True Detective

popsicledeath_sl said:

Why spend time and money on an explosion if it adds nothing to the stakes of a scene? I know people hate the comparisons because season 1 was good, but in season 1 we understood the stakes each time. The 6 minute shot we knew Rust was in deep, shit went bad, there were a mix of innocent bystanders that could be hurt in an operation they weren't supposed to be on. We understood what was going down, so it added to the tension. Same with them raiding Ledoux's compound; we knew they were not waiting on backup, in on their own, these dudes were psychos, again off the grid so anything could happen, and did. It was suspenseful, not just action packed. This sequence was just action for the sake of action, and for what point? Because people who like explosions and give a shit about all else might still be enjoying the show?

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Maybe we'll find out in the next episode. Maybe we don't know why the building exploded because we're not supposed to know yet. Because none of the characters we're following know yet.

The interview bits didn't really pick up until you knew how much they were bullshitting though.

Homsar_sl said:

My complaint about VV is hitting us over the head with how hes getting his groove back. I dont need to see him going to everyone in town and striking deals. Ani's story is the worst imo, I do really like all three characters respect one another even if they just met, Mccadams obviously doesn't want to throw Velcro under the bus and then you have Velcro trying to warn Ani and Woodrugh are most in the firing line

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Yeah, this has been a waste of screen time. Last week we saw Semyon reneging on his deals and asking for protection cash. This week we saw more of the exact same thing. We get it. Move along.

Shit was awesome, you all are some jaded fucks.

My thoughts on what happened:

The only reason they were ambushed at the end is because some one told them they were coming and wanted as many of the cops of the detail dead to hopefully include Ani who is pissing off most of the higher ups. Silly only the main characters lived but Hopefully their will be some serious backlash for this and can't wait to see what happens.

Mist_sl said:

This season mostly suffers from not having the narration style from the first season. I felt that was a key part of what made the show; calling it True Detective was an ironic nod to the characters telling half-true/half-bullshit stories to cover the shit they pull investigating these heinous cases.

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I agree it was a great device that is hard to replicate. Plus MM as the beaten down/let himself go Rust really made the time jump and revisiting of the past events and their lies and truths regarding it hit home even more so than it would have normally.

A lot of Frank's dialogue parallels that of Al Swearengen except that VV aint no Ian McShane. Seriously, just take a minute and listen to how it's written.

Hatorade_sl said:

Shit was awesome, you all are some jaded fucks.

My thoughts on what happened:

The only reason they were ambushed at the end is because some one told them they were coming and wanted as many of the cops of the detail dead to hopefully include Ani who is pissing off most of the higher ups. Silly only the main characters lived but Hopefully their will be some serious backlash for this and can't wait to see what happens.

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let me tell you why what happened was stupid. you run a crime ring and get a tipoff that the cops are going to bust you up. you can choose to stay and slaughter all the cops. which leaves a pile of dead bodies around the building which makes it kinda easy to tell something illegal is going on inside in which case you need to escape before an armored unit shows up. or you can make your escape right then and there taking only the essentials and maybe blowing up your operations to hide evidence. in this scenario they tried to do both, they blew up their building to hide evidence while they were still in the building trying to kill all the cops and then they made a daring 3mph escape in an SUV. there was never any point to fighting the cops when you had a backdoor escape and explosion to cover their tracks.

No one was trying to blow anything up. Its a meth lab, happens all the time. They definiely arent blowing up the shit when theyre in the building

That assumes they were tipped off. If the cops were merely pointed to an address where a guarded meth lab was, then the dealers wouldn't have had time to discretely escape when they saw the cops.

I am assuming there was a setup, though I'm not sure how it was manufactured. It doesn't seem likely that the Caspere killer is the Mexican but if he's not, how did his prints get on the pawned items? You wouldn't think he'd be a willing participant if he knew it would result in a raid on his meth lab (or whatever it was). However, if indeed the Mexican was the killer, I guess it makes sense, but then it doesn't really tie to any of the rest of the story we've learned about.

Alex_sl said:

Maybe we'll find out in the next episode. Maybe we don't know why the building exploded because we're not supposed to know yet. Because none of the characters we're following know yet.

