Spoilers Ahoy!
Unlike the inconstant and randomly British speaking ‘Yellow King’ this HBO anthological series created an illusion that it was anything but ordinary and unlike the sister shagging freak that was the Green Eared monster, the show was exposed as your ordinary detective and buddy cop story. I haven’t tortured myself and gone to the cinema to see Kevin Hart and Ice Cube in ‘Ride Along’ but I am guessing that discussion over ‘who is tougher’ and a hospital reconnection cannot have been far from the screenwriters minds. True Detective was a good series, but after that scene in episode four and the depth that the script went into early on, like Peter Green from early Fleetwood Mac, the show threw away potential greatness.
My concern that the show wouldn’t have the conclusion I or thousands of other fans wanted came after reading an interview with Nic Pizzolatto on Buzzfeed* a couple of days ago. Through his email correspondence he showed his kind of resentment at some of the theories that fans had deduced and was quick to debunk and unable to even flirt with any notions that Marty and Rust were ever suspects. This obvious unease with some of the fan theories probably stems from his knowledge that the finale’s dissatisfaction was likely to follow. Through all the origins in Weird Fiction, to the introduction of non-consequential characters like Maggie’s father and the unresolved foreboding of Marty’s daughter it was all smoke and mirrors to mask a simple story of two White Men’s redemption and the justice of one sick criminal. Don’t worry about how the man was killed in police custody, the outcome of the Tuttles and how the mention of Rust’s visions earlier in the episode suddenly play a major part in the shows concluding and poorly done fight scene. All of these issues reek of poor screenwriting, something that I would never have questioned of Pizzolatto merely three episodes ago.
The good of the show in working with one cinematographer and as clichéd as it is, to make Louisiana a real character in the series should not go un-noted; as too, McConaughey and Harrelson’s strong and at times sublime performances. For television the show was a great success averaging 11million people a week within America and it has achieved favourable reviews so far (3rd Episode) over here in the UK. I will not be the smallest bit surprised if every big agent in Hollywood have been receiving calls from their clients to secure them a role in the second series of the show, however like The Old Testament God, the show offered promise that it couldn’t deliver upon. Fan theories and presentiments have been known to sour experiences before (see Lost) and will carry on to in the future, but Pizzolatto’s belligerence over where these Weird Fiction reliant theories came from is what angers fans. It basically means that HP Lovecrafts relevance, Rust’s visions and in particular seeing birds make a spiral and the use of Carcosa/Devil’s Nests are all merely a plot device to surround a basic good versus evil tale. I think maybe Cole is correct in stating that having some light is a success in this dark world and having an entertaining and often engaging experience in what is usually a black void of television entertainment can be attributed the same way. However, like is often the case it’s a time when our expectations, hope and theories far surpass the reality… but then again We’ll Always Have That Tracking shot.
(http://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/true-dectective-finale-season-1-nic-pizzolatto)*
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