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[spoilers] True Detective Season 2: Like blue balls in our hearts


Kat

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I enjoyed the episode.  The series has at least had more momentum since the big shoot-out.  But there are so many loose ends that I wonder if several will just be red herrings.

 

The diamonds and foster kids: I also immediately thought of the Mayor's kids being the foster kids, which would provide some sort of link for the diamonds back into the story.  I assume Cromwell is the police "some sort of jefe" who gave the diamonds to be pawned, rather than the mayor, unless we cannot trust that she would distinguish a mayor from a senior cop.  It could be either.  Not yet clear how Caspere got the diamonds, although pawning them seems intended to draw police attention to them.  Some twist remaining here.

 

Dead lazy cop (I forget his name): we still don't know why he was following Woodrugh or his connection to the diamonds.  Could be trying to cover up the original robbers, who may have been cops.

 

Bird mask, eyes burned, shooting Velcoro: the best I have here is that it was a cop that shot Velcoro.  The bird mask might just have been an opportunistic theft from the apartment to hide identify while ditching the body.  The eyes might be a reference to ending the camera spying.

 

Russians: unsurprisingly, Josip reappears at the party.  Seems like a strong candidate for Semyon's antagonist and Stan's murderer.  Seems to have muscled his way into the land deal with an end-run around Frank.  Must be connected to the corrupt cop.

 

Mexican drug dealers: why are they being introduced so prominently at this point?  Feels like a red herring or else the whole thing is too convoluted.

 

Trafficking girls for sex parties; murder scene in the cabin: seems like this should be a bigger crime than a corrupt land deal but seems like it is set up as an incidental reason for blackmail by Caspere. 

 

Ani's flashback was already heavily foreshadowed.

 

Frank: two big scenes requiring more acting chops than VV offers.  Both harken back to the opening impression of Frank as a humane kind of gangster.  Why bother spending so much time on this?  It felt like the whole point of Stan dying was to allow Frank to have this scene.

 

Ray: off the wagon, nobly martyring his relationship with his son and now speeding toward foreshadowed death

 

Hard to swallow: it was convenient of the bad guy to leave all that evidence; I don't think vomiting would have purged the drug absorbed though the lining of the mouth; police commit homicide, assault and possibly kidnapping without ever identifying themselves, trespass, break and enter (no warrant or probable cause) and taint the key evidence retrieved -- are they detectives or movie versions of the CIA?

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First: totally agree with red snow. I was absolutely expecting an orgy on an HBO show to be utterly gratuitous. But it wasn't. Colour me surprised.

Second: oh please, no, with the shitty buzzfeed spoonfeeding. Is that the same piece that was out two or three weeks ago, or a new one? Why not just pay attention when you're watching something on TV instead?
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 Why not just pay attention when you're watching something on TV instead?

 

As someone who frequently has to read recaps of TV shows, I like summaries and viewers' guides because I'm a much better reader than TV watcher. I have a hard time following the plot and remembering names at the same time. I usually have IMDB open while watching so I can recall names. I just have really poor facial recognition and have struggled with it my whole life while watching movies and TV shows if they aren't adaptations of things I've read before.

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First: totally agree with red snow. I was absolutely expecting an orgy on an HBO show to be utterly gratuitous. But it wasn't. Colour me surprised.

Second: oh please, no, with the shitty buzzfeed spoonfeeding. Is that the same piece that was out two or three weeks ago, or a new one? Why not just pay attention when you're watching something on TV instead?

 

The info isn't 100% either. Have we been told the kid isn't Velcoro's yet? Or did I miss a really important piece of information?

While I can't say I'm the best with names of characters, I try to get through these things without resorting to guides if possible. At least that link doesn't make you click for every bit of informaton and only uses animated gifs once.

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That orgy scene had to be the worst Skull and Bones party every. Where was Joshua Jackson?

Did the show need ten minutes of Ray struggling to connect with his son before deciding to go on a bender? One he recovered from rather quickly despite the quantities he was taking in...I get why it was there, I just don't think it needs to be such a focus.

Though it's likely whomever gave Frank the name he gave to Ray was setting this up that far back...
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That orgy scene had to be the worst Skull and Bones party every. Where was Joshua Jackson?

