True Detective Season 3

Starts tonight

I didn't mind season 2.

Loved the first episode. Mahershala Ali is exceptional.

So far very good. A lot of parallels with the West Memphis Three case. Mahershala Ali is really great in this.

Didn't recognize Stephen Dorff, he's looks old.

[quote]A lot of parallels with the West Memphis Three case.

I thought the same thing. Have they officially said that it was an inspiration?

Well, other people online are noticing it as well. Not sure if there are any official statements from the people behind the show.

Also, fans are already speculating that Amelia (Carmen Ejogo) is somehow involved.

I can't believe there are only 7 replies to this... yikes. I thought the first two episodes were absolutely riveting. Beautifully done. Also, M's daughter gave me major M feels... she is turning out to be a very effective actress. How amusing it would be if she and M go head-to-head at the Emmys/GGs next year. During the HBO promo before the premiere they gave the first look at M in BIG LITTLE LIES, incidentally. Anyway, HBO sucks for not doing ANY binge series... I would have watched another 2 eps easily. I hate dense mystery shows where they drag it out for months. Oh, well. Bravo.

I didn't mind season 2 either. There was some great stuff in it. For one, Colin Farrell.

Feels?

It’s fine.

I'm hooked.

I can’t get past the extraordinarily TERRIBLE wigs the cast is wearing, most of all Stephen Dorff. They are laughably bad.

I was meh on the first episode. More so due to the writing and not the acting. I’m sure Ali gets an Emmy for this role.

I tried to watch the first season, but it was like a caricature of what Texans think Louisiana is like.

So it's basically Sharp Objects with men?

Kudos to the director for doing a fine job on the first two eps. Unfortunately, he doesn’t direct the coming episodes. My only complaint was about the reveal of the girl so early.

Mahershala Ali is such a good actor, especially as a 70- year old who's afraid he's losing his mind.

Writing stinks.

The writing stunk on the first one, too. I agree with r15.

The wigs are bad, and the plot is tired, tired, tired.

That being said, I’ll probably watch it, because I don’t have a lot going on.

Season 1 is perfection, like watching a movie with 8 parts. You have to be intelligent to appreciate film noir.

Season 1 was absolutely lousy with cliches.

It hardly required intelligence.

I liked it. I also like Stephen dorf better now that he is old, his face isn't pretty anymore but it has more character.

Stephen Dorff is basically a midget but used to have one of the hottest bodies alive... that lurid thriller/horror movie with Sharon Stone especially. I remember he did full frontal in something around that time, too (with hard-on, believe it or not). I wonder if he is wearing a fat suit or if he naturally got a big gut for the role. I guess since everyone hates the showrunner they couldn't get anyone with a bigger name (you know they wanted Bradley or Leo), but good for him. He's doing good work thus far.

S1 was great until the end. They built up all these red herrings that went nowhere. It was the epitome of anticlimactic.

I loved the first season and I could watch it again and again, people who don't appreciate the beauty of it are morons.

Some of you are so full of yourself, you can not enjoy anything.

I also recognize that some of you are simply jealous that the first season was so fabulous and successful, the writing and the acting was perfect.

The first season was perfection. They probably should never have tried to follow it up as an anthology-type series, especially in the rushed and ultimately unsuccessful way that they did. Had they waited a few years, they would have stars on the level of McConaughey and Harrelson to throw their hat in the ring to give it another go. The whole thing is cheapened since S2 was so badly received and now S3 is so low-rent. What could have been.

Dorff looks a little like David Spade as Joe Dirt.

The wigmastergave Dorff the Cliff Richards.

[quote] Some of you are so full of yourself, you can not enjoy anything.

Oh no, Miss Thing can't handle people not agreeing with her.

Season one was ok. I didn't watch it until I'd seen the many times laughably bad season two. I just watched the first episode of season three and honestly I can't say I'm too impressed. Practically everyone is just trying too damn hard and it mostly comes out looking fake. And that was the problem with season two as well. The director is unable to make the writing work, and everything just feels so tedious. When you see failed attempts to create believable fictional worlds you realize how much skill it really does take to make it work seamlessly. Season one's biggest assets were McConnaughey and Harrelson, and even they couldn't keep it up all the time.

I did actually enjoy season two to a point as well, mostly because of the small gay storyline. For some reason Taylor Kitsch seemed totally natural in his role, unlike Colin Farrell and and especially the totally dreadful Vince Vaughn. They were so desperate to play deep and meaningful characters that they failed to make it real. The same is happening with Mahershala Ali. Watching him be [italic]a serious acteur[/italic] was totally tedious many times even though I totally recognize his talents otherwise. It's the material and the bloody True Detective mold they are forcing the story into. BTW, all these Hollywood pretty boys, like Stephen Dorff and the two guys interviewing young Ali, make the production look a bit ridiculous. HIre good actors, not just yesteryear's pretty faces.

