So this is a long time coming, True Detective's second season has been over for several months now. A bit of background is in order. The first season of the show was airing just as I moved to STL and I watched the first few episodes in that weird limbo of finishing packing just as the movers took everything away and living out of a duffle bag for a week before actually flying out here for good. Even with just a few episodes I was hooked and once I got cable here my bundle included a free year of HBO so it was presented to me on a silver platter. And I LOVE that first season. It's filled with Lovecraft Mythos styled mysteries, like the Yellow King and Carcosa. The script and cast are amazing. It's full of tension and dread.
So what the fuck happened in the second season to make it so disappointing? I can't blame the cast directly, they all turned in some solid performances with what they had to work with. Colin Farrell is great and despicable, but with just a glimmer of possible redemption. Vince Vaughn's "reformed" gangster slowly sliding back into the world he struggles to leave behind. And Rachel McAdams's turn as a haunted police detective to round it out.
The big problem is the script. The big story, the main mystery, is just unengaging. By halfway through the season I'd forgotten what it even was, but I kept watching for the personal drama of the main cast. And then it just runs out of steam just past halfway through the season even though it tries to stoke the fires and bring it back. At least the ending was satisfying, even if the last third of the seasons wasn't.
Should you watch it? Well, there's much worse ways to spend 8 hour-long episodes, but I wouldn't run out to see it. Instead, watch the first season again. Because time is a flat circle.
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