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Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Jul 27, 2015 15:18:21 GMT -5
Loved this last episode. Finally, stuff really happened, and not in the flashy-but-shallow way it did in "Down Will Come." It also felt more like season 1 than any of the other episodes.
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Post by disqusf3dme on Jul 28, 2015 0:03:54 GMT -5
That last episode was great! My favourite of the season so far. The mansion scene was just fantastic stuff. Part surreal drug trip, part stealth mission, all unified by that mesmerizing score. This is bound to have repercussions, I'm excited for next week!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2015 0:54:40 GMT -5
Who. Is. Stan.
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Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Jul 28, 2015 11:15:40 GMT -5
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Post-Lupin
Prolific Poster 
Immanentizing the Eschaton
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Post by Post-Lupin on Aug 3, 2015 8:21:32 GMT -5
Doors and corners, Paul. Doors and corners. |
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Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Aug 3, 2015 17:43:46 GMT -5
Last night's episode KICKED ASS.
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Post by ganews on Aug 9, 2015 21:30:43 GMT -5
Final joke of the universe: Velcoro actually was the biological father. Incredibly stupid things from this episode: Velcoro taking the phone with recorded testimony to the meeting. The mooks continuing to run through the doorwat of the cabin into automatic weapon fire. Frank punching the kid and getting stabbed for it. I thought we spent the whole season establishing his self-control? Note to dboonsghost: Frank demonstrates why you don't pull all the way forward to the stopped car in front. Frank's hallucination walk didn't do it for me. Felt like padding the runtime. With Bezzerides down south I was kind of hoping for a final twist like in Sorcerer. |
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Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Aug 9, 2015 21:38:42 GMT -5
For me Frank's hallucination walk was fantastic. One of the best things the show's done. I loved how he suddenly abandons his stumble and adopts a swagger as he dies.
His death was essentially pointless, but it made sense. He worked so hard for a sense of dignity and power, and they were going to take it away from him.
The visuals in this episode were fantastically striking. Each character meets their fate in a place with such distinct color schemes. Ray goes out in the woods, Frank goes out in the desert, Ani sails off into the ocean.
And suddenly the theme song makes sense. It's essentially Ani's story. "I was not caught, I crossed the line / the story's told with facts and lies..."
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Post by Douay-Rheims-Challoner on Aug 9, 2015 21:39:38 GMT -5
ganews Somehow Frank made me think of that Stargate telefilm where for like thirty minutes Teal'c's plot is 'walk through the desert' while everyone else is having adventures. The swagger though. That's the exact moment you know he's dead. Cruelest joke was Velcoro's final address to his son never making it to the cloud. I wasn't bothered by the singer they used this season as much as others, but I think she got three or four montages in this episode alone, which struck me as a bit much. Otherwise it shook out more or less as I expected. The moral arc of True Detective is bittersweet - victories are always much less than hoped and often at too high a price.
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Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Aug 9, 2015 21:41:05 GMT -5
I wasn't bothered by the singer they used this season as much as others, but I think she got three or four montages in this episode alone, which struck me as a bit much. Yeah, it was a little odd. I liked the song a lot, though. |
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Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Aug 9, 2015 21:53:41 GMT -5
I just realized - Frank didn't get himself killed over the suit. It was the diamonds in the suit pocket.
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Post by Carade on Aug 9, 2015 22:03:28 GMT -5
This was definitely the second best finale the show's done.
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Post by jerkassimo on Aug 9, 2015 22:45:40 GMT -5
Ray, your 'wanted' picture is plastered all over the TV screens at the train station - you think they might have your kid's school staked out?
How did the Mexican guys track Frank down after the massacre?
Can someone please tell me how long it was gonna take Frank to get to Venezuela? I missed it.....over and over again.
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Post by ganews on Aug 9, 2015 23:07:32 GMT -5
If Bezzerides and Velcoro had talked like people talk in the begining, instead of taking deep breaths every third word, the final would have only lasted 60 minutes.
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Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Aug 9, 2015 23:10:13 GMT -5
There were flaws (probably more than I would've tolerated in season 1), but the highs were too high in this episode for the lows to bother me.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2015 1:00:49 GMT -5
Frank's walk made me think of Last Temptation, where Jesus walks in the desert and meets Satan. Only not as good.
I kept rolling my eyes at the dialogue until my husband said, well it IS true to old timey pulp fiction writing - hokey, hackneyed, dramatic. And I guess that is true, and forgivable. I just can't help but compare it to season one, and not favorably. I think what's missing in this season isn't better writing (mmm, arguable) or better actors, because Farrell and McAdams were great, but terror. Last season was genuinely upsetting, in a deep and archetypal way: mysterious and menacing and, well, horrific. This season was menacing and yeah a bit creepy and sleazy, but never scary. I'm glad I watched it, even with all its flaws, but I feel no need to watch it again even though I'm only like 85% sure what exactly happened.
Last Season: A- (I have issues with the conclusion)
This Season: C+ (for a couple of good performances and some good jokes, points off for weird gay panic and IMHO a plot that was as confusing as it was predictable - oh, rich white men control the govt/police/money/investments and also treat beautiful young powerless women like disposable fuck toys? You don't say.)
