sti4thewin
Member
^^ This too
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True Detective - Season 2 - We get the Season we deserve - Sundays on HBO
- Thread starter Cornballer
- Start date
blainethemono
Member
it really was, and so far i feel like "unintentionally hilarious" describes a good amount of these first two episodes
the slow zoom makes this the funniest moment so far:
Huh? There's a murder mystery, Frank needs to get his money back, CHiPs there is struggling with his homosexuality and there's a whole world of corruption and underhanded dealings to explore.
I could maybe buy that theory if there wasn't that followup shot at point blank range. The threat was already neutralized at that point, he was lying helpless on the floor unable to move, there was zero need for another shot.
I'm 99.9% sure Ray is still alive, just struggling to come up with any satisfying explanations. If they go the non-lethal rounds + bulletproof vest route that'd be pretty damn lame.
But there's no sense of urgency. It's all daddy issue stuff with characters the audience doesn't have a reason to give a fuck about. Character development is fine, but you need to care about the characters in the first place- and the show's failed to do that or make us care about the mystery in the first two hours.
I honestly think people are writing up hate posts as they watch the show with no intention of trying to enjoy it. If you're paying any attention at all, you can see the multiple plots and motivations and where they're headed.
I disagree about McAdams, I think she fits the part pretty well. Vaughn is the one I'm having a hard time buying into. I'm not gonna say he's miscast but its just hard to take him seriously at times.
McAdams & Ferrell's chemistry was really just getting started when she dropped him off at his house, but I thought it was fine so far. They both don't really want to work with each other clearly, so their disinterest shows.
dead souls
Member
Yep. Abigail Spencer is so great on Rectify and look at the shitty material Pizzolatto gave her in this episode. What a waste of a talented actress.
Vaughn is terrible and Kitsch is one-note but I'm not sure anybody could sell the crap in these scripts.
Purple Cheeto
Member
Oddly I thought Vaughn was channeling some of those god awful Kingpin monologues in the opening of this episode. He has the same awful gravelly, stuttering delivery.
Taylor Kitsch is basically that dude from the Ernest Hemingway book who got messed up in the war and is probably gay.
dead souls
Member
Texas forever!
He's one of those actors who was perfect for one part, Tim Riggins on FNL, but I'd be totally fine with never seeing him in anything else ever again.
Probably gay? If they'd been any less subtle about it he would've be waving that ISIS dildo flag around by the end of the episode.
Why would you even compare them?
Purple Cheeto
Member
I assume he's supposed to be really drunk all the time, but yeah every scene with him drags. At least his aide skips to the coda.
All daddy issue stuff? No it isn't.
Couldn't really disagree more. The motivations of each member of the group are interesting and the interplay between those is something I'm looking forward to. I care about all of the things I mentioned.
brianjones
Member
pretty much agree .. loved him fnl but I don't think he has a career as a good actor
Vince Vaughn still reeks of stunt casting to me.. pizza ego thinking he can make people forget all those movies with Owen Wilson
I'm in the same boat. It took about 3 episodes for Season 1 to latch it's hooks into me, so I feel like I owe this season at least that, maybe more. It isn't bad by any means but it has the unfortunate task of following Season 1 which (once it gets going) was just so good.
I was hoping Vaughn would turn this into one of those 'holy shit this guy can actually act' like McConaughey did, but so far it still remains just a really weird casting choice for me.
Girl cop: Communist Daddy issues
Bad cop: I'm not the Daddy issues
Gay cop: Mommy issues
I'm not a cop: Daddy locked me in a room issues
There's thematic consistency, and then there's beating your themes into the audience's head with a sledgehammer.
I thought it was vintage True Detective in that it's borderline ridiculous, but never quite drops into that abyss. It was captivating and worked so much better than any of the 58 minutes or so of set up/back story that were in the first episode. Actually, this episode did most of the work the first attempted to do better and much more concisely. Black Water's mom worked, the opening scene worked, knife girl's talk with the psychiatrist and the subsequent interaction with Velcro worked. I'm looking back at the first episode and there's maybe two scenes out of that dreary, dull hour that could be salvaged, otherwise it can be written off entirely.
This episode set the characters on the right track and it moved the story along into a much more interesting place.
DarkJediKnight
Member
Not liking this.
Every scene with Woody and Mac last year was awesome!
None of these characters are interesting to me. S1 EP1 grabbed me. Nothing here so far.
What the fuck was that scene with Vince Vaughn talking about his past.
The only thing I was paying attention to was his stupid eyebrow going up and down - as the only remnant of his acting chops.
And the ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM that no one talks about is - NO ONE GIVES A SHIT ABOUT THE MURDER VICTIM. Do you? I don't.
If this was True Detective Season 1, we'd be talking about this show never being renewed.
Every scene with Woody and Mac last year was awesome!
None of these characters are interesting to me. S1 EP1 grabbed me. Nothing here so far.
