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All three seasons of True Detective are worth watching.

 

1 is of course above and beyond, and is some of the best television of the 2010s period.

 

2 is mostly kinda just not great, but the acting is still good.  It eventually gets somewhat interesting but isn't organized or paced well, feels rushed.  And shares almost none of the feel and tone of 1

 

3 I liked a lot, goes back to some of what made 1 work like being set in the past and having multiple timelines as once.  Not a legendary season of tv like 1 but still very good, with great acting and just extraordinarily good cinematography

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10 hours ago, crocodile said:

Was 2 any good?

 

Karol

I liked it more than most. It’s a bit bloated by trying to juggle 3 protagonists, with the middle episodes not being that good. However, the beginning and ending episodes more than make up for it, in my opinion.

 

It has a heavy Twin Peaks influence too. Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn are excellent here. Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch, not so much. 

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Heavy may be overstated, but I’d say Colin Farrell’s story line is directly influenced by it. Particularly with this scene…

Spoiler

 

It was that story thread and the bit in Fargo Season 3 that got me to revisit Twin Peaks and give it a proper chance. 

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  • 2 months later...

She’s also executive producer and I’ll bet a million dollars she directs a couple episodes.  This will not involve Pizzolato though.

 

Season 3 was easily the best season of the show so he went out on a high.

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Finally watched these Season 4 teasers last night.  Looks like a cool setting and premise at the very least.  Since I liked Season 1 and 3 a lot, I'll give 4 a shot.

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  • 2 months later...
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Night Country - Part 1

 

Loved this first episode. Fantastic atmosphere, setting in in Alaska during the time it's completely dark is a very clever choice.

 

Jodie Foster is outstanding. Love the sort of comeback she's making in the last few years.

Kali Reis is also really strong. Kudos to her for going toe to toe with Foster.

Love Fiona Shaw, but she didn't do more than walking in the snow here, let's hope she gets more to do.

 

The central mystery of the season is nicely set up and I really love that there is a slight supernatural/horror aspect to it. Let's see how crazy it goes.

 

Also a shoutout to Issa López for her writing and directing. There are some really incredible shots and she uses the darkness as best as possible. Script is also really strong and is able to make you care for the characters in a small amount of time.

 

Excited for the other 5 episodes!

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Excited for this as the first episode was good, but it better do something that is different from about a 1000 Iceland-shot shows that do more or less the same thing. The Thing references are appreciated, but Katla on Netflix and The Case more or less cover the first episode. Need to be a bit more original if you want to meet the standards of the first one.

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2 hours ago, Dogstar said:

Excited for this as the first episode was good, but it better do something that is different from about a 1000 Iceland-shot shows that do more or less the same thing.

 

Why? I think part of what makes those shows appealing, and successful, is that they all more or less follow the same formula. Some do it better than others, but when someone sits down to watch Nordic Noir they pretty much know what they want.

 

I mean, that's presumably the whole reason True Detective went this route with Night Country. I'm just wondering if they're assuming most Americans haven't watched much Scandinavian crime drama and will mistake it for something original. 

 

On 15/1/2024 at 4:26 AM, JNHFan2000 said:

Loved this first episode. Fantastic atmosphere, setting in in Alaska during the time it's completely dark is a very clever choice.

 

Actually, it's been done about a million times, but it works. :) Though yes, it was quite good. 

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Dude, totally agree, but the first True Detective broke up the standard on TV crime so was expecting this to do something similar especially with Foster and her reputation, but hey fucking ho, not too bothered if it's a Scandinoir for the non-reading lot.

Just expected the brand to aim higher which they will probably do.

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2 hours ago, Dogstar said:

Need to be a bit more original if you want to meet the standards of the first one.

 

1 hour ago, Dogstar said:

Just expected the brand to aim higher which they will probably do.

 

Well it's hard to think they could get much more original than a doppelgänger creating volcano.  :lol:

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True Detective 4x01 Night Country, Part 1

 

Wow, a super good first episode that did everything right; Feeling like a part of the True Detective world but also feeling like its own thing, and setting up the new mystery and all its character extremely well.

