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IMDB Rating – 8.9/10
Number of Season – 3
Season 1 in the one that you want to watch without missing a beat.
With a lot of back of forth style of story telling, season one focuses on Louisiana State Police homicide detectives Rustin “Rust” Cohle (McConaughey) and Martin “Marty” Hart (Harrelson), who investigated the murder of prostitute Dora Lange in 1995. Seventeen years later, they must revisit the investigation, along with several other unsolved crimes. Also what is haunting Hart is infidelity towards his wife, Maggie (Monaghan), and Cohle struggles to cope with his troubled past. True Detective’s first season explores themes of philosophical pessimism, masculinity, and Christianity; critics have analyzed the show’s portrayal of women, its auteurist sensibility, and the influence of comics and weird horror fiction on its narrative.
I think this is a very beautiful series with a lot of character and depth in story telling. This series has created a new bench marks of detective stories. Usually we are given a quick overview of stories where our “Good” cops just find the culprits in like a couple of days. But reality is way more complex than fiction. This series depicts that very well. It shows the frustrations of detectives who are unable to solve a murder and the toll it takes on them.
But the primary reason to like this series is the casting of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. There are plenty of scenes where there is no one in the frame but just one character and still they where able to make you still tight to your seats. They can speak without opening their mouths. And that was the appeal of this series. They will place you inside the minds of the characters and you will feel what they are feeling, and that is amazing. It is not one of those series what will leave you all charged up and thinking you too can solve a crime, but rather will make you think and respect the jobs of these people.
The setup is very bland, knowingly of course. Stripped of any glamor or glists. (Except of course, Alexandra Daddario)
The music plays a very important role in taking you to that place and become a part of it. It is not the most memorable but it does not ruin the atmosphere.
I think the real hero is direction and story. They way the director presented it and showed it in different stages, I think that is what made this series such a cult classic. This story could have gone south (Boring) so fast if not the way it was presented. It required a lot of knowledge of the story background and details. The director needed to make sure that he does not get confused. Else it would have be on a different list, even with amazing cast. We are glad this turned out the way it did.
Season 2 and 3
Now why did season 2 and 3 lost it’s way?
For the exactly same reasons state above. The director lost he way. What was the essence of story telling was maybe considered and a option. So the second time they changed it and added more speed to the story. Was it necessary? Well, the cast was not enticing enough to hold the camera still on them for more then a minute… so maybe. But was that the fans were expecting?? No.
A few people were upset as the original cast didn’t return. But the ones who watched, they didn’t like the story or the dedication of the new cast members. It was more corporate and mechanical.
In any case it did lose a huge audience by end of season 3.
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