Previously on True Detective: Ani is having some relationship issues with a coworker, Paul is having some relationship issues with his (ex?) girlfriend and (ex?) boyfriend, Frank is having some relationship issues with his wife, and Ray continues to have relationship issues with everyone. In other words, lots of relationship issues all around!
Already in its fourth episode, True Detective has really started to find its groove. One of the strengths of the first season that has continued in the second is the focus on the characters’ relationships. Because of this (and also because it makes it easier to write), I decided to organize most of this review around these characters and what makes each of them tick.
Frank
Ani
Ani is without a doubt the most layered of our four central characters in this season and as a result, my favorite. With details about her parents, her siblings, and her rocky romantic relationships, Ani is the crown jewel of season two of True Detective. Over the last few episodes we’ve seen how much Ani resembles Marty from the first season. Extremely judgmental, Ani is a character more worthy of judgment than any of the others (with the possible exception of Ray). While she attempts to outrun her past and her flaws by focussing on police work, her efforts at putting it all behind her are about as effective as Paul’s similar attempts. This episode did a fantastic job of showing how Ani’s relationship with her family and her coworkers is continually damaged by these attempts.
One of the highlights so far this season has been the scenes with Ani’s father, Eliot. Fantastically portrayed by David Morse, the dichotomy between the two characters’ ideals is a true joy to watch play out. I’m really interested to see what happens with Eliot because the case does seem to keep circling back to him and with talent like David Morse, I’m sure the writers will find new ways to use him before the season is over.
Paul
Paul and Miguel are an interesting set of characters. Paul is a deeply closeted homosexual and is attempting to deny his sexuality with little to no success. Miguel represents the past that Paul will never be able to completely escape. Beyond his homosexuality, there seems to be something dark hidden within their military careers (Both a reporter and Ray mentioned something called “Black Mountain”) that Miguel’s presence reminds Paul about. I’m really interested to see where the writers take this relationship given Paul’s proposal to Emily, but I have a feeling its going to have something to do with Paul and Miguel’s military pasts coming back to haunt them in some fashion. In the same way that Frank is only half-interested in a baby, Paul has only ever been half-interested in Emily. Emily’s announcement of a pregnancy in this episode produced an interesting response from Paul. While in his heart of hearts, he knows he is lying to himself, Paul hopes that by marrying her and raising a family, he can rid himself of his past. The effects of a family has been a major part of both seasons of True Detective so far and it should be interesting to see how Paul’s plan affects the overall story this season.Ray
Ray’s relationship with his son is, without a doubt, the best relationship on True Detective this season. His wish to have a real connection with his son is one of the biggest tragedies, because of Ray’s inability to even come close to bonding with anyone. In many ways, I have to feel sorry for Ray, but in other ways, because Ray forces himself into bad situations and manages to make them even worse (see beating up his son's bully's father), I don’t feel sorry for him at all. Ray’s son, who probably isn’t even his son, doesn’t appear to have any true affection for Ray and if Ray was truly honest with himself, he would see that the best thing that he could do for his kid would be to leave him alone. Ray's ex-wife has made it exceedingly clear that not only does she not want anything to do with him anymore, but she doesn't want her son to have anything to do with him anymore either. I'm honestly not really sure why Ray is continuing to force a relationship there because it is so tragically pointless. Ray was less of a focal point for this episode and while the writers definitely need to move the character focus of each episode around a little bit, I'm hoping to see a bigger focus on Ray in the next episode.What are your thoughts on Ray’s relationship with his son? Let me know in the comments below.
The Case and the Shootout
The weakest part of this season has been the actual case that the story is centered around. Four episodes in and we really don’t know a whole lot more about Caspere than we did when we finished the first episode. While last season’s case spanned more than seventeen years and had more than enough twists and turns, it wasn’t half as confusing as the story of Ben Caspere. I'm hoping that we get a lot more information about the actual point to all of this next week. Maybe if they spent more time on the case and less on camera shots of highways, we could actually understand what was going on.
This episode featured an entertaining, yet somewhat confusing and pointless shootout that killed off Ray’s slob of a partner and a couple of other nobodies. I enjoyed the shootout, but was left speechless at the ridiculous amount of standing and staring that Ray, Ani, and Paul did after the shootout was over. This is probably stupid nitpicking here, but doesn’t it seem like any officer in their positions would be moving to help any of the gunmen’s victims?
Rating: 8.3/10 - This was an enjoyable, yet somewhat, uneven episode, but it failed to reach the level of the second season premiere (9.3/10 in my book) for me. The shootout was fun and the character development was decent, but the overarching case of Ben Caspere’s murder just couldn’t seem to keep my attention like it should have.
Favorite Lines:
“You know I’ve never lost a tooth…Never even had a fucking cavity” - Frank
“You’re a survivor…Everything else is just dust in your eyes. Blink it away man. - Ray
“You have one of the largest auras I’ve ever seen.” - Eliot (Ani’s Father)
“Friends like these…” - Ani
Least Favorite Lines:
“Sometimes your worst self is your best self.” - Frank (This line was so overused in the promos for this season, I almost couldn’t bare to listen to it again)
