HBO's True Detective- Page 2
HBO's True Detective
#26HBO's True Detective
Posted: 3/6/14 at 6:00pmYeah, I'm definitely interested in seeing whatever Cary Fukunaga does next. Going to try to carve out some time to watch his Jane Eyre this weekend.
#27HBO's True Detective
Posted: 3/10/14 at 7:37am
So... the season finale. Hmmmm. I've honestly never been more unsure of my response to an episode of a television show before. I'm not sure if I'm quite satisfied or massively disappointed. For weeks Nic Pizzolatto's been in the press telling us that this wasn't a conventional crime procedural and that we shouldn't get too wrapped up in mythology and clues and conspiracy theories, but still. He left so many unresolved, unanswered questions. Marty's daughter, how this rag-tag group of super elites and hillbillies kept this grand conspiracy together, who started the whole yellow king/Carcosa mythology worship and how/why? Why was Dora and one other victim ritualistically posed while all others were simply disposed of on the property?
For the first time in this series, I also started to wonder if Pizzolatto would have benefited from having a small writing staff with him. I mean, why did we spend all that time at the golf course (in the prior ep) and then on the boat (in tonight's finale) with the Sheriff? He basically told them nothing new. I fail to see how that really helped the mystery or shed any light on the characters inner lives. Then, we spent about 10 minutes chasing Erroll through that warren of caves. That easily could have been just as creepy and effective had it taken half as much time--it felt like our writer had run out of things to do or say and had to stretch things out.
As a study of these two detectives' lives, I think it's unquestionable success, but as a show about...
...the nature of evil?
...the nature of storytelling?
...the corruption of faith/religion/mythology?
I'm not sure it was a great success. But I'm still processing it all. Would love to hear others thoughts--especially Strummer Girl's. My God, McConaughey's breakdown as he described the darkness in which he could feel his daughter's presence? My heart was in my throat. What magnificent performances from both McConaughey and Harrelson.
#28HBO's True Detective
Posted: 3/10/14 at 5:39pm
** SPOILER ALERT **
Just watched the season finale and was slightly underwhelmed.
The wrap-up seemed rushed and the exposition copius. Perhaps it would have helped had the baddy's identity been explicitly revealed somewhat earlier in the season.
I also wish we had been given a larger view of the crimes. Our writer revealed in one of the post-episode shorts that he has no interest in depicting gore on screen. However, the story was propelled in principle by the search for one of the perpetrators of a ritualistic killing spree. While watching the finale today, the earlier images of one of the mutilated bodies in the opening episode had faded. I simply couldn't mentally connect "Cooter Childress" with any of the killings because so much had been left to the imagination.
During the finale I expected to see either Neve Campbell or Jamie Lee Curtis streak in and out of frame. The finale's redemption was the acting. Both Harrelson and Oscar winner Mac delivered the goods.
One more nit...Harrelson's character regularly has a pinch of chewing tobacco or dipping stuff between his cheek and gums but he's only spit once on camera this season. Don't need to see his slop jar but a good spit or two would lend a bit more authenticity to his character.
#FactsMatter...your feelings not so much.
Updated On: 3/10/14 at 05:39 PM
#29HBO's True Detective
Posted: 3/10/14 at 7:18pm
I really liked the finale. It kept a lot of mystery intact that leaves a lot of questions for there being connective tissue for the second season. Keep up the weirdness and intensity is what I want, I felt like the show maintained that at the end by not insisting everything got answered. The mystery had an effect on the principle character and really, the show is built on studying the dynamics of Rust and Marty. McConaughey and Harrelson were perfect and sold a lot of it. Get those Emmys, boys!
I like that things were just red herrings or details but not beaten to death as red herrings, exhausted to leave no other choice. I don't think all of these things were necessary clues that added up to unlocking some code. I have no idea where this trend in TV happened. It was actually a question posed on Twitter. Some say it was Twin Peaks, which I get, that felt like a puzzle. But then I notice this happen with shows like The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men, which never quite called for its viewers to think that way and this was turning into something a little more straight-forward in terms of separating the mythology from being so tied to characters.
