Ugh yes, this was blatantly a homage to Lynch's Mulholland Drive right down to the music, the camera angle...even the freaking slight use of a desaturized film technique.

But this is the guy who directed Fast and the Furious 7... not David Lynch.

OK, I can get past this. And I LOVE the overhead "city of industry, thirty mile zone, san pedro, blah blah blah" shots they use between scenes. I love it.

But this HAS to be a joke with how cliche the characters are. I mean, tell me Mr. Pizzolatto, that you're smarter than this. I can make a man drunk and angry. The portrayal of women is already extremely sexist as was it was in the first season. I get it... but GOT and TD have got to the point where they just throw this shit in critics faces and it doesn't come off as being smart. It comes off as being a frat-tastic douchebag.

I thought it was good. It felt a bit scattered. I imagine it's harder to introduce the 4 leads as opposed to 2. Especially since Marty and Rust could be together in a lot of scenes and that wasn't the case yet for this show.

It doesn't seem like were gonna get much levity which leaves it pretty bleak.

Rust and Marty weren't necessarily "good guys" but it was easy to buy in and be on their side because they were trying to prevent a great evil. There's nothing like that yet, it was just hey look at these broken assholes

The story seems like it could be pretty interesting though

I picked up on this too. The anti-hero profile is great for these types of shows and season 1 did that to perfection.

Elisabeth Moss in Top of the Lake is probably what you're going to get from Rachel McAdams but already I can tell she isn't going to be as good as that was.

Colin Farrell just isn't likable. That's not to say he can't be entertaining but him beating the shit out of someone doesn't have the same heartwarming effect as Rust and Marty had.

I don't know what to say about Riggins. I loved this guy in FNL and I get what he is. I feel like he's this guy who never even wanted to be an actor but people keep forcing this shit down his throat.

Should have got Zach Gilford instead, haha

http://images4.fanpop.com/image/phot...-1489-2000.jpg

From Rust's and Marty's conversations and actions we know that they aren't moral paragons of any sort but they are clearly on the side of good. We don't see what was in the meth making house or what was on the tape but considering everybodies reaction to it? I bet it was pretty soul destroying.

If you notice, everytime Rust shows the tape to people, he can't watch it again. He turns his back to the showing.

Holy shit...didn't see that coming....

What the ****!?

Awesome. Can't wait to see it later. Till then; :bolt:

Well that should get things going...

...

Only way be isn't dead is if the guy wanted him to not be dead.

I believe the bird mask was seen in the car in the first episode.

Yep

Wise words of the day from Ray:

"A good beating always provokes personal growth"

So far this is a c-level direct to video cop movie.

I wonder if that is why HBO gave it the June-July slot instead of the October-November slot.

Taken from reddit:

I wish you were wrong...

Don't think for a second he's dead, but I definitely didn't see that coming.

And it wouldn't surprise me if this season ends up better than last. There's none of the fake metaphysical bullshit that ultimately had nothing to do with anything. If the last four episodes of season one had been even close to the first four, that show might be hard to top, but it really wasn't all that special by the end, lead performances aside.

"We the people" made season 1 out to be greater than it was.

Pretty sure that is what people liked the most about TD1

It certainly was a strong point. Keg's prediction that this season will top last is a bold one, especially given it's disjointed start...

Friend of me told me he had binge watched season 1 this weekend. He said he liked it.
I had to comment that, for me, a solid 50% of the fun of season 1 was the slow burn and Internet theories from week to week. I think if I'd have binge watched it, I wouldn't have liked it.

The metaphysical stuff is was I liked the most about season 1. I called it fake bullshit earlier because it turned out that's what it was in relation to what the show was actually doing. All the coolness of the first half of the season, the idea that we were seeing the unraveling of some conspiracy with supernatural overtones, completely vanished by the end of the show. The only thing that saved the first season was the relationship between Rust and Marty, built on the work of Harrelson and McConaughey. It started as a really cool looking show, and then ended like HBO's take on a standard procedural.

Now, admittedly, a lot of that was those of us talking up the early eps on the internet, treating the show like it was the new Lost for the first month it was on the air, for absolutely no reason. We know what we're dealing with now, and we can focus on stuff like performance and direction and artistry, and not get caught up in plot theorizing that ultimately ends in blue balls. So I think we could have a steadier, more consistent reaction. We already know Pizzolatto is not a genius.

So basically the reason I'm saying season 2 could potentially top season 1 is that it's just being what it is this time, instead of giving us all this false tease for a month. But in no way take that as a prediction. I'm just saying it wouldn't surprise me.

