• 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

B

bomb

Unconfirmed Member
wow, a lot of hate. S1 episode 1 wasn't anything special.

Thought the episode was pretty good. A lot of really good shots. Score was outstanding. A few Odes to season 1 and that motorcycle shot was awesome. The four leads are all screwed up in their own way. I love how this episode basically shows that all four of them are capable of anything at anytime.

Backstories are still blurry but it is only one episode. Love the fans jumping ship after one episode or even before they even watch it due to a review. what a joke.
 
B

beta_fuse

Member
While I didn't enjoy the pilot as much as S1, I still think it has potential to be pretty good. I found too much was happening though, bouncing back between characters too often.

Oh and that Spanish chick...what a beauty.
 
H

Hamlet

Member
Decent enough first episode if a tad disjointed at times. Farrell and McAdams are great in this as expected. Vaughn eh, i'll see how it plays it before calling him bad. Also not so sure about the new opening yet, but i'm sure it'll grow on me.
 
S

StriKeVillain

Banned
maquiladora said:
I was expecting something a lot worse. I actually enjoyed it though it's obviously not of the same standard as season 1, but what is? Will certainly be continuing to watch.
Click to expand...
I feel this too.

It's funny, reading through this thread and not seeing the episode you would have thought it an episode of Dexter.
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
Pretty disjointed and boring premiere IMO. Hope it picks up as I really liked season 1.
 
V

Vagabundo

Member
Its taken out the quirky occult stuff that I loved in the first season, but it was certainly above average TV.

I like that it didn't introduce a huge amount of backstory straight away, Just enough hints and flashbacks to give you connections.

Atmosphere was good. Dialogue good, not as sharp as S1 but better than average. Music and visual were great. I would watch just for those TBH.

I'm liking the direction. Will continue to watch.
 
J

Jake.

Member
total snoozefest - vince vaughn should stick to shitty bromance comedies and gun wank rhetoric. love cohen but that song is completely wrong for the intro.
 
C

Can Crusher

Banned
Whole episode felt like masturbation in writing broken characters. Someone out there took the wrong lessons about the first season.
 
F

Fancy Clown

Member
The episode felt like total self-parody. It was so fucking over the top and unbeliavable and every character is so ridiculously damaged it was funny. Luckily for the show it was entertainingly over the top goofy though, and not boring over the top. Will continue to watch for Colin Ferrel threatening 12 year olds.
 
TwoDurans

TwoDurans

"Never said I wasn't a hypocrite."
Everyone making fun of the whole shoe thing obviously doesn't have kids. You see your child picked on, and you want to take action. The rules of society force us to handle it by only talking to principals and parents, begging them to do something, and it almost never works out for your kid.

Now take that same scenario and add alcohol, adrenaline, possibly drugs, and the "untouchable" feeling Ray has to the mix and all of a sudden you are able to enact some justice. I can't think of a single parent who wouldn't have done something similar if they knew they could get away with it.

Even the crazed "buttfuck" line came off as someone completely out of control and over-emotional.
 
K

kingocfs

Member
Fancy Clown said:
The episode felt like total self-parody. It was so fucking over the top and unbeliavable and every character is so ridiculously damaged it was funny. Luckily for the show it was entertainingly over the top goofy though, and not boring over the top. Will continue to watch for Colin Ferrel threatening 12 year olds.
Click to expand...

"You're twelve years old and you're already evil as fuuuuck."

I was laughing at shit in this ep I wasn't quite sure I was supposed to be laughing at. As someone already said, the batshit crazy lines that no real human would ever seriously say were great last season because Marty was there to act as the audience's liaison. But now everyone is saying dumb stuff and it's not as fun.
 
G

GorillaJu

Member
Fancy Clown said:
The episode felt like total self-parody. It was so fucking over the top and unbeliavable and every character is so ridiculously damaged it was funny. Luckily for the show it was entertainingly over the top goofy though, and not boring over the top. Will continue to watch for Colin Ferrel threatening 12 year olds.
Click to expand...

I thought season 1 was over the top melodrama as well. That's part of the appeal of the series.

I was expecting much worse. It was decent.
 
D

DoktorEvil

Banned
I thought Colin Farrell was going to burst out laughing the way he's delivering lines and just berating 12 years old about buttsex and decapitation.

Definitely not as strong of a start as Season 1.

I honestly don't know how Pizzaman expected people to take this seriously.

Taylor Kitsch is the most interesting, non-trope character I saw so far. Rachel McAdams is okay as a detective, but I'm curious as to how she became a cop considering her unorthodox upbringing.

Seeing David Morse in another role put a smile on my face.

