True Detective

[Totenkindly]

Trying to only skim the thread in case of spoilers...

I moved last weekend and so it took time to get settled in the new place and get my Internet/etc working right; but I'll be going back to the show this week after seeing the pilot in Feb. I thought the acting was great, but still waiting for something to happen. The comments here suggest something will, so I'll keep plugging away.

 

[Rasofy]

Rasofy, did you really watch the second episode? Because there's totally sex in that one. And suspense? Are we watching the same show?

Ohh, now that I thought about it, I didn't get to watch the whole 2nd episode because the audio wasn't synchronized. The sex scene was fairly good, now that I watched it. Which makes the 'no sex' part unfair, in retrospect. The 'lack of suspense' part stands because there's not a significant sense of urgency (just lots of conjecturing from the annoying intuitive, which inevitably pisses off the plain sensor{I bet this is gonna get old quickly}), and nobody important to the show is in risk of life.

I'm usually not that critical when I don't like a show, but this one seems so hyped (the first person I heard talking about it said Breaking Bad was subpar in comparison) that I felt like balancing things.

 

[Ivy]

If you can make it to episode 4, you won't be disappointed. If you keep watching after that, you'll eventually probably want to re-watch the early episodes. They are layered with meaning and symbols and foreshadowing and all manner of good stuff that can evade your radar if you don't know what to look for.

 

[Rasofy]

I'll give it a shot someday.

 

[Lateralus]

Oh yeah. I talked my husband into watching it with me and we watched the first episodes together over the weekend. Definitely a lot more going on than I picked up on at first which isn't surprising considering I had them on while I worked the first time I watched them. It's not a show that lends itself to multitasking.

The 7th episode was intense. I still don't have any idea how it's going to end.

The Marie Fontenot video was chilling.

I started slowly with it. In fact, after watching the first episode, I waited a few weeks to watch any more because I was more interested in House of Cards at the time. With the way the intensity of the show has built up over time, I just want Sunday to get here. LOL

Who is the Yellow King?!?!

 

[r.a]

Who is the Yellow King?!?!

I don't know but

they've been building up the scarred man quite a bit.

 

[Ivy]

 

[Poindexter Arachnid]

Ordered HBO several days ago; boning up for the Game of Thrones 4th season.
Watching True Detective On Demand right now.

Holy shit. This is one of the best TV shows ever made. God Bless the Home Box Office Network.

McConaughey is utterly fantastic as Christian Bale. It's also strange NOT seeing Harrelson as an eccentric/conman/lunatic/psycho/scumbag for once. He should take more dramatic roles in the future. He actually pulls it off here.

 

[Totenkindly]

Watched episode #2 last night. Aside from being depressed over how my body will never look like Harrelson's mistress (bwa ha ha), I think it's just a pretty high-quality show.

But I don't know whether I'm just tired or whether my attention span is off or something, with a 58-minute episode and the methodical pace it's feeling a lot like "the mega-best TV series I have trouble watching," kinda like Guy Gavriel Kay writes the "best historic fantasy novels that I have trouble finishing." No argument over the quality of the acting and the show itself, but I keep pausing every 10-15 minutes to do something else. Maybe I just need more sleep.

Anyone recognize the police chief as "Alan" the soft-hearted communications director from the movie "Dave" starring Kevin Kline? He's much more of a hard-ass here, telling Cohle to STFU all the time.

The show almost feels like a documentary at times, in the level of approach it takes (head-on, detailed, explanatory) and the "interview" format.

Yeah, I think Harrelson has had an interesting career since his first real large role was as the dull-witted Woody (namesake) on "Cheers," but as an actor he's actually far more talented than he came across in that first large exposure. That scene with Cohle and Hart in the police locker room, over Hart's dalliance, was impeccably nuanced rather than the cliche it could have been.

 

[Poindexter Arachnid]

Watched episode #2 last night. Aside from being depressed over how my body will never look like Harrelson's mistress (bwa ha ha), I think it's just a pretty high-quality show.

Just finished Episode 2.

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaayum. I didn't even know they still made women like this!
How can I get one?

But I don't know whether I'm just tired or whether my attention span is off or something, with a 58-minute episode and the methodical pace it's feeling a lot like "the mega-best TV series I have trouble watching," kinda like Guy Gavriel Kay writes the "best historic fantasy novels that I have trouble finishing." No argument over the quality of the acting and the show itself, but I keep pausing every 10-15 minutes to do something else. Maybe I just need more sleep.

Anyone recognize the police chief as "Alan" the soft-hearted communications director from the movie "Dave" starring Kevin Kline? He's much more of a hard-ass here, telling Cohle to STFU all the time.

The show almost feels like a documentary at times, in the level of approach it takes (head-on, detailed, explanatory) and the "interview" format.