... but it wasn't simply "fake bullshit." The dissolved supernatural conspiracy of TD Vol. 1 should serve to viewers as a meta-commentary almost on life itself. There may or may not be some sort of malevolent group that wields a lot of control over society, but in the end to Marty and Rust, it didn't matter: they solved the case and skirted death.

There's something to be said there. I'm too preoccupied to take a stab at exactly what that is.

Well, there was a conspiracy. The mystical stuff was all of us getting inside Rust's head and his worldview. It also drops hints why exactly he adopted that philosophy, he killed his daughter by accident. His nihilism is his coping mechanism for the guilt he feels about it and how his life spiraled down in the immediate aftermath.

The same thing with the Yellow King. It was heavily hinted that he was also molested ("what they did to me" he says at one point) by the conspirators. He took their symbology for himself and basically became their leader through sheer violence.

I thought the first season was great. But I binge watched it after it was over and had zero knowledge of all the Lost-conspiracy stuff. I'd agree the last couple episodes weren't as strong as the middle... but it was still a great show and Marty/Rust's relationship was so well done.

Judging too early. This mess is going to collide spectacularly.

I personally don't think those were trophy heads. More like bestiality. Notice the sex swing?

Yeah I fully went in expecting this to be worse than season 1, but the last season didn't get going until the 3rd episode. They've certainly set up all the pieces for this to turn this storyline into a real entertaining mess, of course that can go both ways.

As for the supernatural angle for season 1, everyone is aware (?) that the original ending was going to be Marty and Cohle disappear in the labyrinth without a trace, and are never seen or heard from again.

I think just as many people would be disappointed with that ending - just swapping out some, because there was of course always going to be that contingent that wasn't going to be satisfied with the ending no matter how it turned out.

The masks could simply be to maintain anonymity since there was that recording device setup out of sight.

I still say that something odd is up with Ani’s father. Him remarking on the totem poles with the giant bird and other animal heads carved into them. Plus, check out the painting in the shrink's office - the one that mentions knowing Ani’s dad.

If he's alive they're kind of going off the deep end with the durability of their world-weary detectives, because in three episodes time Cohle will have survived a complete gutting by a 280 LB man and Velcoro would have survived a 12 gauge directly to the lower abdomen at point blank range. That would have turned his stomach into hamburger, and short of setting his ass on fire to cauterize the wounds, there is no way he's not bleeding out from that.

Bulletproof vest. Shot is really light even compared to a bullet. It doesn't have the penetrating power to get through layered kevlar.

It will hurt a lot and leave some nasty bruising but not anywhere near fatal.

Yep, that would kill your ass vest or not. But,

Spoiler warning for attachment

Worst spoiler tag ever. :doh!:

I think they mentioned during the autopsy that it was birdshot, so assuming it's the same with Velcro. For whatever that's worth.

I'll never get over the little girls drawings in season 1 that literally never led to anything

I'm really enjoying Season 2 but I'm not in any way comparing it to Season 1.

It's a completely different story with completely different characters, actors, vibe and direction.

I enjoyed the 2nd episode much better than the first. I grew up on a combo of Skinamax and USA Up All Night and this has a more polished feel, plus I'm a sucker for anything toxic waste. Vaughn going Vaughn with the whole "why would anyone want to hurt ya, buddy?" was more than corny, but it's growing on me.

Sorry. I ****ed up.

Yeah, I'm into season 2 thus far. I didn't really enjoy season 1 as much as most.

I still have a hard time believing Vaughn and McAdams in those roles. Beginnings are still scrambled but coming together. Taylor Kitsch is knocking his role out of the park IMO. Very well acted.

hahahaha

https://thoughtcatalog.files.wordpre...ng?w=500&h=327

I'm reserving my judgement so far on Riggins but up to this point he's still....well, Riggins.

I must have missed this part.

Taylor Kitsch has always been better than his roles - John Carter, Gambit, and the guy in Battleship just didn't give him much to work with. He's really making me believe this character, and I have high hopes for him as the season goes on.

Vince Vaughn, on the other hand, is a disaster, and he's diminishing the whole show.

I mean, seriously. How was that part of the plot that was never addressed? Ever? It makes NO SENSE. And never will.

I think we're going to see the same thing with the potency / parent-dynamic themes that we're seeing play out in this incarnation of TD.

Won't have any relevance into the plot, but is meant to get us to think and reflect on our own lives / society.

