True Detective (HBO) Official Thread

Yes the geriatric period. It's certainly not badly done or anything, but it's not why I watch True Detective. At least so far.

I think it helps to frame the other two timelines. It's clear that Wayne has been the one figuring things out with the case, and remembering things, and tying things together. To see him with his memory going is poignant. And we're still not sure whether some of what the documentarian filmmaker is doing is going to play out in some other ways. Sure, she's been a sort of catalyst, mostly, up till this point, but she's also giving us glimpses into Wayne's (and also Roland's) coming to terms with things they did when they were younger. It's literally coming back to haunt Wayne, at least. And Roland's not too happy that Wayne's bringing all this back to the surface.

Plus, we don't know why Wayne's estranged from his daughter. Did something happen in between two of the timelines that we have yet to see?

I don't mind that current timeline because it's showing us that you often reap what you sow.

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I feel like it got more purpose around episode 5 or so, but I must admit to be slightly disappointed it didn’t evolve and change more than it has. I kept somewhat waiting for it to take a turn but now we are just waiting for the last episode and it hasn’t really. Incorporating yet another timeline in the mix seem more like Nic Pizzolato trying to up the ambitiousness of it all but it definitely feel like the lesser worked of the three timelines...

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That finale! THAT FINALE!

Ugh...

Forgive the short rant. I'm sick with a stomach bug and have been binge-watching TV since Saturday afternoon. Today everything hurts and I still have a fever and headache... and THIS is how True Detective treats me?

I think Nick Pizzolatto thinks too highly of his own storytelling abilities. They were doing SO WELL in how they chose to handle giving us tidbits of information, only to give us an info dump in episode 8...

Spider-Verse remains the only thing Mahershala Ali has done since Moonlight that’s worthy of him (and despite my thinking that his character was a stand out, the movie still could have used more of him )

Season 1 was probably one of the best series ever made with some very interesting characters.
No other series has ever had a casting of this caliber.
Rust Cohle was though to be played by Woodie Harrelson, this nihilist philosophies are interesting.

Still waiting to hear what someone else thought of the season 3 finale...

I might have underestimated the number of audience members who came out of season 1 thinking the show’s recitation of nihilist philosophies was, itself, a great strength it pocessed and not the good sense of humor through which said philosophies where delivered.

I mean, try using the term “psychosphere” in real life.

I’m away unfortunately, but tomorrow evening I should be getting the last episode in.

I thought the series was enjoyable. It was a police procedural told in a unique way with the use of three time periods. Unfortunately the method tended to confuse me. However the side stories were enough to keep the narrative running, and to hold one's interest. I particularly enjoyed Stephen Dorff's work. He's got a lot of charisma.

One question kept running through my mind. How could two state detectives have the luxury of spending all that time on one case; especially one that became quickly cold? Would their commander allow them to work on a single case exclusively? That question aside, the mood was quickly established, and fed into the viewer's interest to see it all play out.

The ending was gratifying enough. After 8 hours of viewing, the conclusion was critical, and could have gone awry in several different ways. You can be sure that Pizzolatto and his colleagues will be pressed to come up with a 4th season, which will be a tall order.

~Doc

I agree that the story's ending itself was satisfying. They tied up the loose ends well. I just didn't like them using Watts's vomitous confession to do it.

As for the timelines, the easiest way to tell which timeline they were in were the hairstyles of Hays and West. Full, regular afro for Hays and bangs for West in 1980. Sides shaved for Hays and no bangs for West in 1990. And, of course, gray hair and wrinkles for both in 2015.

I found that was the first thing I looked at -- their hair -- any time the scene changed. That immediately put me in the right timeline and I was fine.

Yeah, I too picked up on the hairstyles right away to establish the time frames. That wasn't confusing. What was tricky was following the story in the context of 3 different time periods, and imagining the story line in some type of linear fashion.

I think if they'd decided to develop the plot in straight linear time, that it would have been more of a traditional type series; almost like, say, a Shetland season.

