f13.net

New HBO series - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXwCoNwBSkQ
Saw only first episode - i want to see where it goes.
McConaughey is brilliant, Harrelson in his typical role.
Worth it.

I watched 20 minutes and then was distrcted by something... and never came back to it.  I felt a bit like I was watching the Hannibal series I gave up on.  I'm going to wait until it is over and see if the reviews stay sky high on it...

It's really good.

I thought it was really good, too.  I also thought it wasn't really a typical Woody Harrelson role at all.  He wasn't scary or creepy or completely hilarious.  It seems a rather more serious role and I thought he was good in it.  I would venture to say, if it continues in this vein, it might end up to be excellent.  Matthew McConaughey, well, I  completely  :heart:  him! 

All 8 episodes are written by the same guy and directed by the same director (which is really unusual in TV these days) so the quality should remain high.

Have not watching the second episode yet, but the first episode was absolutely enthralling.

I liked the first episode despite being mostly sick of serial killer stuff.  In the second episode though we get a reference to The King in Yellow and now I am excited this could be going somewhere very interesting.

The writer of the thing has said that the serial killer is the thing he is least interested in in the whole story.  It's really about the detectives.

This show is worth watching just to catch the intro. It's captivating.

Next week's episode looks creepy and exciting.

Holy shit there is a six minute tracking shot in this last ep that rivals anything in Children of Men.  This show is amazing.

"You are like the Michael Jordan of being a sonofabitch."

 :awesome_for_real:

1) Holy Shit.

2) http://truedetectivevalentines.tumblr.com/

McConaughey is absolutely knocking the older Rust character out of the park.

McConaughey is doing awesome all around.

This last episode was so intense I got a stomach ache.   :ye_gods:  Srsly.  And if he keeps toking on that ciggi like that I'll end up with cancer.  :(

That one shot was Emmy worthy. Just fucking brilliant.

I'm only on episode 2 but holy shit alexandra daddario has the most perfect set of tits i've ever seen.

You know, you guys, tit are just bags of fat with some glands and sometimes they have milk in them.  It's not even nice milk.  It's milk that only a baby would eat because they're too new to know what ice cold cow's milk tastes like. They're no big deal.  They're for babies, not grown men. 

Having said that, pierced nipples are pretty awesome, especially on men.

and chocolate is just a plant extract.

Abs are just muscles that help you maintain an upright position.

(http://i.imgur.com/XF60J5s.jpg)

If they stick the landing on this thing it will be one of the greatest things ever put on a TV screen.

Completely dismissing Rishartha as the prankster we all know he is, here's a story from some place by some person about True Detective:

True Link (http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2014/02/16/3292391/true-detective-carcosa/)

I forgive you, Rishartha. 

Just watched the first episode of this and was blown away.

There is a seriously weird vibe going on in it, I can't wait to see more. And some awesome acting!

Amazon has the Kindle version of Robert Chambers The King in Yellow (http://www.amazon.com/King-Yellow-Robert-William-Chambers-ebook/dp/B00847UYWA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1392999425&sr=1-1&keywords=the+king+in+yellow) for free if you want to read more about this possible mythology behind the show. I downloaded it and started reading and... it is WEIRD. Like weirder than Lovecraft to me, though still very much a product of its time (1895).

Yeah, I have never read Chambers, so I anbbed that one when someone linkedi t for me yesterday. Going to read through it this weekend, I hope. Really excited where this show has gone, even if it was largely surprising where it HAS gone.

At least we know now who to blame if Haemish goes insane.  :grin:

This show is really superb, I hope they manage to stick the landing and don't go the Twin Peaks route all the way.

Thanks for that, Haemish.  I ordered the book because I don't have a Kindle.  I also ordered a Spirograph.  :) 

Apparently there will be a second season, but McConaghey and Harrelson will not be on it. It'll be a different set of characters and a different crime.

Have a link?

Never-mind, found it.

http://www.contactmusic.com/in-depth/true-detective-season-2-cast-and-plot-nic-pizzolatto_4078105

I am so torn. I like good solid endings, but the cast is just so good this season. :(

I'm a huge fan of endings.  Also, American Horror Story Season 2 really stank.

FTFY

I liked the first one and bits and bobs of the second one.  I'm not sure if I enjoyed the last one because I didn't understand most of it.  I might have liked it but maybe not.