Also, shout-out to Glenn Fishler and Ann Dowd for coming straight out of a Robert Aldrich horror film. People complain about the lack of details given on these two but the way both had to behave and interact with another had a lot of texture; deeply disturbing and gross texture, but effective, nonetheless.
The chase of Errol into that labyrinth and anything to do with Errol pushed my buttons, personally. It's when there is a collision of Pizzolatto's writing and Fukunaga's directing style that for me were in complete simpatico in those moments. As a fan of Terrence Malick, who knew twirling in the grass would become a visual signal for dread? Hats off, Fukunaga. I was always more into the weird aspects when you remove Rust and Marty from the equation so I was glad the finale landed where I felt was missing since Episode 5.
My only real complaint is that Marty's whole social life was pretty disposable to me looking back at the whole season. I don't necessarily think the show had a women problem, it just never cared beyond the central players in the story. It's in the South where I expect there to be a lot of white male chivalry tied to law enforcement even in present-day and serial killers are mostly white males. The fact that Gilbough and Papania were POC is significant but nothing specifically called for them to be POC. I actually think Marty being a womanizer who was equal parts pathetic and oddly alluring just felt like a usual trope shoehorned into the story- Marty couldn't be a Saint next to Rust. Maggie was interesting to me, though, and to me her powerplay to Marty felt satisfying. I was rooting for her. So for me, I wouldn't have the network notes-esque complaints that Nussbaum and the like seem to want to bring the hammer down on the show. I want more pretentious weirdness. I want Cthulhu. Maybe that happens on female-led True Detective Season 2, if we are to believe Pizzolatto's preview. More occult stuff, please! Can't get enough of that.
I'm more mixed on certain spots the season was but episodes 4-5 are surely my biggest TV highlights of the year. Still not quite sure if it will be my Top Ten staple as there is still a lot of TV left and I cannot necessarily say it was even the best show on HBO playing on Sunday nights (Girls Season 3 has taken it next level, personally). But in terms of performance, I loved the two leads and really, that was where a lot of the focus was. I also think Fukunaga should have any pick of projects of his choosing. I am really interested which director is next in line. I hope it is to somebody who like Fukunaga needs a boost in profile. Some of the people names being thrown around the internet are so incredibly uninspiring that they might just be on such a short-list. Dream picks: Claire Denis or Harmony Korine. Realistic picks: James Gray or David Gordon Green.
Updated On: 3/11/14 at 07:18 PM
#30HBO's True Detective
Posted: 3/10/14 at 9:56pm
Excuse me while I think out loud. I think my opinion on the finale is quickly shifting to a greater appreciation for what Pizzolato was going for. I've been ruminating on this all day (when I should have been focusing on these budget projections I need to present tomorrow).
The things that initially bothered me when I finished watching the finale--the countless loose strings, the lack of interest in the lives of any of the victims (living and dead), the disinterest in the origins of this freakish crime family, the lack of any explanation of how Errol and his family got started on the Yellow King/Carcosa mythology, the symbolic "clues" (which Pizzolato, rather disingenuously, I think, argues are ALL just us seeing what we want to see), the deliberately deceptive motifs with Marty's daughter (especially the crown)--all started to feel like lazy writing. I started to wonder if Pizzolato's writing--in terms of plot development, at least--had always been elevated by McConaughey and Harrelson's remarkable performances and Cary Fukunaga's superb direction and whether he would have benefited from having a small writing staff to support him.
But, the more that I've sat with this episode, the more I seem to think that it actually was the true fulfillment of what Pizzolato told us he was doing all along--using the conventions of a criminal procedure to explore the nature of storytelling and the stories we tell ourselves to get by--be it religion, mythology, nihilistic Rust-esque philosophy, masculine authority social structures etc. I know some people found it a bit hokey, but I loved the final scene between Rust and Marty. Just beautiful work there by all. I suppose if there was a twist in this story, it was that Rust lived and then actually wanted to stay alive.
#31HBO's True Detective
Posted: 3/11/14 at 8:35am
I'm very torn on the ending. I did feel it was rushed and very unsatisfying in the crime resolution, but yet, am still satisfied some how. The show was mainly about the Marty $ Rust partnership, and on that level we got amazing scene after amazing scene. That ending! Just hand over the awards! But maybe due to my obsession with shows like Criminal Minds, I got a little to hooked in the mythology and crime aspect, and wanted to know some more answers.