~Doc

I guess I did have very brief moments with each shift where I had to remind myself of what they knew/what they hadn't figured out yet in each timeline (well the 1980 and 1990 timelines, anyway). But even that seemed to work fairly smoothly for me. Not sure why, because usually I stumble at such things and that's how twist endings always work so great for me: I never see them coming because I'm too busy trying to remember what's what.

Going to give TD another try now and binge season 3 from the beginning. Saw 3 episodes and stopped but the 1st one is excellent like I remembered. Ali definitely is the most talented actor out of all three seasons. That's really saying something cause TD season 1 is McConaugheys best work imo.

It was a weak resolution I agree. But how would you have done it? A conversation between Hays and West? A narration segment?

Overall, I thought the series was superb, and on a par with Season 1. The creator has gone on record to say that Henry keeps the scrap of paper and doesn't give it to the documentarian.

The jungle scene is presumably a metaphor for his memory (he disappears into the jungle, just like bis memory disappears on him). Who knows, it may even be a kickstarter for the exact reason he suffers the memory loss in the first place (PTSD)

Thanks for the explanation on the jungle scene. It makes sense now that you put it that way, but honestly, it just confused me. We'd seen nothing like it beforehand, so it took me a few seconds to figure out what it even was (and by then it was over).

And the Henry/slip of paper bit wouldn't have been confusing if we hadn't previously heard that he'd been having an affair with the documentarian. That's the only reason I saw that as possibly sinister. Without that previous plot point, I would have seen that as hopeful: that perhaps one day the truth would come out fully if Henry pursued the address himself.

I have no idea how I might have handled that story ending differently, but everything I've learned about writing insists that merely having a character step up and explain the ending is weak writing. And it is. It's what cozy mysteries do a lot... but they're simpler, "lighter," and aren't True Detective, from which I expect better ways to resolve a story. I probably would have extended it another episode or two in order to avoid cramming all that exposition in the finale. Even flashbacks of some sort would have been better than a character sitting at a table telling us everything. (Granted, they DID cut to flashbacks as he narrated, but still... it was exposition.)

It just didn't seem up to the quality of the previous episodes. The ending itself, though, in terms of story and plot points, worked for me. Everything that needed to be explained, was explained.

I really enjoyed the finale. To this point, I've not seen Ali in anything but TD, and I thought he was just phenomenal. My favorite characterization for me of him was as Hays in his oldest age, losing his memory, struggling with it. It's true that they did do an exposition dump there in the final episode, but it didn't really bother me because then Hays and West put the other dots together that led them to the convent. And Hays himself

I've always liked Stephen Dorff as an actor and I thought he was excellent here as West, also especially during his oldest phase, and the ending where

The real jolt for me was Hays sitting on the porch and

And I really enjoyed seeing the brief appearance of Overall, I was very satisfied with Season Three.

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Somewhat confusing the constant back & forth. As you said, the 1980 & 1990 timelines. 26 years later, that was the easy part & I thought hair & makeup for both leads was outstanding then. And they both acted elderly men impeccably.

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So far as I can tell, I am the only person in the universe who loved season 2 best.

As I posted in the tv thread today, I watched seasons 1 & 2 twice over, but I will not do that with season 3. Impeccable production, but very slow & long. Bit of a slog to get through to be honest. Glad I did though.

I finished it. Funny, I stopped watching halfway thru episode 4 and that was right before the season went into its 2nd gear.

Ali was great, but Dorff was equally strong, easily the best performance of his career. Everyone was expecting a barnburner finale because the first 2 seasons finished as such, but if they had it would have come off as contrived. I liked the final because it showcased who the true villain was this season, the main characters Alzheimer's. For the girl there thankfully was a happy outcome.

Genius storytelling. The 3 timeframes were done to perfection. I find myself wanting the series to revisit these 2 characters just like the ones from season 1. The first season was the best one but season 3 can hold its head up high being a worthy successor.