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It's not really not knowing why the building exploded specifically. That was just a symptomatic nitpick based on the fact the whole lead up to that scene was a bit shaky, felt rushed and unfounded. I guess I was supposed to be wowed because holy shit a huge explosion, but if I don't know why, don't care why, don't understand if and/or how it impacts the story or the characters, to the point they weren't even in direct harm's way, then what's the point? If we later learn it had significance, than the explosion just becomes information anyhow, not action, so again, what's the point?

There are a lot of things this season that, in the moment, and then in retrospect to this point, have seemed pointless. It's a general problem I feel this season, and an explosion, while cool, just illustrated that even more. That Nic is throwing shit in just because it may be cool, but is ultimately pointless and not really adding anything of value. And it makes you doubt other scenes that may be important, or may just be random, pointless filler.

Kinda like all the bullshit that fueled speculation in the first season?

There's a difference between people reading too deeply into a well executed season of tv to find more to the story, and people grasping at straws to find if there's a story at all.

If season one ever confused you, it's because you weren't paying attention. The more you pay attention in season 2 the less sense it makes.

The tracking shot of season 1 could not be topped in its category, but the shootout in this latest episode is also extraordinary. I don't remember seeing such an epic train wreck. There are examples in movies and TV shows of police operations that go wrong, but usually that means cops deaths or target escaping, but such a bloodbath of gangsters, cops AND civilians? Nothing springs to mind.

About walking in the middle of the street and the explosion, you have to remember that sending a dozen guys was already considered overkill, because they are just after a pimp who is crashing in a hangar who belongs to his cousin or something. From there you pile layers of wtf. Guy start shooting from window: wtf. Explosion: wtf. Named cop gets a bullet in the head: wtf. Van full of gang bangers: wtf. Van mows down civilians: wtf. Gang bangers gun down civilians: wtf. Cops gun down civilians: wtf. All this to catch a guy that ends up dead: wtf. That worked very well even if the actual directing of it was pretty run of the mill (while season 1's tracking shot was anything but).

About the plot, wasn't it the angry mayor, one or two episodes back who said something like "I like a pimp for that"? This whole case is a rotten cluster-fuck and that's where lies the fun of this season. Anywhere you look, anywhere you go, there is something fishy.

I agree though that the writers are trying too hard with Semyon's lines and it's a lot more miss than hit. Maybe him having, in all circumstances, over-written lines is to give the sense he is in constant representation (after all, he is back to playing a role he thought he left behind and was about to play a role that was new to him), but that does not work so well and he is also like that in moments that are supposed to be intimate. On top of that, the "let's be super quotable" virus hits other characters from time to time (like that line by Bezzerides about memories remembering you, or the right hand man talking about sharks and anaconda). Bezzerides senior talking about Velcoro's aura is A-Ok though, because he is supposed to be a weird guy. Morse delivered it well too and he even had a line to soften the non-sequitur ("I had to say something"). Vaughn does not have such luxuries.

Oh and freeze-frame. You would think that with a name like popsicle you would get that right. It was strange though. Not sure why they used one. Maybe because the material they had did not work with the timing they wanted? Like they cut too soon when filming or an extra moved and they did not notice before editing... possibilities are endless.

Intrinsic_sl said:

I think the shots of her running towards the camera, while chasing the van and bullets plinking around her was really cool looking and would have made a great kind of homage to the shot in the 1st season if they extended it in to a longer tracking shot. But then it didn't. And then all the stuff you listed happened and yeah you're just like, 'wtf... that escalated quickly.'

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Guys maybe when Velcoro gets wrecked in court and becomes VV's right hand muscle we'll get some awesome black ops thug stuff! It could almost literally be a 1:1 for MM's tracking scene!!!!!!!

BrutulTM_sl said:

Just put him on ignore. It's not like you will be missing anything.

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The only thing worse than me discussion the show in your face is probably the posts about how people should be ignoring me and not responding to me and not posting about me. Never understood the posts that don't ignore someone, and instead post over and over about how they're ignoring the person or that they deserve to be ignored. I'm totally ignoring you and not going to give you the satisfaction of a response, by constantly posting about you!

Feel free to lead by example? What, why not? Why can't you help yourself?

It's all good. You don't hate me, you hate that this show is shit. Sorry I had to be the one to break it to you.