2x01 The Western Book of the Dead

Incredible opening episode, the direction was off the charts, the acting was spot on throughout the entire show (which is particularly impressive considering much of the story was told with subtle facial expressions), the story is intriguing and complex, the music was meaningful and fitting, and although some may think the breakneck pace was a bad thing I know that it just means that they are going to be able to fit more greatness into this season (not to mention every scene was extremely effective in terms of telling the story, giving off the feel they wanted and moving on). The characters have already been well established even though it's the very beginning of the season. Colin Farrell is a man who has gone through a lot and has lost his morality, he's corrupt, wildly alcoholic, and violent but he is also protective of those who he cares about (which is actually what drove him over the edge, and what I suspect will drive him back). Taylor Kitsch is this sort of "White Knight" figure who is good even when the average person would be bad, he's also gone through a lot but instead of losing himself he has blocked it out as if it doesn't exist. Rachel McAdams is a cop hell bent on going against what her father (a pseudo intellectual/religious hippy leader of sorts) stands for, she likes to be in charge and resents those who purposefully go against what she wants but she does this all out of her desire to help others. Vince Vaughn (who did an exceptional job in this episode) is a suave businessman/criminal overlord who apparently has schemes within schemes, so far he is more of a slimeball than overtly evil but that could change depending on how they progress. Lastly we have Vaghn's wife(or girlfriend, I'm not 100%) who is the counterpart of Vaughn's character. Where he is a calculating businessman, she is a hypnotizing, charming woman who puts everyone around her at ease. I was unsure how this season would turn out with a complete overhaul of the cast, staff, and story but this episode restored my faith that it will be great.

A bit odd, to be honest. Following up the first season is likely an impossible task and although this opener doesn't have nearly as much drive or intrigue to it, it's not quite as bad as I was led to believe it would be based on its reputation. That said, there's some weirdness going on here.

Firstly, we've ballooned. The first season is lean--deliciously so, like a good cut of meat. There's two central characters with maybe three other side characters. From this pilot, it feels like I'm not only expected to know the now four main characters, but also a smattering of others. This at times feels fine here, but can also lead to a pacing issue where we'll have a slow burn character driven scene followed up by a much shorter scene in which vital information is given by three characters talking over top of each other like it were a Safdie movie. The performances are varied in quality in this episode. Rachel McAdams was the only person who felt unequivocally great to me. Farrell is really good (but I was a bit let down, I'm a massive fan of his). And Vaughn and Kitsch still need to win me over.

I think the biggest void left in this episode is the direction. Justin Lin is obviously very good at specific things. I'm a huge fan of the Fast & Furious movies and so when his named popped up in the intro, I was much more excited than I anticipated. But I don't know that his version of slow burn struck the right balance of introspection for me--not here, at least. And so, it becomes even more clear to me that Cary Joji Fukunaga's work is even more vital than I previously thought. We all knew that Fukunaga is a really top tier director, but what's so compelling about the first season is how fluidly the entire thing runs. The transitions from time period to scenes is all extremely liquid and flows better than shows usually do. This episode feels a bit more wooden in that regard. Time feels much more rigid, but also a bit more confusing. It's more illusive whereas before we knew when things were happening and it ran so seamlessly.

At times, the writing feels downright goofy. We have a long haired guru who named his daughters Antigone (lol) and Athena (who he claims is the goddess of love, whoops). We have a scene in which Farrell beats the shit out of a guy because his son cut up a pair of sneakers, which follows a scene in which Farrell threatens to publicly spank his own son for information on who bullied him (spoiler alert, Colin, you might also be a bully). I know the intention is Farrell is a corrupt cop who's clearly unhinged, but we kind of blow past that into the absurdity like Oldman brought in Leon--just cartoonish. And to top it all off, the philosophical aspect of this season feels somehow too vague and also heavy-handed. It's almost like Pizzolatto didn't realize the mystery of the first season was something of a side-story to Rust's philosophical descent into madness.

It's not uncommon for second seasons to have these issues. Very frequently they're extremely bloated and misconceived as a showrunner doesn't quite know how to follow up a strong introduction. I can only imagine this would be harder for True Detective considering the first season is widely heralded as one of the strongest single seasons of television on par with Twin Peaks and The Sopranos. Some of my thoughts may be extremely pre-mature. I'm interested to keep going through this season, but to say it doesn't live up to the first season is a bit of an understatement.