True Detective on HBO

[Luther Blissett]

The True Detective subreddit has us beat in terms of analysis, but I think that the discussion here about overarching meaning, context, and clear real-life influences on the show is of a higher quality.

When it comes near to the end, I want to start a thread there about Dutroux / Franklin / Jersey / Penn State etc. If those internet sleuths applied as much rigor to a real crime then we'd possibly have something. Wasted talents on something that is likely to have meta connotations about the nature of media, control and brainwashing.

As an aside: the mind reels from the possible volume of organized SRA crimes going down in the eastern and southern hemispheres right now while we analyze the past in anticipation of our western future.

[brekin]

Fourthbase wrote:

Obama is a True Detective fan.
https://mobile.twitter.com/AADaddario/s ... AADaddario

Comment?

Obama was into the Dark Knight, The Wire (fav character Omar Little), is a big House of Cards fan (asked for 2nd season advanced copies) and now it seems he's into the True Detective.
He's definitely a fan of RI themes. One has to wonder though,
Perhaps he's not just the RI theme president, but also a client?

[8bitagent]

Oh man, I seriously hope the twist of the show isnt the one already used in Prisoners, as is suggested by these comparison images
http://imgur.com/a/x4PSW

non spoilerish, here's 23 images from episodes 7 and 8


just look at martys shock!

[IanEye]

*



*
there's a fine line between love & hate
that we erased
that we erased

what started as a mask became a face
the pain untraced
the pain untraced

i been a long time searching for you
i been a long time breaking through


*

[thatsmystory]

I love the way the writer says the investigation is just a vehicle but the real story is the relationship between the two detectives. Not buying it. The build up of the mystery has been too well constructed.

[Laodicean]

I love the way the writer says the investigation is just a vehicle but the real story is the relationship between the two detectives. Not buying it. The build up of the mystery has been too well constructed.

Yes. Inside a locked room.

[RocketMan]

http://www.salon.com/2014/02/27/did_the ... s_partner/

The Daily Dot HBO’s densely layered True Detective has brought out the Internet sleuths in all of us, and now a redditor may have cracked the case wide open, albeit by non-traditional means: there’s a trove of tantalizing on-set photographs to be found in the Instagram accounts of the show’s crew and producers, some of which reveal key details about the final episodes.

The altar of bones is particulary horrid.

[brekin]

I'm halfway through episode 6. When Marty and Cohle have a confrontation about Cohle getting a confession and him expecting Marty to type it up and stating he is basically carrying him career wise there was a line that I thought was pretty significant. Cohle says to Marty something like "Without me, there is no you."

That speaks volumes I think. Harking back to the Pink Floyd tee, there definitely seems like there is definitely a big thread of opposites/halves/dualities/shadow sides trying to complete each other. Intentional or not, I think for this series, though, the good cop/bad cop formula may be reaching into the archetypical. On the surface it could also be read as a straight Dexter like confession from Cohle. As in, we serial killers create jobs for you cops! It makes me wonder, though, if Hart (Harrelson) may not be the jack in the box instead of Cohle. Marty's wife says something like, paraphrasing here: "When I knew Cohle, he was a good man. He always knew what he wanted. That made him secure and he want after it. Whereas, Marty, never knew what he wanted. So he never knew what man he wanted to be."
It seems Marty would be a ripe target for being blackmailed or exploited in some way. Cohle operates with some code, whereas Marty seems like he is shopping for one. Later, chronologically it looks like Marty has found one, or has come closer. One wonders what could have crystallized it.

[Jerky]

So... anybody have any thoughts on TONIGHT's ep? Frankly, I'm stumped as to how they're going to be able to wrap things up convincingly in the single hour they have left.

YOPJerky

[Jerky]

So, a week from now, we'll know whether this show really is as good as so many of us have been led to hope it could be, or whether the whole thing has been an exercise in strategic alt-lit name dropping and a thick dollop of dark/alternative pop culture references.

