act for shit!" I almost doubled over when I heard this. It's almost as if they were wink-nudging the audience. Other pieces of dialogue through the season land the characters in some seriously awkward moments, that it can't just be a coincidence.

It's tragic what's happened this season. It's been so much of a wasted potential. It had a great cast but it wasn't really able to pull it together. Farrell I think was the one that was able to keep his head above water. For the most part, despite the weak script, I think he would have made at least an equal to Harrelson and McCaugnhey. Ironically for Vaughn, his best moments were near the end after he was stabbed, walking through the desert while interacting with his mirages. The rest of his performances were terrible though. Worst gangster ever. Instead of being proactive and reactive to things, he'd just sit back and let things happen. A good gangster would never let this happen!

If Season 3 does happen, I think it might need a shakeup. Keep the format, but maybe switch directors as well. Would actually be fun to see different directors try their hand, possibly at a genre they've never dabbled in.

SlapBone · Post by **SlapBone** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 4:13 pm

I just can't pass up the opportunity to point out how bad Pizolatto's(?) writing is when he is not ripping off Thomas Ligotti. I was unaware of Ligotti before season 1, but I am now a fan.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 4:17 pm

I honestly don't want a season 3. Save that money and give it to a better writer who can hopefully make a decent show.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 4:21 pm

hepcat wrote:I honestly don't want a season 3. Save that money and give it to a better writer who can hopefully make a decent show.

Or add 3 episodes to GoT.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 4:23 pm

As long as those three episodes focus almost exclusively on Ian McShane, I'm in.

...ah, who am I kidding. As long as they show him for 2 seconds, I'm in. Team McShane FTW!

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 4:24 pm

Works for me.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 10:52 am

Because I'm typically so far behind trends, I finally managed to binge watch this over a three day period and agree with the majority - absolutely fantastic. I also completely missed the clues, but was amused at how the new detectives following up on the recent developments also completely dismissed the person they were looking for in a similar manner to Hart and Cohle. I was confused in reading the comments in this thread over the story - but maybe that's a function of watching it weekly vs all at once. It really flows nicely as you just move from episode to episode and not once was I confused over what was real or how things were unfolding. Regardless, the show is a perfect example of how you take an idea and tell it in an 8-episode format - not stretch it out to 12 or 6 or 22. To that point - apparently I should just avoid Season 2 then, eh?

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 11:19 am

I think season 2 was fine, but it doesn't hold a candle to season 1. That's where much of the disappointment came from. It's just meh, which feels like a dumpster fire when you come in expecting Hart and Cohle, Mk II..

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 11:58 am

Is there going to be a season 3?

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 12:00 pm

naednek wrote:Is there going to be a season 3?

In July 2016, HBO head of programming Casey Bloys confirmed plans for a potential third season, stating, "It is not dead. I talked to Nic about it and both Nic and HBO are open to another season. I don't think Nic has a take and he's working on some other projects. We're open to somebody else writing it and Nic supervising it. It's a valuable franchise, it's not dead, we just don't have a take for a third season yet."

From August 2016, EW.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 7:10 pm

Season 2 had good things about it. Colin Farrel and Rachel McAdams (RM in particular) were pretty good.

Vince Vaughn was *horrific*. HORRIFIC.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 7:16 pm

I'm having a hard time imagining him in anything remotely like the first season of True Detective. However, if at some point he gets all hopped up and suggests "just the tip", I might be convinced. I'm still trying to process that it was Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as I never would have expected them to be able to pull that off. I do have the second season in hand and would expect to binge-watch the hell out of it as well.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 9:00 pm

RunningMn9 wrote:Season 2 had good things about it. Colin Farrel and Rachel McAdams (RM in particular) were pretty good.

Vince Vaughn was *horrific*. HORRIFIC.