I don't see Vaughn's acting as all that problematic. Kitsch, I think, is actually overacting, trying too hard to be intense, PTSD-guy. McAdams has done a really good job, and Farrell is consistently excellent.

Maybe this role will get Kitsch a few more big budget movies he can flop !

Aim high, Taylor! Aim high!

Chekhov's Gun isn't a principal everybody believes in. Woody put it best at the end, "We were never going to get 'em all."

Woody and MM made that show amazing. The actual story? Meh. It was certainly weak in some areas.

Yeah, underneath it all it was Dirty Harry - a lot of disenchanted-cop psychology while the chase for a crazed loner takes its toll on personal lives - and it was a little disappointing when all of the King in Yellow talk turned out to be just babbled nonsense. The genius, though, was in the telling - the setting, the direction, and the performances.

Also, unsurprisingly, Alexandra Daddario said her phone hasn't stopped ringing since HBO aired episode 2.

So far this season has been full of bad writing and boring direction. It looks like Fukunaga is what carried the first season, and why this when won't be nearly as good.

Some shows are extremely well-written. So well-written that almost anyone can carry them. Others are exceptionally well-directed.

What set the first season apart was the performance of McConaughey. He was LeBron on the '07 Cavs.

No joke. With that face and her knockers... she's a ****ing forest fire.

Add in Fukunaga's direction and I absolutely agree with you. Looks like the concerns over Cary's departure were well justified.

I don't care how many seasons this lasts...they will never outdo the revealing of Alexandra Daddario's tittahs.

"Ballers" tried their best with that one tonight...

I never understood the creepiness of the internet until she got naked on True Detective. Holy shit did it get creepy.


ANyways, this season has reached Lost levels of spinning their tires on plot.

Holy ****. I've seen hormonal thirteen year olds deliver more artful rants than Ep. 3's potshot at Cary. Pizzolatto is a douche on the highest order.

He really is.

How much you want to we get Ani sleeping with Colin Farrell (obv) and then trying to with Riggins (which will only not happen cause he's the gay).

Cause you know...she's a woman and they're angry, crazy sluts.

I'm amused that I had to have this pointed out to me. Didn't even notice the similarities.

That ep did absolutely nothing for me.

Apparently Vinci is inspired by a real place...a small, corrupt (at least, previously corrupt) town just outside of LA:

link

I love everything about that part of California. It's raw and industrial, bright and dark at the same time. The setting is cool.

I thought they were supposed to do it more "LA Confidential" era but I can see how they got lazy and didn't want to put up with all the production cost sending the story back 75 years.

There's something up with that bar. Like purgatory or an alternate reality of some sort, or something.

What's with Frank telling the waitress that someone murdered Velcoro? Talking to his dad there while unconscious. Always the standout art direction there. The waitress' face is messed too.

The scenes in the bar are outtakes from a scrapped David Lynch project.

It seems like that, but not really.

That said, it's pretty clear that Season 2 is taking on a Mulholland Drive/Twin Peaks vibe but I don't think it's working quite as well.

I'm just a regular swinging dick viewer, I'll leave the analysis to the cognoscenti. I want to like this series but so far the Vaughn scenes seem stilted, like he's trying instead of being. There are a lot of moving parts that I still will watch to see if they come together. Overall it just isn't flowing yet. Maybe MM's amazing character colored it for me along with WH's flawless interplay...

My opinion is that instead of creating an amazing second season that followed up on season one, (in which wouldn't likely meet expectations), they went a different direction.

I wasn't thrilled with the hiring of Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams or Colin Ferrell. Ferrell has been awesome. Fred Ward was perfect as his dad.

Hopefully, it all comes together.

He did disappear from the limelight after playing his hand in more serious roles specifically Norman Bates. Lucky for him, he's buddies with Ben Stiller that got him back in the comedic actor realm again.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xrC3Bf-CvHU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I can't quite decide if this is Vaughn as an actor or part of the character itself. It seems they are trying to portray his character as a kind of imposter, trying to be the big business man when really he is still just that small time boss (Stringer Bell comes to mind for Wire fans). He uses his five dollar words and is trying to do all the right things to be the legitimate, but he keeps getting sucked back down to street level, where he really belongs. He seems stilted and disjointed when he is doing his business deals, but knows just how to act when he has to get things done back down in the gutter. Just my thoughts.

This season is veering way closer to camp than art.

That explosion looked really fake.

The gun fight scene was very poorly done.