The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, March 14, 2014 - 3
'True Detective''s flawless first season
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HBO series what they've been looking for:
the yellow king, Carcosa, justice
culminates in and - unexpectedly - hope.
Fantastic finale Whereas similar shows like
"The Killing" obsess over mur-
derers and suspects - even don-
ByALECSTERN ning the tagline, "Who killed
SeniorArtsEditor Rosie Larsen?" - "True Detec-
tive" was more significant than
re aren't many first that; the beauty of "True Detec-
dramas that have the tive" exists way beyond Dora
to elicit such fervor, but Lange. Boasting an aesthetic so
wer than easy to get lost in - amid the
episodes, exceptional visuals, complex
"True timelines and six-minute track-
tive" ing shots - "True Detective"
achieved True transcends its investigation,
ous suc- Detective inspiring viewers to not only
Amid a Season forget about Dora Lange, but
success- Finale also question the significance of
'ards run who killed her.
s turn in HBO Potentially to the disappoint-
s Buy- ment of many hoping for a last
ub," Mat- minute twist, there's an unchar-
McConaughey continued acteristic simplicity in "Form
vent himself as the irasci- and Void" - a jolting come
st Cohle, alongside Woody down from its highly complex
lson as philandering build. In the days leading up to
ive Marty Hart. Together, "True Detective" 's finale, the
ir spends 17 years uncov- Internet was abuzz, with every-
one fr(
to Mar
intrica
to sho
land" a
conditi
that si
the ide
seems
Ma
tor all
Desi
of brie
cult -
isfacti
respon
Marty
they h
years.
om Marty's father-in-law As Marty tells Rust, "We ain't
ty himself implicated in gonna get them all. That's the
te conspiracies. Thanks kind of world it is. But we got
ws like "Lost," "Home- ours."
nd "Scandal," we've been "Ours" was Errol Childress,
Toned to expect finales who - in "Form and Void" 's
ubvert our expectations; chilling opening sequence -
a that nothing is what it quickly proves to be a villain
is a driving narrative fac- worthy of "True Detective" 's
frightening brilliance. A prod-
uct of inbreeding and abuse,
Rust and Childress is a nightmare-induc-
ing creation, complete with
lrt f's 'ourne multiple personalities and a
deep labyrinth of spiritual para-
Comes full phernalia and evidence - the
elusive "Carcosa." And within
circle. Carcosa is where Childress
meets his end, following a rath-
er traditional, yet entirely excit-
ing chase between he and Rust.
across television. Thanks to the help of Detec-
pite chasing the dream tives Gilbough and Papania,
nging down the entire Rust and Marty survive their
and never having the sat- dangerous showdown and are
on of seeing every man finally able to uncover the truth.
sible in cuffs - Rust and And after almost two decades
get their guy. The man of investigative and personal
ave been chasing for 17 standstills, each is able to move
on from the looming shadow
Dora Lange had cast over their
lives. Marty's tumultuous rela-
tionship with his ex-wife and
daughters reaches a stage of rec-
onciliation, while Rust's near-
death experience changes him
far more drastically.
In the series' heartbreak-
ing final scene, Rust sheds his
layers of pessimism and dread,
embracing hope and inviting
an unanticipated sense of opti-
mism. Unlike everything else,
"True Detective" didn't need to
rely on revelations and shock.
As Rust and Marty limp off
screen, McConaughey's perfor-
mance and the lingering words
of Nic Pizzolato's smart script
give "True Detective" all the
spectacle it needs.
While the narrative failed to
deliver any unexpected turns
or perpetrators (unless a happy
ending can be counted as a
twist), Cary Fukunaga's direc-
tion continued to surprise in
"True Detective" 's final chap-
ter. Especially in "Firm and
Void," the director's imagery
tells its own story, bringing
to life the gorgeous Louisiana
scenery and tapping into the
minds of both Errol and Rust -
the latter of whom experiences a
spellbinding, ambiguous cosmic
hallucination deep inside Car-
cosa.
Every so often, a show comes
along that changes the game.
And for its beauty, intelligence,
performances and complexity,
the legacy of "True Detective"
will live on. As a police proce-
dural, it subverted genre tropes
in favor of complexity and real-
ism. As a story about love and
marriage, it was a tragic uncov-
ering of human flaws and emo-
tion. And above all, as a story
about the relationship between
two detectives fighting for Dora
Lange and countless other vic-
tims, it showed that people have
the ability to change, that we
should live with hope despite
the evil that exists in the world
and most importantly, that in
the battle between light and
dark, the light is winning.
ering the occult conspiracy sur-
rounding the murder of Dora
Lange. In the series' final hour,
"True Detective" 's complex
camerawork and riddle-ridden
imagery juxtaposed a simpler
narrative - one that the series'
dense build-up might not have
suggested.
In the final seconds of its
penultimate episode, "True
Detective" reveals its missing
link, identifying the mysterious
"spaghetti monster with green
ears." After weeks of intense
calamity, watching Rust and
Marty's personal lives wither in
favor of dedication to their case,
"Firm and Void" resembled
"True Detective" 's premiere
more than anything else. Its
focused narrative reverted back
to the series' original setup, fol-
lowing two detectives as they
investigate the single murder
of a young woman. In the end,
Rust and Marty finally find
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