Submitted by TheShowLover t3_121uqyu in television
So many have seen the first season but were turned off by the second season. So they seemingly abandoned the series altogether since no one talks about the third season.
I won't spoil but like season one it alternates between past and present. Three time periods really.
Is it as good as season 1? Hard to tell but it is definitely better than season 2. Besides the season 1 ending was kinda of a letdown.
> resolution left a lot to be desired
Ain't that the truth. I saw a lot of praise for it back when it released, but >!"It was all an accident" is not very compelling!<
The “resolution” makes no sense if you apply reality to it.
>!Like, his son finds that slip of paper, immediately knows he was at that location for a reason, does five minutes of investigating and immediately comes to the same conclusion his father did. Then he just, ya know, tells him the next day when he is lucid again. It’s not some great tragedy that he solved the crime and never knew it bc of his degenerative disease, his kid woulda just told him what happened the next day. It’s only a tragic ending because we don’t see the aftermath which would have followed a very few basic steps of logic. In the real world if it was a real story this all would have been handled and resolved in the few days after the ending of the show and everyone would live happily ever after!<
I took it that the resolution >!wasn’t reality. That his son didn’t really do that investigating. That the protagonist’s trauma from the case combined with his degenerative mental state built that narrative as a shield and comfort. It was presented as reality, but I took it as the reality the protagonist experienced, not real reality.!<
Reality tends not to involve people hightailing it towards random locations that they see scrawled on random bits of paper
Why >!would the woman hide if it were truly all an accident!<? I mean, I took it all to mean that >!the one-eyed guy’s story was just the effort to finally make it all go away and hide what really happened.!<
Oh good, just like season 1 then!
Season 1 had a great ending.
Season 1 was a masterpiece for sure. People always dislike season 2, but I also like season 2. It has a different tone, less melancholy and more action. And I like season 3.
Season 2 felt a bit too depressing for the sake of being depressing. There wasn't really a reason why everything was so glum and bad. It was still better than most series but it needed some more time to simmer.
Season 3 was good though, especially the acting.
Yeah, I felt ending of Season 2 was really forced. It was probably a reaction to ending of Season 1 but honestly it was more unbelievable than Season 1 ending. Every storyline concluded in a comically depressing way. Until the ending I thought Season 2 was really good.
I agree, I liked all 3 as well. I hear Jodie Foster will be in season 4 and I can't wait.
colin farrel nailed it
So did the whole main cast imo, Vince Vaughn in particular. But hard to follow up serial killer story with a routine gangster who wants to go legit..
Loved season 2.
Season 3 was really good but they fumbled the landing pretty bad.
Season 2 completely missed the tone and what made season 1 great.
In the first season, our two protagonists fabricate a cover story about their heroic deeds, rushing through gun fire, taking down a machine gun bunker like Captain America, when in reality, they executed someone who was completely helpless. What they did was the antithesis of heroic. Its a clever take on the typical crime genre.
In Season 2, they show the fake cover story, except its not fake, they play it straight and it actually happens. Dozens of cops are mowed down in the street by machine gun while literal bombs are going off. But our protagonists with their detective skills manage to dodge bullets and kill the baddies. You know, something you might see in a typical trashy crime thriller show. That scene was so bad I stopped watching the show after that ep.
The point of the scene in S2 wasn't whether or not it happened though. The point was that it did and it was bad but it was just covered up. It's basically much more noir-ish and i had no problem with it yet ironically leads to the biggest problem of the show - for most of the air time no one actually wants the case solved or are actively repressing attempts to solve it so the plot meanders on useless stuff leaving you with a general sense of confusion until the leads are like "fuck it" but then it comes apart for them quickly anyway and they end up losing horribly because the whole state infrastructure is just one corrupt festering temple. The way violence is handled towards the main characters in the second half is certainly not a typical thriller - 3/4 main characters die pointless, non-heroic deaths due to their pride, ego or honour and the last is forced into hiding as a vagrant with their life utterly ruined following being drugged and having to murder a man to avoid sexual assault and nothing changes at all. It's sloppy and pretty flabby around the edges with some weird dialogue but the structure itself is classic noir.
Season 2 sucked because it wasnt Season 1 which set the bar so ridiculously high. Dare I say it, unrealistically high.
Season 1 was just that lightning in a bottle good.
Yep I think it’s unfair to compare the two seasons. s2 as a stand-alone would be fine. Not great but fine.
