Meh. There really wasn't anything in the finale that blew my socks off. Honestly it was a little pat. Basically the "handyman did it". Who happens to be your typical swamp rat ogre who lives in a huge shitty house who makes murals and really big crafty dream catchers in the elaborate tunnel system near his house. I guess the flowers represent each victim? And supposedly there is a long line of victims trailing back to probably the Louisianian Purchase and a big network of powerful pedos involved? Yeah, none of that gets followed up. The scary thing when you read about the Franklin Scandal, the B.C. pig farm, etc is the normality and strings of influence involved in it. True Detective basically went "troll under the bridge". Instead of following the money it just focused on the scarred hermit handyman who has really bad hygiene and the hoarder girlfriend (relative). I wanted the no doubt photogenic Senator relative instead. Marty seems fine with that, and Kohle seems too busted to pursue it. I'd hold out judgement if it looked like Season 2 would pursue the same line in another direction but it looks like it is going to jump location and characters? Cop out.
I think it diminishes the source material when it is just used as fodder for plot devices and is only a convenient wrapper for your typical police procedural. I mean this is fiction, why not get specific in the series about the power structure? The allusions to Senator Tuttle were weak and abstract. I mean everyone has got a senator somewhere in their family tree. Connect the bohemian grove like dots for us. More time was invested in the paranormal identity of the Yellow King and Carcosa lines which, lets be honest, went nowhere. The eater of time, the whorls, time loops, etc, all dead ends. Peoples theories and conjectures about such things were more elaborate and creative then what the show ended up delivering. True Detective started to stray into territory that Lost did, but then dropped it like a hot potatoe. Sorry, but Pizzolatto is just a tourist with this stuff (the paranormal and occult conspiracy) creating a pinterest of these themes instead of an illuminated manuscript.
I think the show is harmless if approached like American Horror Story but if it is pulling from live content I think it needs to raise the bar more than a bit. I mean Red Riding told the same story (without the paranormal window dressing) and did it much more convincingly and revealed the power structure much more cleanly.
If you don't honor the source material then you can actually diminish and exploit what the material is based on. (Honestly if True Detective was really ground breaking, it would be hella disturbing and wouldn't be pap for Kimmel and Rogen to ape). I started to have this macro-analysis troubling orientation to watching it in episode 7.
First, the scene when Marty finds the baby in the microwave has to be one of the most disturbing things I've seen ever.
The choice to actually show Marty looking into the microwave with the camera looking at his face reaction was fucked.
Obviously shit like like that does happen. There usually a similar story on CNN every 9 days. And I don't fault the show for having that
be the reason why Marty retires...but to show it so graphically, that is fucked. Also it would be just as powerful, perhaps even more, if we just have a close-up
of Marty relating the story to us. Dramatically it is important, but graphically it doesn't serve any purpose other than to be deviant and outrageous.
Secondly, and related, Rust having Marty watch the ritual killing videotape of the girl, while we watch Marty's reaction, well, kind of the same deal.
Marty watches some of it, freaks, and then asks Rust "Did you watch all of it?", Rust responds something like, "I had to. I won't turn my eyes away again."
I take the meaning to be, "I'm going to go after whoever is responsible this time regardless." But there also an element of Hemingway's "don't turn your eyes from the train wreck" stoicism and also plain old 2 girls one cup sick voyeurism. Again, why not have Marty view the video off screen? Like when they had the sheriff view the video?
I look at it this way. At some point networks of sick powerful fucks sacrificed and/or exploited some innocent people wholesale and got away with it. But the recognition of the crimes and societal structure of them has entered the public consciousness to a limited extent through the backdoor. A show is using this material, and related material, not to confront the public with this disturbing reality but as light entertainment. The themes are heavy and dark, yes. But the analysis, depth and scope of the endeavor aren't very disturbing to the status quo. I doubt anyone familiar with such themes learned anything or felt it challenged at all the official script on such matters. Those unfamiliar probably read it as one inbred powerful family down south having a long run at ritualized murder with some conspiracy and X-files sprinkles on top.
I got to be honest to, the conclusion while having some nice moments and cinematography was pretty underwhelming. Basically, it was a Bush speech. "There is just one story. Light vs. dark." There are the evil doers and then there are the good guys. I expect that level of insight and depth from a He-Man cartoon. True Detective has done what I thought was seemingly impossible. Taking material that challenges core realities for most people when they really are confronted with them and McDonaldized it for mass consumption. Sigh, I wanted it to work. I really did. Oh well, spin the wheel. True Detective was just not the R.I. The Wire I wanted it to be. It was more like the R.I. Starsky and Hutch.
