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[Spoilers] HBO's True Detective discussion thread


Mark Antony

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Back to the Barbie dolls rape setup - I don't think that was Hart's 'imagining' or 'seeing' something that was basically harmless. So far, everything we see is supposed to be 'as is' other than Cohle's heightened senses, which has been explained, and is obviously called out, either through special effects or an almost immediate explanation following a scene where it's occurred. I can only think of two scenes, to be honest - the birds, and some lights in the sky - was it sunlight? I think it would be odd for the show to break out of this and have the viewer sharing in Hart's vision, while being unaware that is an unreliable scene. And there was nothing to clue us that this happened. There was no normal Barbie doll scene vs. Hart's imagining scene, if you know what I mean. I'm sure some of you cinema experts will be able to explain what I'm saying much more ably than I have.



This show...I cannot stop thinking about this show. I'm going to have to binge watch this weekend as well. I'm so excited about the show, and the smart, savvy discussion (because, obviously you guys are brilliant - you like what I like. :D ) up in here. I haven't been this jazzed about a show in a long time. It makes me realize how used to mediocre tv I've gotten.


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I should probably be embarrassed, but this is the first role I've seen McConaughey in (he's supposed to be in Dazed and Confused according to IMDb, but I don't recognize him at all). Anyone got a suggestion of a good movie he's in? He's stellar in this show, would like to see more of him.


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I should probably be embarrassed, but this is the first role I've seen McConaughey in (he's supposed to be in Dazed and Confused according to IMDb, but I don't recognize him at all). Anyone got a suggestion of a good movie he's in? He's stellar in this show, would like to see more of him.

He is woodsen, the creep in his twenty who still date High school girls since "As I get older, they stay the same age".

Edit: grammer and wonder if creep is harsh or not. It's not.

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I should probably be embarrassed, but this is the first role I've seen McConaughey in (he's supposed to be in Dazed and Confused according to IMDb, but I don't recognize him at all). Anyone got a suggestion of a good movie he's in? He's stellar in this show, would like to see more of him.

Wolf of Wall Street, Mud, Dallas Buyers Club, Killer Joe, Lincoln Lawyer. Basically anything from the last 2-3 years.

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I should probably be embarrassed, but this is the first role I've seen McConaughey in (he's supposed to be in Dazed and Confused according to IMDb, but I don't recognize him at all). Anyone got a suggestion of a good movie he's in? He's stellar in this show, would like to see more of him.

I've never been as impressed with him as I am with him in this show. He was solid in We are Marshall, but the movie itself is a fairly cliched feelgood sports flick. I hear he has a great cameo in The Wolf of Wall Street. He was also very good in Mud, but I thought the movie was just okay.

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Rewatched the third episode last night. In retrospect, it's brilliant the way they distract your attention away from the lawnmower man. By the conventions of the genre he should seem very suspicious for a number of reasons. Firstly his story doesn't make a lot of sense. Secondly, the staging and dialogue in the scene itself seem weirdly off. Genre conventions in detective shows usually mean a one off interview is livened up in some way. The various Law and Order franchises have made a formula out of this, for example. The cops go and interview someone, and to make it so the interviewee isnt just a straight exposition machine, the script or the director or the actor will have a bit of business, or some personality trait, something to make them more than just a straight source of information. Think the old crab fisherman for example, or Dora Lang's mother. Both display bits of personality, personal history, quirky traits, whatever, during the interview. Now look at lawnmower man. He gives Cohle nothing. He's a landscaper that works for the parish. That's it. He gives them no personality, no hint to what he's like, and, most importantly, NO relevant information. Looking back, it's so obvious - there's no point to this scene except as a way to subtly introduce this guy into the story. But before it can leap out, the information on Reggie LeDeaux comes through, and suddenly were on the road, sirens blaring, racing towards the end of the episode, Cohle's long, disturbing monologue and that bizarre, eerie final shot.



Rust says it never took more than two minutes to tell if a suspect was guilty or not. He talks to lawnmower man for almost exactly one minute. Also, for the majority of the scene, lawnmower man's face is angled in such a way that we cant really see his right cheek (left to the viewer). It's only at the end, when Hart starts honking the horn, that lawnmower man turns his head and you catch a glimpse of the burn scars on his right cheek, underneath his beard. He's blonde, he has facial scars, and if he wasn't sitting on a ride-on lawnmower, what's the bet he's pretty tall too.


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Awesome catch.

... how is that an awesome catch? What is that even supposed to mean? What, exactly, is the implication of pointing out that Rust says it never took more than two minutes to tell is a suspect was guilty or not, and that he talked to the lawnmower man for "almost exactly one minute?"