What the fuck was that scene with Vince Vaughn talking about his past.
The only thing I was paying attention to was his stupid eyebrow going up and down - as the only remnant of his acting chops.
And the ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM that no one talks about is - NO ONE GIVES A SHIT ABOUT THE MURDER VICTIM. Do you? I don't.
If this was True Detective Season 1, we'd be talking about this show never being renewed.
Not even close! There are no mommy issues with Kitsch, it's all his struggle with his sexuality. She might be contributing to his struggle but she isn't the issue. And Velcoro's issue mostly seems to be the regret he has for killing that guy and putting himself under Frank's thumb. You're trying to force this.
McAdam's is obviously a family issue, but with Frank we can't tell yet. I'm sure his relationship with his father is important, but we have much less of his back story so far.
BlackSalad
Member
How are we supposed to care about a victim when we only know he was a sex-crazed loner who was highly invested in illegal schemes?
We should feel sympathy for that? It is all part of the plot, the victims hands were not clean and creates motive for the murderer.
Most of the reviews seemed to indicate the show started to really pick up after episode 3, and if it continues escalating like it did tonight, it's easy to see that happening.
This. If people really believe this show has scenes that are "Hall of fame worthy bad", then quit watching and let people who are enjoying the show discuss it here.
Discotheque
Banned
this show drags for me but I still manage to enjoy it somewhat
The opening and the dialogue in the car really fell flat for me tho for sure
The rest of the episode was cool, particularly the ending. I really wish they wrote kitsch's character to be more laid back. This show desperately needs a marty-esque character and kitsch excelled at the more relaxed/funny guy in Friday night lights
The opening and the dialogue in the car really fell flat for me tho for sure
The rest of the episode was cool, particularly the ending. I really wish they wrote kitsch's character to be more laid back. This show desperately needs a marty-esque character and kitsch excelled at the more relaxed/funny guy in Friday night lights
Askherserenity
Member
That shit in the beginning was hard to watch.
Episode still felt kinda messy to me.
They aren't going to kill the one interesting character in the show.
Some scenes are just complete shit and the writing just feels really off at times. I can see why so many reviewers had a problem with the first four episodes or whatever.
I want to like it so bad but it's only because of the name. I would probably stop watching after this episode otherwise.
Episode still felt kinda messy to me.
They aren't going to kill the one interesting character in the show.
Some scenes are just complete shit and the writing just feels really off at times. I can see why so many reviewers had a problem with the first four episodes or whatever.
I want to like it so bad but it's only because of the name. I would probably stop watching after this episode otherwise.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
To be fair, all of the murder victims in S1 were faceless human blobs as well.
I'm gonna take issue with this as well:
-Early in the episode we have some of the detectives being told outright to expose the corruption within Vinci through Velcro.
-Velcro has conflicting interests between Vaughn and the city official and some sort of rekindling of his career through knife girl pulling him in different directions.
-Vaughn seems on the precipice of losing it and going full gangster on people.
-The murder plot oscillates from a professional seeming job over a lot of money to some weird/occultist personal thing.
-Velcro is fucking shot at the end.
That's before we get into the ancillary stuff. There's shit happening, maybe you missed it while summoning some outrage over Vaughn or something, I don't know.
Goodness I hope so.
I was thinking more like him and Jimmy Darmody could start a support group or something, but your reference works too.
BlackSalad
Member
everyone says the characters are blah blah blah
I think we've gained a lot of insight between all the characters, and that is that they all have some severe personal flaws that are not the result of their own doing. The main characters are deep and to judge them this early is ridiculous.
I mean, its practically spelled out for you..
Velcoro - Wife incident
Bezzerides - Hippie Commune
Woodrugh - Black Mountain/Military
Semyon - Abusive Father
It is the biggest aspect all these characters have in common. We are only seeing the beginning of what connects these people. Don't you remember the web that was uncovered in season 1? It took some investment but then it all made sense and paid off.
EDIT
I think you've missed a big part of both season 1 and season 2 if you think both victims were "blobs". In season 1, they were easy access victims, in season 2, it is a particular man for a particular reason.
The victim in season 2 is not a faceless/rememberless victim, he is well defined within the story for multiple characters.
I think we've gained a lot of insight between all the characters, and that is that they all have some severe personal flaws that are not the result of their own doing. The main characters are deep and to judge them this early is ridiculous.
I mean, its practically spelled out for you..
Velcoro - Wife incident
Bezzerides - Hippie Commune
Woodrugh - Black Mountain/Military
Semyon - Abusive Father
It is the biggest aspect all these characters have in common. We are only seeing the beginning of what connects these people. Don't you remember the web that was uncovered in season 1? It took some investment but then it all made sense and paid off.
EDIT
I think you've missed a big part of both season 1 and season 2 if you think both victims were "blobs". In season 1, they were easy access victims, in season 2, it is a particular man for a particular reason.
The victim in season 2 is not a faceless/rememberless victim, he is well defined within the story for multiple characters.