I think what's best about Rachel McAdams is that it was such a different role for her. Vince Vaughn should just quit acting though.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 9:10 pm

There is one scene in the final episode that was worth the price of admission for me. YMMV.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 5:02 pm

I might have missed a thread on this already, but did any watch season 3 of True Detective? It was really good; much better than the few episodes I saw of season 2. Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff were both great and the story is more like the first season than the follow-up (missing kids in the south).

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 5:26 pm

2 years since the last post in this thread, your timing couldn't be better. I'm on the 3rd last episode of the 3rd season after binge watching my way through the first 2.

I was planning on resurrecting this thread myself.

While I haven't finished watching the 3rd season, I'd rate them

1:1st season
2:3rd season
3:2nd season

The first was something special even though it dropped a little towards the end. The 2nd was a competent cop drama but I prefer silence of the lambs over the departed. The female lead was quite strong, Ferrell was good and I didn't hate Vaughn although I found him the weakest casting.

I don't know the 2 actors in the 3rd season but they are both good. I think there is a little bit of writer masturbation in that season, and the dementia/memory loss isn't really working for me, but I find the courting scenes compelling whereas I practically fast forwarded through the romantic entanglements of the 2nd.

The first was magic though. About the 3rd episode in it dawned on me that the 2 actors could have reversed roles and it would have been equally good. Part of me would love to see the first season again but with Mcspellingishard and Harrelson cast in the opposite roles this time.

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 6:01 pm

I watched season 3 and enjoyed the finale last night.

My favorite bit:

Spoiler:

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 6:42 pm

Exodor wrote: ↑Mon Feb 25, 2019 6:01 pm I watched season 3 and enjoyed the finale last night.

My favorite bit:

Spoiler:
I liked how they left it unclear if Hays memory had totally failed when he met Julie Purcell or if he knew and decided to leave her alone in her seemingly happy life. There's a moment when he's drinking the water when he seems to have a realization but lets it pass.

Also interesting that they made a point of showing his son putting the address in his pocket. For a moment I thought he was going to toss it into a drawer filled with scraps of paper with that same address.

Or if:

Spoiler:

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 6:43 pm

GreenGoo wrote: ↑Mon Feb 25, 2019 5:26 pm I don't know the 2 actors in the 3rd season but they are both good.

Mahershala Ali is about as big as they get right now (and just won his second Oscar last night).

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 7:44 pm

Yep, wife told me. Other guy is a "the Corey's" era child actor. Named Dorf or something? Given his height and that I'm old enough to remember Tim Conway I managed not to snicker. Small victories.

So what. The things I don't know could and do fill libraries. Up until 5 seconds ago I thought the show was years old and had no idea that season 3 is less than 2 months old. I literally thought I was watching a show that had been out for years.

I hear the Rams are back in LA too.

Never heard of the guy and don't recognize the name. I have no idea what movies were nominated this year. I literally have no idea which movie he won in because I don't know which movies exist to be nominated. I know it's not the Ghostbusters remake, if that makes things better for you.

So what.

Z-Corn · Post by **Z-Corn** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 7:55 pm

GreenGoo wrote: ↑Mon Feb 25, 2019 7:44 pm So what.

Please tell me you know who Scoot McNairy is though...please?

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:04 pm

Nope.

Is this where this is going?

Wife told me that the show's wife is Streep's daughter. That's about it.

This is important to you guys for some reason? The reason I don't know who these people are is that I have never seen them in anything, or enough things to notice.

So what?

I know who Tim Conway is. Surely this gives me enough credit that you guys can cut me some slack?

I don't know who's driving NASCAR, who the NBA MVP was last year or whether the keto diet is still the new hotness or has been found to cause cancer like all the rest yet.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:49 pm

So season three has the stamp of approval then? I only just saw mention of it within the last month, I guess it filmed in 2018?

I'm liking "I Am the Night" with new Captain Kirk at the moment. Feels a bit True Detective -ish

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 9:10 pm

em2nought wrote: ↑Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:49 pm So season three has the stamp of approval then?

I can't decide if I'm happy with the destination, but the ride was compelling. The acting is phenomenal.