This show is just so good.  Might be the best thing HBO has ever done.  It's like The Wire* but with epic nudity thrown in.



*Very different shows, just the quality level is similar.

The casting director for this show must be an ass man - because every woman that shows any nudity has an ass you could bounce quarters off of.  :drill:

You speak the truth.  :grin:

Two more episodes, though?  Couldn't they have given us twelve?  Or even ten?  Although I'm kind of interested in seeing what they do for a second series.  I'm supposing that it's not just new actors but new directors and writers each season?

The writer/exec producer is staying on. New actors, characters, the director is moving to feature films I think.

It's a shame if they can't get Fukunaga back.  His direction has been spotless.  That great tracking shot was his idea.

Wow. This show kicks ass. That tracking shot was amazing, though at the time I didn't even catch it - I was completely immersed.

Also.... Holy rack, batman.

Very satisfying ending. Still processing it a bit though.

Maybe would have been better if perhaps...

Yah, still great though.

It didn't get as crazy as I was expecting/hoping, but it was still good.

It will be interesting to see if in the next season another branch of the Tuttles is involved and they explore further the King in Yellow and keep a consistent world lore for the separate stories.

When shows like Lost try to pull the "it's about the characters not the plot" you can tell it is pure bullshit to cover bad writing, but here? yeah, it really was about the characters more than the plot.

I liked the ending very much.  It didn't make me feel horrible and frustrated at the end.  I loved this show.

It coulda ended a lot of ways and I woulda been ok with all of em. Great show.

Absolutely fantastic film noir style ending. If that's all we get out of these characters, I'm thoroughly satisfied with it.

I do hope next season keeps the King in Yellow undercurrent as the bridging narrative device. I think it wants to be about characters and how they deal with that but without going all horror/supernatural right from the start, building into it with a slow burn.

And I reiterate, if McConaghey doesn't win best actor Emmys and whatever other awards this show goes up for, it will be a goddamn crime. His breakdown in the wheelchair was just mind-blowing.

Goddamn.  I really enjoyed the hell out of that.  

As much as I wouldn't mind spending more time with Marty and Rust, I appreciate a nice, solid, self-contained story that ends in a satisfying way.  

I'm really curious to see what they do in season two.

Nic Pizzolatto in an interview ahead of Episode 7:

Not going to read this thread because I am only on episode 4 - but holy shit this show.

I think the next one they should follow the black detectives, this could be their first big case...kinda do a quick recap of everything from their point of view and then off we go!

I'm really interested in seeing what they come up with for the next series, too.  They'll have to work hard to beat this season.

My wife and I felt this way too. We both thought that the show easily had high end movie quality production and acting. It was crazy good for a television show.

You know, I've been thinking about this for a while. "For a television show" doesn't have any meaning anymore. Movies have become blockbuster budget line-items on balance sheets - there is so little artistry left in movies these days - the movie industry has become a parody of itself. With $200 million on the line, studios can't afford to take chances on a flop. Indie films aren't getting most of the buzz they used to. TV is where the real creativity is happening, which is why I think you are seeing big names like McConaghey acting in series work. There's just so much good work being done, especially in the pay-TV and direct-TV markets (like Netflix and Amazon Prime's offerings).

Yeah.  HBO has been kicking the fuck out of most movies for ages, to my mind.

I agree.  Almost all of my fav shows have been on channels other than the regular network channels in the last few years.  HBO, SHO, AMC, etc.  Since the bad storms last month, our reception has been in and out.  Sometimes the channels are so bad that they're not watchable.  We have FIOS and they refund the tv part after the bill is paid.  It doesn't affect On Demand, though, so that's what we mostly watch.  This past week they gave us a deal that made having all the premium channels for $1 less than what my sister pays for just HBO and SHO.  I got to see some of the Banshee and Black Sails series and, even though they're not awesomely great, they're better than most of what comes on the network channels.  And no adverts.  :)

I have no idea when we'll get channels back completely.  Five poles have to be replaced and rewired and it's a joint effort between the electric company and Verizon.  That alone spells "never" in my mind.

Brilliant piece of work. What is the theory on how HBO manages to pull this off over and over again? Romantically I like to imagine that unlike everywhere else HBO just actually gives artists the freedom to actually attempt to make art instead of worrying about focus groups and profits.