Overall, this setup isn't as interesting or convincing as Season 1. I'm giving the series 2 more episodes before I drop it. Season 1 had its tropes but the whole package was bolstered by Harrelson and MM.
 
T

Theorry

Member
DoktorEvil said:
I thought Colin Farrell was going to burst out laughing the way he's delivering lines and just berating 12 years old about buttsex and decapitation.

Definitely not as strong of a start as Season 1.

I honestly don't know how Pizzaman expected people to take this seriously.

Taylor Kitsch is the most interesting, non-trope character I saw so far. Rachel Weisz is okay as a detective, but I'm curious as to how she became a cop considering her unorthodox upbringing.

Seeing David Morse in another role put a smile on my face.

Overall, this setup isn't as interesting or convincing as Season 1. I'm giving the series 2 more episodes before I drop it. Season 1 had its tropes but the whole package was bolstered by Harrelson and MM.
Click to expand...

Wut?
 
A

Arkeband

Banned
The problem with people comparing this to Season 1 is that Season 1 started great but ended poorly.

If the ending of Season 2 is even marginally relevant to the shit that happens in the first 6 episodes, and isn't solved by a completely ridiculous deus ex machina, then S2 has every shot at being superior in every way.

It's really too early to be declaring it dead on arrival, and if you ignored the existence of Season 1 entirely, S2 is above-average television.

For what it's worth I really enjoyed the episode. The characters are entertaining as hell despite a few clunky brooding one-liners that would have sounded better drawled out by Rust Cohle. I'm looking forward to seeing where they take it. Great cinematography, too.

SPECULATION!

I know Pizza-man said that there was no Yellow King in this season, but there was a skeleton with topaz jewelry in one house, and at McAdams' dad's cult thingie, there was a yellow luau on the central idol. I'm pretty sure this imagery is being put there for a reason...
 
H

hiryu

Member
I was entertained. Some of the dialogue was pretty bad, especially from Vince Vaughn and Collin Farrell. The camera work was pretty great and some of the shots were amazing. The main characters all seem to be pretty fucked up and I'm not sure how much I'll enjoy that. I like the premise so far.
 
F

FafaFooey

Member
I still can't comprehend why a show praised for it's amazing locale, cinematography and the fact it was shot on 35mm for a very specific look, suddenly switched to a very standard, digital, almost CSI kind of look. Handing over the first 2 episodes to a director mostly known for Fast & The Furious movies wasn't the best of choices either.
 
graffix13

graffix13

Member
Some of the dialog was...cringe worthy (Ass-ton? really?), but nothing that will deter me from watching the whole season.

This isn't S1 and it won't even be able to compete with that. And that's ok with me. S1 was magical.
 
T

Theorry

Member
graffix13 said:
Some of the dialog was...cringe worthy (Ass-ton? really?), but nothing that will deter me from watching the whole season.

This isn't S1 and it won't even be able to compete with that. And that's ok with me. S1 was magical.
Click to expand...

Season 1 was also a suprise. People never expected it to be that good. Very difficult for season 2 to do the same. :)
 
V

Violence Jack

Member
I'm going to give it another chance since it was only the first episode, and it was interesting to see how they managed to bring the headliners of the show together for this one case.

But there were some definite cringe-worthy moments of dialogue last night, and the constant jumping from storyline to storyline made for a very uneven almost annoying to watch opening. Plus, Vince Vaughn seems horribly out of place here. He has this awkward look on his face that I guess is supposed to be creepy, but it's just weird.
 
T

taybul

Member
kingocfs said:
"Don't wanna look hungry. Never do anything out of hunger, not even eating."
Click to expand...

robotrock said:
ASS PEN
Click to expand...

Definitely sounded like the writing of a 15-year old.

I kind of liked the episode, though. Reminded me a lot of a Michael Mann flick. Now one thing I have to say is that I never watched season 1 but I hear people are already saying it doesn't quite hold up so far. Looks like I have some catching up to do.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
Cornballer said:
- Promo for next week's episode (please spoiler tag any discussion)
- Sepinwall on the premiere
- Onion A|V Club review
Click to expand...

A few more reviews:
- Chris Ryan for Grantland
- Rolling Stone
- Salon.com
- The Daily Beast
- Warming Glow with a quick summary of the premiere


Other content:
- A few gifs from Warming Glow
- NY Mag: A History of True Detective’s New Theme Song, ‘Nevermind’
- IndieWire: 'True Detective' Podcast: Season 2, Episode 1 'The Western Book Of The Dead'

iZRJxeo.gif
 
D

dead souls

Member
kingocfs said:
"Don't wanna look hungry. Never do anything out of hunger, not even eating."
Click to expand...

The premiere had a bunch of lines like that, lines that I couldn't even believe made it to screen they were so incredibly clunky.

