Chiggs
Gold Member
Interesting. I would have thought the low point for the franchise would have been the absolutely awful ending to season one, complete with an Andre the Giant bearhug and two suddenly sappy cops sharing the night sky on a porch.
-
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
- Thread starter Cornballer
- Start date
Interesting. I would have thought the low point for the franchise would have been the absolutely awful ending to season one, complete with an Andre the Giant bearhug and two suddenly sappy cops sharing the night sky on a porch.
ROUGE_BLOCK
Member
Felt much more like introductory episode than the first episode of the first season. I'm guessing it was done this way due to their being 4 main characters this time around, so they needed much more of a set-up to get to know them.
All four look like broken despicable people, want to know how it unfolds because I'm hooked.
All four look like broken despicable people, want to know how it unfolds because I'm hooked.
Admiral Woofington
Member
I want McNulty and Velocro to join up and make a show together in HBO.
A show with not just one alcoholic, shitty dad, divorced, violent man who is actually a decent detective despite all of that. BUT TWO.
A show with not just one alcoholic, shitty dad, divorced, violent man who is actually a decent detective despite all of that. BUT TWO.
Boring. An hour of tablesetting is asking a lot of the viewer and while none of it was flagrantly bad, the middling back stories of these characters accumulated to a boring episode. Was there anything surprising about this cast? I wouldn't find them interesting if I met them in a GTA game. I'm already missing Woody's levity, that soundtrack isn't helping either.
EDIT: is Black Mountain suppose to be a simulacrum for Black Water? Because that could turn into something interesting.
EDIT: is Black Mountain suppose to be a simulacrum for Black Water? Because that could turn into something interesting.
StriKeVillain
Banned
The girlfriend and I made this same joke. All cops on HBO are shitbag drunk drivers, lmao.
Officerrob
Banned
Wow, that was ten times more shitty than he thinks that episode of True Detective was.
Obviously I have to see how it plays out but I feel the show would benefit from a more focused approach, it feels like the cast is too large and so everything is hurt trying to juggle all these characters. Some of the scenes I would like to linger don't, because there's not enough time.
Admiral Woofington
Member
The scene the guy was gonna take away the bottle and he goes full cookie monster and like snatches that guy's arm with the speed of a kung fu master made me lol.
Or inversely, must Colin Farell always play a drunk...?
Pretty solid episode so far, lacking some style and moody direction but decent overall.
I think VDW is a good reviewer (I like his earlier work at AV Club), so he must've been really pissed off to churn out something akin to a Buzzfeed clickbait article.
Ugh.yeah, I'm not one of the people who finds the first season to be "flawless" to begin with. Less the ending itself (I don't mind some sappiness, but it felt really forced, odd and saccharine ) more so the general resolution of the plot was meh.
Sounds like this episode is basically all the flaws that season 1 had distilled into one episode- haven't seen it yet, but anticipation is a bit cooled after these reviews and seeing that AV Club list.
jack_package_200
Banned
WITHOUT SPOILERS
How was it?
How was it?
well that's the problem with the whole thing, he's supposed to be conflicted so he's conflicted in every scene. Collin Farrell is supposed to be troubled so he's troubled in every scene. There is zero subtlety
Why are you watching this instead of Season 1? You will be better off
Tho this season may be good, so far not even on Season 1 level
Admiral Woofington
Member
really slow and only ok, interesting tidbits throughout but it doesn't join together into a cohesive first episode. But not horrible by any means. So will keep watching.
Anton Sugar
Member
Ho boy, David Morse's character. Everything about him, but especially his hair. Yikes.
Pretty bad I thought.
SlowRevolution
Member
I already forgot about the "Never do anything out of hunger. Not even eating." line. That was horrible.
Admiral Woofington
Member
StriKeVillain
Banned
phazedplasma
Member
Im not hooked yet but I think it has promise.
Its unfortunate this has to exist in the shadow of season 1.
I actually liked the opening theme better than season 1...
Its unfortunate this has to exist in the shadow of season 1.
I actually liked the opening theme better than season 1...
TheKaeptain
Banned
Nah that's a dope as fuck Leonard Cohen track.
Because there was a NSFW moment I forgot about. Apparently ok by youtube standards, but whatever.
Also, has anyone here seen In Bruges? It's Colin Farrell's best, he's great in it and it's a great movie. If you're feeling underwhelmed by tonight's premier, I highly recommend it.
Admiral Woofington
Member
Duane Cunningham
Member
Pretty good, but the memory of season 1 has given people unrealistic expectations. It's a bit unfair to judge a single episode against an entire first season anyway, but people in this thread were nitpicking literally within seconds of the intro song.
That said, it is a bit more scattered and less concise than s1 ep1. And I think it was a bit of a gamble to focus on four characters instead of two. Also, whereas Rust and Marty's investigation and character stories were given to us simultaneously, this took the risky move of spending most of the hour purely on establishing the characters and setting the table, and truly only setting things into motion toward the end of the episode. Which may have been asking a bit too much of viewers.
Thematically, the characters so far all seem even more bleak and irredeemable than our guys in the bayou. But again, it's a bit early.
Setting wise... I do like the nasty LA underbelly back drop. It's a scene we've definitely seen plenty in the past, but fuuuck they made it even filthier than usual. Like, something like Pulp Fiction is a cartoony caricature of the same setting by comparison.
ZackieChan
Member
Hmm, actually it felt nothing like what we know as True Detective. So I'm not sure where you're getting that.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
you're all insane, the new credits song is fucking great
GotchaForce
Member
What was up with the girl floating in the milk? I missed the dialogue.
It needed a joke, or a song that didn't induce a full on cringe. Remember the good old days at the bar?
MickeyKnox
Member
DarkJediKnight
Member
Well that was utter shit!
Nothing about this episode grabbed me.
Nothing about this episode grabbed me.
Uh what?
Upstanding public servants? Or corrupt criminals, you decide!
Doll in the milk, deviant lifestyles, ooh so mysterious what does it mean?
Guy with his eyes melted out, does that count as ritualistic?
And of course every cop is an impressively broken person.
StriKeVillain
Banned
Oh wow, we're hitting the meaty part of this thread early.
mugoldeneagle03
Member
I went into this with the expectation of it not being anywhere close to the level of S1 and that was a good thing. Slow, kind of boring. Not close to giving up on it but I got what I expected which wasn't much.
Though it is hard to top the
line S1E1 ended with
Though it is hard to top the
"then start asking the right fucking questions"
Duane Cunningham
Member
I'm hoping everyone claiming they hate it and that they're out follow through.