• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

True Detective - Season 2 - We get the Season we deserve - Sundays on HBO

Pretty sure the DNA match thing is a setup in an attempt to pit Velcro against Frank and it almost worked in blowing both of them away. Too convenient that they happened to get the guy who did it only a month ago.

Maybe this is why Marco Rodriguez was all "who the fuck are you" in their prison meeting?
 

Stoze

Member
That would've been great. Vaughn just doesn't have the gravitas to pull off being intimidating.

Even if we got an actor that did, that character and almost every scene he's been in has been either terrible or uninteresting. Just everything he's involved in...why should we care?What's crazy is that Vaughn/Frank probably gets the most screen time next to Farrell if not just a tiny bit more.
 

Sanjuro

Member
I don't like Vaughn much, but his acting is harmless here. Unless the character was written specifically for him in mind, the point of the character seems to be a bit stoic and sad.
 

hydruxo

Member
Even if we got an actor that did, that character and almost every scene he's been in has been either terrible or uninteresting. Just everything he's involved in...why should we care?What's crazy is that Vaughn/Frank probably gets the most screen time next to Farrell if not just a tiny bit more.

Oh I agree. It would've at least been watchable with a better actor in that role though, even with the bad writing.
 
Man, could that investigation use someone who knows how to track a paper trail. LIke, the kind where you do a police investigation, not a commando operation complete with Splinter Cell moves on the guards:

Lester+Freamon.jpg
Pretty sure its been said that a formal investigation is impossible because of the sheer corruption of the police force, the involved players would catch wind of it and attempt to shut it down, forcing them to work from the shadows (and perform Metal Gear stealth ops)

But I do agree, every HBO cop drama needs some kind of Lester Freamon ;)
 

Squalor

Junior Member
Aside from the writing, the acting would be much improved if the actors didn't all talk as though they were auditioning for the role of Christian Bale in the Christian Bale-as-Christopher Nolan's Batman biopic.

Vaughn's acting is so much better in this when he's using something closer to his natural voice. In every scene he has with Farrell, however, it's as though they're in competition to sound like radio static.
 

fuzzyset

Member
Isn't the whole point of Frank that he is way out of his element? He took up the mantle of crime lord because "it was the only option for kids like me", but he clearly isn't cut out for it. Vaughn's acting isn't great but he at least nails the fish outta water look in moments.
 

Sanjuro

Member
Isn't the whole point of Frank that he is way out of his element? He took up the mantle of crime lord because "it was the only option for kids like me", but he clearly isn't cut out for it. Vaughn's acting isn't great but he at least nails the fish outta water look in moments.

It feels like a combination of he was kind of sucked into it, and a bit depressing because he never became great at it either.
 

Squalor

Junior Member
Isn't the whole point of Frank that he is way out of his element? He took up the mantle of crime lord because "it was the only option for kids like me", but he clearly isn't cut out for it. Vaughn's acting isn't great but he at least nails the fish outta water look in moments.
But he's not, though.

Frank was a big deal. He had five million dollars, liquid. He was the crime boss in the area. He owned a casino.

He lost it, and he's still living a damn-good life. He's a fighter. We get that.

It's not so much that he was out of his element. It's just that people with a lot more influence fucked him over.

Anyone who sees his character as "not good enough" is completely wrong.
 

Deku Tree

Member
But he's not, though.

Frank was a big deal. He had five million dollars of liquid.

He lost it, and he's still living a damn-good life.

It's not so much that he was out of his element. It's just that people with a lot more influence fucked him over.

Not so much in his new house though.
 
How are we liking this in comparison to season 1? I haven't started season 2 yet, but I'm thinkin about it right now

Season 2 has a befuddling plot that makes no sense, does not stand up to any scrutiny, has terrible writing, bad acting, an overly complicated story, characters you don't care about, too many characters (that you don't care about), scenes that do nothing to move the story forward, overly long monologues that are useless.

It's terrible.

Each episode has one solid scene at the end of it, but none of it makes any sense, so you're just like "ok, well that was cool, but... what's the point."

Compared to season 1, which had interesting characters even in spite of a someone befuddling plot, it's utter garbage. As a show, on it's own, if you don't try to think about it you can probably enjoy the scenes save for the lack of any sensical plot.
 
