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

B

birthday-suit

Banned
Its not the actors fault. I love everyone in their roles.

Its just less of a personal story, which is understandable since there are so many leads. And its not drawing me in as much. Its the story's fault.
 
T

T Dollarz

Member
I'm starting to connect with this season more the last two episodes, start to actually care about all 4 characters. Some scenes really work, some don't. But overall I'm coming around to it and really digging it. The shootout definitely sold me. And I thought this last episode was great. The biggest difference from last season for me is the direction and atmosphere. That, along with brilliant lead performances, was the selling point for me. Never mind the case mystery, which was also incredibly interesting, while the case this season just doesn't have the same intrigue. Still, I'm pretty into it. I'd say this season at its best is an 8/10, at worst 7/10. First season was straight 10s though, breh. All time great. That's why I see it unfair to compare the two. It's practically impossible to rebuild that magic entirely anew.
 
T

Talon

Member
rtcn63 said:
So like, does this take place concurrently with season 1? Like, was Casper the guy who Russ stole the tapes from?

Okay, it's not bad. I'm really hoping they pull out a good twist to cancel out all this by-the-numbers shit.
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Sweet Jesus. How could anyone possibly think this after watching even one episode?
 
S

Serpico99

Member
What the show is truly missing is a narrator. That's what is missing in those awkward highway shots. It's really just part of the noire genre. I wish there was more of Velcoro recording stuff for his son.
 
O

OrlanisWorks

Banned
Hopefully Season 3 will put Nic in the writers' backseat. I still have no idea why Frank and his wife chat scenes are there. Their scenes could be cut entirely and I wouldn't notice. I feel like they have zero chemistry, and the lady seems so flat all the damn time, almost as flat as Vince Vaughn, who still manages to have some moments.

And Paul. Lol at Paul.
 
Z

Zeus Molecules

illegal immigrants are stealing our air
This whole season would of been a lot better if Vince Vaugh's character was just a bit role like the mayor or the psychiatrist. We're past the half way mark and I still don't see how he or his struggle fit into the whole picture beyond "they took my money so I'm paying Ferrell to help me find it".

At this point for all the screen time Vaughn's getting his character would of been better suited as a NPC in the GTA games who gives the main character a mission to complete with some over the top banter in a 30 second cut scene
 
A

Apt101

Member
Admiral Woofington said:
just watched episode 5


Have any of the main three smiled at one point?
Click to expand...

Several times, but only in a "I'm smiling despite my obvious emotions to the contrary. You know it, I know it" kind of way. Oh wait, I think Bezzerides had some genuine smiles with her sister and while joking around with Velcoro.
 
D

Dramos

Member
OrlanisWorks said:
Hopefully Season 3 will put Nic in the writers' backseat. I still have no idea why Frank and his wife chat scenes are there. Their scenes could be cut entirely and I wouldn't notice. I feel like they have zero chemistry, and the lady seems so flat all the damn time, almost as flat as Vince Vaughn, who still manages to have some moments.

And Paul. Lol at Paul.
Click to expand...

At some points in episode 5, Paul reminded me of Jesse from Breaking Bad. (e.g. Dialogue between Paul his and her mother)
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
The plot machinations of this season are so unbelievably convoluted. I really can't begin to keep track of the dozen different characters, agencies, and factions all with their own complicated yet barely drawn agendas.

I can concentrate on a specific plot thread and see it clearly, but if I zoom out and try to see the whole picture, all I see is this:

v9eJmgE.jpg
 
A

apocalidiot

Banned
Purple Cheeto said:
40 wasted minutes to lead up to shit we all guessed in the first episode. What a colossal waste of time this season has been.
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Net_Wrecker said:
I don't know, if that was what people consider the show being good or decent, I think it's already lost me. The dialogue is just not working for any character or actor IMO. It's trying to do some hybrid of pulpy noir and ominous one liners with oddly timed verbosity, but it's run through a filter where everything which should be a witty little remark or dramatic line is coming through the speakers like an avalanche of cringe. The cadence in the writing sounds completely off, like scripts written by someone who's never heard/seen humans interact before but tried to create stylized dialogue anyway.

Vince Vaughn in particular has had to mumble out some ridiculous stuff in these 5 episodes. I mean: "It stymies my retribution. It's like, uh........blue balls....in your heart." Jesus Christ. It's like bizarro Justified where none of the beautiful rhythm or masterful control of one liners and "words of the day" transferred. I was wrong, Max Payne couldn't even make some of this stuff work.

But this post is crazy negative so I'll touch on the one part of that episode that did work for me: Velcoro tailing that guy with the thumping low end soundtrack droning in the background where nobody talked and Colin Farrell did his furrowed brow investigative thing.
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StopMakingSense said:
You know what it is? The shootout should have been, at most, the end of the second episode. There was so little movement in the first four episodes it was all set up for this later time period, but it was half the season.
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word

schlongdog said:
I'm 15 minutes in and oh my god this is dreadful. Between the "big dick" scene and "well then, go stand in front of a tank" this show has already delivered some of the worst dialogue in a season of bad dialogue.

