Television True Detective | Season 2 Spoilers

Ole90+3

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The main problem appears to be Pizzolatto, seems like the guy started to believe his own hype from Season 1 which in hindsight was carried even more so by the director/actors than first thought. Looking back some of the dialogue on paper from Season 1 wouldn't seem half as smart coming out of Vince Vaughn's mouth instead of MM. Can you imagine Kitsch trying to pull off a rambling dialogue about smelling a psychosphere?

Actually that's what this series lacks, a Marty character to point out what we are all thinking. Where is the character that does this when someone says something ludicrous like "never do anything out of hunger, not even eating".

That is a great shout.

WH balanced out the first season.

This one is just constant depressing bullshit.

A lost cause but I will watch to the end I suppose.
 

Cina

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Hippy bearded dad guy's speech to Farrell (Ray?) about his aura and having 100 past lives was so hilariously awful.

The shootout was pretty good, mainly cause it's HBO and you won't get budgets like that on other TV shows, although if I wanted great action scenes I could just watch Banshee, which does the trashy TV show stuff far better than TD, which, without Rust and Marty in it, really does just feel like trashy TV nowadays. It was also nothing compared to the amazing single-shot scene in (rather coincidentally) the same episode last season.

I guess it's still watchable, mainly for Farrell and the production values that come with it being a HBO show, but it's very meh.
 

CassiusClaymore

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I don't have a problem with the plot (it's just someone trying to get at VV character and force him back into a life of crime isn't it?).

It's certainly awful but oddly compelling.
 

Berbaclass

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The main problem appears to be Pizzolatto, seems like the guy started to believe his own hype from Season 1 which in hindsight was carried even more so by the director/actors than first thought. Looking back some of the dialogue on paper from Season 1 wouldn't seem half as smart coming out of Vince Vaughn's mouth instead of MM. Can you imagine Kitsch trying to pull off a rambling dialogue about smelling a psychosphere?

Actually that's what this series lacks, a Marty character to point out what we are all thinking. Where is the character that does this when someone says something ludicrous like "never do anything out of hunger, not even eating".

Marty complaining to Ruste was brilliant :lol:

Recently purchased the steenbok/blu-ray of the first series (which is beautiful BTW)
 

Nighteyes

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This is really shit. The shoot was ok I guess but I have no idea why they were at the house or why they expected trouble or what it all has to do with Caspere.

Also, the writers must get off on those overhead shots. Seems like there half a dozen of those every episode.
 

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You were right to have no faith at all, as it turns out she just gave him a blow job. Hence his "you really do suck em and leave em" line in this episode.
My take is that she wanted to be tied up. She was looking at bondage websites on her computer later. Research for work?

Since her name is Antigone, it's interesting to consider what the genius writer might be up to here... in Greek mythology the duaghter of Oedipus and his mother.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigone
 

Cheesy

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I agree with others that everyone in the show is just so depressing. They're all so moody, and seem incapable of smiling. It's hard to get invested in any characters when they basically have one emotion that never varies.
 

BAMSOLA

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I don't mind depressing (in fact I quite enjoy some depressing pieces of work) as long as its well written and structured, which is where this falls down for me. Feels directionless, cliched and has way too many duff lines. Shame as I don't have a serious problem with any of the actors including Vaughan. Its the producers and script writer(s) as well as the director(s) at fault here.
 

Mciahel Goodman

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My take is that she wanted to be tied up. She was looking at bondage websites on her computer later. Research for work?

Since her name is Antigone, it's interesting to consider what the genius writer might be up to here... in Greek mythology the duaghter of Oedipus and his mother.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigone
Didn't even know her name -- but yeah, Antigone/Sophocles/Oedipus, pretty pretentious shit tbh. It's a sort of gimmick writers use when they have no imagination because they think these sorts of allusions give depth rather than the illusion of depth.
 

langster

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I just get the feeling it's trying to be too clever and has become almost arrogant because of the success of the first series. Almost in the same way as Hannibal is quite pretentious and up it's own arse, but that carries it off because it is also extremely clever, compelling and has an alluring ambience to it. As @BAMSOLA said above, depressing is fine if well written and structured and Hannibal is certainly that.

I just hope True Detective proves me wrong, and I still have a little faith because of the first series, but its hard work watching it at the moment.
 

Nighteyes

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Is there even a plot?

All I have taken so far is Casper took Vince's money before he died for something, Casper was a weird guy who liked to feck a lot and called the Mayor's house a few times.
 

Lastwolf

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They really should have the sequel of season 1 with the continued story and characters.
It's hard to do a sequel to a story that spanned 20 years of their lives and basically defined them as people without trivialising the whole thing. I get what your feeling though, cause none of the new characters or the general plot are as interesting.

I couldn't quite decide if it was writing or the cast, it's probably a bit of both combined with a poor allocation of story elements.

McConaughey and Harrelson were both awesome in the previous series, so that was always going to be a hard act to follow, when the cast was announced I had high hopes all of them have put in more than decent performances in previous roles. So far, I think Farrell has been great, Kitch and McAdams have been decent and Vaughan has been largely shit, the reverse of this order is the amount of screen time it seems like each has had. I feel a bit sorry for Vaughan, by some margin he has the worst lines, which would be fine, but there are a lot them.

Every week, there has been a few scenes were Vaughan has to go back to being a gangster and how hard that is, after the fight club bit what more really needs to be said? I get it, he's going back to his roots I can't take anymore of him and his sidekick wife crying about it. Vaughan is good with Farrell, on his own I'm not sure why I should care so much.

