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  • 4 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I think this is misinformation because another article I read using the same quotes makes no mention of any actual discussion between them. He's just saying he would do it if the circumstances were right. 

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  • 9 months later...
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I'm politely interested.  Didn't watch season 2 at first because the cast (outside of Farrell) and log line didn't interest me.  Then I really didn't watch when the reception was so bad.  Ali is an incredibly talented actor, and hopefully Pizzolatto is back on track.

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  • 11 months later...
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Season 2 is an OK 8 hours of television, but it's completely different from the cool and unique season 1 that actually brought something new to the game.  Season 2 is just kind of another serialized police procedural.  The Night Of was better (but still flawed)

 

I haven't watched the S3 trailer yet.  Is it about detectives solving connected murders again or something else? 

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Sure, but the look and feel, the aesthetic he sets up in those 2 episodes will be replicated by the remaining directors of the season

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  • 2 months later...

True Detective 3x01 The Great War and Modern Memory

 

Well, that was a pretty good hour of television.  It's kind of funny how they clearly and purposely aped season 1's aesthetics as much as possible - 3 timelines, southern outdoorsy setting, largely in the past, the main detective character talking to the police about what happened, etc.  

But the similarities are basically just superficial like that, the actual plot is completely new.  I enjoyed the amount of mystery they setup and paid off within the episode, as well as the amount of mystery they setup to explore in future episodes.  Ali was great of course, Dorff was pretty good, Scoot was pretty good, basically just good acting all round (which was no surprise).  The mother of the missing children looked SO FAMILIAR to us; Marcy immediately though of Grace Gummer, the FBI Agent from Mr. Robot who is Meryl Streep's daughter.  Turns out this actress is not her... but is ANOTHER Meryl Streep offspring, Grace's sister Marie Gummer.  How about that.

 

Saulnier's directing was nice, some pretty cool shots (the foggy swamp, the underneath shot of the tower stairs, etc)


Definitely looking forward to the next episode!  The picture quality on Amazon IS OUTSTANDING, BTW, the best LOOKING show I've seen since Westworld.

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It's set in Arkanas too, and boy they really show well what it's like with lots of gorgeous scenery shots.  It's a similar setting as Ozark just more the neighborhoods and woods than the lakes


Sadly Saulnier only directed the first 2 eps but hopefully his style is maintained by the subsequent directors

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Except Ozarks isn't filmed here its filmed in jawja. Similarly there is a film being made called Arkansas and its filmed in Alabama 

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True Detective 3x02 Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

 

Another good episode.  They are pretty much firing on all cylinders again, I'm loving the slow development of all three timelines and the character development that comes with it.

 

All I'm trying to figure out how is which ending they are going with

 

A) It's some minor character that we've already seen, probably in the town meeting

B) It's some character we won't see until episode 6 or 7, like season 1

C) The season will end without definitively saying who did it 

 

All possibilities are still open at this point for sure

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True Detective 3x03 The Big Never

 

Another good episode.  You know, not only is the cinematography absolutely stunning this year, but the entire soundtrack is too (music and sound design).  The fact that these are boosted by terrific acting and an intriguing storyline makes this show one of the most rock solid things on TV right now.

 

2015 timeline - So they are explaining the end of the last episode by saying he had an amnesia-esque / alzheimers-esque time loss where he forgot everything that happened between dinner and being by Shoepick Lane in his bathrobe.  I have a feeling his memory issues are going to have some sort of unusual explanation, like he's being poisoned or something

 

1990 timeline - The scene where the fought with his wife after the WalMart scene was uncomfortable.  Was interesting to see Dorff's character in this timeline, and Scoot's character too.

 

1980 timeline - Pretty need variety of new clues and leads this week.  Will be interesting to see what is directly connected and what are red herrings

 

Whodunnit - My wife had had a theory that I think is still possible at this point.  I'll put it in spoiler tags even though it's pure speculation (I don't watch the "next time on" previews or read any articles/reviews/etc on this show, or listen to any podcasts that discuss it, etc):

The theory is his wife did it.  Not sure of motivation entirely yet (seems to be building to something racial), but she basically kidnapped the kids and killed the brother, inserted herself into the investigation by asking around about the dolls and then marrying the lead detective, wrote a book about her own crime, etc.  The creepy peep-hole-drilling cousin, first communion pose, brown sedan, white guy in a suit who went to the farmhouse are all red herrings.  Ali's memory loss could be caused by his wife poisoning him, and after she died, their daughter could be continuing it

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True Detective 3x04 The Hour and the Day

 

Another good stuff, loving this season.  I couldn't believe the abrupt ending, I didn't feel like we were already at the end!  I wish the whole season was available now, it's becoming painful to have to wait a week between episodes!  