I watched S2 first, and definitely enjoyed it.
I think this is the most non-biased way you can answer this question. Thanks.
Season 2 shed a lot of light on why it’s so difficult to write TV like you write novels. Nic Pizzolatto spent years writing the first season, and released it to an audience with zero expectations. Then HBO says, “Here’s a ton of money, do it again. You have 6 months.” Not only is it difficult to strike gold again with a great idea, but it’s nearly impossible to narrow down the scope of any story with such little time. Season two had many issues, but for me, it just didn’t feel organic. None of the characters felt real, so neither did the story.
I like Season three for the characters, but the story doesn’t end where I hoped it would.
The second season gets no love, but I thought it was excellent.
Season 2 was badass. Vince Vaughn beating up the bullies dad 🤌🏽.
I think that was Colin Ferrell, but what a great and satisfying scene.
"Ass-pen"
The second season is really good for the most part, but also compared to the first season I feel like it goes to being sort of a generic gritty LA cop show. None of the characters felt super impactful and the dialogue seemed really rough at some spots. The ending also was like, really unsatisfying. I liked it but it was nowhere near the same quality.
The ending of episode 4 though with the shootout had me hooked. I kept wondering why nobody had a radio, but i was also on the edge of my seat lol
When Colin Ferrel tells Rachel Mcadams that she makes the ecigarette work, I checked out.
I thought it was merely pretty good. It was a good sendup of the connected universe/true crime Serial kind of crowd but I don’t know if Pizolato has what it takes to strike gold twice.
I watched season 3, and its discussions live. It received a lot of praise, but the landing didn't seem to stick, and all of the buzz died. I think it should be talked about more as season 1 didn't really stick the landing either, and it's universally praised.
>season 1 didn't really stick the landing either
How? Thought it ended great. Especially with the final scene about oight and dark
When it aired, consensus was that they fumbled the ending and that it kind of ruined it. It's only years later I started seeing people talk about how it was great.
>I think it should be talked about more as season 1 didn't really stick the landing either, and it's universally praised.
It can't be talked about more if more people don't share that same opinion as you lol "more people should talk about my opinion despite that they don't share it." If they felt the same way, they'd say it
> but the landing didn't seem to stick
> didn't really stick the landing either
I don't know what that means
The thing about True Detective is, I literally can’t remember any of the mysteries or the solutions. I remember the casting I remember the performances and I remember the vibe, especially the weird Lost Carcosa vibe of the first season, but I can’t remember what any of it wound up actually meaning.
Thanks for this post. I skipped S3 but will likely go back for it now!
Can't wait for S4!! Foster time!
I started with season 3 as I saw they are not related, liked it, then watched season 2 and liked it better. Waiting to start season 1 soon.
My main problem with season 3 is >!the way they were telling the story you knew the resolution was coming in the future, so while they did some stuff in the 80s and 90s you knew they wouldn't solve the case there, so most of the stuff felt unimportant with a few details showing up later. !<
You'll have the same problem with season 1 then. Ultimately it's about the journey and learning what happened in those periods as it goes on.
I really liked season 3 but thought Season 1 was better. I haven't watched season 2. I thought Stephen Dorf's character was the best part of season 3 especially when he and Mahershala Ali's character were interacting when they were elderly.
Edit: Scoot McNairy's character was really good to
The chemistry between Ali and Dorf was really always super compelling
Season 3 brought back the vibe , didn't like the ending tho
Second season of TD is far better than most give credit. Its not great but it's on par with S3.
Personally liked s1's ending. Carcosa may have been a tad disappointing, but the very ending bits were good.
Season 2 would have been better received if it wasn’t called true detective.
I thought second was awesome and the third was a dud.
I’m one of the few that really dug the second season, and specifically Vince Vaughn’s character.
Nothing is as good as season 1 of true detective. Season 3 was great.
Season 2 could use a re-cut by one director to tell a cohesive story. I think another major fault of season 2 was the falling out between Nic and the director of season 1. So they ended up using different directors for each episode. Each episode felt segmented.
I feel like season 2 needed a lot more writing time. It also felt like there were too many characters with all of them being only mildly important. Taylor Kitschs character felt really out of place throughout like the whole show.
I mostly had a hard time with the Vaughn storyline and his wife. They just both seemed ridiculous to me.