Rust and Marty spent forever in that car and they developed a bond, sure they also got on each others nerves but a twisted affection was forged and how their relationship dissolved into the modern day dislike was a compelling piece of story telling. I think the gangster and the crooked cop could have been interesting in it's own right but they flooded the story with so much other guff that it barely registers that it's supposed to be a good bit. Imagine Season 1 with 20 minutes of each episode dedicated to one of the black cops and him having to redo paperwork from a different case, that's Vaughan's scenes.
 
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ThierryHenry

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It's very detail orientated, with far too much tell don't show ways of explaining the plot, and quick bits of dialogue explaining how the writers have got from A to B, rather than a story that flows more naturally. I'm actually quite enjoying it as it's so noir-y, just find myself wishing there was some charisma in the show. And for one character to not be a walking cliche we've seen twenty times before.
 

Kristjan

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Buzzfeed (yeah I know) have a pretty decent detailed breakdown on what's happened so far:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kirstenking/im-so-confused#.tkJPPzL1GA
People Talking
Shot of a Highway
People Talking
Shot of a Highway
Unbridled Alcoholism
Woman who continues to have gigs in a bar where no one ever goes
Shot of a highway
People Talking
Shot of a Highway
Gunfight

From the comments on buzzfeed describing season 2, brilliant :lol:
 

Mciahel Goodman

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Same horrible dialogue, but this episode was pretty good in terms of plot. Actually, it was the best episode of the season imo.
 

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Same horrible dialogue, but this episode was pretty good in terms of plot. Actually, it was the best episode of the season imo.
It's really mixed for me. Definitely some cool stuff, but...

"Whoa, diamonds!" this is a major clue!

Follow the vultures to the bloodstained killhouse!

Another "off the record" investigation by a squad of dishonored cops, where have I seen that before?

Farrell played his role beautifully I thought... Klitsch getting better too.
 

Mciahel Goodman

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It's really mixed for me. Definitely some cool stuff, but...

"Whoa, diamonds!" this is a major clue!

Follow the vultures to the bloodstained killhouse!

Another "off the record" investigation by a squad of dishonored cops, where have I seen that before?

Farrell played his role beautifully I thought... Klitsch getting better too.
Mixed is probably the right word. I was just happy to see some movement in terms of plot development, even if it seems a bit Scooby Doo in retrospect.
 

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It usually takes a solid show 3-4 seasons before the quality drops substantially.

They've done it here by the second season :houllier:
 

SirFergie

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Anyone think the topic of the case is, well, boring? Season 1, you were interested because the story and the characters portrayed the feeling that it was genuinely evil.

No such feeling here, hence why I'm struggling to care what happens to a number of characters (bar Farrell and strangely enough Vaughn).

It would be better without Kitsch and just McAdams and Farrell I think.
 

Ish

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Agreed the season has really disappointed (especially the writing! and the plot being all over the place), but come on guys, it's very difficult to compare the show with other tv shows' drop in quality.

Not many other shows embark on a totally new cast/plot/location each season. So it's kinda unique in that sense and IMO, much more difficult to keep the quality - especially if season 1 was as big a success as TD was.

You almost have to go into each season, doing the impossible - ignoring the standards set by the previous season and view it as a "new series" on it's own. (and even then, this season has sucked. Arguably, the pleasure of season 1 (that plus the A-list cast) is one of the only remaining reasons as to why there's still a audience for this.)

But yeah, the drop in quality is puzzling, especially as the same crew is behind both seasons iirc? Disappointed with season 2. Farrell's the only one really able to hold his own here. But I'll watch to the end.
 

Kaos

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The problem is they've filled this season with too many leading protagonists which has just made it overly convuluted.

They should have just had Farrell as the only cop with Vaughn and kept the narrative a bit more linear. Then it would have been slightly more enticing.

Kitsch is just pointless and I really don't care about Rachel McAdams and her pointless family backstory (it probably isn't pointless, but it feels lumbered thus far).
 

LeChuck

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The problem is they've filled this season with too many leading protagonists which has just made it overly convuluted.

They should have just had Farrell as the only cop with Vaughn and kept the narrative a bit more linear. Then it would have been slightly more enticing.

Kitsch is just pointless and I really don't care about Rachel McAdams and her pointless family backstory (it probably isn't pointless, but it feels lumbered thus far).
Exactly. It's overly convoluted, complicated, and unnecessary.

No one really cares about any of the characters. No one cares about some shady sex pest getting offed. No one cares about VV losing money. It's just tiresome. Also, the constant panoramic shots of LA are stupid as well. This isn't some backwater bayou like Louisiana, full of mystique and ambivalence. It's bloody LA, a huge, populated, sprawling city.

I actually like the theme tune.
 

Ish

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The problem is they've filled this season with too many leading protagonists which has just made it overly convuluted.

They should have just had Farrell as the only cop with Vaughn and kept the narrative a bit more linear. Then it would have been slightly more enticing.

Kitsch is just pointless and I really don't care about Rachel McAdams and her pointless family backstory (it probably isn't pointless, but it feels lumbered thus far).
Yeah agreed. Like they ended up getting carried away with their own hype and just thought "throwing in more star names and intricate plot moves" will just make the show even more interesting. It's actually backfired.

One of the great things about season 1 was actually it's simplicity. 2 lead characters with great chemistry. The dialogue etc.
 

Untied

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I'm going to keep watching but the plot is a mess. Incredibly dense and moving incredibly slowly. By this point in Season 1 they had already:
killed Ledoux and been told he wasn't wholly responsible.
 

Nighteyes

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This episode was fairly decent compared to the crap in the previous 3 episodes. For a change I was able to follow what was going on with the case.

The dialogue is still cringeworthy