Did the show need ten minutes of Ray struggling to connect with his son before deciding to go on a bender? One he recovered from rather quickly despite the quantities he was taking in...I get why it was there, I just don't think it needs to be such a focus.

Though it's likely whomever gave Frank the name he gave to Ray was setting this up that far back...

Right? Those were some monster rails he was doing. :O
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I'm just not into this show at all. I'm trying but I don't really give a shit about any of the characters or find myself absorbed in the story at all which really annoys me as I usually get really into TV, even bad shows.

There is just too much going on and it isn't being handled well, too convoluted.

I liked Ani's knife action though, pretty cool.

I agree with Cas that they are includig every single cliche of the genre and it's not working for me at all.

Lmao you're pure gold was so cheesy but vaughn is ok, his dialogue is just terrible. There's something intriguing about him as an actor tho so im glad he was given a role like this to really show that. Thought the psycho remake was fckin awful.
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Has anyone ever read any of NP's short stories, or his novel? I know he heavily "borrowed" a lot of the great dialogue in S1, but the disparity in the writing between the seasons really is huge. It's hard to believe it's the same guy.
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Not to be rude, but were these guys even healthy enough for an orgy? The basics maybe, but some of the dudes looked like they were pushing seventy. :shocked:

 

Also, Rays wife?

 

Not really a fan.

I know - I thought the same thing.  And wasn't that glasses full of viagra we saw?

 

I don't really blame Ray's wife; he's such a headcase.  He's just not stable, and what he did to the son to get the name of the bully out of him was just cruel.

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I know - I thought the same thing.  And wasn't that glasses full of viagra we saw?

 

I don't really blame Ray's wife; he's such a headcase.  He's just not stable, and what he did to the son to get the name of the bully out of him was just cruel.

Not quite as cruel as Lucille replacing Buster with George Michael for Motherboy  after he lost his hand to that seal.

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Not quite as cruel as Lucille replacing Buster with George Michael for Motherboy  after he lost his hand to that seal.


Muhahahaha...no, you're right. Lucille is way more cruel than Velcoro.

I think whoever stated that Ani's sister Athena is going to be murdered is right. I think that will be her 'righteous vengeance' motivation and we'll see her wipe out all the bad guys. And I'm still not sure who they all are, because I'm honestly having a hard time following this show.

Like Kat, I enjoy reading the reviews, because I also am a better reader than viewer for some reason. I think a lot of my problem is that I tend to get sidetracked by the music, atmosphere, etc. and I miss some of the details. I need to rewatch this episode. It hurt me that Ani's attacker from childhood resembles Donal Loague. No fair, HBO.
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As someone who frequently has to read recaps of TV shows, I like summaries and viewers' guides because I'm a much better reader than TV watcher. I have a hard time following the plot and remembering names at the same time. I usually have IMDB open while watching so I can recall names. I just have really poor facial recognition and have struggled with it my whole life while watching movies and TV shows if they aren't adaptations of things I've read before.

I agree on the names, absolutely. Especially in this show, there always seem to be so very many names mentioned. Since I putt the subtitles on to deal with the sound issues I've been able to get the names that are flying around and that helps a lot.

 

However, some people on this board seem to miss things in TV shows and films which are not subtle 'blink and you'll miss it' or ambiguous 'did that really happen?' moments, but actually explicit, unambiguous events. Things that it seems you would have to try really hard on purpose to not be aware of. And I think stuff like that buzzfeed piece just feed that culture of not bothering to pay attention to something. Surely that is the point with something complex like this show - that you need to watch it carefully? Or that it might reward a re-watch due to the level of detail?

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I think this season is convoluted rather than complex. It doesn't seem to develop, just to hit viewers constantly with new tangents. I understand what they're chasing down from moment to moment but everything's introduced suddenly and it's all over the place, I accept and move on rather than rewind and figure out. Keeping track of how it all connects (if it even does) or where they've picked up a specific lead is difficult. Plus, hidden in an hour of stilted, meandering, boring dialogue (and, worse, VV soliloquy) it's not "blink and you'll miss it" as much as "yawn and you'll miss it."

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