Night Finds You

Last week True Detective got a lot of hate for either trying to copy too much of the first season's brooding tone, or the opposite of not capturing the aesthetic of the previous season. To me, the first episode was good enough to separate itself from the first season while also failing to establish it's own identity, if that makes sense. And I feel like this episode actually took a step back from last week. The episode was a lot more dialed back and the directing ended up being a major weak point. Justin Lin, who is known for his over-the-top directing style, didn't prove to nail the flow of what this episode needed. If we are going to focus on 4 main characters, then the episode needs to flow seamlessly and give us a steady tone.

I like Taylor Kitsch as an actor, and he's pretty good in his role in the show, but I'm still failing to see why his character is needed. I understand that he will likely prove to be useful or even end up saving the day somehow, but he is of no use to McAdams and Farrell as of now. With that being said, I'm not all that sure Farrell makes it out of this episode. If he does, that would have been a pretty big cop out. If that's the killer by the way, that's back to back seasons with some messed up animal faces doing the killings. But Farrell's story, although very similar to Woody Harrellson's of season 1, was probably the most compelling out of all the main characters, so it sucks to see him go. I was starting to enjoy those car ride talks with McAdams and him, very reminiscent of season 1 with the two leads.

I also haven't really bought into Vaughn in this role. Something about his character and or performance that just seems off. So whether it was the choppy directing to begin the episode or just the lack of motivation that seemed to plague each character, this episode really took a step back from last week.

+Farrell's performance

+McAdams distinguishes herself

-Choppy directing

-Vaughn

6.6/10

So many criticisms and off-the-wall speculations floated around the IMDb message boards immediately following the conclusion of the first episode of the second season of this show.

There were good criticisms - Justin Lin doesn't use film and in no way will he pull off the epic job that Cary Fukunaga did in the first season. Digital photography is cheaper, and in some ways, it certainly looks cheaper. I have no qualms with this line of dissension. I do think that the aesthetic used by Justin Lin (Nigel Bluck, visually) is gritty and well-honed, despite it not being as grand as Cary's vision (pulled off by the sumptuous photography of Adam Arkapaw), thus far. If that is a big enough concern, you're in luck, as in this season, we're getting more directors and DPs, and the Lin/Bluck team only operate on the first two episodes.

Now to the remarkably effusive tripe that paraded itself as criticism - "The writing is bad," seemed to be the general consensus, and I'll bite, in the sense that it's more muddy. We don't have two generally "good" guys taking us through a serial murder case. We have a panoply of characters, all whom generally and genuinely appear to have a seedy side, and a very complex plot. "The plot doesn't make sense," was another common qualm. If you're used to simple movies, totally expecting a Season 1 Redux, or need the straight-forward pampering of an Ernest Hemingway novel, you're not going to like this season, at least so far. Fortunately, for those of us who have read Pizzolatto's "Galveston" or any of a number of other complex novels, where we're not spoon-fed story-arc-pablum, we can handle not knowing for a while. We can also handle loose threads hanging, indefinitely - who knows what happened to the crazy cult from Tuttle Ministries after they caught at least one of the killers? Could this or future seasons answer lingering questions? We're meant to believe the battle for who gets to claim God goes on - anyone paying attention to the near steady level of asinine drivel spewing from the bible belt's buckle shiners knows it goes on, and on. This series seems to deal equally harshly with the New Age movement, and rightfully so.

The writing and dialogue are on par with the first season, although there is no Ruste here. It's a more human side of writing, but it's still tight and engrossing. It's still the best writing on television.

Who is the man we've seen now, twice, who apparently wears a Raven mask and marches around with a shotgun full of Super X shotgun ammo? Who will we ultimately find that we can rally behind in this season's characters, dead or alive?

Greetings from Lithuania.

Finally "True Detective" returned to us after a superb and brilliant season 1. New cast, new location, new case. To be honest, i wasn't' fan of this show after first three episodes of season 1 - this show started to become amazing starting from episode 4 - it was a breathtaking ride.

Season 2 started good, in my opinion 1st episode was even a bit more interesting then 1st seasons opening episode. Although the story is a bit complicated here and there, first episode of this season was good, a 9/10 worthy.

Episode 2 was a bit more disappointing. The story haven't really moved far, except for the final minute sure, but overall episode wasn't really interesting or involving. Although actors are doing great job here, it's the script who is a bit draggy and not that really interesting. Nevertheless it has strong sense of a real world, and i do hope that this show will kick in in the upcoming episodes. And what a shocker at the end! And by the way, is anyone here kinda hopes (or thinks) that this case is somehow connected to the one in season 1 ? Because the undertone of sexuality is somehow is very strong in both cases. Abyway it's just a guess, lets see what happens next. Episode 2 - 8/10.