True Detective

[mfunk9786]

Was the 3rd season worthwhile? I know people weighed in here and there, but I haven't really heard much enthusiasm for it on here or elsewhere, it came and went without much more than a whisper.

[Big Ben]

Was the 3rd season worthwhile? I know people weighed in here and there, but I haven't really heard much enthusiasm for it on here or elsewhere, it came and went without much more than a whisper.

It was a return to form for me. It's a weird sort of reflection on True Crime and the "fans" it creates. Hysteria, conspiracies, that sort of thing. It felt in the end like a far broader criticism of all of it.

[aox]

Was the 3rd season worthwhile? I know people weighed in here and there, but I haven't really heard much enthusiasm for it on here or elsewhere, it came and went without much more than a whisper.

I thought it was fantastic.

[ford]

Was the 3rd season worthwhile? I know people weighed in here and there, but I haven't really heard much enthusiasm for it on here or elsewhere, it came and went without much more than a whisper.

I thought it was fantastic.

Yeah I thought it was at least as good as the first season. Better in a lot of ways.

[mfunk9786]

Well, I'm sold! Thanks!

[denti alligator]

The third season is FAR better than the second, but it also falls short of the brilliance of the first season. The ending, though, is perfection. Better than anything in the first season. It's too bad, because that's the one thing the first season couldn't get right.

[Big Ben]

I'll second the praise for the ending too. I thought it was incredibly sincere.

[denti alligator]

It's sincere and thematically dead-on, which is rare. Almost makes me want to re-watch the show. But it wasn't *that* good. Season 1, on the other hand ...

[flyonthewall2983]

Anybody watch Murder On The Bayou on Showtime? It was partly the basis for the plot of the first season, and as it played out it really rammed home how much stranger truth is than fiction. And in this case, partly infuriating as well.

[Big Ben]

Anybody watch Murder On The Bayou on Showtime? It was partly the basis for the plot of the first season, and as it played out it really rammed home how much stranger truth is than fiction. And in this case, partly infuriating as well.

The case feels more prescient now than it did when the first season premiered although Pizzolatto appears to be aware that sometimes an explanation is mundane, in spite of our preconceived notions. Season 3 appears to be an answer to the first in this regard.

The most frustrating part about the Jeff Davis 8 is that someone knows something and isn't coming forward which makes the case, as you say, all the more infuriating.

[DarkImbecile]

Fourth season in the works, minus Nic Pizzolatto and plus Barry Jenkins

Addition by subtraction, and also addition

[therewillbeblus]

I didn't watch the third season, but Pizzolatto's "contributions" to season two continue to be the most frustrating, head-slapping examples of overwriting I've ever experienced. I'm getting chills just thinking of Vaughn's self-made uneducated gangster spouting dense poetic dialogue like it's the au naturale tongue of his social context

[Mr Sausage]

Season 3 was pretty good. It had some issues here and there, but it was a lot closer to Season 1 than the shitshow that was Season 2. It's worth a watch. That said, I'm all for a new writer and showrunner.

[therewillbeblus]

Good to know, thanks for the confidence. Having said all that, I do think season 2 episode 6 (the mansion party mission) bested anything in season 1 (which I thought was wall-to-wall perfect) as one of the most riveting setpieces I’ve ever seen- somehow stretched out to an hour and managing to amplify its tension in unexpectedly creative ways throughout. The rest of the season, though, hit the lowest lows of ‘horrible’ and ‘boring’

[Mr Sausage]

I don't remember the mansion party, but I do remember the big shootout in the street that ended with the three mains just standing there in shock as the episode faded to black. That was as effective as anything in season 1. The rest was eye-rollingly bad. Like, Pizzolatto responded to the lack of female characters in Season 1 by saddling the lone female in the story with not just a rape background, but daddy issues as well. Why have one sexist cliche when you can have two, right? Oh, and then he shuffles her out of the way so the men can handle the big climax. Holy shit. I'm honestly glad he went back to ignoring female characters in season 3. Worked out for the better.

[therewillbeblus]

She’s the key principal to the mansion setpiece, so it’s worth revisiting for that. But yeah, I’ll never forget that initial monotonous exchange between McAdams and Farrell in the car that seems desperate to deflate any spark either actor naturally brings to the table, culminating in a line intended to be witty and funny (but yielding neither result) by relating smoking a vape pen to “sucking a robot’s dick.” What a tonal mess.

