Anyone watch the new True Detective last night?

*some possible repeated spoilers below, but who cares?*


Slogged through E2 last night. Did not change my feelings much, other than it was the Frank storyline of his money disappearing with Caspere and how he is going to go about getting it back that initially made me grudgingly agree to turn the page and commit to E3; the sudden turn of events at the end kind of cemented that. Dammit.

I think my problem with this season is mainly the direction. Justin Lin just HAMMERS you over the head with dark, dark, DARK - HEY, EVERYBODY! THIS IS DARK!!!. The lingering aerial shots of the city between scenes are super repetitive and tiresome (yes, Vinci is a depressing, industrial city; WE GET IT). There are almost no "normal" characters, save for Frank's wife and the hot Latina GF of Paul. Almost to a person, they are all alcoholics/damaged/abused/clammy-about-to-have-a-stroke or just plain out-and-out-weird - it's like Lin is trying to do a Lynch/Twin Peaks with this thing and just failing miserably (was that the Predator that shot Ray?
icon_rolleyes.gif
). I still don't really give a shit about the characters. After the laughable bar scene toward the end of the first episode, he does it AGAIN with the second (the world's most depressing live music in the world's most depressing bar), although at least it had some spin toward what happened next. I was almost happy to see Ray get it, as it removes one morose character; unfortunately, we still have to deal with the rest. Whereas Season 1 was a character study that slowly peeled away the layers of the onions, in S2 the onions were thrown right into the food processor. Again, the only character of any real interest is Frank, and that's not saying much. VV is doing a marginally decent job, although it's ironic that his character grew up in Chicago, yet he has a Chicago accent that seems to drift in-and-out, and when it is there it sounds like an actor doing a bad Chicago accent.

I'm gonna give it one, maybe two more episodes to see where it goes, but IMO this is nowhere near as good as S1 was; not by a long shot.
 
I'm on the fence with this years show. Sunday night's ending will have me at least watching episode 3.
 
CBHScott said:
*some possible repeated spoilers below, but who cares?*


Slogged through E2 last night. Did not change my feelings much, other than it was the Frank storyline of his money disappearing with Caspere and how he is going to go about getting it back that initially made me grudgingly agree to turn the page and commit to E3; the sudden turn of events at the end kind of cemented that. Dammit.

I think my problem with this season is mainly the direction. Justin Lin just HAMMERS you over the head with dark, dark, DARK - HEY, EVERYBODY! THIS IS DARK!!!. The lingering aerial shots of the city between scenes are super repetitive and tiresome (yes, Vinci is a depressing, industrial city; WE GET IT). There are almost no "normal" characters, save for Frank's wife and the hot Latina GF of Paul. Almost to a person, they are all alcoholics/damaged/abused/clammy-about-to-have-a-stroke or just plain out-and-out-weird - it's like Lin is trying to do a Lynch/Twin Peaks with this thing and just failing miserably (was that the Predator that shot Ray?
icon_rolleyes.gif
). I still don't really give a shit about the characters. After the laughable bar scene toward the end of the first episode, he does it AGAIN with the second (the world's most depressing live music in the world's most depressing bar), although at least it had some spin toward what happened next. I was almost happy to see Ray get it, as it removes one morose character; unfortunately, we still have to deal with the rest. Whereas Season 1 was a character study that slowly peeled away the layers of the onions, in S2 the onions were thrown right into the food processor. Again, the only character of any real interest is Frank, and that's not saying much. VV is doing a marginally decent job, although it's ironic that his character grew up in Chicago, yet he has a Chicago accent that seems to drift in-and-out, and when it is there it sounds like an actor doing a bad Chicago accent.

I'm gonna give it one, maybe two more episodes to see where it goes, but IMO this is nowhere near as good as S1 was; not by a long shot.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure Ray is gone. IMDB has him for all the episodes. So even if he is dead, there must be flashbacks or something.
 
I can't imagine that he's dead. They've invested far too much in his family and backstory. And he's the best they've got.

Besides, looking back at last year's series, the lead characters survived injuries that are simply not survivable.
 
jaxn slim said:
Whew. I'm so glad I can sit back and enjoy a show without having to over-analyze every aspect. I don't come away from each episode completely blown away like I did during the first season, but I've been enjoying it. :shrug:
Click to expand...


Same here.
 
jaxn slim said:
Whew. I'm so glad I can sit back and enjoy a show without having to over-analyze every aspect. I don't come away from each episode completely blown away like I did during the first season, but I've been enjoying it. :shrug:
Click to expand...

I'm super-analytical about movies, but it's fun, for the most part. Mediocre/bad movies can still be really interesting.

I draw the line at Michael Bay. Last year, my nephew wanted to see the most recent Transformers movie. I was bored to death, and found myself looking forward to taking a bathroom break just for some relief.
 
The show is worth watching just for the Lera Lynn bar scenes. But I like it even more now (i often thought Vince Vaughn should eaten by rats).
 
Is thread going to be about a Weinerite's journey and unsolicited analysis of every friggin' episode? Where upon this armchair DGA director will eventually back pedal by the end and say how slow it started, but how he eventually enjoyed it? How about pour acid in my eyeballs and blow my balls off with a shotgun, why dontcha'.

I'm already in. This is good stuff. You either dig crime noir or you don't. It's not for everybody, but this is how it's done. This slow, sensual, cinematic unfolding story of alcoholic, sociopatic, PTSD reprobates, with daddy issues, who fight the bad guys is right up my alley.

Great ending in the last episode. Love this cast. Especially the female detective who likes anal and will kick your ass. And no, you're not supposed to like everyone in this genre. It's not "Everybody's Awesome." But Colin Ferrell is awesome.

Just sayin'.
 
Last edited:
jaxn slim said:
Whew. I'm so glad I can sit back and enjoy a show without having to over-analyze every aspect. I don't come away from each episode completely blown away like I did during the first season, but I've been enjoying it. :shrug:
Click to expand...

Guilty as charged :grin:

Hey, for the most part, I usually can enjoy things without the analysis - hell, I like AC/DC almost s much as I like Rush, for example - but this one's a special case.

OK, without analysis: I find it mediocre so far :wink:
 
Flamencology said:
Episode 3 was borderline great.
Click to expand...

It was, but it was also laughably bad in places. This show has become bad profoundly. I have no idea how this show works or came together like this. It's like David Lynch at his most surreal and inexplicable but it also manages to be utterly beautiful. There's so much going on that I can only compare it to other TV because there aren't words for what's happpening.
 
"...and then the rats came."

That was a line from E1, and it was a sign of things to come. This is honestly some of the worst dialogue I've ever heard. It's borderline comedy.

That said, I dig the characters and the plot thusfar.
 
I don't really get the "the dialogue is so bad, man" argument. Pointing out weaknesses in dialogue is one of my jobs as an educator. It's like someone has never seen a classic noir; fuck realism. People in movies aren't always supposed to talk like real people. Go watch Double Indemnity or The Long Goodbye or something. Stylized dialogue is... Well, part of the style.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top