True Detective

Punch · January 13, 2014, 07:42:56 AM

True Detective is an American television anthology drama series on HBO created and written by Nic Pizzolatto, with the first season directed by Cary Fukunaga (All Eight Episodes).

First episode aired last night, shot on 35mm 3 perf

Mel · January 13, 2014, 11:45:47 AM

If someone is wondering what type of series this is, few highlights.

Investigate the investigators - there is strong focus on this, we know much more about detectives than about victim. Non-chronological story telling: flash backs, scrap throwing, you name it. I could be wrong, but I have feeling that those will be used to show a clash of personalities in the face of extraordinary situation. 8 episodes, 60 minutes each - that is pretty much a British format.

btw. T Bone Burnett is responsible for music.

Brando · January 13, 2014, 10:32:48 PM

I really liked the first episode and its gotten me really excited for the show. Immediately, you could tell the aesthetic and tone of the show was going to be different from other investigation series like The Killing, The Bridge and Broadchurch. True Detective feels cinematic while the others still feel like television.

What really gets me excited is that after the first episode of a investigation drama, "who is the killer?" is not at the top but closer to the bottom of the things I want to learn.

Matthew McConaughey will win best male lead in a drama next year.

The show has a great title sequence. Do not skip forward and miss it.

EDIT: I just rewatched the episode. The show is going to be fucking great.

Mel · January 14, 2014, 03:18:51 AM

Quote from: Brando on January 13, 2014, 10:32:48 PM
The show has a great title sequence. Do not skip forward and miss it.

Agree. If someone is not yet convinced, here is opening, which serves great as a teaser.

Kellen · January 14, 2014, 09:14:17 PM

Thought it was a really strong first episode and I didn't even realize that Cary Fukunaga was involved with it until the credits (I missed the intro).

Axolotl · January 15, 2014, 02:33:01 AM

This can be really good.
The first episode was very calm and introspective, it seems like a show that's not in a rush to go anywhere and just lets the places and the characters settle in.
The writing is great, especially for McConaughey's character. Cohle could easily be a hardboiled caricature but McConaughey's delivery really extracts everything from every line of dialogue.
Nice to see actors from the Wire and Veep show up.

AntiDumbFrogQuestion · January 16, 2014, 12:23:09 AM

On guesses alone (haven't read any spoilers), McConaughey probably bangs Harrelson's wife.
Anyways, I really enjoy that the thrust of the season's arch is only brought up in the last few seconds of the episode. It's known that these actors can sell their characters, and I think we got a more McConaughey-heavy episode this week, and hopefully with it being a show about a duo we'll get more Harrelson-centric stories in the near future. There's already some hints at a deeper story with him already *coughDeliveryGirlcough*

Fernando · January 19, 2014, 11:06:36 PM

another solid episode. im officially hooked.

ppl who arent on boeard yet need to check this out, this show looks and feels like it could be the real deal.

Mel · January 20, 2014, 07:31:44 AM

Some commentary from director and writer (Nic Pizzolatto wrote whole story and Cary Joji Fukunaga directed whole thing):

There is preview available for next episode - I would recommend to skip it as it is full of spoilers (I'm bit angry at the moment that I watched it).

bigperm · January 21, 2014, 05:10:48 PM

Jus wanted to echo Fernando, get in on this!

Brando · January 22, 2014, 02:03:10 AM

I'm still loving the show after the second episode.

After loving the pilot, I looked into info about the show. I'm surprised to learn it's going to be like American Horror Story. The format is an anthology with each season depicting a different cast and story. That is disappointing cause I'm loving the cast so much.

That means we only have six more episodes with Detective Cohle.

Mel · January 22, 2014, 04:20:01 AM

Quote from: Brando on January 22, 2014, 02:03:10 AM
The format is an anthology with each season depicting a different cast and story. That is disappointing cause I'm loving the cast so much.

For me it is the other way around. I'm looking forward to revival of mini-series - my favorite format, which is somewhere between film and TV series (very specific pacing). Closed 8-episode deal is one of the reasons why Harrelson and McConaughey signed on - they even talk about that in some interviews. Beside I'm not ready for another "The Killing" treatment at the moment.

Mel · January 27, 2014, 08:12:24 AM

1x03 SPOILERS!

That opening shot! There was another jaw dropping wide shot with tent church and ship moving in the background. Then in another scene we got magnificent close-up on Maggie's face, when she hugs her husband. "True Detective" is one of the best looking series (some productions from Europe could compete, but as far as TV made in USA goes, this could be very well a champion).

I was nicely surprised by seeing Shea Whigham. I have soft spot for this actor, so I'll take anything from him. Preacher was quite a memorable.

So far there was almost no action, yet show managed to build a lot of tension - whole scene with Rust playing with beer cans was very intense. It looks like some important things will occur in next episode, but that was to be expected from mid-season I guess. Tangled chronology is back - after previous episode I was expecting, that this could be the case only for the first episode. Will the story telling in this unclear timeline approach continue? I hope so, this is nice change.

Brando · January 27, 2014, 05:46:29 PM

There isn't a weakness in any aspect of the show. The Direction, Acting, Writing, Editing, Production Design, etc... has an incredible grasp on this story, tone and characters that it feels like a show that has been on for multiple seasons. Even the best shows go through growing pains early but after the last episode it's impressive the show has only had three episodes.

No new episode next Sunday due to the Super Bowl.

Fernando · January 27, 2014, 09:11:26 PM

yeah, this show is really something else.

SPOILS EPISODE 3

yep, that opening shot was great, also the last shot or sequence where Rust says "...and like a lot of dreams, there's a monster at the end of it." ending with a haunting freeze frame. damn.

I liked how casual Martin mentions that they caught the killer because of Rust, right in the middle of the episode! here I thought the investigation would take more episodes, but apparently that isn't the case, cant wait.

for the record: I never watch the previews for the next episode.