 

I loved the spooky setup to start with the caribou and hunter being spooked by something not clear to us (shame about the terrible animal CGI though), completely with the "last sunset of the year" on-screen detail.  And I liked that this was followed up by setting up the research station and the discovery that all the scientists had disappeared 3 days later (though one seemed to still be there!) all before the opening credits - which themselves were really cool with a nice song that perfectly fit the mood.

 

After that boy, so many details and clues and characters, it was a lot to take in!  Jodie Foster is really good as Danvers; Her first scene reacting to the Beatles song in Ferris Bueller was a fun character introduction.  I think that her statement about not liking the Beatles, combined with that flashback as she approached the drunk driver car crash, is a clue that she's lost someone to a drunk driving incident, maybe while a Beatles song was playing, and that's why she's kind of bitter and has a strange relationship with her (not officially?) adopted daughter.

 

Kali Reis was new to me, but I instantly was drawn to the character of Navarro.  I want to know more about this Annie K case, and what Navarro and Danver's past was.  I am sure Annie K's case will be directly related to the current case on a plot level, but I am curious to see how their past will connect to this investigation on a thematic one.

 

John Hawkes is always great, and he continues to be great here as Hank.  It was an interesting angle that he's the father of the one kid on the force that seems to respect Danvers the most, and that he's so distracted by his Russian bride (lol) that he missed that he stole the case files right out from under.  (And about that, I didn't understand why he was reluctant to return everything to begin with?)

 

Fiona Shaw's character Rose was another interesting one; Such a great spooky moment when it seemed like the wolf (?) she was gutting came back to life, and I had no idea what was going on with the person she was seeing until the end of the episode.  I love that the bodies are discovered by a seemingly supernatural way; I love all the possible supernatural stuff throughout the whole episode, that I presume will be explained by science by season's end, but you never know!

 

So many more things in this episode... Navarro's sister, Annie K's tongue being at the new crime scene, one of the scientists probably knowing her / having the same jacket; a scientist saying "She's awake", something both Danvers and Navarro later hear (!); Navarro seeing a one-eyed polar bear in the street / Danvers having a one-eyed stuffed polar bear in her house; the conflict between the miners and other contingents of the town; just what was the lab really studying? Did they drill down too deep and unleash something ancient?; the spiral pattern; What's up with the water in town!? ; and...were those dead bodies not wearing any clothes?

 

I'm totally hooked, can't wait to see where this all goes!

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True Detective 4x02 Night Country, Part 2

 

Wow, what a dense episode!  SOOO many clues and details and story threads and questions and... this is not the kind of show you can casually watch, there's so much going on in every scene, it's impressive.  It's starting to feel like they took an 8 episode story and scrunched it down to 6!

 

So many crazy details with the dead bodies... not just frostbite, but their eyes and burned? human bite marks? ruptured ear drums? the spiral symbol of course, and they all look like they are scared out of their minds.  And do I have the count right.... 8 scientists worked in the research station, 6 of which are thawing corpsicles in the hockey rink, one that WAS in the ice but was somehow not killed (!) and is now in the hospital after having an arm ripped off and leg amputated, and then the 8th is Clark, who knew Anne, built a shrine to her in a trailer after she died, is the guy who said "She's Awake" in the beginning of the first episode, and was certainly still in the station when the delivery guy showed up?  Crazy.

 

That moment where one of the bodies in the ice was revealed to be alive was absolutely crazy, and reminded me of the wolf in the first episode.  I love all these little things that could be supernatural or could not be, reminds me of season 1 so much.  I do wonder how much will be explained and how much will be left ambiguous.  Navarro and Rose's scene together was really cool.  I love the line about the spiral being "older than the ice itself."  And I loved that she wiped it out of the snow after drawing it, like it has bad juju.  I learned after watching that the dead husband of hers that led her to the dead bodies is Rust Cohle's FATHER!? Woah!

 

I wonder if Connelly (Christopher Eccleston) showing up to try to have Anchorage take the case is just a sort of procedural road block, of he Knows Something.  That sex scene with Jodie Foster was unexpected in its intensity and duration!  Danvers scene with that other former lover who is now a teacher was really cool too; The scientists basically trying to find a cure for cancer by way of ancient organisms in the ice that could stop cellular deterioration was basically along the lines was interesting; the teacher insistence that it was a fool's errand because the permafrost kills them (or whatever he said) was interesting; Surely the scientists there would have known that?  So maybe they are up to something else?

