True Detective

[CountryBob]

I cant believe a thread hasn't been created on this awesome crime drama.
Woody and Matthew are in their element and have given some of the best acting I've seen in a long while.

Well done again HBO. :clap:

[cougarjake13]

Theres just not that many of us around anymore

[realmenhatelife]

I brought it up in the movie thread. Because its so cinematic.


I dont think they're setting anyone up for a big reveal or twist or anything like that.

I think there are a group of abusers tied to the extended Tuddle family through illegitimate kids. The religious schools the Tuddles leveraged the state into opening are where the kids are taken from. Religion is used as a way to pacify the victims from speaking out. This is what Carcosa is in reference to. In the end I think it isnt going to be a grandious cult, it's a few bayou rednecks abusing the privelage they get through nepotism.
The series has done a lot with real life things presented in the context of supernatural horror. This evil cabal is really going to turn out to be a pretty typical case of people in power exploiting the underprivileged.

[LeedsJr]

Best fucking thing I have seen on television since the first 2 seasons of the Sopranos.

[jennysmurf]

Theres just not that many of us around anymore

That, and it's so easy to spoil something. I bet a lot of people that watch the show won't even enter this thread for fear of a plot point being rooned for them.

[deliciousV]

That, and it's so easy to spoil something. I bet a lot of people that watch the show won't even enter this thread for fear of a plot point being rooned for them.

I've been watching this show on Mondays, when the wife gets home and the little one is in her room. Next episode gets watched on Sunday, I have no faith in Ron and Hicks not to spoil it for me.

[jennysmurf]

I've been watching this show on Mondays, when the wife gets home and the little one is in her room. Next episode gets watched on Sunday, I have no faith in Ron and Hicks not to spoil it for me.

That's cause they love spoiling things for people.

[realmenhatelife]

http://io9.com/evil-conspiracies-are-all-too-ordinary-on-true-detecti-1535492921


Here is a review of episode 7 that is pretty in line with what I've been saying is the point of this show.

[fezident]

While I do love the tone of this show, and the acting...
... I'm not in love with how all the pieces are constructed.

Meaning; I grow tired of the mystery that's SURROUNDING the mystery that the characters are trying to solve.
WHY is Cole so disheveled and unkempt? WHY is everyone lying to the interrogators? WHY did they even bother showing us that Hart's daughter got caught banging two dudes? etc etc.

At some point, I'd like to know why Cole insists on speaking in riddles. It's never addressed.

Stuff like that is cool at first because it makes the show have it's own vibe, but now we're hours (years, in their universe) into the series and I'd like a little more clarity.

[Pitdoc]

I've been watching this show on Mondays, when the wife gets home and the little one is in her room. Next episode gets watched on Sunday, I have no faith in Ron and Hicks not to spoil it for me.

You HAVE to watch the last one on Sunday.... if only to call the show on Monday & torture Hicks ( I say he doesnt make it past a day , if that)

[realmenhatelife]

While I do love the tone of this show, and the acting...
... I'm not in love with how all the pieces are constructed.

Meaning; I grow tired of the mystery that's SURROUNDING the mystery that the characters are trying to solve.
WHY is Cole so disheveled and unkempt? WHY is everyone lying to the interrogators? WHY did they even bother showing us that Hart's daughter got caught banging two dudes? etc etc.

At some point, I'd like to know why Cole insists on speaking in riddles. It's never addressed.

Stuff like that is cool at first because it makes the show have it's own vibe, but now we're hours (years, in their universe) into the series and I'd like a little more clarity.


I think the implication is that Cole has been on a downward trajectory ever since his daughter died. Between that and taking drugs while working deep cover in Texas he's really fragile mentally, and the yellow king case both gives him something to fixate on and unsettles him further. Cole is sober initially but begins drinking and drugging again from the time he partners with Marty. His name is Rust(in) which indicates entropy and decay, Cole which indicates a slow burning intensity OR Kohl is also a german word for nonsense.