What happened? I was so excited for this show, I'm blown away at how disappointed I am.
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The big dick scene was pretty painfully lame. And the random line where Frank says that people of color (did I misinterpret this? He has been overtly racist the whole show so thats what I inferred) are predestined to be a gangster, but he fell on the wrong side of the poverty line? That was just weird



The realest fucking line in the episode was when Colin Farrell says "He set me up. Frank set me up." and his ex wife says "I don't know what that means". That was the best line in the entire episode. I never really think about the writing specifically when I watch a TV show. At least during the episode I don't. I get immersed. This show's writing is so fucking crazy sometimes I can't believe it. And the worst part is, we've had 5 episodes of people basically just talking the whole time. Next week is episode 6 out of 8 and shit is FINALLY going down now. The dialogue between Frank and his wife is so bizarre and phony sometimes, it feels like a student film.

The "dramatic scenes" when two people are standing in a room in silence, and there is an eerie ambient track playing in the background to make it feel tense. They add that shit because the acting sucks, and it force feeds the emotion in the viewer. At least in this show, god damn.
 
A

Alpende

Member
Great episode, finally the case is going somewhere and shit starts unraveling. Farrell was amazing in this episode, him finding out the rapist was captured... good stuff.
 
S

Salsa

Member
well this is the "fucking finally" episode in terms of plot development. maybe the best of the season, tho its weird to say so cause I mostly mean it got my interest back for these last 3. colin's acting in his couple shiny scenes sealed it.


.... then again we keep getting the worst fucking lines on a good tv show I think ive ever seen for VV. I feel bad for the crap he's being fed. hes trying, and his performance aint bad

but

"like blue balls in your heart"

oh my god
 
L

Langdon Alger

Banned
Zeus Molecules said:
This whole season would of been a lot better if Vince Vaugh's character was just a bit role like the mayor or the psychiatrist. We're past the half way mark and I still don't see how he or his struggle fit into the whole picture beyond "they took my money so I'm paying Ferrell to help me find it".

At this point for all the screen time Vaughn's getting his character would of been better suited as a NPC in the GTA games who gives the main character a mission to complete with some over the top banter in a 30 second cut scene
Click to expand...

I think he's going to fit into the whole picture a lot more when he finds that hard drive. But, yeah, he's the worst part of the show so far by a wide margin.
 
N

neshcom

Banned
On Spoilerin' Time, the guys made a compelling case that this week's episode would have been a great idea for a season premiere. You've got a mystery in progress, background information and motivations were disseminated with tact. It's at odds with the "half-solving a case" motif the show's hit on twice now, but it's an interesting perspective.

Also, Semyon is the king of awful similes. I really want to see a supercut of all of his "x is like a y" lines at the end of the season.
 
F

Fusion Pizza

Member
If we saw / heard alot less from Frank, he would be alot more menacing.

But really, the writing on this show reads like a rough draft, at best. It's really fucking hard to keep up with the show.

Paul is an idiot.
 
S

Seanbob11

Member
While I think that Mcconaughey was absolutely fantastic as Rust, Farrell is up there. Maybe not as good, but he's doing a fantastic job.
 
Evolved1

Evolved1

make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
The writing is not up to the level of the acting. I think all of them are just doing the best they can with pretty bad material. I feel pretty good energy from all of them, just... too bad about the actual dialog.
 
J

jelly

Member
I wonder if the actors went in blind or got to read some scripts and thought to hell with it, True Detective. The dialogue is atrocious and the story, well that leaves a lot to be desired at the moment

Last episode was the best so far except for the first episode cinematography and music. Might actually go somewhere.
 
graffix13

graffix13

Member
Farrell has been the lone bright spot for me this season.

He should have shotgunned VV at the end of last episode and that....would have been that, as they say.
 
Z

zXe

Member
VV is always cracking out a glass and making a drink, like that's what he does in 80% of his scenes. I still really like his character though and this was a good episode for the most part. I agree that Farrell is the best on the show.
 
M

modernlifeisANDY

Member
My wife got so mad at me last night for not liking this season as much as the first season. I don't DISLIKE it, but it's so needlessly convoluted. It's like Pizzaman is trying to out-metaphor his "time is a flat circle" thing and ends up just tripping over his own feet. I can't stand it. This wants to be True Detective by way of The Wire season 2 and Eyes Wide Shut, but I just can't get invested.

That said, Colin Farrell is awesome.

Also, if you ever want to die, just do what I do and play the True Detective drinking game. Just drink every time there's an aerial highway shot.
 
A

afternoon delight

Member
If you would like to see more of Colin Farrell acting some masterclass stuff, find a way to rent Triage (2009). Independent film, very under seen- he plays a war zone photographer returning from an assignment and unraveling from witnessing so much accumulated violence.

Hard film and his best acting in my opinion.

For VV, everyone do themselves a favor a watch Clay Pidgeons because it's wonderful.
 
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