Well they have a model that isn't based upon ratings, so that helps. As long as their subscriber numbers are what they are they are swimming in money and can do whatever the hell they want.  I think that leads to taking chances and just finding people they want to work with (Milch, Simon, Chase, David) and just letting them do their thing.  FX and AMC to a more limited degree have tried to do the same thing with some decent success.

HBO shows don't need to sell to everyone, they need to sell to people with the money and willingness to subscribe to HBO. TV is very concerned with certain demographics, mostly young people, because those are the people advertisers are interested in. HBO doesn't do ads so who advertisers are interested in doesn't matter - the point of the shows isn't to deliver commercials to get people to go buy mountain dew.

Basically HBO doesn't have to appeal to the lowest common denominator. In fact that would be a bad thing, as the LCD wouldn't pay for HBO so targeting them would only hurt sales overall.

 

I was kind of disappointed with parts of the final episode then I remembered this:


It's completely true.

They did a really good job of keeping it about the relationship between the detectives but not at the cost of an interesting, creepy and exciting serial killer story. 

I'm glad;  I'm really enjoying it thus far and, frankly, we have Hannibal if we want to see the other side of it.

I think Hannibal is supposed to be about the relationship between him and Will, but they left the gruesome in which is always a bit distracting.  Not that I don't enjoy gruesome now and then.  True Detective eliminated the gruesome and we're not distracted from the main focus.  We get the creepy story, which is always fun, but I found most of my feeling of anticipation came from waiting to see what the detectives what the detectives did next, not the clever style in which the next victim was killed.

http://video.adultswim.com/sealab-2021/a-tale-of-two-debbies.html

I think I might have been stoned when I typed this.

Sorry.

This is the first TV series in a while I've been really gripped by (I am not good at must see TV generally). The finale actually forced me to sit down and just watch everything unfold as opposed to TV being on while I did other stuff. I actually turned off my hob and left dinner uncooked about the point they started going through the house. They really did a great job on 1) making the show about the detectives and 2) creating a believable and engaging view of crazy (maybe possibly?) Lovecraftian type shenanigans, leaving the viewer in the same position as the characters with regards to "was that just a really fucked up guy or is there something more?"

Now I need to go read the King in Yellow.

Finally watched the last episode, been avoiding this thread until that :)

Yeah, this was mostly excellent. Very glad they didn't go down the supernatural route. The cinematography was excellent at times, as was the directing. The acting was just superb throughout.

I do have a couple of niggles. Of course I'm going to say I was disappointed with the female characters, I'll stop feeling that way when it's not unusual to have women that are as complex and capable as the men in a show/film. I also thought that the directing was a bit inconsistent throughout it - I had to look it up just now to make sure it was the same director for all episodes (it was - Cary Fukunaga) since they felt so different from each other at times. Maybe that was more to do with writing or practical constraints though.

Anyway, this is definitely another production showing that TV undoubtedly has the potential to rival film in creating great works. Looking forward to season two :)

Just finished this. Exceptional.

Better and more exciting than Game of Thrones. Which I can say, since it was basically 6 people talking to eachother.

We're just getting around to working through this--it's one of those shows we have to watch after the kid has gone to bed, and so most nights I'm usually too tired to get through it. Really great. Fantastic storytelling and visuals.

Finally sat down and finished the last few episodes this week.  Just absolutely exceptional.

I've finally started watching this (only the first episode so far). Absolutely exceptional, can't wait to see the other episodes.

Ok, I just finished watching Episode 5; as far as "first seasons" are concerned (can't really compare this to multi-season series 'til it's over, of course), this is probably the best 1st season TV  I've ever seen (with the possible exception of Twin Peaks). Hopefully they haven't fucked everything up in the last three episodes  :ye_gods:

They don't, it remains awesome to the bitter end.

Sigh, it's over :(

When Rust gets into the house toward the end, it felt a bit like when Agent Cooper went into the Black Lodge, but luckily without all the excessive Lynch wankery and show-off.

Like most of you, I'm pretty torn, now: I would love to see that pair again (and no, I'm not referring to tits...well, not just them, at least  :grin:) , but this was such a perfect 8 hour long movie and self-contained story, that they really can't do anything better with McConaughey and Harrelson.
--

Now, my personal dream: Jodie Foster for lead actress in S2  :heart:

Have you seen Elysium?

