by Robbie Jones
For years now, HBO has constantly put out quality entertainment, even some of the best TV shows of all time. Last year saw the first season of their new show True Detective, starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as two detectives on the hunt for a serial killer in Louisiana. The show was about as close to perfection as TV has come since The Sopranos ended, with its exceptional performances, beautiful cinematography and incredible writing garnering praise from just about everyone. So when it was announced that show would return with a new cast and plot, audiences became sceptical. Could they possibly top what they had already done? Do we want a show without Rust and Cohle? It lead to some worrying thoughts, but lo and behold, Season Two has arrived, to an incredibly underwhelming start.
For years now, HBO has constantly put out quality entertainment, even some of the best TV shows of all time. Last year saw the first season of their new show True Detective, starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as two detectives on the hunt for a serial killer in Louisiana. The show was about as close to perfection as TV has come since The Sopranos ended, with its exceptional performances, beautiful cinematography and incredible writing garnering praise from just about everyone. So when it was announced that show would return with a new cast and plot, audiences became sceptical. Could they possibly top what they had already done? Do we want a show without Rust and Cohle? It lead to some worrying thoughts, but lo and behold, Season Two has arrived, to an incredibly underwhelming start.
The first thing you’ll notice about this season is just how different the opening titles are. Season One’s opening titles were mesmerising (As we’ve already discussed), and these ones are pretty great. The colour scheme is different, and it incorporates the new cast in nicely. Tonally, the new season is already very different to the last and the titles do a good job of showing that, as it doesn't have the eerie feel of the last one. California is certainly a lot brighter, and less grotty than Louisiana. The song accompanying these titles sadly is no longer Far From Any Road, but Nevermind by Leonard Cohen. It feels a little uncomfortable now, but once the show begins to settle into its story, hopefully it will start to fit better.
We have four new characters to follow this season: Ray Velcoro (Colin Farell), a short tempered, alcoholic detective for the Vinci police department; Antigone ‘Ani’ Bezzerides (No, I don’t know why they chose that name either), Rachel McAdams’ detective from the Ventura Count Sherriff’s Department; Officer Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch), of the California Highway Patrol man, and Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn), a corrupt businessman, entrepreneur and criminal. We haven’t had time to fully get to know these characters yet, but already, they’re not as interesting as Marty or Rust. Give it time and they might improve, but for now, they’re a little boring.
We have four new characters to follow this season: Ray Velcoro (Colin Farell), a short tempered, alcoholic detective for the Vinci police department; Antigone ‘Ani’ Bezzerides (No, I don’t know why they chose that name either), Rachel McAdams’ detective from the Ventura Count Sherriff’s Department; Officer Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch), of the California Highway Patrol man, and Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn), a corrupt businessman, entrepreneur and criminal. We haven’t had time to fully get to know these characters yet, but already, they’re not as interesting as Marty or Rust. Give it time and they might improve, but for now, they’re a little boring.
It seems foolish to keep comparing to Season One, as there is nothing connecting the two save for the show title, and judging Season Two on its own merits would be more prudent, but that’s the problem; what it is, is kind of boring. Already we’ve seen Ray unleash his fury at his son’s bullies, and we’ve seen his problems with alcohol. That’s a little too much character development to stuff into the first episode; the rage stuff would’ve been better developed over three-four episodes to let it build up and then have him fully unleash it, because at the moment, it’s just made him immediately unlikeable. What is interesting, however, is his working relationship with Semyon, who has Velcoro in his pocket after giving him the name of his wife’s rapist. The corruption of Ray could lead to some very interesting plot developments later on. We don’t know much about Ani just yet, except that she has a bad relationship with her father. Hopefully there’s more in store for her, as McAdams is really proving her worth as an actress in recent years. Taylor Kitsch has been doing the same, but his performance as the war veteran Woodrugh was wooden. It’s disappointing, as he seemed he was on a really good track, hopefully he'll improve as the season continues.
The overall plot of the episode was not that interesting; nobody has done anything of importance just yet. But that’s because this episode was to set up the characters, with the real purpose of the season revealed in the closing moments. So now Ray, Ani and Paul will be investigating the murder of California city planner Ben Casper, a partner of Semyon. This is where the real story starts, but given the slow and uninteresting nature of this opener, you’d be forgiven for getting to the end of this episode and not actually knowing what happened.
Well, it’s a disappointing start, but it’s also early days. Maybe it never will reach the heights of its triumphant first season, but even so, True Detective Season Two has potential. Let’s hope that potential is tapped into and we get some quality television.
The overall plot of the episode was not that interesting; nobody has done anything of importance just yet. But that’s because this episode was to set up the characters, with the real purpose of the season revealed in the closing moments. So now Ray, Ani and Paul will be investigating the murder of California city planner Ben Casper, a partner of Semyon. This is where the real story starts, but given the slow and uninteresting nature of this opener, you’d be forgiven for getting to the end of this episode and not actually knowing what happened.
Well, it’s a disappointing start, but it’s also early days. Maybe it never will reach the heights of its triumphant first season, but even so, True Detective Season Two has potential. Let’s hope that potential is tapped into and we get some quality television.
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