4 out of 5

Created by: Nic Pizzolatto

covers season 1

Masterfully moody, bravely scripted and acted, meticulously shot and with a perfectly sauntering, creepy score by T. Bone Burnett, HBO’s intended anthology series, written and created by novelist Nic Pizzolatto and its first season directed by feature film guy Cary Fukunaga, was a surprising viewing experience that certainly wrapped a hefty load of viewers in for its 8-episode run, keeping all on edge and guessing as to its conclusion.  The seasonal anthology format – something that seems to be growing in the wake of American Horror – is to be applauded for the extra level of consequence it can add to television, as you can’t rely on your leads having to get out of the situation alive to make it to season 2.  However, while any given moment of this season qualifies for the praises I offered, stepping back from the entire run, True Detective seems to finally have reached that tipping point between television and film: we didn’t quite need 8 episodes to cover this material, and, in fact, some of the story-telling elements which felt slightly imbalanced – such as the past/present structure of the majority of the eps and the distracting (though stunning) one-shot in episode 4 – might’ve been more effective in a slow-burn 2+ hour flick.  The success of the show, though, makes one wonder if this will encourage the rise of “film as television” on even ‘regular’ stations like ABC and NBC (whose ‘Hannibal’ did seemed to be echoed in Detective’s themes and dream-like structure…).  Not that I suspect sitcoms and event-of-the-week style shows will ever disappear, but short, more tightly scripted seasons finding homes (and viewers) on cable stations like AMC and FX has certainly made all networks take note, absolutely shifting the tone of the last few years of prime-time and late-night TV.  So TD, as one of the first to really feel more like film than show, might be the imperfect application of the formula.  And I’ll be curious how/if that develops for next season, and whether or not it’s effects will ripple out to TV-Land.

Anyhow.

The show basically covers one case from 1995 to present day, involving a probable single suspect who kidnaps and murders his known victims (with however many more suspected), details around the bodies suggesting some type of religious attachment or belief or ritualism.  Matthew McConaughey plays “Rust” Cohle, the oddball cop with the sharp eye and incredibly lacking social graces, and Woody Harrelson plays “Marty” Hart, the mostly respected, quick-to-anger typical cop, an affair with a younger woman in tow and screwing up his family life around the time the case initially breaks.  The pair don’t gel together to well, and to Pizzolatto’s credit, he doesn’t try to play them as necessarily filling in the gaps of the other partner: Marty is more capable of being the face and does his job well, but the insights that push things along belong mostly to Rust.  Both actors play their roles to the fullest – McConaughey especially fully sinking into his role and delivering several brave speeches about the essential pointlessness of mankind with believable detachment.  For about half the series, the structure is such that two detectives – who we soon find out are investigating a current 2012 case with similarities to the 1995 one – are interviewing Rust and Marty (separately) about the latter.  This building tension of why this is occurring (the detectives ask oblique questions, obviously trying to probe for something to which they’re not ready to directly admit) breaks after the stunning last 8 minutes or whatever of episode 4, a single shot which follows a hasty undercover operation that brings our leads (in 1995) close to a conclusion.

They catch someone.

Then, for two episode, we take a slight step forward to 2002, when – post several successful years – things start to unravel for both Marty and Rust when new evidence hints to Rust that they might not have got their guy.

Finally, the last two episodes have our duo re-teaming and handling the case unofficially to follow through on an unresolved matter… and blah blah maybe face some unresolved matters between each other as well.

As mentioned, the overall execution never fails to amaze, from the opening credits to the flush and rustic feeling production design of the backwaters we investigate.  However, as the story moves forward, there’s the suspicion that weirdness that’s been injected into the storyline (Rust’s general outlook, the cult aspect of the killings) is simply there to be weird and, furthermore, with the dissolution of the time-spanning structure, there are several moments that aren’t exactly red herrings, but just weren’t required to get us as viewers from point A to point B with the way things end up resolving.  So I echo again that its only because the show was quite un-episodic that these structural hiccups started to stick out.  But it’s not to discredit the overall solidity of the season and accomplishments of all involved.

And I must admit that True Detective had me paying attention every episode.  My doubts would spring up after the fact, but there’s no denying that I was hooked while things on screen were moving.  The inherent intelligence in the writing, the dedication of the production, and the dense performances by the leads… the first season is ultimately a great success.  But I’ll be curious where this style may lead.