Is the implication that Rust has, already, figured out that the lawnmower man is the killer? Really? Seriously?

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... how is that an awesome catch? What is that even supposed to mean? What, exactly, is the implication of pointing out that Rust says it never took more than two minutes to tell is a suspect was guilty or not, and that he talked to the lawnmower man for "almost exactly one minute?"

Is the implication that Rust has, already, figured out that the lawnmower man is the killer? Really? Seriously?

No, exactly the opposite- Rust hasn't figured out he was the killer because he didn't spend enough time talking to him.

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He is woodsen, the creep in his twenty who still date High school girls since "As I get older, they stay the same age".

Edit: grammer and wonder if creep is harsh or not. It's not.

Ah, now I know, thanks.

The deductive skills of ya'll are astonishing, Sherlock himself would be proud. Reminds me of the best minds of Lost forum I was frequenting in the mid 00s (although their ideas were often better than what the writers ended up doing, sadly).

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Jinkies... another WTF moment that was found in a rewatch. Look at the wall full of kid's drawings (about 20 mins in) when Martin comes home to see Rust with his wife. You see a little spiral that looks a wee bit familiar. :eek:

Nice find. I'm going to have to rewatch (or maybe just fast-forward) to see this.

..

Rust says it never took more than two minutes to tell if a suspect was guilty or not. He talks to lawnmower man for almost exactly one minute. Also, for the majority of the scene, lawnmower man's face is angled in such a way that we cant really see his right cheek (left to the viewer). It's only at the end, when Hart starts honking the horn, that lawnmower man turns his head and you catch a glimpse of the burn scars on his right cheek, underneath his beard. He's blonde, he has facial scars, and if he wasn't sitting on a ride-on lawnmower, what's the bet he's pretty tall too.

Great analysis regarding the lawnmower man. And I also love that this episode had the lawnmowing confrontation between Hart and Cohle.

I thought Cohle said 10 minutes, not 2 minutes. See - yet another good reason for me to come to this thread. :D

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http://imgur.com/LmlOJdu

I think that's what he was talking about :D

Thanks for finding that, Mark. \

Like many of you, I am really digging into this show. It's brilliant. I love finding these hidden nuggets in the show.

The set design is really great, too. I mean that Hart kitchen is right out of 1995. And some of these houses (Dora's moms, et al) are borderline hoarders. It can't be easy to get all that together and make it look organic.

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I'm on board with thinking Lawnmower Man with involved. Re-watched the scene and it is indeed a brilliant potential set up.

I still have a suspicion he is but a member of some cult.

The lawnmower man theory is sublime. I didn't catch the scars but it would be great for the real killer to have appeared by now - due to detective lore.

Need to go through the other thread too when I have the chance.

I think there's a lot more to hart and I agree he may also not be quite what he seems. Not sure if he is hallucinating or is being too open-minded but there are a lot of odd things popping up with him eg the drawing, the kids models and I'm pretty sure one of the sex drawings had a man that may have been wearing a mask or weird beard.

I also thought there was something very sinister about hart clenching his fist in the interview room after the love scene - I think he's going to beat his wife at some stage.

I really can't wait until the show is complete as I'm almost certain a rewatch is going to be completely different once the ending is know,

Forgive me if these have been discussed but

Who do you think was interviewed first, Rust or Hart? I'm thinking it may be Hart but have no evidence other than I think his testimony maybe guides how Rust's is going down. Then again the same logic could be applied in the reverse scenario.

I can't help but think Hart is far sharper than we are being led to believe. His wife pointed out he used to be smarter and I think it would be a classic trick of the genre for the sharp-witted detective to be played by the one who appears dumb. I hope neither of them are involved in the killings (or at least the ones that happened in the past) but I do like how they are all slightly suspicious.

Surely Mconaughey has the emmy sewn up for this season? Although Harrelson has also had some excellent moments particularly when he's being silent - i loved the scene where he got that dig in about his wife's mother and you could see him struggling to apologise and then letting his pride beat him. Same with the lawnmower (and if the lawnmower man theory is true then it's an excellent use of mirroring).

Some of the shots in this show are a thing of beauty. I think I could almost watch a car driving through that county for an hour the way they film it.

This show would have to seriously lose the plot in the last few episodes for it not to be the best show of the year. It's only January but if there are other shows that come close I'll be a happy bunny.

EDIT: Was getting the names of the cast mixed up - probably easier for me to call them McCog and woody. Although it just dawned on me that we have a detective pairing that's "heart and soul" :)

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