 

It was such a cool idea to use the hockey rink as a place to thaw the bodies, and do it properly which also gives Danvers a nice reason to not let Connelly take over.  Though the security is so lapse that Danvers daughter just walked right in; I wonder if that will play into things.  Pete's father also showing up to smack him there was brutal.  Poor Pete!  I don't understand what power Danvers has over him to not be able to say no to her, even when his wife and kid want him home.  Another thing I didn't realize until after watching, was that was he tells Danvers that "Tuttle United" ultimate funds the research station is a reference to the Tuttles, the pedophile cult from season 1 that the Yellow King was a part of.  How do they have so much money after Rust and Marty took them down?

 

Speaking of Hank, it's so obvious that he's getting scammed by a someone in Russia and no bride is ever coming.  Really sad for him, except that he's kind of a dick anyway.  I am so glad Pete has broken the cycle there.

 

Danvers and Navarro finally teaming up was really cool.  You knew it was gonna happen so I'm glad it wasn't dragged out any longer.  I can't wait to learn more about all the stuff they found in that trailer because I don't know if I understood it all.  I can't wait to learn about basically every detail (like Navarro throwing the cross necklace out her window and running over some lump in the road must mean something?), unanswered question (what's up with the water?), and character (I didn't even mention Navarro's sister; I loved that line about "don't confuse a visit from the dead with mental illness'). 

 

Anyone else watching and enjoying?

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Thanks!  I never in a million years would have picked up on the Season 1 connections without listening to a recap podcast that explained them.  But yeah apparently in season 1, Rust Cohle mentions that his father once lived in Alaska and died of leukemia, and Rose's ex-husband being a Travis Cohle that died of leukemia basically confirms they are the same person.  And also I never would have remembered that Tuttle was the last name of the villains from season 1, so "Tuttle United" being mentioned as the company that funds the research facility completely went over my head when watching.

 

But there are so many other details packed into these episodes I didn't even mention.  The weird wounds on Annie K's body are probably caused by some unusual drilling equipment at the lab.  The dead scientist's clothes being neatly folded near where they died.  Does "she's awake" refer to Annie K's spirit, mother earth's spirit, that goddess thingy with the dripping bloody hands, or something else?  Why was Danvers' daughter hanging out at Peter's house, are they cousins or something? Is that thing in the road Navarro ran over supposed to be a clue of some kind? What happened in this former case Navarro and Danvers both worked that made them so reluctant to ever work together again? Was Clark in love with Annie and then distraught by her death, or is he the one who killed her? What is the connection between her environmental cause and the research his group is doing?

 

If you're interested at all in listening to a podcast about this show, I recommend the one I listen to:

 

https://baldmove.com/category/true-detective/

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I like the first couple of episodes. I wasn't aware of any season 1 connections, but started to suspect them when I saw the cast credits and that animal head in the opening credits. Haven't delved into it deeper, will experience them as they come.

 

The show crosses off a few boxes for me. I don't usually like crime shows, but this has other things going for it -- kinda supernatural elements, great winter/desolation mood (which is always very therapeutic for me, living in a country where that kind of winter is commonplace and - in fact - in full action now) and Jodie Foster.

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True Detective 4x03 Night Country, Part 3

 

As much as I really enjoyed the first 2 episodes of the season, this one wasn't quite as good; A few things are starting to give me doubt that the season is going to end as strongly as it began.  I hope I'm wrong!

 

So there is clearly something up with the water in the town, right?  It's been referenced in every episode, and here we see Danvers seeing how bad it is in the villages where the indigenous live (it seems the main part of the town gets the good stuff).  And it seems to be leading babies being stillborn, which they already seemed to know about 7 years ago in the Navarro / Annie K flashback (which was a genuinely good scene all around) but maybe now it's getting worse with the stillborn in the present timeline.  So the question are who knows about it and why hasn't anything been done about it...