[Mr Sausage]

Ok, yeah, I remember she gets drugged and stabs a security guard with her knife trick, but that's it.

Every so often youtube'll recommend me that scene where Farrell yells at his kid over shoes, and it always makes me laugh. It's not supposed to, I know, it's supposed to be this guy being an abusive piece of shit. But it's like watching a reenactment of abuse written by people who just now looked the word up in the dictionary. The kid is such an unbelievable drip, the shoe thing is so comically minor, and here's Colin Farrel standing in the street screaming "pussy!" at him while the step dad watches with his head down. It's honestly mind blowing. And doesn't the rest of the show have Farrell recording these long stream-of-consciousness rants for his son on a tape recorder, just baring the depths of his insanity for his son to be retraumatized to at length, and this was meant to show like his redemption arc or something? Just leaving his chubby unpopular son who he's relentlessly abused a multi-hour record of alcohol fueled insanity. Can you imagine the kid having to sit at home and listen to that? Five hours of his Dad going to pieces in real time while doing a Sam Spade impression? Fucking hysterical. How can this show both be so boring and so funny? Vince Vaughn doesn't like the one guy's grill, so he just pulls all his teeth out? That's some Poe level comedy.

[Boosmahn]

Season four, subtitled "Night Country," will premiere in 2023. It stars Jodie Foster and is helmed by Barry Jenkins and Issa López.

[Mr Sausage]

Season 4 Trailer.

[therewillbeblus]

Used this announcement as an opportunity to finally dig into season three, and at about halfway through I'll agree that it's miles better than 2 but still falling short of 1 (which really isn't saying anything other than it's not horrible and it's not the best thing ever - so, to be more specific, it's pretty okay!) While it's worth giving praise for the narrative construction and acting and casting, the most relieving aspect and secret ingredient is unsurprisingly the omission of a negative: Pizzolatto backing off from the overwriting that bled through into every moment of season 2. It's still there, just as it was in 1, but it's not as blatant or annoying, so it doesn't ruin much. Having said that, I laughed out loud when Ali calls out his wife's "cognitive dissonance" as the line-drop that cues a mutual understanding that it's time to move into make-up sex... you can't make that shit up. Or, rather, you can *only* make that shit up

[Mr Sausage]

Watched the first episode of season 4, and so far it doesn't resemble the previous three. Actually, with its arctic setting, noirish tropes, and supernatural overtones, what it most resembles is the Scandanavian show Fortitude, which had a very good first season, a wretched second season, and a short third season unseen by me. This first episode showed promise, especially with Foster's performance, but there's also some unintended goofiness, a number of limp scenes and backstories, and clumsy attempts at gender politics. So it remains to be seen whether this'll be like season 1 of Fortitude or season 2. But the central mystery is intriguing, so I'll stick with it.

[therewillbeblus]

I like how they're using the same kind of seed-planting for key character histories coming together on the case, only without using the multi-timeline structure. I think it's more challenging to do, but often more rewarding in the emotional payoffs than when just writing things as they happen, at least from a playwright perspective

[Big Ben]

I was hoping to see some True Detective enjoyers in here. The starter episode is just that. I don't really have any complaints other than some of jokes made me roll my eyes. I have relatives from Alaska and I'm looking forward to what Issa Lopez does with the setting. The incomprehensibility of power structures to the average person (About as close to Lovecraftian as Season 1 gets) is an underrated form of horror and if any of the clues hinted at so far lean further into this I'm game.

[Roger Ryan]

... with its arctic setting, noirish tropes, and supernatural overtones...

What I found most supernatural about the episode...

Spoiler

... was how the Ferris Bueller's Day Off DVD improbably keeps repeating the climatic parade sequence.

I enjoyed this premier episode but felt there might have been a little too much "seed-planting" (attention viewers: this is another important piece of foreshadowing) for the drama to develop organically. As this is common in first episodes of these kind of thrillers, I suspect the series will settle down soon enough. And, yes, it was cute and not entirely unexpected that a (VHS?) copy of Carpenter's The Thing was placed on the media shelf at the remote Alaskan research outpost.

[therewillbeblus]

... with its arctic setting, noirish tropes, and supernatural overtones...

What I found most supernatural about the episode...

Spoiler

... was how the Ferris Bueller's Day Off DVD improbably keeps repeating the climatic parade sequence.

Same, glad you mentioned it - I think the stupid "smart-writing" punchline about music preferences was trying to quell that kind of evocation, but it would've worked better if they leaned into the eeriness