In my opinion, Season 3 is the best.
I appreciated season three for a resolution that was simple. Throughout, the plot leads the viewer down paths of wild conspiracies similar to seasons 1 and 2. But here, it turns out to be an accident and parents trying to help their daughter. It was refreshing to see a season 3 that under played the gravity of the plot instead of trying to out do previous seasons.
Agree. Nothing can go toe to toe with season 1, but season 3 is peak TV
totally agree, but I'm in the boat that liked all 3 seasons.
1st is basically perfect. couple nitpicking things maybe. the 2nd was just rushed to produce, i feel. the acting and cinematography was nice. just lots to try to focus on. the 3rd season technically had 5 timeframes i believe but 2 are just one scene.. sorry if I'm miss remembering. God now I have to go and watch all of it again. thanks for reminding me
Agreed! It also has one of my favourite ever ending shots.
It was. Thank you, I see a lot of people put it down but it was excellent, great job by Merhershala Ali
It was pretty good…but the problem is that the first season is one of the best seasons of TV ever. It just set a super high bar that’s gonna be very tough to reach.
I literally watched it this month. It was so good. Mahershala and Stephen were legendary playing the same roles in three different decades.
I absolutely loved season 1 and absolutely hated season 2. Anyone on the same boat can tell me what they thought of season 3? I've been putting it off for such a long time
Similar to me on 1 and two. Three is worth watching. Don’t get you hopes too high but it’s solid
I recently watched season 3. It was pretty good, did not like the ending too much but it wasnt terrible. It's hard to strike lightning with season 1 then have to try to follow that up...
tbh i completely forgot it had season 3. it's ironic cause forgeting is a big part of this season
I was meh on it when it came out. I re-watched it last year and I loved it. I could watch that bar scene with Stephen Dorff all day long. It was a real eye opener.
it was indeed good television. Love how Ali's character was the abrasive, insufferable guy and Dorff's the chill, reasonable one. Fantastic acting by both actors
Ok den
in general yes, but there was two massive info dumps with people literally sitting at a table talking at the end as a means of plot reveal
Season 2 is better than 3.
What? They made a 3rd season?
I agree with op.
My vote is that 1 is still best. But 3 is leap and bounds beyond 2.
I thought Stephen Dorff was great in it.
You don't see ( as much of him) as you used to, so it was a nice casting. ( Yes, there is humor in there who are familiar with a certain previous work)
Anyway, that dude has bad emphysema from smoking so it was good to see him still up and around.
All kidding aside, Seriously, he was good in season 3.
Nah I prefer season 2 to 3
Is that because the 2nd was so terrible? Seriously I didn't watch the 3rd mainly for this reason.
That's my impression. The lack of hype for season 3 suggests that people bailed on the show after season 2. It didn't help that season 3 came out four years later thus squandering whatever hype True Detective still had.
thought it was great
I liked first two seasons, but the third was so boring for me....
Season 2 has some good stuff in it
they just needed to cut out the soldier guy imo.
Nothing beats season 1 with Matthew. That season was a true masterpiece!
I’m sorry but the biggest thing i remember from s3 is the mumbling, it seriously impacted my opinion of the show. Everybody raves about Mahershala Ali’s acting, but I could hardly hear him and parse the words. Good acting isnt just talking low/mumbling words while giving a serious monologue. I remember this being a thing during Jaime Lanisters overly praised GOT hot tub scene too. Enunciate!
Just did a rewatch. Gonna have to disagree. It was my 4th watch. Season 1 is just superior in acting, writing, and cinematography. Season 3 was better than season 2 which was a rushed misfire. Season 1 was lightning in a bottle. I applaud the writing and acting in season 3 but the ending just fell pretty short. It also makes zero sense how Hoyt doesn’t know everything that happened. I get things don’t get fully resolved ever, but it just seemed very flaccid at the end. Ali and Dorf were off the charts good .
personally I think S3 is the worst of them. It was ok. Not really interested in a rewatch. S2 was fascinating especially when you read that Reddit post where they figured out the whole thing is about The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Meh, I stopped trying to like True Detective in S3.
The 3rd was the best imo but the 1st is not far behind. Need to rewatch the 2nd season.
I agree. It had a noirish feel to it.
C+ at best
DEM KIDS
eaglesWatcher t1_jdnod2i wrote
I liked how season 3 was progressing but the resolution left a lot to be desired