Was she bad in it? Still have to watch it: last Jodie Foster's movie I've seen was "The Brave One"; yeah, in some ways maybe too similar to "The Accused", but I think she was pretty good in the former. And "Contact" is my favourite movie ever (funny to think what kind of character McConaughey played in it compared to True Detective  :grin:).

And it looks like it's Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn for the second season (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=123252). Not the most exciting casting, and certainly feels like a step down from last season. They're both capable of doing good work at least, and usually just have the habit of seemingly taking whatever parts come their way. Of course with Fast & Furious director Justin Lin doing the first couple episodes, I don't know that he's going to get the best performances that they're capable out of them. Hopefully the scripts are good at least.

2 years ago no one would have wanted McCaughnehajejejjeje for season 1 either. I'm sure Colin and Vince will be just fine.

If you've seen In Bruges, you know Farrell can act. And before he decided to just play the same character in every comedy, Vince Vaughn was well-regarded as an indie actor. Maybe he's decided he has enough easy money, he'd like to start acting again. Now, whether the script will be as good or the director as good, that's open for debate. But those two CAN act when properly directed and motivated.

Outside of the romantic comedies he's done, I've always thought McConaughey was a good actor.

I've been in love with Colin Farrell for many years.

Good, but not amazing. Given HBO shit is basically the best of the best (what with the first season post-rebranding being two of the most popular shows ever made [Sex and the City / Sopranos] following them up with Six Feet Under and The Wire, "good" doesn't seem "good enough."

Matthew was amazing in True Detective, but there's no fucking way people expected it and you can't even pretend you did. He has no business being that good, but the role for his hurf-durf slow-talking Texan swagger was a perfect fit. Even Dallas Buyer's Club was hilariously pale in comparison. But hey, AIDS, so Oscars.

I wasn't surprised that he turned in a great performance. He's been doing some of his best work in the last few years with stuff like Mud and Dallas Buyers Club.  Apparently he was really good in Magic Mike also. Even his bit role in Wolf of Wall Street was one of the best parts of the movie. The writing surprised me a lot more than the fact that McConaughey and Harrelson nailed their roles. Also the Cinematography. True Detective looked amazing in a way that even few HBO series manage.

The Mcconaissance started a couple of years before True Detective. 

I'm hopeful that they can pull this off again. I can see Farrell, but Vaughn I think can only really play Vaughn.

Sorry, I don't agree with you either.  I mean, I agree with your original point that those two will do fine, but I always thought McConaughey could manage the level he did and I was really pleasantly surprised when he was allowed to.

Ditto for Woody, actually.  He can do really good stuff, but most people just get 'shitty bumbling Woody'.

Looking forward to this anyway.  Big time.

I've seen Matthew and Woody do really bad stuff and really awesome stuff.  Mud was wonderful.  I LOVED True Detective.  Some of it was amazing.  They have both played some of my fav stoner dudes, too.

Bump!

Saw this, it was quite good. Not sure how good it would be without McConaughey though, the plot was a bit shallow in the end.

Farrell is good. Watch seven psychopaths already.

Love that film.

Two episodes left. I love this show. Jumping back and forth chronologically is hard to do well but this show does it well.

Also, intro music is fantastic.

I agree!  That music sets the tone sooo well. 

Season 2 teaser (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OfU7CGY5DQ).

Farrell can act.  This could also be incredible.

For a moment I thought you meant Will. Yeah, Colin does seem like he's been waiting to get middle-aged, so he could get cast in something that wasn't shit. This could be really good, assuming Vaughn can turn it down and not chew the scenery.

(http://i.imgur.com/w29b8an.jpg)

--Dave

I have a HUGE crush on Colin Farrel.  And it looks like he's evil bad crazy mad in this.  This will be very exciting for me! 

Anyone else catch this last night?

Cannot judge after first episode.

Just watched the first episode.


Fake edit: looking at some of the reviews now that I wrote my first impression, it seems most critics hated the first episode.  Oh well.  I like noir and season one was outstanding so that's more than enough excuse for me to give Pizzolatto a lot of latitude.

I liked it: I definitely want to know more about the main characters and their stories.

Colin Farrell/Detective Velcoro Father of the Year 2015, anyway  :awesome_for_real: :drill:

I also liked it. Felt like there was a lot to get your teeth into. Looking forward to seeing where they take it.

It didn't quite have the same visual impact as the 1st season, but I also think it's silly to judge based on one episode.

