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Chris

True Detective Weekly 7: Black Maps and Motel Rooms

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Keeping up the pace from last week, definitely, although I could have really done without Ani and Ray making goo-goo eyes at eachother and then having awkward makeouts later. Also

Paul dying right at the very last second felt cheap as hell but I know that's how this shit on TV works. Ugh.

 

Frank torching all his own shit and walking away with the cash felt triumphant, at least. 

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Was Paul's girlfriend somehow involved in arranging his death, or did they just cut to her crying for effect?

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Here's my post from the other thread, though I'm gonna drop the spoiler tags on the presumption we've all seen the episode if we're here:

 

Pretty sure Aniray had more anti-shippers than shippers but here we are. I'm not entirely sure if the show wants us to see it as a good thing or not (leaning towards giving it the benefit of the doubt) but either way, I wish they'd just left well enough alone. These two had really good chemistry as partners, and that little bit of romantic/sexual tension was ok way, way in the background, but the hook-up just felt very forced and awkward.

 

EDIT: Someone in another article felt it was like watching a brother & sister make out, but to me it felt even more like somebody making out with their reflection or something. These two feel just TOO similar to make an effective couple.

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Was Paul's girlfriend somehow involved in arranging his death, or did they just cut to her crying for effect?

 

It's like she could feel him dying while she was watching the movie in the motel.

 

I thought as soon as Paul was being walked down there he wasn't going to make it out alive. However for that dude to just happen to wait at that particular exit was too much for me.

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More fuel for the 'directors really make a difference' theory I guess.  The stark cuts mentioned above, and - I don't remember this from earlier episodes - closeups on people's faces, eg in the Frank/underling scene, slow-motion too, and the (excellent) leaning into a red light Ani does in the Ani/Ray cabin scene.  I liked these bits a lot - made it feel OTT in a fun way, especially the Frank/underling part.  Obvious 'The Departed' feelings toward the end...

It's always had (bad) elliptical dialogue but it feels like it's imploding now...  You're a good man.  No I'm not.  Do you remember?  What?  Anything!!

re: above I thought she was crying because she thought she'd figured out why kid Paul liked the film - it shows a better mother and child relationship.  But yes I think the specific cut was just a tragic thing rather than implying anything.

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I thought as soon as Paul was being walked down there he wasn't going to make it out alive. However for that dude to just happen to wait at that particular exit was too much for me.

 

It was really lazy way to end a character that up to this point felt effectively invincible. That final scene definitely didn't indicate why he thought he would be safe out the door.

 

Episode was exciting though.

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I have lots of little problems with the episode, but they seem like nitpicking now that I'm finally enjoying the season. I still think Paul could have been cut entirely from the show and it would have made for less of a drag at the beginning. Out of all of the POV characters, his stuff feels the least plot relevant. I don't have a problem with minor characters who don't ultimately play a meaningful role, but it is strange to get one in an 8 episode story.

I also really didn't like Velcoro and Ani hooking up. Velcoro has never come across to me as a character who is the slightest bit interested in sex. And I'm really not even sure what to make of Ani at this point. The scene would have played better for me if they just ended up holding hands as some kind of primitive need for human contact in a very desperate situation. But maybe that's just personal preference.

 

But, overall really loved the episode.

Velcoro finding Davis dead in that car was maybe the biggest holy shit moment of me for this season.

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I have lots of little problems with the episode, but they seem like nitpicking now that I'm finally enjoying the season. I still think Paul could have been cut entirely from the show and it would have made for less of a drag at the beginning. Out of all of the POV characters, his stuff feels the least plot relevant. I don't have a problem with minor characters who don't ultimately play a meaningful role, but it is strange to get one in an 8 episode story.

 

I'll cosign this. Around the middle of the season, I was thinking OK, he's starting to come together as a character...but ultimately he just felt like a not-very-interesting sideshow. Potential, but too much for an 8-episode arc especially one that already HAS a B story with Frank.

 

I also really didn't like Velcoro and Ani hooking up. Velcoro has never come across to me as a character who is the slightest bit interested in sex. And I'm really not even sure what to make of Ani at this point. The scene would have played better for me if they just ended up holding hands as some kind of primitive need for human contact in a very desperate situation. But maybe that's just personal preference.

 

Me too. I kept thinking stop here, stop here, leave it to our imaginations, leave it ambiguous, but they kept going. I've noticed quite a few critics are on board with this, though their tone is fairly defensive.

 

But, overall really loved the episode.

Velcoro finding Davis dead in that car was maybe the biggest holy shit moment of me for this season.

 

That really surprised me too. I'm not sure why in retrospect, but it worked.