Isn't the whole point of Frank that he is way out of his element? He took up the mantle of crime lord because "it was the only option for kids like me", but he clearly isn't cut out for it. Vaughn's acting isn't great but he at least nails the fish outta water look in moments.

Maybe you're confusing his crime lifestyle with his legit lifestyle? He's been a mob boss/figure for a long time before he decided to go legit, right? I don't see why he would be a fish-out-of-water for something he's done that long.

But he's not, though.

Frank was a big deal. He had five million dollars, liquid. He was the crime boss in the area. He owned a casino.

He lost it, and he's still living a damn-good life. He's a fighter. We get that.

It's not so much that he was out of his element. It's just that people with a lot more influence fucked him over.


This, basically.
 

fuzzyset

Member
Maybe you're confusing his crime lifestyle with his legit lifestyle? He's been a mob boss/figure for a long time before he decided to go legit, right? I don't see why he would be a fish-out-of-water for something he's done that long.

I guess not fish out of water (he knows the ins and outs obviously), but just kinda hates/disgusts the illegal life. His reaction to the prostitute at the construction yard was fairly telling. He just seemed disgusted by it. A toughened crime lord wouldn't be so affected by that. In his mind, he was given the crime life by his birth but has worked to get out of it because he just doesn't like it and wants to be a "normal" business man.
 

Deku Tree

Member
Yeah Frank has a really nice life financially speaking and a nice new house in comparison to the vast majority of people out there...

But this is a fictional TV show and his new house is an extremely huge step down from his old one.
 

Squalor

Junior Member
I guess not fish out of water (he knows the ins and outs obviously), but just kinda hates/disgusts the illegal life. His reaction to the prostitute at the construction yard was fairly telling. He just seemed disgusted by it. A toughened crime lord wouldn't be so affected by that. In his mind, he was given the crime life by his birth but has worked to get out of it because he just doesn't like it and wants to be a "normal" business man.
The man lost five million dollars in cash. He lost his ticket to the next level of wealth. Of course he's pissed and disgusted he has to go back to his old lifestyle. He already had this conversation with his wife.

The prostitute had information he needed. She was also just a pawn. She was basically an innocent. Your judgment of things are clouded by clichés of crime lords. Just because he is a crime lord doesn't mean he's completely callous. But more importantly, she had information he really, really needed.
 

Lashley

Why does he wear the mask!?
Still really enjoying this.

Know it gets hate, but I think it's quite good. Colin Farrell is brilliant.
 
I guess not fish out of water (he knows the ins and outs obviously), but just kinda hates/disgusts the illegal life. His reaction to the prostitute at the construction yard was fairly telling. He just seemed disgusted by it. A toughened crime lord wouldn't be so affected by that. In his mind, he was given the crime life by his birth but has worked to get out of it because he just doesn't like it and wants to be a "normal" business man.

She was the closest he had gotten to finding out where his $5 million is at.

You know, that money that Caspere had that, once lost, put Frank's life into a downward spiral.

so you can imagine that her death affected him on all sorts of levels. It might as well been the death of his $5 million, beside the fact that now he's fucked for a year with regards to the mexican drug dealers.

Yeah, I'd be all sorts of emotional at that point too
 

Squalor

Junior Member
It feels so weird not really liking the show, yet defending it from people who misinterpret it and dislike it for the wrong reasons, hahaha.
 

Dreez

Member
Holy crap that was the best episode this season thus far. I was engaged the whole time. In previous episodes there was always odd dialogue or edit.

Edit: also I think those 2 foster system kids
are the Bird people. I think the former cop said they wore masks in the display cabinet to hide.

I really liked the Eyes Wide Shut feel of this episode.
 

AlphaSnake

...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
You know what...I liked this last episode. It may have been the first great episode of the season.
 
Holy crap that was the best episode this season thus far. I was engaged the whole time. In previous episodes there was always odd dialogue or edit.

Edit: also I think those 2 foster system kids
are the Bird people. I think the former cop said they wore masks in the display cabinet to hide.

I really liked the Eyes Wide Shut feel of this episode.
The thieves wore masks not the kids.
Paul will probably end up interviewing the fully grown boy in the coming episodes.
 

Squalor

Junior Member
Holy crap that was the best episode this season thus far. I was engaged the whole time. In previous episodes there was always odd dialogue or edit.

Edit: also I think those 2 foster system kids
are the Bird people. I think the former cop said they wore masks in the display cabinet to hide.