They should have released this one first. :oh_i_see:

It didn't repel me, and I find I'm interested to see where it goes.  Also, there's nothing else to watch right now.

I like this one but I reckon it's hard to live up to the first series, which had me riveted.  Especially that six minute tracking scene... that almost exploded my heart.  I'm hoping they'll hit me with some sort of shock inducing scene like that this year.

I just like how they make you FEEL the setting.  Season 1 had this oppressiveness, where it was just so hot it numbed your mind.  You could feel that weighing down on you just sitting there watching it.

With the first episode of the 2nd season there seemed to be a lot imagery of the rat race.  Lots of shots of cement turnpikes that remind me of those termite and ant mounds they pump full of cement and excavate.  A very broken set of worker ants.  And then they go out of their way to highlight how broken each and every one of the characters are.  

There really are no good guys.

The cinematography in both seasons is impeccable. I love the whole Lost Highway feel of this one. Its not too Lynchian to be silly, but just enough to keep you watching if for nothing else the whole way its filmed.  The acting seems ok, but tbh none of the scenes so far have been particularly challenging.

Did you notice the camera pan past the Mulholland Dr. sign?  :awesome_for_real:

My friends and I noticed that and got a good chuckle out of it.

I noticed that, too.  I just watched Mulholland Drive again, too.  It's on Showtime.  Or maybe HBO.  Sommat.

Watched the first episode and liked it. I agree that I don't think this one will top the first season because holy fuck was the first season good. But I did like the mood and how they managed to tie the main characters together after what seemed a whole lot of unconnected shit.

I sorta half-watched the first episode for the second time and actually liked it more. The writing jumped out. I think the direction got in the way a little bit with Lin trying to be Fukunaga, which he is not.

Well that was unexpected.

What....WHAT THE FUCK????  :ye_gods:

Anyway, this is very good. Loved the acting by Vince Vaughn in the opening scene of the second episode. You know, on the other hand, sometimes he seemed a bit "out of place" throughout the rest of the episode, but I suspect it also has to do with the inherent fragility of the character; he surely isn't a cold blooded gangster at this stage.

That ending reminds me of 2 things:


This episode ramped up the season real quick.

This is a good show, but not as good as the first. 


I'll probably keep watching, there's nothing else on this summer anyway, Wayward Pines is in the home stretch.  Any other time of the year and this show would be dropped like a rock. 

Was that the guy from Hotline Miami?

Wasn't that positive about this season but with the third episode the pieces clicked together. Really looking forward to the next episode.

That first scene was SOOO badly acted - I was cringing through the whole child discussion with just how awful it was.

Rest of the episode was pretty great though. "Excuse me. You have one of the largest auras I've ever seen. Green and black. It's been taking up this whole room. I just...I had to say something. You must have had hundreds of lives".

So just in case you are not sure whos who...
http://www.buzzfeed.com/kirstenking/im-so-confused#.ljdAvG1xJN

I know who is who.
Dead McGuffin
Vince Vaughan
Colin Ferrell
Busybee
Fat Cop
Gambit
Twelve Monkeys
Watson's Wife
Mayor
Colin's Boss
Colin's Other Boss

Did I forget someone?

Yeah, well, I admit they might have gone just a liiittle too overboard with , but those last five minutes were fantastic (as well as some one liners like the aura, and "those are memories staring back at you"). I just can't wait to see the consequences

--Dave

Was it just me or was that episode probably the worst thing that's ever come out of this series?  I think we may have vaulted a shark here.

I actually thought it was the best of the season.  Vaughn and his mopey wife are pointless as usual but the rest was pretty good IMO.

It's probably the bridge between the graft-and-politics of the first few episodes, and the fucking-weird-cultists threads that were hinted at but not followed (but presumably now will be, tying back to the first season). But yeah, other than establishing that Farrel's character has been operating under false premises, and that Vaughn's is *completely* a manipulative SOB, it was a lot of spinning wheels by itself. Character development, showing them having to question their own foundations in light of the bloodbath.

--Dave

I'm with you.

It was a time-jump episode, so they had a lot of reestablishment to do; it wasn't great but I don't think it was awful.

Also, did we change theme songs? Or specifically, get a new verse of the old song?

The lyrics to the opening theme have been changing towards the end every episode.  It was just more obvious in this one because the song changed a bit as well.

Only a couple episodes left and I've decided I don't really like this season. Just seems like there's too much effort in being "deep".