 

I think Hank is revealed in this episode to not just be a bit inept and lazy, but actively hindering investigations (for reasons that aren't quite clear yet) on top of being a real asshole.  He hid that Annie K was dating Clark (which, btw, how was that so secret that even Navarro couldn't uncover it?), and he seemingly was completely fine with his hillbilly hires killing Clark on site if they found him.  I feel like there's gonna be some capitalism reason for him doing these things, we'll see...

 

I liked finally getting to see why Navarro and Danvers are always at odds with each other.  The way it was filmed with Danvers narrating the cover story while we see what really happened was cool.  Now the only question is which one of them shot him (or did they both do it) and is there something else that happened as a result of all this.  One part of the backstory that made no sense was that Danvers said they went to his house because they "received the call" but who would have been calling it in?  Remains to be seen if this will be explained as more is revealed, or if its a plot hole...

 

The minor info we learned about Annie K this week wasn't very exceptional.  It already was strongly hinted that she was dating Clark in some manner (with them sharing a coat and him having her stuff in his trailer).  The new lead about the guy (Oliver) who used to work at Tsalal but quit right before Annie's death seemed like ti would lead to a cool new piece of info, but I couldn't really figure out from the look on his face how he really felt after learning all the scientists were dead, and then he kicked them out right after (and did anyone else think it was funny that they turned their siren on as they left there for the hospital?)

 

One thing I really liked about the first season and the first 2 episodes of this seas was all the "supernatural adjacent" stuff, all kinds of creepy/spooky things that could just as easily have a supernatural explanation or, some kind of every day one.  Well in this episode I noticed that all the "supernatural" stuff was from Navarro's perspective when she was alone... the orange rolling back at her, the figure on the ice, and Lund delivering a spooky message from her dead mother to her.  So now I'm thinking she has something wrong with her (maybe from the water, maybe something else) causing her to hallucinate and there isn't really anything supernatural going on.

 

The hospital scene was weird too.  Lund didn't really deliver any actionable information, just more stuff about a "her" being awake and that she hunted them (which whatever that means at least connects to the vet's analysis that the men died of heart attacks before freezing)... but the way they had Danvers leave the room for this random tussle in the lobby that was confusingly explained (exactly what happened, anyway?) and shot (the extras seemed to barely have any idea what to do being while Jodie Foster slowly handcuffed one) just made everything feel so clunky and off.  At least the payoff at the very end was interesting (the video found on Annie's phone that Peter was somehow able to hack), though even that was unintentionally (at least I think it was unintentional) funny that they were watching this video with a woman screaming for her life in the middle of the lobby at fully volume as all these nurses and staff go about their business, lol

 

The video itself.... wow, lots to figure out here.  It look like Annie is in some kind of ice cave, which is already a cool thing for the show to include (I've been in one in Iceland and they are really neat).  She says she found something, but who is she recording the video for, what did she find, and where exactly is she?  For some reason, I feel like she's gotta be either close to the mine, or close to Tsalal, and I'd wager on the latter.  But then wtf was it that attacks her and drags her away?  I think the show wants us to think it coul dbe a supernatural monster to tied into what Lund was saying, but I sort of got more of a polar bear vibe for whatever reason?  Either way, is this ice cave attack the actual cause of all the weird star-shaped wounds she had?  But surely that would have come up in the autopsy?  Or did someone (someone from the mine?) stab her after she was already dead from this attack to hide what really killed her?  I am curious to find out!

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True Detective 4x04 Night Country, Part 4

 

Well that was a nice bounce-back after the somewhat disappointing third episode.  The pacing was a bit stop-and-go, but the character development and new wrinkles in the case were all pretty good.

 

Julia committing suicide was a bummer, but has certainly been telegraphed the whole season.  The fact that she folder her clothes before doing it was made to feel like a clue, but I suspect its just a coincidence.  Leah going all-in on being against the mining company made sense, and I kind of doubt her and Danvers will have much of a resolution before the end of the season.  She's basically old enough to not have to deal with Danvers' shit any more.  Danvers driving drunk was a new lowpoint for her, though her interaction with Connelly was kind of funny, and her seeing the one-eyed polar bear was good because it means it wasn't just in Navarro's head the first time.

