True Detective

[Totenkindly]

It was rather hard to miss, the camera zoomed on it.

 

[rav3n]

I'm excited, so excited for the finale tonight. Please Nic, don't let us down!

 

[Totenkindly]

I'm excited, so excited for the finale tonight. Please Nic, don't let us down!

It's always nice when a series pushes through and sticks the landing.

I'm probably picking this over Oscar watching, so...

i'm a little worried about Roland, though:

how the hell did hoyt so quickly find out about what happened? It wasn't Wayne.

 

[rav3n]

It's always nice when a series pushes through and sticks the landing.

I'm probably picking this over Oscar watching, so...

Any time, any day for #metoo!

 

[rav3n]

Hated it, loved it, hated it, loved it. I feel conflicted, sort of deflated, sort of happy, sort of disappointed, sort of glad. Think I hate Nic Pizzolatto, think I'm impressed by him. So much mind wanking, spitting red herrings like a random bread crumb trail, then shoving the finale to the side of the path since the story isn't about the case, it's about a never ending story where timelines don't matter. Hays was reborn in the last Vietnam scene. He went from the dangerous jungle/war to the safety of a shelter, like the 2015 timeline where he left confusion/chaos/danger and entered the shelter of friends and family.

Dorff was outstanding in the bar scene, especially at the end where he bonded with the stray dog, two strays comforting each other.

One possible plot hole. The teen who stole Will's bike. They didn't really explain that aspect, except to flash the scene when Will came back to try to save his sister from being kidnapped. Guess the teen saw Will and stole his bike, before Will raced back to try to save Julie. But they mentioned that they were playing hide and go seek and Will wouldn't have taken his bike to do this, so this does appear to be a plot hole unless I missed something.

I don't like Amelia. Way too self-centered.

 

[Totenkindly]

Yeah, I have a bit of a mix of feeling about the finale. Overall, I'm really happy with it... but there's a twinge of disappointment, like something is missing or was too easy or overlooked somehow. I'm not sure I can put it into words. I feel it felt a little better than the Season One finale, which I felt ended up a bit too perky.

Hated it, loved it, hated it, loved it. I feel conflicted, sort of deflated, sort of happy, sort of disappointed, sort of glad. Think I hate Nic Pizzolatto, think I'm impressed by him. So much mind wanking, spitting red herrings like a random bread crumb trail, then shoving the finale to the side of the path since the story isn't about the case, it's about a never ending story where timelines don't matter. Hays was reborn in the last Vietnam scene. He went from the dangerous jungle/war to the safety of a shelter, like the 2015 timeline where he left confusion/chaos/danger and entered the shelter of friends and family.

Yeah, it was still a "happier" ending so to speak. I felt a bit cheated but also it made sense, how he forgot where he was right as he "solved the mystery." I was thinking it as soon as I saw Mike and his daughter meet them at the convent -- and I was trying to work the timeline about how old the girl was, but she was too young if she had been born before Mary Julie's "death." As soon as Wayne started chatting with dead Amelia, then it made sense.

His son kept the address, once he realized where he picked his dad up was not an accident because he was "lost" -- he planned to go there. He's a cop. I'm sure he'll figure it out.

But yes, it kind of ended up with him because in a safe place with people he could remember and who he knew he loved, rather than the constant fog he was in.

Dorff was outstanding in the bar scene, especially at the end where he bonded with the stray dog, two strays comforting each other.

What a great moment -- first picking the bar fight, Jesus dude, he was begging for it and I was surprised the guy took so long to finally swing at him.

But the dog scene. As soon as he yelled at the dog and it stood there looking sorrowfully at him, I was like, "Ahhh. That's why he has dogs now." it was a teary moment.

One possible plot hole. The teen who stole Will's bike. They didn't really explain that aspect, except to flash the scene when Will came back to try to save his sister from being kidnapped. Guess the teen saw Will and stole his bike, before Will raced back to try to save Julie. But they mentioned that they were playing hide and go seek and Will wouldn't have taken his bike to do this, so this does appear to be a plot hole unless I missed something.

I dunno. Didn't they just ditch their bikes, to go play in the woods, and the kid stole it then? I'm a bit fuzzy on the timeline.

The death of Will unfolded reasonably. We knew he struck his head, and the killer didn't seem to bear malice towards him.