They make Pizzolatto seem like even more of a try-hard hack than I already thought he was.
 
M

Maninthemirror

Banned
My short review:

I have to compare it to season 1 as that is only natural

1. It was not as cohesive an opening as Season 1.
2. Unless they plan to tie in all characters in one in an amazing way, the cast is too big
3. There is no atmosphere. That was half the charm of season 1. This is been there done that.
4. They seem to be trying too hard to make the characters compelling, whereas the best thing about season 1 was the simplistic way the characters melded together.
5. the Acting was good but I expected more
6. Many cringe moments which I never saw in Season 1. Like that long haired guy speech plus the characters looking at one another at the end.


C+
 
T

TRios Zen

Member
I am completely on the fence with this episode, I neither loved it nor hated it.

This is different from S1E1, which had me immediately - but I'm nowhere near ready to write this off yet.

So yeah, a few more episodes are necessary before I can feel either excited or depressed about this season. I'm hoping for excited as the last shot showed promise.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
Exokell said:
So I dont need to watch this? concensus that it bad right?
Click to expand...

I think it was really good. Sure, Season 1, Episode 1 was awesome, but I thought this was still really good... Interesting characters, a lot of intrigue, good acting, mostly decent writing but some lousy parts.
 
A

aravuus

Member
Violet_0 said:
I'm in it for the crazy Colin Farrell hijinks
Click to expand...

Was just gonna say this. Weak first episode but I have to admit, Farrell's stuff was pretty hilarious and as long as he stays a loose cannon like this, it'll be enough for me to watch the show every week.

Also yeah, the theme song was TERRIBLE. Shoulda made the "least favorite life" whatever song the theme song, it was pretty good. If an ost ever comes out, I hope it's on it.
 
S

Scrupulous

Banned
The first ep was overcrowded but atleast all the mains separate stories aligned by the end of the episode. It wasn't nearly as bad as the amount of hate it generating its just nowhere close to as focused as the first seasons opening and the characters not as immediately likeable. Also despair misery hopelessness emptiness etc.
 
P

pantsmith

Member
Liked it just fine.

The constant percussion and overhead shots of highways made everything feel like it was taking place in the veins of some enormous dark god on the verge of waking. A little twinge of McCarthy in there. Love the atmosphere.

Felt like it was trying hard to be as different from season one as possible without leaving the weird genre it belongs to (philosophical, weird, noir). Favorite part of the episode was seeing Casper's house - a lot of the imagery slipped into hazy nightmare, especially the painting of tangled limbs in the background. Also very Lynchian at times. Can't wait to see where things go.

Any thoughts on the title of the episode in relation to its actual content?
 
F

Future PhaZe

Member
I think its fair to say nobody gives a shit about Caspers murder at this point, so there's no empathy regarding this murder atm--hopefully others spring up or there's something that happens to give us cause to give a shit

then there are the characters and it seems every attempt was made to make each of them as unlikeable as possible
 
F

Fitts

Member
I thought season 1 of True Detective was good. Great at times, but good overall.

The trailer for season 2 did nothing for me and I adjusted my expectations for the first episode accordingly. I honestly enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting to and am interested in watching more.

Colin Farrell terrorizing that kid really resonated with me. Because fuck shitty kids.
 
C

Catdaddy

Member
Will give it another couple of weeks, I guess. My wife traded “what did they say?” and “what just happened?” way to often than one should during a TV show. It did start to come together a little bit at the end. The motorcycle in the dark thing, where he’s going 100 mph with no headlights then stops like he was going 10 mph made me laugh.

What was the whole sex exchange thing about when they introduced McAdams character? Is she just an angry fuck?


Part of me kept waiting for Cole Phelps to popup and start interrogating people.
 
D

DoktorEvil

Banned
Future PhaZe said:
I think its fair to say nobody gives a shit about Caspers murder at this point, so there's no empathy regarding this murder atm--hopefully others spring up or there's something that happens to give us cause to give a shit

then there are the characters and it seems every attempt was made to make each of them as unlikeable as possible
Click to expand...

The whole city is under federal investigation for being corrupt, so I guess the idea is that the city and its people is a shit hole.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club | Review Thread
Analysis Review
29
1K
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
‘The Last Of Us’: Isabela Merced Cast As Dina In Season 2 Of HBO Series
2 3
109
13K
DrFigs replied
True Detective Season 4 to star Jodie Foster
3 4 5 6 7
310
24K
Billbofet replied
‘The Last of Us’ Season 1 Finale Scores 8.2 Million Viewers, Reaching Series High
News 2 3
141
8K
Zephyrus0 replied
Coming to Game Pass: Neon White, Flock, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, and More
39
2K
Punished Miku replied
Top Bottom