YOPJerky

[8bitagent]

In her book, Harvest of Women, to be published next year, Washington exposes the seedy underworld of Juarez's narco-traffickers. 'The girls are carefully screened,' she says. 'They're always a safe bet. Disposable women. They are watched in advance for suitability - young and poor.'

Washington's accusations are based on her research and on leaks from the FBI and Mexican investigators.

'Mexican federal authorities have conducted investigations, which reveal who the killers are,' she claims. 'Five men from Juarez and one from Tijuana who get together and kill women in what can only be described as blood sport. Some of those involved are prominent men with important political connections - untouchables.'

The chosen victims are so young, explains Washington, to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. Underlings supply new victims: 'They capture the girls and bring them to their masters.'

Washington alleges at least 100 women have been killed by these men, of whom all but one are multi-millionaires. They have political connections going all the way to President Vicente Fox, and some have allegedly made contributions to Fox's presidential campaign. They have ties to the Juarez Cartel, and have used their drug wealth to build respectable businesses.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/nov/02/mexico







The video tape Rust shows Hart shows five masked men.

A crown has five points.

And boy, check out the episode 8 teaser...

[8bitagent]

The original inspiration for True Detective's story according to the show's writer

PONCHATOULA, La., May 24 - Two decades ago, Hosanna Church was one of the fastest growing congregations in the cypress flats of Tangipahoa Parish on Lake Pontchartrain's northwest rim, and its pastor, Louis Lamonica, was a beloved figure.

"That man could really preach," said Bill McCormack, a resident of Ponchatoula who attended the church as a boy. "He was an awesome local icon."

But by two years ago, when the church finally closed after a ferocious falling-out between the pastor's son and successor, Louis Lamonica Jr., and his family, the congregation that once neared 1,000 had dwindled to 10 or 15 troubled souls from a handful of families.

And now, many of them, including Louis Lamonica Jr. and a deputy sheriff who once lived on the church grounds, are behind bars, accused by the police of a litany of ungodly offenses, including sexual abuse of perhaps two dozen children and the mutilations of cats for satanic rituals.

Inside the shuttered church compound, in a "youth hall" behind the sanctuary, the police found the faint imprint of pentagrams on the floor that someone had apparently tried to scrub away. Some of those arrested, the police said, described rituals within those pentagrams involving cats' blood and people dressed in black robes.

The abuse victims ranged in age from 1 to 16, the police said. Several are in protective custody, and a search is under way for others, who may have moved or are known to the police only by first name or nickname. On Tuesday, the police were at the church grounds with dogs, though they would not say what they sought.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/25/natio ... =all&_r=2&

[Christbait]

Hello,
Just signed up for Rigorous over the weekend. I have lurked for far too long.
I am really enjoying this show, after the first few episodes it started to remind me a little of the franklin scandal. Not completely, of course, but i do see some things in it that remind me of the scandal.
For those watching, I thought i knew who the yellow king is (from the crazy over analyzation of the show i have been reading about on various sites) but after last nights episode i am not too sure now.

[coffin_dodger]

Hi C-bait, congrats on taking the plunge from lurking to contributing.

[RocketMan]

So, a week from now, we'll know whether this show really is as good as so many of us have been led to hope it could be, or whether the whole thing has been an exercise in strategic alt-lit name dropping and a thick dollop of dark/alternative pop culture references.

YOPJerky

Regardless of the finale, it has already done its bit to highlight and bring into wider (and "respectable", though I use the term advisedly) awareness the organized ritualistic abuse of women, and I consider that an achievement in itself. With the totally committed acting by the leads and the pleasantly subversive overall tone (most of the horrors of this show occur in bright daylight), I think it has already more than justified its existence.

The rich literary references, the sensational musical supervision by T-Bone Burnett and deeper philosophical overtones are the icing on the cake.

The issue isn't going to be decided by plot mechanics.

EDIT: I think the Ponchatoula reference vindicates me regarding my comments re: the series' / screenwriter Nic Pizzolatto's RI credentials. I think he's one of the good guys.