Not sure if I keep on watching. I actually do like the story to a point, especially if there's a connection to season one, but the storytelling is just so slooooow and tediously artsy fartsy.

I like this season so far. Everyone is acting their tits off, for sure. Although Maharasha Ali or whatever his name is, sounds like he's acting from the HBO School of mumble your lines very quietly.

The cinematography is wonderful and no one does soundtracks like HBO.

Although it seems when HBO is looking for a corrupt fucked up place to investigate, they default to the deep south and rednecks.

Season 2 did have that incredible 6 minute tracking shot. Six minute single take tracking shot - no edits, no cuts

Great series. all of em.

R32, that scene is from Season 1.

You're right R34. My mistake.

I just watched it on demand. I like it! I like mysteries...so where are the spoilers? I want to know!

Not sure how much of a spoiler it would be, given that it's a Reddit speculation which I mentioned upthread, but some people are quite convinced that Amelia, Hays' (ex?) wife is somehow involved. That she inserted herself into the case, wrote a book about it, etc, etc.

Zero posts on Episode 3? I thought it was kind of slow.

Episode 3 was booooooooooring.

Jaysus it sucked.

And everybody is ACTING! with a capital A.

This season seems forced as hell, extremely mannered, stagey, and hackneyed.

Not that season 1 was the Second Coming, but it was aight popcorn tv.

Nick Pizzowhatever is officially out of ideas.

And flame away, but I don’t think the lead is doing a very good job at all.

He’s so one note. It’s just not coming across as authentic.

The lines written for the wife are just retarded. That scene with her reading the poem to the class was *painful.*

All the characters and extras are extremely broad stereotypes.

Stupid.

The last 4-5 posts are the same retard whose lips probably move when he reads. You should be happy now, someone finally indulged your need to be seen as "special"

I don't think Mahasala or whatever his name is bringing it on this season. He mumbles all of his lines. Also the character has zero charm, so hard to understand how he got the teacher to marry him. Hope he plot picks up as well.

On the positive side, this show is Zaddy ground zero!

Tonight’s episode (4) was good. Very compelling.

I really like this season. The performances are more subdued than in S1 but just as good. Oh, and Mamie is perfectly cast as white trash.

It has my attention.

I hated TRUE DETECTIVE SEASON 1. Masterclass in acting, my ass. The only good thing about it was Woody Harrelson.

People were spreading rumors that Season 2 would star Sean Penn, Tom Cruise and Jessica Chastain. LOL.

Mamie is is shockingly unattractive.

Are Dorff and the guy with the missing and dead child gonna get it on? Dorff seems to be playing it gay with him.

If you have insomnia, his voice in this show will put you to sleep.

I haven't watched this one, but my sister said it's great.

Mamie sort of reminds me of myself... uglier, trashier and decidedly low-rent performance, but there's something about her. I don't know what it is.

Mamie is definitely trying to prove she can outdo her mother...

I suppose I’m the only one who cares about this show. Episode 5 was intriguing.

Yeah, I'm kind of drifting away from it. It so very relentessly grim and humorless. Everyone mumbles their lines in a low growl. The mystery is intriguing, but not enough to overcome the tone.

It jumps around a little too much. It drags at times and the characters are depressing. I am also drifting away.

Yeah, seriously, what's the hook? It's OK, but there's no particular pizzazz to it. The little blurbs at the end with the showrunner guy attempting to tell us why this and that was so important and how we're supposed to feel about it strike me as a bit grasping.

What I’m concerned about is that this all turns out to be nothing or something Hays has created “in his head.” That will be supremely disappointing.

The scene on the porch in EP 5 when the old partners reunite is the best so far. I got goosebumps. I utterly detest Amelia, the wife character. I haven't hated a TV wife so much since Skylar in Breaking Bad, but Anna Gunn made her occasionally tolerable. The actress playing Amelia has an obvious British accent especially in the scene where she reads a fairy tale to her daughter. There's just something so phony and off about the character and the actress. Mamie is so convincing as white trash, I loved her "soul of a whore" speech.

I don't watch television as a rule, but someone told me that Mamie was less than embarrassing in this... I suppose everyone only really cares about GAME OF THRONES and BIG LITTLE LIES? Either way, tune in for that.

I can't get into this season, either. It's been very one-note and grim, so far. By the end of episode 5 I just thought "who cares?" Embarrassingly, I actually watched season 2 in it's entirety, but I am considering giving up on the current season. And season 2 was a fucking mess! Remember Colin Farrell's son?

I doubt the final mystery will be very compelling, because in retrospect season 1's finale and resolution weren't that great either. Season 1 had some great performances and atmosphere, but was kind of a mess.

