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True Detective Weekly 5: Other Lives

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True Detective Weekly 5:

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Other Lives

After last week's climactic gun battle, pieces of the mystery are coming together like they never have before. It's a big reset for True Detective Season 2—for its characters, for their investigation, and for the show as a whole. And that feels refreshing in many ways—but is it too much of a good thing?

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Funniest thing I realized while watching this episode: for all the idiosyncrasies and different things that make True Detective unique, it still conforms to the most classic cop trope of all time: the cops get taken off the force halfway through, and then have to take matters into their own hands  :P

 

I also agree that McAdams character moments are kinda flat. Are these sexism scenes doing anything for anyone? I find them so 2 dimensional and half-assed. I mean, A for effort, but its not interesting for a guy to literally be the typical "it was a compliment!" guy and then for her to fluster them with her sexuality. It's cool that thats part of her story at work, but i really dont like how its been handled.

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The show is continuing to surprise me. The jump 2 months ahead, and basically resetting the investigation and where all the characters are at is a bold move, especially halfway through the season. Also, I didnt see this turn coming AT ALL in the relationship between Velcoro and Semyon and the disappeared rapist subplot, and it's great - I am very invested at this point and excited to see what happens next.

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"Frank set me up," says Ray in the presence of his ex-wife who does not know anything about Frank. "I don't know what that means," she replies and leaves.

 

The writing style seems to range from expecting the viewer to remember names that have been mentioned only once or twice in previous episodes, to expecting the viewers to totally miss important and fairly obvious plot points if not highlighted, underlined, and faxed to them a dozen or so times. I am quite sure that the viewers' knowledge of Ray's past actions, his utter bewilderment after hearing that his ex-wife's attacker has been caught, and the following scene where he confronts Frank would have been enough to inform viewers that Ray finally realized that Frank set him up even without that bizarre exchange of pulp talk.

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I actually have a few things to bring up about this episode - which is a sign in itself that it's the first one I've been particularly invested in. There has been a lot of talk around here that the last few episodes have kind of been treading water, with just endless scenes of us learning that Caspere was into weird sex stuff, and I finally feel like the show has gained a bit of momentum back.

 

Firstly, Paul's scene with his mother contained a line that resonated with me a little. His mother says something about him being a good looking white man, and how he could have been anything. She says something along the lines of, "if I was a man, I'd have ruled the world." This is weirdly something I've thought a lot in regards to my own life, especially when we're talking about social justice and feminism and race on these boards. As a straight, cis-gendered white man, have I failed if I've not totally risen to the top of society? Shouldn't I have, considering my advantages? Anyway, the line struck a chord.

 

Like most the Thumbs on the cast, I've been enjoying Frank and Jordan's relationship, and I thought they had some good scenes this week. In particular, the scene with them in the club in which Jordan basically lays everything out and says the equivalent of "all right, so we know all this shit about each other - do we still love each other? Are we still doing this?" was great. I really liked that challenging style of love that they seem to have - this is me, this is you, are we in? The other scene that stood out was them in bed later in the episode, when Frank says "you don't wanna grow anything." He's talking about farming, but there is instantly this sense that the line might apply to pregnancy as well, and she seems hurt and he seems regretful. Rather than that being explicitly discussed, however, he just immediately kisses her in what seemed to be to be a conciliatory manner, and then there's a slightly awkward pause. I thought that was a very believable reaction, and was one of the few times the show really seemed like it was being directed rather than written. The dialogue actually pulled back entirely and let the performances speak.

 

I was initially excited for the possibilities of the Velcoro rapist revelation, but was left disappointed by the ending of the episode. When it first came to light I had a genuine "oh shit" reaction as the consequences for Frank and Ray spun out in my head, but that last shot totally killed it for me. When Ray shows up at Frank's door the shot cuts to Frank before cutting back to Ray for the very last shot of the episode, and it is terrible. It genuinely looks like they took a break from filming and then Colin Farrell was told to stand in the doorway and look melodramatically menacing. His entire facial expression has changed, his head is at a different angle and he's doing a really forced looking glower from beneath his brows that seems like it should be on a movie poster. It was a huge let down for an episode that had made me excited for the season again.

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I found the convo about employee housing interesting as someone who lived in employee housing for a prison. It definitely is weird, I will say that. 