I don't like Amelia. Way too self-centered.

I agree, she is. But she doesn't bother me as much, I get her. I like how she was strongly drawn, and I like the interplay between her and Wayne, they're both fucked up in their own separate ways but somehow are still drawn to each other, and trying to pull certain responses out of each other. They needed each other in some ways. But I burst out laughing at some of wayne's comments, about how she was like a pretty little bird flying around shitting on people's heads, and how he didn't need a pretty head-shitting bird around him.... Pizzolatto was on a roll this episode (with that + some of the comments Roland made to stir up that bar fight).

I wish I better understood why Wayne thought he was estranged from his daughter. it's never that clear, and it scanned like maybe he read more into her departure than she did?

 

[Totenkindly]

Saw one reviewer commenting how it was disappointing the season wasn't more about race. I don't think it ever promised to be about race, I think that was just an expectation based on (1) current cultural climate and (2) rewriting of lead role with Ali cast. ALthough it is always welcomed, and it would occasionally hit it but then back off.

It would be interesting to see what happens when non-white victims are involved and how that is treated by the police.



‘True Detective’ Season 3 Finale Explained: 6 Burning Questions | TVLine

I think the show was pretty clear on #1 and you don't have to hard-think it. The insinuation was obvious.

The last two points are interesting.

Also, Henry's keeping the slip of paper... yeah, I didn't take it to the next step to consider who it could get shared with. Hmmm...


---

Good review that pulls it together thematically. Great analysis.
Also... duh.. I should have recognized the man with the clouded eye (Steven Williams). He played "Mr. X" on X-Files years ago.

 

[rav3n]

I'm still a bit annoyed and unfulfilled, from Pizz shoving the case aside to make his bigger picture statements.

 

[Totenkindly]

I am seeing a lot of J vs P play out here...

 

[rav3n]

Exactly my thought.

 

[Totenkindly]

Season 4?

‘True Detective’ Season 4: Nic Pizzolatto’s New Idea + Other Shows | IndieWire

As for his police drama, Pizzolatto told IndieWire he’s moved on from his initial idea for a follow-up.

“I had this idea, and to me, I think it’s a really strong idea, and it would be something I’ve never seen on television before,” Pizzolatto said, referencing a “crazy” idea he mentioned to Esquire after Season 3 wrapped. “But since then, I’ve had another idea that I’ve talked about with an actor, and that, to me, would be the most exciting thing we could do with ‘True Detective.'”

Pizzolatto said he still wants to do something with the original idea — “it might be a different show, maybe a movie” — but he’s focusing on this new plan he “really, really wants to do for Season 4.” He did not provide any additional details or the name of the actor he spoke to, and even expressed a bit of pessimism over getting this version of Season 4 off the ground.

 

[Totenkindly]

Cary Fukunaga: Working on ‘True Detective’ Became ‘Disheartening’ as Nic Pizzolatto Got More Power

Cary Fukunaga thinks Nic Pizzolatto "needs to be edited down."

www.yahoo.com

...“The show was presented to me in the way we pitched it around town — as an independent film made into television,” said Fukunaga. “The writer and director are a team. Over the course of the project, Nic kept positioning himself as if he was my boss and I was like, ‘But you’re not my boss. We’re partners. We collaborate.’ By the time they got to postproduction, people like [former HBO programming president] Michael Lombardo were giving Nic more power. It was disheartening because it didn’t feel like the partnership was fair.”

“...Nic is a really good writer, but I do think he needs to be edited down. It becomes too much about the writing and not enough about the momentum of the story. My struggle with him was to take some of these long dialogue scenes and put some air into them. We differed on tone and taste.”

That second paragraph gives some credibility to Fukunaga because anyone who saw Season 2 knows that the season really needed an editor and ended up being overall the weakest of the three, it seemed to lose the story and was full of exposition. If Seinfeld was a "show about nothing," True Detective Season 2 was like a "show about spaghetti." Piles and piles of it.

 

[Totenkindly]

I don't recall if I posted this with my Mare of Easttown entries, but it's worth reading again.

‘Mare of Easttown’ Evolves HBO’s ‘True Detective’ Model, and Proves Why Season 4 Can Wait

Since its 2014 debut, "True Detective" has released three seasons and inspired a slew of imitators. But "Mare of Easttown" is so much more.

www.indiewire.com