Entropy is a main theme of the show and figures both into decadence and grotesqueness. All three are major traits of southern gothic literature. This is a southern gothic story.


They're lying to the interrogators because of what happened at the LaDue meth lab. To protect Marty Hart (he's all heart, doesnt think.) They also dont want to reveal their own weaknesses in their personal lives, and at least Rustin believes there is a deep conspiracy surrounding the killings that the detectives might be involved in, even unknowingly. Lying is more evidence of decay. The truth is decayed, the investigators dont trust the system of investigation.

Hart's actions cause the decay of his family, thats why he loses his wife and has damaged both of his daughters. The decay of the family is another big trait in southern gothic lit.

The other thing too is there are different ways to write characters. You can write them and try to make them real, you can write them to basically be a proxy for the writer, or you can write them as an archetype. Cole is closer to being an archetype in this, thats why he's slightly inhuman and unrealistic. He's meant to just introduce ideas into the story. In a way the show is about Marty and Cole is just the devil on his shoulder whispering things in his ear.

[realmenhatelife]

I wasn't crazy about the lack of dialogue in the last episode. For a very dialogue heavy show it was so action oriented. I think I ultimately like the unexplained weirdness of the yellow king because in the end it really is all just nonsense, so explaining his affected voice isn't worth anything.


Thematically I think they brought it back to family in a really nice way. The ultimate conflict of this story is about the dissolve of family and thats what these two guys are really fighting against. Their own failures as fathers, the religious leaders failings with their flock, the governments failings with its people. So to find a way to end it with hope while still seeming natural to the series is a good job. I enjoy Rustin's last sentiment.

[Pitdoc]

I still think the creeepiest moment of the whole last episode was the retarded horny sister of the killer..Ann Dowd is AMAZING playing this swamp creature .

Good to see that Rust doesn't bluff..When he says he's hired a sniper...

Also nice to see that almost dying made Rust see that he still had his daughter to love..Just wish that Marty had said, "She'll always be there buddy."

And I think that the opening credits alone( with the fantastic 10 year old song by the Handsome Family that T-Bone Burnett found ) should win an Emmy .

[CountryBob]

Enjoyed it - sad its over

[Dell]

Enjoyed it - sad its over

me too...me too

[fezident]

Great posts in here. Really interesting insights and observations.

Bravo.

[realmenhatelife]

You guys should read Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock. Really good book, very true detectivey minus the detective aspect. But it's like half road novel half apalachian gothic/noir. Creepy old time religion, perverts, murder etc. One of the better books I've read in the last few years, reminded me a lot of Flannery OConnor.

[Dell]

Great posts in here. Really interesting insights and observations.

Bravo.

I'll leave the uppity form of enjoyment to the self-appreciative experts...I like to just enjoy art and simply express my appreciation (I even clap...so un-hipster)

Bravo Indeed

[Dell]

You guys should read Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock. Really good book, very true detectivey minus the detective aspect. But it's like half road novel half apalachian gothic/noir. Creepy old time religion, perverts, murder etc. One of the better books I've read in the last few years, reminded me a lot of Flannery OConnor.

that alone would make it a great read for me...thanks for the recommendation

(BTW, were the structures at spaghetti-face's place "root cellars"?)

[realmenhatelife]

that alone would make it a great read for me...thanks for the recommendation

(BTW, were the structures at spaghetti-face's place "root cellars"?)


I thought they were abandoned aqueducts or maybe loading docks. On our waterfront here we have abandoned piers where trains could load coal onto freighters that made me think of it.

[Dell]

I thought they were abandoned aqueducts or maybe loading docks. On our waterfront here we have abandoned piers where trains could load coal onto freighters that made me think of it.

I'm not sure...I've heard the term "root cellar" my entire life and that seemed to be a good description for those structures

think I'll GOOOOOGLE it...

[realmenhatelife]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Macomb

Google says it was Fort Macomb in Louisiana.