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This episode felt like something that should have happened way earlier in the series. Did they really need to spend more than half the entire series to set up the characters and investigation (which finally seems to be progressing)? A lot of stuff from the first four episodes feels even more redundant than it already did, given how little has changed in regards to the investigation.

 

The acting has been consistently great, which makes bearable some of the unconvincing dialogue and weird scenarios. Though regarding the scene with Ani that Croods mentions above, the other guys seem aroused and interested by Ani's comments rather than flustered, besides maybe the counsellor. That scene still feels weird because it comes across as self concious and meta, like Pizzolatto is trying to make a statement, rather than writing genuine character beats. I don't know if I trust the show to be able to deliver on "big picture messages" without saying some very problematic things in the process (accidentally or not), so i'm apprehensive every time it seems like it is.

 

Having said that, I think I've finally learned to stop worrying and go with the flow with Paul's character. Even with all the shouting, the show is still ambiguous about how and why Paul is so messed up, and that ambiguity is working for me.

 

P.S. Sean (and everyone else) should watch 'In Bruges' if you have any doubts about Colin Farrell as an actor.

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This episode felt like something that should have happened way earlier in the series. Did they really need to spend more than half the entire series to set up the characters and investigation (which finally seems to be progressing)? A lot of stuff from the first four episodes feels even more redundant than it already did, given how little has changed in regards to the investigation.

 

I agree. I was excited for the Chinatown-like poisoning of farmland to buy it up cheap for the rail corridor to be a subtle, expanding part of the conspiracy, and then in this episode Frank just states the explicit involvement of Archeron in that while having mostly unrelated conversations with two other characters. The plot moves forward, but in weird and surprising ways, and I'm still not entirely sure where the main hook is supposed to be for me.

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I agree that they are at finally getting to the actual investigation of the murder and surrounding conspiracy a bit late. Though, if i think back to season one the mystery always took a back seat to the characters. They didn't really break it down till the last 2 or 3 episodes.

 

It's always been obvious that the girls and parties part was going to become the focus because they mention it in every episode. Also it is a bit to random that the missing girl from ep1 sent all the clues to us in ep4 so we can move forward. That being said ill take it over 95% of the rest of bs that is out there to watch. This has good characters and some visual style. I think it is most similar to Hannibal in terms of oddly non casual dialog and style over everything, but I love that show also so there you go.

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I absolutely love how Frank and Jordan's infertility issues are being handled. Some of the best moments on the show. I wish they would actually say the word abortion though.

Did anyone else notice that Ani is not using her vape pen anymore? I like it as a little sign of how out of sorts she's currently feeling.

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Did anyone else notice that Ani is not using her vape pen anymore? I like it as a little sign of how out of sorts she's currently feeling.

 

Yeah, I noticed that. It was neat, although I was secretly hoping that they would just keep changing the color of the indicator LED of her e-cig, as a nod to the hardcore fans and to Twin Peaks.

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Did anyone else notice that Ani is not using her vape pen anymore? I like it as a little sign of how out of sorts she's currently feeling.

Oh yeah, I actually did notice she's smoking real cigarettes now. I meant to ask the forums or cast what they thought that might mean, but forgot. Is it a sign of her supposed hypocrisy being washed away, or that she's just too upset to use half measures, or are we simply not supposed to think she's cool anymore?

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Firstly, Paul's scene with his mother contained a line that resonated with me a little. His mother says something about him being a good looking white man, and how he could have been anything. She says something along the lines of, "if I was a man, I'd have ruled the world." This is weirdly something I've thought a lot in regards to my own life, especially when we're talking about social justice and feminism and race on these boards. As a straight, cis-gendered white man, have I failed if I've not totally risen to the top of society? Shouldn't I have, considering my advantages? Anyway, the line struck a chord.

 

Something tells me Paul's mom may be right, but that she also would have been one of the good looking white men keeping a place like Vinci a cess-pool. Well, ok, most of those guys aren't good-looking (and some of them aren't white, come to think of it) but you know what I mean. It's possible that Paul's status is due not just to his failure to seize opportunity, but also his hesitance to be a scumbag. Though he's still such a cipher at this point, it's hard to say (I wonder how much of the Black Mountain stuff we will actually get to learn).