 

Navarro had some good scenes this week; obvious the ones with her sister, then an interesting scene with Rose (I hope by next episode Rose plays some important role in the case because as much as I enjoy Fiona Shaw's performance, I'm not yet sure why the character needs to be here).  But then her letting herself get beat up to deal with her grief was interesting, and that she went to her bang buddy afterwards and he tended to her.  She definitely hit her low point at the end of the episode, thinking she's cursed and seeing things and is going to go the way of her sister and mother.  But I suspect something about the water, or something else will explain the visions she's having as well as the ear bleed she has at the end.  Oh, it was also interesting to see that she had a vision when they confronted Wheeler in the flashback.

 

Peter did some awesome detective work to find a guy with similar wounds, Otis Heiss.  And that was cool that asking the school teacher about ice caves revealed that Otis Heiss had mapped out the only caves that make sense to be the ones that Annie was killed in!  And that they find him at the end of the episode, wearing Clark's coat!  It really feels like so much is going to be revealed next week when they head in the caves (I'm assuming).

 

New episode this Friday, since the Superbowl's on Sunday!

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Thanks for your thoughts.

I both enjoy them but I'm having a hard time writing my thoughts down about the episodes and your way of putting down your thoughts is exactly what I mean to write.

 

And thanks for the heads up about the friday release because of the Super Bowl

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It's still not "special" like season 1 was, but it's good enough.

 

The hardest thing to get into is that they've written Jodie Foster's character to be such a total and complete asshole to every single other character (except anyone under like 10 years old).  It's hard to route for her, despite wanting the case to be solved.

 

Similarly, it was sad on one level that Hank's Russian bride stood him up, but he's such an asshole too, I can't feel bad for the guy at all

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Can't help thinking that even just a little humour would help ... I had to listen to 2 BBC radio comedy programmes after watching Ep 4 last night, it was so damn bleak. 

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That's what I love about it. As I alluded to earlier, the storyline isn't that important to me. What I love about it is the bleakness, the sheer mood. It's pure therapy with my own surroundings captured in the same weather at the moment (although we do have more daylight hours down here). The play with black tones, the falling snow (as viewed from both inside and outside), the icy breaths, the curated light sources, I love it.

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Woow, episode 5 was fantastic!

 

Those final 15 minutes were spectacular!

 

What did Kate & Connelly do?

 

Can't wait for the finale next week!

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Indeed. Issa Lopez painted herself into a corner with the grand mystery and intrigue hinted in the first couple episodes, then had no idea on how to conclude, and decided to throw in everything and the kitchen sink. Trying to do BOTH a logical and supernatural explanation, ending up with a bunch of loose threads, with (frankly boring) events that need extreme coincidences to coincide. 

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Overall, I don't think I liked it that much. Still, quite amusing to see stalwart Brit/Irish actors (Eccleston, Fiona Shaw, Dervla Kirwan) popping up in a high-profile HBO show.

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  • 3 weeks later...

True Detective 4x05 Night Country, Part 5
True Detective 4x06 Night Country, Part 6

 

Well, I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't write about either of these episodes in a timely manner, and now I really have no desire to.  I'll just say that this season followed the pattern of so many others: Awesome atmosphere, intriguing mystery, had me hooked on wanting to know what happened.... and then ultimately being disappointed by all the final reveals.

 

I don't even know what to say about it really except that so much of stuff in the end didn't make sense.  I liked that for a while they rode the line about things that could have been supernatural or could not have, then kind of sort of reaveled that most things were not supernatural, but some things definitely sort of were?  There were so many clunky bits and shortcuts, like they finding the caves and then being in the research lab with little effort, the death of Annie K not lining up at all with the video of it (WTF?), no plausible reason why the one scientist who survived not simply saying who did it when he woke up in the hospital (etc etc).  I at least liked the mining company having to own up to what they did with via the leaked video, and Danvers having a season 1-esque interview bit at the end but man.  So much was not explained well, and all the other season 1 ties made no sense at all.  The Tuttles own the lab? WTF?  And Navarro finally learns her native name then kills herself?

 

Very disappointing ending that ultimate just reveals the writers weren't up to the job of writing a compelling mystery that tracks the entire time, they just wamboozled us with directing and the initial reveals in the early episodes.  I'm sure HBO greenlit another season run by Lopez because the ratings were so high but damn, I can't imagine her team will suddenly come up with a way better script for another one.  Yikes.

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