I am having a hard time getting into Season 3 too. I find the murder mystery less intriguing than Ali's character's descent into dementia. Maybe that would be a better subject. That writer who got famous from Season 1 should just hang it up now.

Stephan Dorff as an old man was excellent. I’m surprised by his talent in this.

The last few minutes of episode six were intense.

[quote]Stephan Dorff as an old man was excellent. I’m surprised by his talent in this.

I totally agree. At first I didn't even recognize him and thought he really was an elderly character actor.

The actor playing Julie's father was excellent in last week's episode.

It finally dawned on me that he was one of the leads on Halt & Catch Fired.

Has anyone here figured out who's behind what happened to those kids? Any speculations?

I always thought season 1 was overpraised and season 2 underservely underpraised.

Season 1 had a mysterious mood and got really fascinating around episodes 4-5. There was also the whole Mcconaughey renaissance. He got his Oscar that year. Therefore, megahype.

But I remember, the last part of the series wasn't that great, it left us with unresolved plot points, which came across as lazy rather than cleverly ambiguous. It left me with a feeling of :"All that for that ?"

I always had the feeling that critics and fans couldn't backpaddle on their hype for S1, and took their disappointment on season 2, that never stood a chance. Now, S2 wasn't perfect and didn't exhude the aura of mystery S1 had, but it was a lot better than they were given credit for.

Farrell, McAdam and, yes, Taylor Kitch were excellent. I feel sorry they weren't acknowledged as such.

Farrell is not very lucky, is he ? Yes, he manages to work regularly, often with interesting directors, but his hard work is often linked to projects that get some backlash one way or another.

Taylor Kitsch has to be the unluckiest actor. He was quite good in [italic]Friday Night Lights[/italic], and every project since seems a bit doomed. I avoided [italic]Savages[/italic] because of Blake Lively, even though I enjoyed the book (and I recommend Don Winslow books if you like crime/mystery novels). [italic]John Carter[/italic] was mismarketed. [italic]Bang Bang Club[/italic] was a bit underdeveloped, though interesting subject matter. TD season 2 was, what?, badly written? I wanted to like it, since I'm a fan of both Farrell and Kitsch and I don't mind Vince Vaughn (variable quality there). I just couldn't push through it.

Colin Farrell is good enough that he'll be cast in more good movies. I don't know whether he wants the blockbuster roles again, if only for the money. As a fan, I'm happy seeing him in movies like [italic]In Bruges[/italic] and [italic]the Lobster[/italic].

This season is outstanding. I think I like it even more than Season 1. Definitely the most heart of the three seasons.

Just now reading this thread. I am with R71. The acting (two leads) is fucking amazing. The makeup people on this show need to be acknowldged also. Excellent work all around.

I think Mahershala Ali's performance is amazing. My father had dementia, and Ali captures all the doubt, fear, and confusion of someone struggling with that disease. Stephen Dorff is also excellent. My one fear is that, with just one episode remaining, they won't be able to tie up all the loose ends.

I think that the story/situation is pretty clear. The case won’t be “solved” due to intimidation and threats. My only question is whether Julie will turn up or not.

Loved last week's episode but this penultimate one just felt flat to me. Not having Scoot around as much had a lot to do with it, I think.

And what's with Pizzolatto's obsession with the n-word? I feel like that line "I want you to know I was thinking it" reveals more about him as a person that it does about the society around him. Same goes for that atrocious "I have the soul of a whore" line said by Streep's daughter earlier in the season. I find myself enjoying the show so much that these clunkers hit me with greater force than usual.

So who do you think killed the little boy and how did the little girl get away?

Scoot McNairy is one of the best American actors around period. The actors in this are either great or godawful. The cop son is cute, but one of the worst actors I've ever seen. Putting him in scenes with Ali is tough. The British actress playing the wife continues to be odd. I feel like she reads every line seductively, even when the script doesn't call for it. It's weird. She didn't show enough emotion watching her husband get into that threatening black car. Michael Rooker is playing Hoyt which should be fun. Rooker is always sexy and campy.

I'm lukewarm on this season. I'm not terribly interested in who done it or why, nor am I invested in any of the characters. I passively watch the ending of an episode if I happen to catch it, but it's the Hoyt guy, who has no character arc or payoff.

R77

I don't know how the actress playing Ali's wife got this job. She was one of the leads in the cable series The Girlfriend Experience.

There are so many talented AA actresses they could have hired instead.

i just watched this week's episode & I'm so confused.

Who is Isabelle? Who is Hoyt?

Do you think Season 1 and this season is somehow connected? In this episode, the female interviewer showed a newspaper clipping of the detectives from Season 1--Rust and Marty--- and the headline read they caught the serial killer. Season 1 concluded with a lot of loose ends; the detectives caught the serial killer but they were just uncovering a tip of a bigger conspiracy, maybe the same human trafficking ring that Ali's character is investigating?