 

I thought that was a very believable reaction, and was one of the few times the show really seemed like it was being directed rather than written. The dialogue actually pulled back entirely and let the performances speak.

 

This.

 

When Ray shows up at Frank's door the shot cuts to Frank before cutting back to Ray for the very last shot of the episode, and it is terrible. It genuinely looks like they took a break from filming and then Colin Farrell was told to stand in the doorway and look melodramatically menacing. His entire facial expression has changed, his head is at a different angle and he's doing a really forced looking glower from beneath his brows that seems like it should be on a movie poster.

 

Thank you for mentioning this! This happened numerous times in the episode, particularly with Colin Farrell - where his expression changes completely over the course of a cut (the other example that comes to mind is in the custody sequence).

 

All of the performances were terribly off this episode, though Taylor Kitsch (and the actress playing his mother) suffered the most. There are a few decent scenes for the actors, like the second between Frank & Jordan (though the first is very weak - especially Vaughn's performances) and the one between Ani & Ray in the bar (though that one is marred by Farrell's delivery of an admittedly terrible line, when he calls Paul a "god warrior" - I actually had to pause the video I was laughing so hard). But for the most part, this is the worst acting all season which is a pity because in many other ways this was my favorite episode: it had by far the most momentum, the details finally started coming together, the characters went through interesting changes, and there were lots of cool little moments/setpieces (Ray following the guy with the bass pounding was the most atmospheric this show has been all season). And it's weird that the acting was so bad when apparently John Crowley, the director, comes from theater and just had an excellent film at Sundance. All I can gather is that he had no handle on these characters at all, and the actors - five episodes into the show! - couldn't really help him. It stinks of a somebody working in a creative vacuum.

 

To be honest, I'm getting really, really irritated with Pizzolatto about now. I feel like he has shot himself and his show in the foot by insisting on being the all-seeing showrunner when in fact he has no vision beyond plot points and character moments (and his vision isn't so great there, either; this really feels like a 2-3 episode story arbitrarily stretched over 8). The refusal to credit Fukunaga for any of season 1's quality (which, to be fair, seems to be shared by Fukunaga towards him) comes off as insecurity, given how closely season 2 attempts to follow season 1's narrative structure. It's as if he's saying "look guys I can't do it again, all by myself!"

 

Reading interviews, it seems like he is a novelist who has decided to be a showrunner simply because that's where the action was. Well, cool, but when you don't bother to understand the intricacies of performance, atmosphere, and pacing - and refuse to collaborate with someone who does - you really haven't earned the right to compare yourself to David Chase.

 

I really want the last three episodes to be rewarding, but considering how last season actually dipped a bit at the end (for me) I'm worried. Episode 6 was my favorite last time, so maybe it will be this time as well. But I think the show is now past the point where whatever comes can miraculously justify what came before. I hope the experience of the show's mixed-to-lukewarm reception humbles Pizzolatto enough to realize his own shortcomings as a storyteller. But I could also see him getting defensive and doubling down for season 3, maybe even directing himself as he said he might in Vanity Fair. Then again, he seems to be pretty responsive (maybe too responsive) to criticism, so there's hope.

 

I've heard people imply he's just a complete hack who lucked out with a great director and actor last year, but I don't think that's true. A lot of what is cool about True Detective is definitely due to Pizzolatto. But I think he rushed to assemble this season, and with the wrong motives, and it shows.

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I absolutely love how Frank and Jordan's infertility issues are being handled. Some of the best moments on the show. I wish they would actually say the word abortion though.

 

Considering they can't even say the word "gay" I'm not surprised...

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There are moments I watch this show and just think "Man Nic Pizzolatto sure is in love with his own writing and probably thought he was being very clever there." This happened with the apoplectic line, but also with a Colin Farrell line in this last episode, I think when he was in the bar with Ani? It instantly pulls me out of the show. He could get away with writing that kind of dialogue for Rust, but there's no character in this season that I believe saying some of the stuff he writes. 

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There are moments I watch this show and just think "Man Nic Pizzolatto sure is in love with his own writing and probably thought he was being very clever there." This happened with the apoplectic line, but also with a Colin Farrell line in this last episode, I think when he was in the bar with Ani? It instantly pulls me out of the show. He could get away with writing that kind of dialogue for Rust, but there's no character in this season that I believe saying some of the stuff he writes. 