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If I had editing software, I'd put that Mazzy Star Fade into You song under the Velcoro and Ani love scene and it would make me laugh hysterically.

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I enjoyed how unsexy the Ani and Ray scenes were -- his greasy hair kept falling into her face! -- because it helped that development feel more substantial than just two attractive leads hooking up on screen. There was a lot of good chemistry between Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams, but neither of them came close to touching the sexual tension that was Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in the first season.

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More fuel for the 'directors really make a difference' theory I guess.  The stark cuts mentioned above, and - I don't remember this from earlier episodes - closeups on people's faces, eg in the Frank/underling scene, slow-motion too, and the (excellent) leaning into a red light Ani does in the Ani/Ray cabin scene.  I liked these bits a lot - made it feel OTT in a fun way, especially the Frank/underling part.  Obvious 'The Departed' feelings toward the end...

It's always had (bad) elliptical dialogue but it feels like it's imploding now...  You're a good man.  No I'm not.  Do you remember?  What?  Anything!!

re: above I thought she was crying because she thought she'd figured out why kid Paul liked the film - it shows a better mother and child relationship.  But yes I think the specific cut was just a tragic thing rather than implying anything.

 

On the dialogue: I feel one of this series' problems is actually a bunch of unnecessary dialogue which lengthens scenes or unnecessarily presumes the audience are blind. The standout example is this episode's remark by Paul's sexual partner that "this wouldn't have happened if you'd been honest with yourself." It's a bad line which says something obvious and it's in contrast to the usual subtlety with which Paul's sexuality has been treated. I noticed there's also a moment like this when they're stalking around the cabin and spot the vultures. After the camera cuts away one detective pointlessly says that there are vultures.

 

By the way, if anyone (like me) is now thoroughly confused by the plots -- I didn't really remember the diamonds and I couldn't place the police chief at first -- here's a good, incredibly explicit plot summary up to this point.

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Here's my post from the other thread, though I'm gonna drop the spoiler tags on the presumption we've all seen the episode if we're here:

 

Pretty sure Aniray had more anti-shippers than shippers but here we are. I'm not entirely sure if the show wants us to see it as a good thing or not (leaning towards giving it the benefit of the doubt) but either way, I wish they'd just left well enough alone. These two had really good chemistry as partners, and that little bit of romantic/sexual tension was ok way, way in the background, but the hook-up just felt very forced and awkward.

 

EDIT: Someone in another article felt it was like watching a brother & sister make out, but to me it felt even more like somebody making out with their reflection or something. These two feel just TOO similar to make an effective couple.

 

I don't really like it either, but I think it works for exactly those reasons. Ani has an established history at this point of making bad decisions about who to sleep with, especially in times of duress, and Ray fits that profile pretty well in my opinion. I'm a little less convinced that he'd be into it, admittedly.

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Listening to Chris' comment about how interesting it is for Stan's death to tempt viewers into seeing a pattern of serial killings when it's really something more grounded and pragmatic, I'm looking forward very much to this podcast's rewatch of the first season. One of the most striking things to me, watching it for the third time, is how much effort the writing of that season puts into pushing hints about Rust's possible culpability with the serial killings. Various things said by people who've been in contact with the Yellow King and Carcosa are repeated or anticipated by Rust, the vast majority of revelations in the case happen offscreen and are then reported to Marty by Rust himself, Rust repeatedly uses his authority as a cop to get barbiturates to help him sleep but possibly also to impair his memory and reduce anxiety, there's the entire frame story with its subtly garbled timeline... It's actually quite effective to watch, if you're able to ignore the fact that it's unsupported outside of the literal words of the dialogue.

 

Really, it falls apart because McConaughey and presumably Fukunaga appear to be totally uninterested in pushing that angle. The lines are there, but for them to work, Rust has to come off as a character functionally indistinguishable from Reggie Ledoux, save for the respective sides of order and chaos for which they work. Instead, McConaughey drops the "anti" from "antichrist" in his performance and delivers Rust's lines like an actual messiah. It's much more entertaining, but I wonder what the first season of True Detective would have been like if I had doubted the innocence of Rust for even a moment...

 

Also, the repeating list from this latest episode, for those who are interested:

 

CLcvRW5WcAAcZYN.jpg

 

Most commentators have already made some variation of "The list is a flat circle," so go nuts.

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An interview with the infamous Stan himself: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/07/who-is-stan-true-detective-mystery-solved. Funny thing is, the actor/character is getting more attention than he probably would if the character actually WAS more prominent.