Yeah, I think Harrelson has had an interesting career since his first real large role was as the dull-witted Woody (namesake) on "Cheers," but as an actor he's actually far more talented than he came across in that first large exposure. That scene with Cohle and Hart in the police locker room, over Hart's dalliance, was impeccably nuanced rather than the cliche it could have been.

The brilliance is it isn't about the case, and frankly the details of the case are ultimately irrelevant.
This is about the "big picture" of the human condition ala the contents of a Cormac McCarthy novel.

The more you try to put the pieces of the puzzle together, the more you miss the point entirely.

Continuing to be impressed with this. Actively avoiding this thread to remain spoiler-free.

 

[Totenkindly]

The brilliance is it isn't about the case, and frankly the details of the case are ultimately irrelevant.
This is about the "big picture" of the human condition ala the contents of a Cormac McCarthy novel.

The more you try to put the pieces of the puzzle together, the more you miss the point entirely.

Continuing to be impressed with this. Actively avoiding this thread to remain spoiler-free.

Yeah, I read one review referring to it more as a big existential exploration rather than a "case/puzzle" kind of detective show. I think that makes sense from what I've seen, so I just need to adjust my expectations. I'm cool with that approach to the show, I just wasn't expecting it.

 

[Poindexter Arachnid]

Yeah, I read one review referring to it more as a big existential exploration rather than a "case/puzzle" kind of detective show. I think that makes sense from what I've seen, so I just need to adjust my expectations. I'm cool with that approach to the show, I just wasn't expecting it.

Neither was I. It was a breath of fresh air.

 

[Totenkindly]

Really loved the revival scene in Episode 3 -- it was pretty much cribbed from recent god vs existentialism forum discussions, I've just never heard anyone actually discuss it in a TV show and in a way that fits what's going on.

Harrelson's acting was pretty great, especially when he's talking to his wife and trying to open up and doesn't know how to.

 

[Totenkindly]

"Every time I think you hit the ceiling, you keep raising the bar. you're the michael jordan of being a son o' a bitch."

God, this show has some of the greatest lines and deliveries I've ever heard. I can't even remember them all.

.....

Great tracking shot in Episode 4. What a bitch to choreograph and orchestrate.

 

[Poindexter Arachnid]

HBO GO crashed during the live stream last night. Interrupted my marathon.

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/true-detective-finale-crashes-hbo-go-20140310

I hope they bone up before Game of Thrones Season 4 starts.
'Cause that's gonna be a clusterf*#k.

 

[Riva]

Watched it all and loved it.

They could have done more with the epilogue/news report

I wonder why they kept it so short.

 

[SensEye]

I wonder why they kept it so short.

I'm guessing the A-listers (Harrelson and Mcconaughey) probably only agreed to a very limited engagement.

I guess we might see if next season (with a new, probably more obscure cast) stretches out a bit to 10 or 12 episodes.

 

[Totenkindly]

Yes, there have been a number of movie actors who have branched into TV where more seems to be happening lately, artistically...

... but the issue is that most don't want to be tied down to a multi-season shooting schedule, they want to be available for other projects (movie, TV, whatever). It's hard being locked into multiple seasons when you want to do something different. regardless of what type of focus you have as an actor; Dean Norris who played Hank wanted to leave the show before the last season, to be on a different show, but unfortunately they needed him as part of the unfolding plot.

Not sure what the pay scale is for TV either. Some of these actors can command a lot more from a box-office single release than they would receive from TV shows, but TV has a more intimate feel and has also upped its game in the last 5-10 years or so.

Pizzolatto said he's been writing Season 2 already and is excited about it, but he's not sure how HBO will respond and is just writing because he loves what he's writing.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/true-detective-season-2_n_4934094.html

 

[Poindexter Arachnid]

The season finale was very polarizing.
Frankly, I'm glad it was more Cormac McCarthy and less J.J. Abrams.

To me, there was a twist at the end (regardless of what people said)--I personally didn't know where the story was going or what the overall "point" of TD was even as it hit the homestretch. But the final five minutes revealed all so brilliantly--the world may be shrouded in darkness; it may wound us to the point where we can no longer function, but you gotta keep moving on no matter what. We can't can't realistically defeat the wickedness of the world, but we sure as hell have an obligation to stand up against it and find meaning in the process. People complaining about the "yellow king" and the remnants of the cult have missed the point entirely.

Procedural police tale this was not: True Detective was a descent into hell--into madness--and coming out on the other side.

I didn't think anything would ever top the genius of Breaking Bad's Ozymandias. I was wrong.

 

[Totenkindly]

The buzz on the street now is that McConaughey might pull in an Emmy this year too.

Will watch at least episode #6 tonight. Figured out how easy it was to stream down on my laptop and then HDMI it to the 55" TV. No longer have to watch it on the little screen!