 

Yeah, now that I've noticed the trend and almost gotten over it, I'm enjoying the most out of all the actors how Vaughan handles the sudden deepening of his character's dialogue, pushing out the word like it's been something he's been saving up and is now anxious to be rid of, but I agree that it feels a lot like bits of Rust chopped up and mixed into every single character this season.

 

To be honest, I'm getting really, really irritated with Pizzolatto about now. I feel like he has shot himself and his show in the foot by insisting on being the all-seeing showrunner when in fact he has no vision beyond plot points and character moments (and his vision isn't so great there, either; this really feels like a 2-3 episode story arbitrarily stretched over 8). The refusal to credit Fukunaga for any of season 1's quality (which, to be fair, seems to be shared by Fukunaga towards him) comes off as insecurity, given how closely season 2 attempts to follow season 1's narrative structure. It's as if he's saying "look guys I can't do it again, all by myself!"

 

Reading interviews, it seems like he is a novelist who has decided to be a showrunner simply because that's where the action was. Well, cool, but when you don't bother to understand the intricacies of performance, atmosphere, and pacing - and refuse to collaborate with someone who does - you really haven't earned the right to compare yourself to David Chase.

 

I really want the last three episodes to be rewarding, but considering how last season actually dipped a bit at the end (for me) I'm worried. Episode 6 was my favorite last time, so maybe it will be this time as well. But I think the show is now past the point where whatever comes can miraculously justify what came before. I hope the experience of the show's mixed-to-lukewarm reception humbles Pizzolatto enough to realize his own shortcomings as a storyteller. But I could also see him getting defensive and doubling down for season 3, maybe even directing himself as he said he might in Vanity Fair. Then again, he seems to be pretty responsive (maybe too responsive) to criticism, so there's hope.

 

I've heard people imply he's just a complete hack who lucked out with a great director and actor last year, but I don't think that's true. A lot of what is cool about True Detective is definitely due to Pizzolatto. But I think he rushed to assemble this season, and with the wrong motives, and it shows.

 

Yeah, this is an excellent observation. It feels like the actors and the carousel of directors aren't getting enough input on the show. The script is so openly king here and even lines that clearly don't work or don't make sense in the context of the scene as it's shot seem to retain their place of prominence. It just appears to me like there's less of a collaboratory presence in the second season, which I miss a lot. It's Pizzolatto's show now and I'm becoming less and less sure that he was my favorite part of the first season.

 

I don't mean to bag on this show every episode thread, but it's currently neck and neck in my mind with Halt and Catch Fire, a similarly disappointing show that I'm watching with less money and pedigree behind it, and that makes me a little less than sanguine of its overall quality.

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"Frank set me up," says Ray in the presence of his ex-wife who does not know anything about Frank. "I don't know what that means," she replies and leaves.

 

The writing style seems to range from expecting the viewer to remember names that have been mentioned only once or twice in previous episodes, to expecting the viewers to totally miss important and fairly obvious plot points if not highlighted, underlined, and faxed to them a dozen or so times. I am quite sure that the viewers' knowledge of Ray's past actions, his utter bewilderment after hearing that his ex-wife's attacker has been caught, and the following scene where he confronts Frank would have been enough to inform viewers that Ray finally realized that Frank set him up even without that bizarre exchange of pulp talk.

 

For me that line was clarifying... I had spent the episode up until that point wondering whether he killed the wrong guy or he had chickened out of killing the right guy.  Considering that up until then he had avoided explicitly saying he had killed anyone, I was expecting it to be the other.  (And even after the scene at Frank's doorstep, I'd have been left wondering if he's just mad that it turned out to be a different guy than Frank had said.)

 

I absolutely love how Frank and Jordan's infertility issues are being handled. Some of the best moments on the show. I wish they would actually say the word abortion though.

 

I get the feeling this might be about them being a couple who doesn't like to acknowledge the existence of previous partners.  I know a couple like that, for whom it's sort of a religious thing, although for Frank I might assume he's possessive or jealous or something.