Also, after finally figuring who Stan was - the totally anonymous (but predictably unfriendly-looking) goon/thug who roughs up some businessman and stands scowling behind someone in another scene, it's all the more hilarious that he's been built up into this mythic, noble too-good-for-this-world hero. Although I guess this is undercut by Blake's reveal that Stan just wanted a payoff or to get cut into the deal to betray Frank after all.

EDIT: I love this tweet too: https://twitter.com/brianbyrdman/status/625495606228856832

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I think Idle Thumbs Network should cash in on the opportunity and start selling a "Who is Stan?" t-shirts in their online store, in the vein of other iconic questions such as "Who is John Galt?" and "Who killed Laura Palmer?".

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I re-watched the Stan bits recently in an attempt to try to understand why people latched on to him so much. I still think all the scenes where Stan was mentioned clearly weren't about Stan. The second season has had a lot of characters and scenes that blink by, or have meaning only because they imply something. The 'Stan' scenes were good scenes about Frank both as a character and as a crime lord, at least for me.

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I re-watched the Stan bits recently in an attempt to try to understand why people latched on to him so much. I still think all the scenes where Stan was mentioned clearly weren't about Stan. The second season has had a lot of characters and scenes that blink by, or have meaning only because they imply something. The 'Stan' scenes were good scenes about Frank both as a character and as a crime lord, at least for me.

 

Oh, of course they're not about Stan, but when a show's writing repeats a name so many times, its viewers tend to get the idea that they should know the name. It really wouldn't have been hard to replace some of the many instances of "Stan" with "one of my guys," but for some reason, a more "authentic" form of the dialogue was chosen.

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Oh, of course they're not about Stan, but when a show's writing repeats a name so many times, its viewers tend to get the idea that they should know the name. It really wouldn't have been hard to replace some of the many instances of "Stan" with "one of my guys," but for some reason, a more "authentic" form of the dialogue was chosen.

A good point, and a great way of looking at it. Thanks!

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This season has just had too many coincidences. The girl from the diamond robbery in the 90s happens to end up going to sex parties with the people who set the robbery up. Ani and her partner evict a woman who's sister is involved in the sex parties and worked for Ani's father. Ani's dad happens to know all the people in the business conspiracy. Ani's sister happens to know how to get her an invite to the parties. The mercenary company Paul worked for happens to be involved in this case.. The guy who kills Paul (he looked familiar, one of the state cops?) is somehow in the right place at the right time. I'm glad the person Velcoro killed when he thought he was killing his wife's rapist was just a random guy because it seemed like another opportunity to tie shit together. I think for the first time this whole season the only character I am excited to see in the final episode is Stan because he is going full on crazy robbery commando and at least we will probably get a good action scene in whatever mess of a last episode we end up with. I would not be at all surprised if everyone ends up dead, and at this point that is fine with me.

 

There are so many damn characters in this show I can't remember who is who anymore. I think the only way to follow this show would be to watch all 8 episodes straight so every stupid minor character is fresh in your mind.

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I think for the first time this whole season the only character I am excited to see in the final episode is Stan because he is going full on crazy robbery commando and at least we will probably get a good action scene in whatever mess of a last episode we end up with. I would not be at all surprised if everyone ends up dead, and at this point that is fine with me.

 

I think you're going to be sorely disappointed if you're expecting to see Stan in the finale! He was a good man..

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I think you're going to be sorely disappointed if you're expecting to see Stan in the finale! He was a good man..

I forgot the mobsters name lol

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This season has just had too many coincidences. The girl from the diamond robbery in the 90s happens to end up going to sex parties with the people who set the robbery up. 

 

While I will agree that the world of this season felt really small with almost every character is connected to at least one other in some huge way (maybe fine a small town, less so in So Cal), I greatly suspect that finale will show Laura and Leonard Ostermann getting into the business of Caspere and his associates was very much deliberate on the Ostermann's part.

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While I will agree that the world of this season felt really small with almost every character is connected to at least one other in some huge way (maybe fine a small town, less so in So Cal), I greatly suspect that finale will show Laura and Leonard Ostermann getting into the business of Caspere and his associates was very much deliberate on the Ostermann's part.

 

That is more or less what I'm assuming too. Since the only thread we don't have an explanation for is who killed Caspere and why, the kids and revenge seem like the obvious answers.

 

I wasn't really into the first half of this episode, but I tuned back in once weird shit started happening in the back half. Upon reflection, this is how I've felt about most of the episodes of this season that had something action heavy happening in them. I'm not sure whether it's the dialogue or the acting or what, but I only really buy this show when shit is going down. When people are sitting around discussing things, it mostly seems somewhere between pointless and unbelievable.

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