 

Just good stuff all around again, acting, cinematography, sound, editing.  There was no compelling evidence that Amelia isn't the killer (or rather, one of the killers since there is a white guy she's working with), just more red herrings.  I think the female interviewing in the 2015 timeline is a descendant of the white killer.  She seems to be sleeping with Wayne's son, too.  Dunno if its to press him for info or if he's corrupt somehow.


Watching Amelia react to various news (like the case being re-opened in 1990) under the presumption she is involved is pretty interesting, interpreted the looks on her face in various ways.  That first date they had in 1980 had a weird air to it, too.  And her visiting Mamie Gummer was a pretty unique scene too. I feel really bad for the native american guy that's getting screwed over

 

 

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True Detective 3x05 If You Have Ghosts

 

Great episode, the show is really firing on all cylinders now.  I love when the various time periods interact with one another, and the moment this week where the 90s Wayne was reading to his kids and the 2015 Wayne opened the door and the 1980 Wayne was standing outside was awesome.

 

I'm starting to think Amelia being the killer was a red herring.  5/8ths of the way through and there's no ounce of motivation presented for her.  Plus, it seems now there's really some big conspiracy going on with the kids, not the act of just 2 individuals.  Some kind of child sex trafficking ring or something, like maybe the mom (Mamie Gummer) paid off a gambling debt by selling her daughter, and the son died accidentally in the process of kidnapping her, or something.  And that smarmy guy who is a DA in 1980 and the AG in 1990 is in on it.  What 2015 Roland is mad at Wayne about could be something coming up soon where Roland agree to not investigate some lead or bury some evidence or something and Wayne didn't want to.  So now Roland lives alone in the woods out of guilt for being complicate.  Something like that.  And of course these guys framed Woodard with the backback in his porch and stuff, and now everyone involved in the coverup is being killed to cover their tracks.

 

I guess the mom sent that magazine-letter about the kids, unless that's another misdirect and Amelia sent it, not because she's the killer because she was trying to make things more interesting for the book she was writing in her head.  Hard to say.

 

One of the coolest and creepiest scenes this week was when the missing daughter called the hotline.  Since she didn't use any names and was ambiguous about "the guy on TV pretending to be my dad", she could be referring to that smarmy AG guy, like she doesn't even remember her real dad any more and grew up in that dude's basement after being kidnapped or something.  I dunno

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  • 3 weeks later...

True Detective 3x06 Hunters in the Dark

 

Well I think it's clear now there's a child sex ring going on here, and the Hoyt Foods people are in on it along with the crooked DA guy, happy to frame the Woodard in 1980 and then Scoot in 1990 for it.  It seems a bit odd that Wayne and Roland can't figure this out (though, 2015 Roland does seem to know much more than he's letting on), nor that 1980 Wayne gave up on the backback evidence so easily.  Oh well.

 

I don't think Amelia is involved, though that was a nice red herring for a while, and there is surely some big piece of her backstory yet to be revealed.

 

Watching the next episode tonight!

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True Detective 3x07 The Final Country

 

Amazing hour of television, that was fantastic.  The slow burn has paid off with so many spectacular reveals and developments this week, both expected and unexpected.  So much happened you almost feel like we've see the climax and the final episode will be denouement, though it didn't feel rushed at all.

 

1980 - Seeing Tom after we knew he was dead in 1990 was oddly more strange feeling than other times similar things have happened.  Wayne encouraging Amelia to write about the case was a nice touch compared to how he kind of resents the book in the later timelines.

 

2015 - the Rust and Marty cameo was fantastic, such a completely unexpected moment that nevertheless fits right in with everything happened and doesn't feel gratuitous.  The way Wayne dismissed her pedophile ring theory resembled the way Harris James did in 1990 so I guess that's not what's going on; It's just a rich woman who lost her husband and kid and paid Lucy for the Purcell kids and then paid off a ton of other people to cover it up.  The final bit in this timeline where they get the license plate number of the sedan that's been watching Wayne was neat, though I can't imagine its's anyone other than a Hoyt employee that's in that car.  The segue at the end, going from Wayne at Roland in the road, to Wayne all alone in the road, to seeing the fire in the distance, to 1990 Wayne being at the fire, was fantastic.

