True Detective

I like a great story that's easy to follow, but a series doesn't always have to be that way to pack a punch. I really felt for the characters, more than I actually thought I did. When the ex-wife looked through the photos of Ray and his son I was not far from tears. So, sure I would have liked a bit of more coherent storyline but I really cared about what happened in season2, the conclusion of season1 left me cold.
Sidenote, wouldn't "True Criminal" been a better title for this season?
 
We just see it differently. Based on everything we've seen, I have zero confidence that some exposé will topple those in power. Does anyone even care what the original case was? Caspere's murder? So what.

AHH. Again, good talent, meandering, hard to follow and REALLY hard to care about plot.

Exactly.

The premise of the show is working (not necessarily solving) a case. The lost the case part right out of the gate. The, uh, character development, i guess you'd call it way overlapped and took away from the crime they were supposed to investigate.

I kept watching thinking i'd eventually figure it out. I sorta did, but they could have done much better explaining it.

As for an expose' by a reporter outing everyone and bringing them to justice - yeah, right. Maybe toss into the final montage a few headlines and photos of people in cuffs.

It was clear off the bat there was no real redemption for velcoro and Vince Vaughn's character. Too far gone. Still, there's no clear evidence of wrongdoing on the other cop, yet he got killed off as well. Though, how the guy could possibly know where'd he'd leave that building and when is pretty preposterous.

I don't think anyone thinks all of them should have rode off into the sunset unscathed, or even survived. You do expect the work (theirs and yours) to not be for nothing which is what this seems.
 
I can't say I was a fan of S2. I liked Velcoro and was really surprised at Colin Farrell's acting, but on the whole the plot got bogged down with way too many story threads. It was by far the most convoluted plot I've seen in a while. In the end I just didn't really care about Frank's plight or the Caspere murder that vaguely tied him to the rest of the show. The diamonds, the weird hippie cult compound thing, the orphaned kids, the crooked cops that are using some sort of military group as "protection," the land sale contract. Just blegh, I'm washing my hands of even thinking about it all.
 
And his dad's Gus Grissom. :)

I don't think the critics of season 2, myself included, are asking for an easy to follow storyline. But it does need to have enough coherence to allow you to follow it. This season seemed to just wallow in the fact that these are all miserable people. OK, I get it. At least have something I can latch on to and care about.

I'm watching Breaking Bad now from start to finish. I never saw it when it originally aired. Only on season 4, so no spoilers. But I think of Jesse Pinkman. By all accounts, a loser junkie. He is impulsive and makes very bad choices. But, deep inside he has a heart and you see enough empathy in him that you can care about whether he lives or dies. I just didn't really care for any of these characters enough. Velcoro possibly, but he was ultimately so self destructive and full of rage. Frank did nothing for me. Ani again just seemed like living in misery. All broken people. That alone is fine. Broken people can be interesting in a drama, but it has to go somewhere.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!











VELCORO: I have too much rage, killed the wrong guy, my kid and ex-wife want nothing to do with me, I'm working a case, boom, I'm dead.

FRANK: My wife and I can't have a kid, I lost all my money on a bad deal, I have too much rage, I'm trying to figure out what happened, I forgot about a certain group I pissed off, stab, I'm dead.

ANI: I had trauma as a kid, I'm messed up regarding relationships permanently, don't like my father or sister or co-workers or bosses, trying to understand this case, killed someone, leaving the country, bye.

WOODRUGH: I had trauma in foreign lands, I'm gay, I hate that I'm gay, I don't understand the case I'm working, something about land deals, I'm being blackmailed because I'm gay, boom, I'm dead too.

And it bugs me that John Carter is basically killed for protecting a secret that no one but he would really care about. Well, his girlfriend would now, but if he had just owned it, he never would have hooked up with her. It just felt odd that in 2015 this character exists. His mom knew, his co-workers knew, his security buddy certainly knew. Whatever.

As much as there was to complain about with season 1, I cared about Rust and Marty. And, There was a case. It was integral to the series and the character arcs revolved around it. It was never totally obscured by it. There too, they pulled on many threads that never developed. A massive cult involving important families, but we end up with a couple swamp creatures in a Deliverance setting. But, just watching Rust carving up his beer cans and talking about his version of the universe... crazy, but compelling.
 
Hey TD fans,

I just finished watching Season 1. Frackin' loved it! Not as gripping as Breaking Bad, but then, what is? McConaughey and Harrelson were both awesome, as was the writing.

My question is, does Season 2 measure up to Season 1? No spoilers, please. Just wondering if I should devote 8 hours to it.

Thanks,

The Wook
 
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