Also the music last night was really really distracting and didn't fit with the the score so far.

Switch this from the "excited to watch" to "watch out of time investment".

I don't care for it either; too much political shenanigans going on and not enough crazy cultists. I'll still finish it because there are only what, 3 episodes left?

Two.  So that chubby ginger kid looks nothing at all like any of his supposed parents, why be afraid of the DNA test after getting a look at that rapist anyways?

I had the exact same thought...the kid was obviously the result of some infidelity, not the rape - even the mom seems to realize this which is why she is pressing for the paternity test.

This has really grown on me and developed very well. But, this is f13, so I'm going to make some compaints!  :why_so_serious:

It's completely lacking the fantastic camera work of the first season. They try to shoehorn in some aerial shots of the area, mostly highways and industrial complexes, but they're totally disconnected from the actual show. It's a real shame because it was very powerfully done in season one.

Also I think having 4 main characters was a mistake. The development & back stories are spread too thin between them, and none of them have the presence that McConaughey had, so they all feel a little stretched.

I'm fine with the plot being heavily political, and like the meshing of the personal stories with it. But yeah, not as good as the first series.

It's fine.  Two more episodes and it will all be wrapped up.

I really liked the first season and while this has had its moments I feel that the whole big shootout on the botched raid and how they handled the party (just use force to take out guards and just happen to be there right when the Russian guy is sealing the deal so they know to steal the documents) just seem like lazy writing. I guess the "real life inspirations" for the first and second season just inspired different things.  :oh_i_see:

I like this season (though obviously not as much as the first), though it has been hard to keep track of the names they keep throwing around. It's like I can't hear the people talk very well (I'm probably going fucking deaf) and they mumble a lot.

This is part of it, but he is also trafficking in some classic noir tropes. I give him enough credit to think it is intentional.

I turn on subtitles in this show, as well as Game of Mumbles and The Muttering Dead.

I have the same problems with the mumbles. Still enjoying it, the last ten minutes of episode 6 had me on the edge of seat.

Snikt snikt snikt snikt  :why_so_serious:

That was pretty balls.

lol

I wish subtitles came in a fraction of a second later.

Marty watches season 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NItT8vlq3I).  :why_so_serious:

This kind of sums up my problems with season 2 (though not saying that it's bad, just not great like season 1)

My gripe with it is, apart from a tiny amount of scenes, it's like a broadcast show.  I don't watch broadcast cop shows, that shit is played out for me.  "It's not HBO, it's TV"

Well fuck.  :cry:

Was only a matter of time.

Agree. That episode was more of what I wanted.  What happens next?

Shit goes sideways, people die, I imagine.

I fear it will be a mass of coincidences that will bring everyone including Frank, Ray, Ani, crooked cops, crooked officials, russians, Catalyst and the children from the diamond robbery into a big shootout (hell they might even bring the molester from Ani's past into it to really ham up shock the audience). Hopefully I'm totally wrong and there won't be any big flashy shootout despite all the signs and the season instead ends in some imaginative way that answers most of the questions without relying on too many coincidences.

So this is over, finally.  Worst drop from 1st to 2nd season since Heroes.  Didn't care much for the characters, the story was poorly told and the ending was trite.  I enjoy a 'good' bad ending but meh.

I guess the shootout was cool as was the guy in the crow mask shooting....Delcoro?  That's how unmemorable this series is, I struggle to remember the main characters names. 

Too much padding; why did we need the scenes with Ani?  and her two cop lovers.  Just one example.  How many times do we need to see Ani on the boat staring off across the water? 

Just not a lot of 'there' there.

It wasn't as bad as I feared but still a pretty mediocre final episode that relied too much on coincidences and the way they needed to put in the whole
in the end was just meh.

The writing over the course of this season was just lazy.  Some of the casting really didn't work either.  Frank's wife was terrible, and Vaughn's acting was really hit and miss.  They also did kind of a weird job with Taylor Kitsch's character.  It was difficult to see him as remotely competent through most of it even though he was seemingly the best among them.


Eh, it was still mostly worth watching, but not anywhere near as good as the first season and they really need to tighten up the writing, directing and casting or this can get even worse. 

He VERY OBVIOUSLY thought it was a horrible idea the entire time, he simply couldn't help himself.  That made perfect sense to me.