 

1990 - Poor Tom.  And the slimy DA/AG has another patsy for everything going on, just like Woodard was for him in 1980.  I'm not sure anymore if he's actually in on the Hoyt's crimes at all, or if he's just trying to get big cases "solved" quickly to look good.  Amelia's detective work getting that Halloween picture of - now we know to be - Isabelle and the one-eyed guy out stalking for kids on Halloween (she was never seen outside the house.. cause she only left under a ghost sheet!) was pretty good.  The grunt work Wayne does to go through the phone records and realize Harris James killed Lucy because she was calling (probably for more money) was good stuff too (I like seeing people work hard on shows like this, not just stumbling into answers).  The big conversation he then has with Roland, where he convinces him to go after Harris "hard, like we used to" is everything.  THE moment that changes their relationship and everything else in their lives.  The actual murder is the real catalyst of course, but that doesn't happen without the conversation first.  The murder sure explains a lot about how Roland and Wayne are to each other in 2015.  I thought the episode was going to end sometime after the burning evidence in the fire barrel scene, and it certainly would been a fantastic episode if it did end there, but damn, that final scene where Hoyt (Michael Rooker!) calls Wayne out of the house was such a delicious and intriguing ending.  It's clear now Wayne actually figured everything out, and Hoyt will convince him to keep quite about it for the safety of his family.  And we know they ARE safe until at least Becca heads off to college some decade+ later.  But her estrangement from him in the 2015 timeline is still left to be explained.

 

Can't wait for the finale, won't be able to watch it until tomorrow night, I hope I don't get spoiled.  This season is every bit as good as season 1.

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True Detective 3x08 Now Am Found


Fantastic finale to a fantastic season of television.  I wonder if this is polarizing, I can see some viewers wanting more (more bang, more drama, a bigger conspiracy), but I think something like that would have been more crowd pleasing, it wouldn't have been as special as this smaller and character-focused ending we get here.

 

I think this was a rewarding end that did pay off on everything set up all season.  All the various clues and twists and turns the story took really are explained by Mr. X's story and Wayne and Rolan's subsequent followup, and Julie's happy ending was a nice cherry on top.

 

The season as a whole only has a few very minor missteps that could have been edited out with no loss at all - Tom's gay paraphernalia, and Wayne's son's affair with the documentarian lady in particular.  Not sure what those elements added to the overall picture at all.  Everything else that ended up not being directly related to what happened was a nice enough detour / red herring, but those kind of stick out as "huh?" moments.

 

Seriously glad this show rebounded after the subpar season 2, and I hope they take another few years off before coming back with a season 4, and hopefully having something new to say like this season ultimately did.  

This is peak TV!

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1 hour ago, Jay said:

True Detective 3x08 Now Am Found


Fantastic finale to a fantastic season of television.  I wonder if this is polarizing, I can see some viewers wanting more (more bang, more drama, a bigger conspiracy), but I think something like that would have been more crowd pleasing, it wouldn't have been as special as this smaller and character-focused ending we get here.

 

I belong to that category, I'm afraid. The only reason I began watching TRUE DETECTIVE in the first place, was the bigger mythological (or in the first season, borderline paranormal) aspects of the crime. As someone who generally dislikes crime series and films, that was THE incentive for me to watch this series. So while the performances, the three timelines, the settings etc. were all top notch, the final episode was a HUGE anti-climax to me.

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I know. But the first season had that indescribable, semi-paranormal, ritualistic, primal quality to it - a bit like TWIN PEAKS (although not that far out). They went in a different direction with season 2, but kept the conspiracy/mystery throughout. The third season was similarly quite good up to the last episode.

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Everything you dislike about the last episode is everything I like about it!  It would have been so disappointing to have the case solved by being some sort of supernatural thing, or some sort of nationwide pedophile ring.  It was perfect that it was just some sad lonely lady on drugs kidnapping a replacement.

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  • 1 year later...
On 2/26/2019 at 5:10 PM, Jay said:

Everything you dislike about the last episode is everything I like about it!  It would have been so disappointing to have the case solved by being some sort of supernatural thing, or some sort of nationwide pedophile ring.  It was perfect that it was just some sad lonely lady on drugs kidnapping a replacement.

Coming back to this after just watching the season and what you say didn’t happen kinda did! He had a vision from his dead wife telling him exactly where to go find the girl.

 

I also find it odd that they included that tidbit about the pedophile ring from Season 1, going as far as showing McConaughey and Harrelson on a computer screen. 

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It's been a while since I've seen it obviously, but I thought he used good ole classic detective work to find her current wearabouts, but then his alzheimers kicked in once he got there and he couldn't remember why he was there or who she was?

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  • 1 year later...

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