The chase through the fields and compound were very suspenseful.
BroadwayBoobs: I'll give all of you who weren't there a hint of who took the pictures ...it rhymes with shameless
SOMMS: I knew it was Tink!
#32HBO's True Detective
Posted: 3/11/14 at 8:49amBroadwayBoobs: I'll give all of you who weren't there a hint of who took the pictures ...it rhymes with shameless
SOMMS: I knew it was Tink!
#33HBO's True Detective
Posted: 3/11/14 at 1:56pm
"But, the more that I've sat with this episode, the more I seem to think that it actually was the true fulfillment of what Pizzolato told us he was doing all along--using the conventions of a criminal procedure to explore the nature of storytelling and the stories we tell ourselves to get by--be it religion, mythology, nihilistic Rust-esque philosophy, masculine authority social structures etc."
THIS is where I saw the Twin Peaks comparison--since that's what Frost and Lynch set out to do (down to the extent that Lynch, anyway--not sure about the oft-forgotten Frost--never wanted to even solve the murder.) Anyway with TD it, mostly, worked for me.
#34HBO's True Detective
Posted: 3/11/14 at 4:30pm
Matthew McConaughey Is on the Brink of Making Emmy/Oscar History
"All our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them." -- Walt Disney
We must have different Gods. My God said "do to others what you would have them do to you". Your God seems to have said "My Way or the Highway".
#35HBO's True Detective
Posted: 3/11/14 at 7:02pm
I'm actually watching it from the very beginning. I am actually appreciated the details and the indicators a lot more in retrospect.
I still am not sure about making a testament on the show being having gender issues. I am curious if there are prominent female characters next year, how they'll be written and how will their 'flaws' be presented.
That said, people opining the show lacked a full look on both genders, you can just watch Top of the Lake. Even weirder, more art-house inclined, and completely ace acting by Elisabeth Moss and Peter Mullan.
#36HBO's True Detective
Posted: 3/11/14 at 7:39pm
God, I wanted to love Top of the Lake, StrummerGirl. I mean, it should have been right up my alley. Elisabeth Moss? Check. Jane Campion? Check. Holly Hunter? Check. Moody, atmospheric, murder mystery with echoes of Twin Peaks, Prime Suspect and cerebral Scandinavian tv? Check, check check! Given the largely positive critical reception and the level of talent involved, I was surprised at how poorly it worked for me. Moss' clumsy Aussie accent felt completely put on and her performance (Campion's fault, I think) in the pilot is bizarre. It's as though she's responding to dialogue that the viewer doesn't hear. The writing for most of the supporting characters feels incredibly forced as well. Although it's beautifully shot, I wasn't lost in itsworld for one second. I was always completely aware that I was watching actors recite lines. Damn shame as I've enjoyed some of Campion's film work.
Back to the topic at hand, Pizzolatto has offered some teasers for s2, which hasn't even officially been announced yet, but of course it's happening:
Apparently, there will not be 1 single director as there was this season (mostly to do with their need to do post production while continuing the film the season). I hope they get Dan Attias to dir a couple of eps. He directed some of the best episodes of Big Love, The Wire, The Killing, Six Feet Under, among many others.
Pizzolatto also said (via: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/true-detective-season-2_n_4934094.html):
"This is really early, but I'll tell you [it's about] hard women, bad men and the secret occult history of the United States transportation system."
And it sounds like it will be set in SoCal. Hmmm.
Updated On: 3/11/14 at 07:39 PM
#37HBO's True Detective
Posted: 3/11/14 at 7:58pm
SoCal can easily mean oil country like Kern County. Deserts, oil, lots of trains. I can see it working in a pulp, pot boiler for a crime detective fictional work pretty easily.
If that is the location, I'd enlist Fukunaga again, actually. At least to be the tone director in the way Fincher, despite not directing a second of Season 2 House of Cards, defined the show's trademark style. Him or Michelle MacLaren or Rian Johnson. I can't imagine a season shot in the desert without two of the more notable Breaking Bad directors.
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