Trashcan Man
Banned
http://youtu.be/xH5p8-fTBdI
Colin says he only filmed two scenes with Taylor. They've been in two scenes together.
I'm with you. I binged watched Season 1 last year, so I didn't go through this phase of slow investment that I am going through now.
But it does remind me how I felt with some of the Boardwalk Empire Seasons.
It's too early to judge anything really without seeing how this goes.
I did like this episode much better than the premiere, but I didn't dislike the first episode too much either.
Yes, shit's happening. But it's disconnected and there's been no reason for the audience to get interested or involved - the leads aren't charismatic like season 1 and it took 2 hours for the show to finally get something going w/ the case ( the ep2 closing scene IS good.) It's been super dry in a way that just makes mediocre TV.
Season 1 was never going to be surpassed, but I never thought the show would devolve into a caricature of itself this soon. The plot is so bad...it's all over the place, and completely uninteresting.
Season 1 succeeded because it had a tightly woven storyline with incredibly fleshed out main characters. The dynamic between Rust and Marty was the best part of season 1, their banter, dialogue, and humor set it apart from any show I've ever seen.
The problem is that season 2 takes itself way too seriously and lacks any sort of interesting dialogue or dynamic between the (dull) characters; they're too contrived and far too similar. Rust and Marty were great because they were so dissimilar.
Having said that, the cinematography disappoints me the most this season. I don't feel like explaining more, but the visual disparity between season 1 and 2 is unnervingly jarring.
Season 1 succeeded because it had a tightly woven storyline with incredibly fleshed out main characters. The dynamic between Rust and Marty was the best part of season 1, their banter, dialogue, and humor set it apart from any show I've ever seen.
The problem is that season 2 takes itself way too seriously and lacks any sort of interesting dialogue or dynamic between the (dull) characters; they're too contrived and far too similar. Rust and Marty were great because they were so dissimilar.
Having said that, the cinematography disappoints me the most this season. I don't feel like explaining more, but the visual disparity between season 1 and 2 is unnervingly jarring.
Baldwin_the_First
Member
I really thought it was going to be something special. I was wrong, and I thought this episode was weaker than the one last week. I don't know, I might have had too high expectations coming in this week after the slow start. Mind you I liked the first episode, I thought the slow start was justified seeing how the show had 3 different characters to expand on, but there's some serious flaws in the writing. It's slow, and Farrell' character seems to have gotten the short stick with the script. The delivery on the E-cig being compared to a robot's dick was just plain bad too.
One thing though, Vaughn isn't as bad as some people in here makes him seems to be. The actress playign his wife though? God awful.
2 episodes in and it's just not captivating to me. I'll tune it for next week just to see what happens with Collin's character. I'll see after if I continue on, or if I just wait till the season is over before starting back again.
One thing though, Vaughn isn't as bad as some people in here makes him seems to be. The actress playign his wife though? God awful.
2 episodes in and it's just not captivating to me. I'll tune it for next week just to see what happens with Collin's character. I'll see after if I continue on, or if I just wait till the season is over before starting back again.
Soyongdori
Member
I'm pretty sure the killer is definitely part of the crime syndicate inner circle at this point. The guy knows way too many things that he shouldn't have known unless he is directly tied to Vaugn's character.
You really should check my last post in this thread.
Not sure how spoilers work after airings but this is my take on who did what so far:
I think it's Vince's character in the mask at the end of this episode(tall, but hidden because of the giant mask, similar walk to Vince). He shoots him, but I don't think he's dead, it's just a scare tactic to keep Colin's character in line after contemplating suicide.
But I think the guy who died in the first episode is connected to McAdam's dad's cult. Everyone has weird scars and two people committed suicide, and someone in the cult blames all of these people in the corrupt circle of fuck ups.
But I think the guy who died in the first episode is connected to McAdam's dad's cult. Everyone has weird scars and two people committed suicide, and someone in the cult blames all of these people in the corrupt circle of fuck ups.
Soyongdori
Member
Does anyone know why Ray holstered his gun when he saw the pool of blood? Isn't that counter intuitive?
BlackSalad
Member
I figured it was just because it was dried and old, not fresh. It was noticeably dark so thats the best I could come up with.
The blood was probably really old and dried up and he also saw that the sink was overflowing with water from the sink just dripping so he probably figured no one had been there in days.
the amount of drivebys in here saying how shit the show is is hilarious
if you hate it so much just stop watching it already
vinces monologue at the beginning was sort of forced, and the dialogue has been relatively weaker this season than last but the story is starting to take a bit of shape.
excited to see next weeks episode
if you hate it so much just stop watching it already
vinces monologue at the beginning was sort of forced, and the dialogue has been relatively weaker this season than last but the story is starting to take a bit of shape.
excited to see next weeks episode
brianjones
Member
why do you care who watches it and who doesn't
HBO isn't cheap and theres nothing really else on