I really liked the Eyes Wide Shut feel of this episode.
The kids said the culprits wore masks, which is why the retired cop said "they didn't see much."

The conspiracy I'm running with, but have no actual stake in is that the lost foster kids are the current Chessani kids. The skin complexion and ages match up.
 
i get the feeling the 2 kids in that photo were adopted by mayor chessani. the mayor's two kids both look absolutely nothing like him in the slightest. And it wouldn't shock me if this deeply messed up chessani family thing that was talked about earlier in the season, that chessani would raise these kids as if they were his own after having played a major part in the killing of their parents.

It definitely would fit with the whole parents/family angle this season is going for. It would also explain that lingering shot of the photo we got this episode. they wanted the audience to look at that photo because those 2 kids will play some part in this story before it's over. It's TV 101.

edit: i see i'm not the only one thinking along those lines!
 
Right? Ani's storyline is going down a pretty predictable path, although we still don't know what her sexual hangup (fetish?) is yet, correct?

She's the most emotionally sound hero in the show if she mends the rift with her pops she's good. Her reconciliation with her sis is coming along just needs to crack more jokes. She has her sexual fetishes under control so far and even after being drugged and not having full control of her senses. She held her own.
 
At first I was like "wtf @ this music" but then the show kind of felt like a Bond movie and I dug it.

Really good episode, honestly this season for all of its faults could finish stronger than season 1.

This episode wasn't bad, I agree, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
 
She's the most emotionally sound hero in the show if she mends the rift with her pops she's good. Her reconciliation with her sis is coming along just needs to crack more jokes. She has her sexual fetishes under control so far and even after being drugged and not having full control of her senses. She held her own.

I'm just saying, we don't even know what her fetish is, or even if she has one--I still don't know what her Episode 1 intro scene was all about.

I certainly wasn't expecting her to go sex-crazy at the orgy or anything like that. I'm saying that "sexual abuse as a child=weird fetishes as an adult" is VERY sensitive territory and mishandling it could be awful.
 

Squalor

Junior Member
This episode wasn't bad, I agree, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
Dammit, my brain completely erased that ridiculous assertion from my memory after I read it last night.

Thanks for reminding me.
She's the most emotionally sound hero in the show if she mends the rift with her pops she's good. Her reconciliation with her sis is coming along just needs to crack more jokes. She has her sexual fetishes under control so far and even after being drugged and not having full control of her senses. She held her own.
But what does that have to do with her cliché-to-a-fault backstory and her terrible character development?
 

TRios Zen

Member
This show relies too much on torture and beating information out of people. Pretty cheap and dumb for a show that is supposed to be more intelligent than the usual crap.

Given the body of work we have to judge True Detective on now (14 episodes), I'm not sure I'd agree that it's more intelligent than the usual crap. That is not to say it's bad, I just think when taken in whole, season 1 *might* be a fortunate anomaly. With season 2 just a regression to the mean.

I've stated this before - I don't hate this season, but I'm not setting my Sunday's around watching it either. Have caught it at lunch time the Monday following every week for the last 4 weeks, and nothing that has happened has made me think that will change for this next episode.

It's entertaining, just not great.
 
But what does that have to do with her cliché-to-a-fault backstory and her terrible character development?

Absolutely nothing if the show continues to leave character development high and dry. Is it about this mystery or about these characters? Ray being back to square one and his main motivation gone and Frank's personal journey hasn't gathered any pace.
 
That episode felt loooooooooooooooooooong. Maybe I'm just mentally checking out at this point, but seeing that I'm only 25-30 minutes through an episode even though it feels like I've been watching for 50 is killing me.

Still need to see how this ends though, because reasons
 

Sifl

Member
Not a bad episode, but overall felt dissapointing after last weeks. Was expecting more. Velcoro is the only character I'm interested in at this point. If anything happened to any of the other characters I wouldn't care.
 
Vaughn's character keeps on getting the short end of the stick; by the time this series is over, he'll probably get vindicated.

Other takeaways:

1. The whole diamond thing seems like a waste.
2. There was no way Velcoro's 'kid' was ever going to warm up to him, so this too was a waste.
3. Was Stan that guy in the construction office?
 

Deku Tree

Member
What was the name of the series of novels that people said True Detective season 2 was lifting very closely the main characters background stories from? Is the True Detective season 2 storyline still following or using very similar events from the ones in those novels?
 
Top Bottom