FYI, you can click on that little icon with the mountain and sun in it, put in that URL, and it'll embed the image rather than just post the link to it.
I wish this season had at least one character with a light-hearted side. I think that's what made last season easier to watch; as complex and dark as Marty was, he threw in a joke and seemed human. I actually think Vince Vaughan's character should be the one to fit this bill; his job as a Mafioso and scuzzy political wheeler would play a lot better if he had even an ounce of charm. All four of these actors are trying to be McConaghey, and that's like trying to make a beef stew using only one ingredient. I seem to recall the plot being easier to follow last year, too, but maybe that was just the chemistry between the actors glossing over the slow story.
It definitely was easier to follow last year. When Frank was visiting that kid who's father died, I had to look up who they were talking about. Half the names they throw around I dont really know who they are. What does the super secret party have to do with Caspere getting killed? Or the missing girl that turned up alive? I'm pretty good at following complex plots, but these just aren't conveyed very well. Another issue with this season is I have a hard time giving a shit about whats going on. Why would I care about a corrupt city manager that got killed? Last season I was genuinely interested in figuring out who the Yellow King was. Maybe its best to look at each season in a vacuum like any anthology. Ani's undercover scene was very well done though. I couldn't get over how weirdly out of place the music during the entire sequence was, but it was oddly perfect for it.
I think my problem with not following what's going on this season as well as I should is that it's not grabbing my attention the way last season did. With the first one I was glued to the screen. This one I'm half paying attention while also fucking around on the internet and I find myself having to rewind every time I notice that something important was said, and I doubt I'm noticing all of them. I've been finding these recaps very useful, especially last night's episode: http://uproxx.com/tv/2015/08/true-detective-black-maps-and-motel-rooms-recap/
The funniest bit of last night's episode was when Colin Farrell told someone, anyone that she was "way out of his league." Yeah, right.
I just read that recap and... I still don't know what the fuck is going on. Or care. Between this and that show The Leftovers I'm starting to think my CareOMeter for melodramatic television is broken.
I cant believe anyone actually made it through The Leftovers. I gave up after 3 episodes. It was just too fucking bleak. True Detective is also, but at least there's a narrative instead of people just wandering around being sad. Last nights episode was the best one so far. Things are starting to clear up and I agree with the article posted about the kids being the killers. I originally thought it was going to end up being Paul, the pieces fit nicely for that to occur until last week.
This season's got better by the episode to the point where right now I prefer it over the first. Okay, the start was fairly sluggish but it's shaping up for a great ending, which isn't far from the opposite of season one.
I think this is a great showcase in the difference between a character driven show (season 1) and a plot driven show (season 2). The plot was barely there in season one, though I loved it. In season 2, the plot is of paramount importance. The characters? Not so much. There's not a whole lot of development to any of the characters. So far, they are pretty much the same people they started out as, with very shallow arcs in development. But the overall story this year? Fantastic. I like this season a lot, probably because it is so different from season one. Not better, not worse, just a really different feel and take. Whereas season one felt very empty and bleak this season feels very crowded, yet both were unsettling.
Ray's, was that not obvious? FutureWife asked me the same thing. Ani said "I owe that to his sons." Pretty good finale to wrap everything up. I'm glad it ended like a neo-noir western and the bad guys kind of won, at least in the short term. Glad the Russians got fucked up, that was a great scene.
No, I missed the sons comment. I thought they deliberately left it vague who it was that had a child. I also totally thought the reporter she told her story to was the Mexican guy who asked for Vince Vaughn's suit.
They toyed around with whether it was Ani's or Jordyn's before she made that comment. Overall, the second half of this season was way better than the first. Its too bad I only started giving a shit about these characters around episode 6. For its faults, I did enjoy this season. It was a great piece of LA-Noir, if somewhat convoluted. There weren't many surprises because most people figured out that the kid was the killer a few episodes ago. And it wasnt too shocking to see Ray and Frank get killed. This season was designed like a tragic western, and it was going to end that way.
I didn't enjoy this season pretty much at all. After the whole 'shoot colin farrell in the gut and he didn't die' thing, I kind of tapped out, and only watched AT it rather than actively focusing. That said, I still don't know what it was about. I've had to read recaps and try to sort things and that's just too much trouble. I feel like season 2 was really trying to be as artistic as possible while being totally different from season 1 and somewhere along the way, forgot about being engaging.
Things wrapped up a bit too neatly: all the bad guys, all of them just happen to be in one house with a stack full of money! Other things just didn't make any sense. The whole Mexicans group sole purpose was just a way for Frank to kill all his bad guys, but still die because noir. Why did Ray drive out to the redwoods? Did he want a pretty place to die? He has some awesome cardio for work compared to the commandos for a guy who smoked like a chimney and carried his own pharmacy around. Why did the entire goddamn show rely on 3 fucking dudes we saw 10 minutes of collectively? What was the point of the Chessani daughter ever appearing, then never coming back? If it was such a big diamond did Frank go out and look for it? I mean, he's kind of strapped for cash right? Frank COULD have possibly lived right? Did he really need to lunge at that dude? Did he just think he was going to die anyway and wanted to do it with his suit on?
Frank didn't want to give up his suit because it had diamonds worth 3.5 million tucked in a pocket which was his retirement. The whole episode was rough and not that strong because some of the plot points seemed very contrived. Everything was so overwrought and poorly written that it was hard to get invested this season, hopefully Nic Pizzolatto lets someone write/edit with him so that he doesn't stray off into tangents for episodes at a time
I'm guessing for this to work? http://uproxx.com/tv/2015/08/the-sp...probably-missed-in-the-true-detective-finale/