I don't think it's going to be concluded so soon in the finale. IRL, these sex/pedophile and human trafficking rings are so well-hidden, it seems realistic to see it continue on a next season.

[quote] Scoot McNairy is one of the best American actors around period.

R77: Did you watch "Halt and Catch Fire"? Lots of Scoot. Good show.

So many questions/loose ends that need to be tied up in the last episode:

Why was Julie taken

Why was Will killed

How did Amelia die

What happened to Rebecca

Why leave those dolls in the forest

Who killed Lucy, and why

Is cousin Dan still alive

Where's Julie now

Who put the backpack in Woodward's house (cops or AG or DA or Hoyt people)

Who is giving Eliza her info

Who was the man in the suit in Wayne's hallucination

I stopped watching at the end of season one, when they wasted my fucking time for half the eps. If someone could post a “True Detective 3 in 1 minute” on YouTube, I’d watch it.

This was the best season so far. Mahershala Ali is amazing.

R83

Everyone of those questions was answered in last night's episode.

I didn't think it could all be wrapped up in one episode but last night was a beautiful episode.

Agree with R86. Loved this season and again say that the two leads were great. Emmysfor both!

I hope Stephen Dorff drops into the Supporting category so he can win awards, too. He really impressed me. Both he and Mahershala were essentially playing three versions of the same character.

Why didn't Dorff and the father ever fuck.

I liked this season because it was gentler and had more intimate moments. However, I'm already seeing douchebros seething because there weren't enough "epic scenes" and shootouts, and they see the marital arguments as wasted time. I don't know what to say to that, except that it tells you a lot about a large portion of this show's fanbase.

Ali and Ejogo were great, but I thought Dorff and Scoot were near transcendent. Streep's daughter was competent enough.

Streep's daughter should always play white trash. She has that look to her.

Yikes, I watched the entire series but missed something important. How did Amelia die? Was her death ever shown or just talked about?

So much buildup and then nothing. Waste of time.

Stephen Dorff's character not only had sex with the kids' father, he was also in love with Wayne, though they never had sex. You could tell by his reactions to his partner whenever things didn't go well. He got very upset and emotional. The girlfriend he had for several years but never married was his attempt to fit in and go straight, but it didn't work.

R91, I thought Grace Gummer was also very believable playing a reporter in the HBO series "The Newsroom." But I agree -- she was very good playing white trash in "True Detective."

R93, I was wondering where the series was gonna go with the story line about the father frequenting a gay bar, but that loose end was never tied up.

R93

Hold up! Where did you get that Dorf's character had sex with the kids' dad?

I was underwhelmed overall. There truly was not enough material to spread out to over 8 hours. Maybe a 2 1/2 hour movie would've been best. And no, I am not a short attention span Michael Bay worshiping multiplexer, but I have to call it as I see it. On a side note, Dorf's old age makeup was embarrassing. Worse than Miguel on This is Us.

All I will say was you get what you see with my daughter(s) and little else.

R96, it was obvious to me that they had had a sexual relationship. The series did not come out and say as much, but the signs were there. Roland might have had a girlfriend for a while, but he was gay.

No, Nic P. said on twitter that Roland was not gay.

^Yeah, he can say that all he wants. The series was way drawn out in many respects and gave short shrift to others. Not written or paced well at all. But sometimes truths come out whether you mean for them to or not. Roland's actions toward both the father and Wayne signal his feelings for them.

I'm very surprised to hear Nic P said Roland wasn't gay.

If he wasn't gay why was he written so gay?

Sorry, but Mamie Gummer sucks. Having someone who looks like her put on a shitty accent and play white trash is just lazy.

what a disappointment, lotsa talk and not much action ,, keep waiting for a big reveal, and ….nothin

I got the impression Roland was gay as well but leave it to Nic P's straight brain to not even entertain that notion. They also never went to that gay bar to ask around about Scoot, which sounded like a no-brainer move to me. If I were in the writers' room, I'd die on the hill of showing Scoot getting eaten out.

Any talk of season 4? I imagine this is the end. Seems creatively drained at this point.

how will it end. been very slow so far, not what we hoped for, season one so good, 2 was horrible (v Vaughn, ick)….we hoped for more

"How will it end?"

Didn't Season 3 end about 2 weeks ago?

Season 3 was a total waste of time.

horrible script, nothing happens. didn't they knw it was shit?

You always have Greg Berlanti shows for people with ADHD who want "stuff happening."

The first one was great, but the 2 after it, were slow as a turtle on dope...

Not to mention that it was pretty apparent around episode 2 or 3 "who done it and why."

[quote]The first one was great, but the 2 after it, were slow as a turtle on dope...

Mr. Speedy: "Did you have to say that? I'm depressed as it is...." .