--Dave

I got really tired of a dead guy that was never in the show at all (besides being dead) being a bigger character than all of them. CASPERE!!! this, and CASPERE!!! that. Overall, I just didn't really give a fuck about any of them. Cept Nails. That guy really tugged at my emotions.

This season needed a prequel.

Bunch of people joking on twitter that Season 3 True Detective should revolve around investigating wtf happened to True Detective in Season 2.

I want the next season to be about guy in the opening credits song.

I agree.  This season was nowhere near as good as last season and the last episode paled in comparison to the previous episode.  Hey, TV guys!  That's not the right order!

That plot was as incoherent as the mumbling.

This.

Every-fucking-character mumbled through all of their lines. EVERYONE. I kept trying to turn up the volume - I mean, I know I'm going deaf, but GODDAMNIT SPEAK UP MUSHMOUTH. As a result of that, the entire story was hard to follow because I couldn't figure out anybody's names. I still don't know the weasley black haired cop's name (the guy that was on True Blood and Intruders). The whole plot with the kids just felt incredibly unrelated and coincidental, like the writer was trying to make some existential point about the meaninglessness of all this struggling, but he couldn't think of a better way to say it without throwing in some utterly coincidental shit that just happened. I mean...


The last episode had SO MUCH tell instead of show in some kind of effort to explain all the loose ends that didn't make any sense even after they were explained. There were parts of it I really liked, and Taylor Kitsch's character comes off the best, IMO. But compared to the first season, this is terrible.

Yes, Caspere was banging the jewelers wife who was pregnant with their second kid, the first being the girl.  Which probably makes more sense than a buncha cops randomly robbing a jewelry store.  And he banged his daughter because he had no idea who she was.

Unsatisfying.  At least it was a short run.

I finally forced myself to finish this - what a piece of shit.

Random mediocre TV crime episode with better music and acting. Plot was so embarassing in comparsion with first season. Eh...

You know, I honestly believe that they'd have been better trying to connect the killings with the bird mask and the weird cult rapey thing that happened to Bezzirides to the weird rapey cult in the first season would have been a much more interesting take than the two jewelry heist kids.

Ya, that does sounds better. Each season we could see a group of unconnected people take down a head of the pedo-rape-cult. Eventually the surviving detectives could team up to go after the body.

I think it would have been even better if they'd taken that creepy supernatural vibe with all the King in Yellow stuff and actually made the connective tissue between the seasons been something supernatural.

That's the reveal I was hoping for all season. All I got was :uhrr: and disappointment.

Or they could have gotten rid of all supernatural etc and just had Caspere be killed by some random mugger and then have the story be simply about a race between feds and corrupt locals to find Caspere's papers on his shady dealings. They could have also ditched the whole character of Ani and made it be just Paul and Ray (and Frank) with Paul ending up as corrupt (needing money for his kids since his mother used his savings) but killed in some shootout and being seen as a hero while Ray starts as corrupt but tries to do the right thing but instead ends up as a fugitive and dead.

I thought the guy who raped Farrells wife was going to be revealed as the same one who raped Mcadams. That would have been at least a semi decent twist compared to what was offered.

Both Paul's wife and Ani each sensed the death of their loved one.  Hacky writing is hacky.

I can't even bring myself to watch the new season. I dislike Colin Farrell that much.


The last one had me tear up.

Unfortunately, Farrell is actually one of the better parts of the 2nd season. He is not what was wrong with it.

Agree.  Which should tell you a lot.

ARISE!

So thanks to Abrogado bigging this up on Discord, I started watching 3rd season of this starring Mehershela Ali and Stephen Dorff. This is fucking incredible, and I'm honestly not sure if it isn't better than first season. It's that good. Dorff in particular is really good, and the intresecting timelines are incredibly well-done. If you gave up on this show because of the crime that was second season, it's worth revisiting. I'm 4 episodes in and want to binge the hell out of it.

I'd bumped this on the Useless TV Thread ;  I actually think it was better than 1.

And I loved 1.


However, I'd watch it ALL before judging.  It might surprise you.

I loved the third season too, I wouldn't say it was as good as the first but it is damn close. It also had the same problem as the first of not quite sticking the landing at the end.

I don't agree.

I'm with the Scot - I thought the ending was pretty damn good, and made sense especially in the order it was revealed.

I'm actually kind of glad that


The actress who played the wife was so perfect at the "seductress in a noir film" attitude, with that smoldering look.