 

 

Unrelated to this episode in particular but I noticed:  At the autopsy we found that Caspare was being tortured for a long time up until the shotgun blast that indirectly killed him.  Later (we assume) the killer has the same shotgun loaded with rubber bullets.  Is it likely that the killer accidentally killed Caspare while meaning only to continue torturing him with a shot in the groin with rubber bullets?  I don't know anything about shotguns, but is is possible that this is that scenario where someone forgot about the one in the chamber or something?

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For me that line was clarifying... I had spent the episode up until that point wondering whether he killed the wrong guy or he had chickened out of killing the right guy.  Considering that up until then he had avoided explicitly saying he had killed anyone, I was expecting it to be the other.  (And even after the scene at Frank's doorstep, I'd have been left wondering if he's just mad that it turned out to be a different guy than Frank had said.)

 

Yeah, fair enough. I remember being confused for a bit too after what the state attorney lady said, but quickly decided that he had probably killed or at least "incapacitated" the guy Frank had pointed out to him, mainly because of Ray's personality and the ongoing agreement between Ray and Frank. At the very least, they could have used a bit more organic line to confirm that. Or else, just leave it hanging for a bit until the next episode.

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Yeah, fair enough. I remember being confused for a bit too after what the state attorney lady said, but quickly decided that he had probably killed or at least "incapacitated" the guy Frank had pointed out to him, mainly because of Ray's personality and the ongoing agreement between Ray and Frank. At the very least, they could have used a bit more organic line to confirm that. Or else, just leave it hanging for a bit until the next episode.

 

The harder question to me is how there's a rumor that Ray killed the guy who raped his wife without there also being a rumor that this is the specific guy that Ray killed.  If that guy exists and was murdered, then finding the actual rapist shouldn't really dispel the rumor to the State Attorney, right? 

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Far and away my favorite episode of this season. The 2nd half really feels like it has a story to tell unlike the bloated, floundering first.

 

I agree with Sean though. Sometimes these characters just don't behave like people. The scene with Frank and his wife in the basement office felt like I was watching the Newsroom. The dialogue just really feels like the writer talking to himself and having the characters only say things in order to get to a dramatic punchline.

 

Frank and Woodruff still aren't doing anything for me at all. Every time we get character moments with them, I just kind of zone out and imagine how much better the season would be if it were just Ani and Velcoro as the leads. They really better pay off plot-wise! THEY BETTER!

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This comment from episode 2 stuck with me. Then episode 6 happened.
 

I actually really liked the bit with the knives. It felt like an honest portrayal of a woman in position where she is painfully aware of here physical limitations in comparison to her male peers who have likely never felt afraid for their safety in the way that a woman in Ani's job must feel every day. Reminded me of that Margaret Atwood quote about men being afraid that women will laugh at them and women being afraid that men will kill them. Much more preferable to your standard Strong Female Characters who would never hint at their vulnerabilities. And at least Ani didn't talk about being raped!

 

:(

So much for that last bit, huh? They just couldn't resist. And her being raped literally adds NOTHING to her character. She already fucking had a perfectly good arc come to conclusion in this episode with her knives bit.

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Just watched the episode. I was so fucking disappointed about that revelation, as well.

 

 

Also, spoilers for those who have not yet watched episode 6, so..

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:(

So much for that last bit, huh? They just couldn't resist. And her being raped literally adds NOTHING to her character. She already fucking had a perfectly good arc come to conclusion in this episode with her knives bit.

I felt this was fairly implicit all along, particularly from the episode where she talks about how all the kids on the compound were traumatized. I thought the episode handled it well, partly due to the direction and the idea of mixing it with this present-day situation, but particularly because of McAdams' performance which really sold it for me. All season I've felt like her character wasn't really getting the moments of action and/or background that the other characters were, an this episode finally have her the opportunity she deserved.

The knife thing was also handled better than expected, with the delayed reaction. Only part that fell a bit flat was how easily they escaped.

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And people thought my feelings about Ani were off the mark, too. Sorry, by episode 2, I was already getting a sense of what kind of trope was being rolled out here. Male writers don't give a slightly tough-as-nails, knife-wielding woman who likes it rough but is emotionally icy just ANY kind of backstory. 

 

I'll expand on this in the episode 6 thread when it goes up but I feel slightly vindicated because I'm not surprised by this shit in the slightest. I love Ani with all of my heart but it's not because I think Pizzolato is a good writer.

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