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Post by Return of the Thin Olive Duke on Aug 10, 2015 1:10:38 GMT -5
oh, rich white men control the govt/police/money/investments and also treat beautiful young powerless women like disposable fuck toys? You don't say.) It's a testament to how much better this forum is than the AVC that we're not falling over ourselves to praise this storyline on principle alone. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2015 1:15:48 GMT -5
oh, rich white men control the govt/police/money/investments and also treat beautiful young powerless women like disposable fuck toys? You don't say.) It's a testament to how much better this forum is than the AVC that we're not falling over ourselves to praise this storyline on principle alone. Oh lord, I haven't even looked yet  |
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Post by Return of the Thin Olive Duke on Aug 10, 2015 1:19:38 GMT -5
It's a testament to how much better this forum is than the AVC that we're not falling over ourselves to praise this storyline on principle alone. Oh lord, I haven't even looked yet I'm just having flashbacks to Maleficent. That was like listening to my dad and his girlfriend go on and on about how great and important The Newsroom is. |
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Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Aug 10, 2015 1:29:14 GMT -5
oh, rich white men control the govt/police/money/investments and also treat beautiful young powerless women like disposable fuck toys? You don't say.) It's a testament to how much better this forum is than the AVC that we're not falling over ourselves to praise this storyline on principle alone. So are we just, like, being openly elitist pricks now? I haven't seen anyone, on the AVC or elsewhere, praise this storyline on principle alone. They've liked things about it, but the central idea is not particularly original and no one is saying it is. Stop patting yourself on the back for noticing that. I get that you don't like the AV Club much anymore, but you're trying too hard. Relax. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2015 8:07:46 GMT -5
While monty's being way too hard on the AVC there, the comment sections for the TD reviews have been pretty consistently terrible. I get that there's a perception that a lot of TV critics have it out for Pizzolatto, but the backlash to the backlash that a small handful of ... uh, let's call them very dedicated commenters ... are prosecuting, with all the hyper-defensiveness about the show that that entails, makes the place kind of insufferable.
Also, while I thought the finale continued the mostly solid run of the back-half of the season, opening the episode with Frank trying to Harry-and-the-Hendersons Jordan did not put me in an especially charitable frame of mind.
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Post by kitchin on Aug 10, 2015 10:02:47 GMT -5
Only hope at the end was journalism.
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Post-Lupin
Prolific Poster
Immanentizing the Eschaton
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Post by Post-Lupin on Aug 10, 2015 16:30:05 GMT -5
So...
The two surviving male protagonists both forced the women they love (who have shown themselves to be reliable and brave partners who were all-in with them) to leave so they could protect them in Manly Fashion. Both died stupidly because they had no back-up, thus depriving their loves of literally millions of dollars of untraceable cash to sustain them. Well played, machismo!!
Plus, you could have made a relatively bearable version by cutting half an hour - let's say, every single fucking moment where you see or hear Whiny Bar Singer.
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Post by disqusf3dme on Aug 10, 2015 23:37:45 GMT -5
I was just looking at the article over at the AVC and the comment section is a nightmare. I'm unaware that there were seemingly fanboys for this show still, but I guess fanboys exist for everything. I mean, I'll defend this season wholeheartedly, but I've felt a near overwhelming amount of dislike or ambivalence towards it from most people. There only seems to be a handful of people here or there that are into it.
I liked the finale. The tension from the last episode carried over well, and I found myself caring a lot for these characters by the end. Paul was so forgettable though. Poor Tim Riggins. Dude can't catch a break. He just needs to go be a regular in a good show again, maybe he's not movie material. But that's irrelevant. That last shot of the cellphone was heartbreaking. I liked Ray's ending a lot up until that very last bit. Something about him just jumping out and getting shot, it didn't go well with the previous moment. Frank in the desert was good. It got pretty over the top for True Detective, but I'm okay with that. I liked the vultures picking at his blood trail as he walked, a lot of nice imagery there. Ani didn't get much to do but I'm happy that she was able to get some resolution. The three of them looked badass as hell at the end. Or I guess the four of them technically. Kind of a downer ending over-all, very ambiguous as to whether any justice will be served.
I like a lot of things that are flawed but different, and this season definitely fits. It felt like it took a lot of risks and the heavy noir influence suits my tastes very well. The first season is the more consistent over-all piece of art, and it's great for that, but I like this season's roughness almost as much in its own way. When it comes down to it, it's an anthology, and I hope the next season is as staggeringly different from this season as this one was from the last. I'd give the whole season a B+.
I vote next season they leave America. Head to Italy. Make it a season long giallo. That would be interesting to see.
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Post by Return of the Thin Olive Duke on Aug 10, 2015 23:43:23 GMT -5
I was just looking at the article over at the AVC and the comment section is a nightmare. I'm unaware that there were seemingly fanboys for this show still, but I guess fanboys exist for everything. You ain't lived 'till you've met a guy whose favorite movie is You Don't Mess with the Zohan. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2015 23:51:15 GMT -5
I can't be the only one ........   |
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Post by Meth Lab Shenanigans on Aug 11, 2015 0:25:17 GMT -5
Random thought: I would've picked this song as the theme. "There is no angel above the grid" might as well be True Detective s2's mission statement.
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Post by pairesta on Aug 11, 2015 7:15:03 GMT -5
It was quite a turnaround the past few episodes. Vaughn finally seemed to get a hold of his character, and more time spent on Velcoro and Bezzarides. At the end of the day, Woodrugh was completely unnecessary to the story and if they'd cut him out they could have spent more time with more important/interesting plots.
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Post by Lone Locust of the Apocalypse on Aug 11, 2015 13:32:11 GMT -5
I'm at E03 and, honestly, it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I love the shots of factories and labyrinthine highways. Very atmospheric. Colin Farrell is also awesome.
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Post-Lupin
Prolific Poster
Immanentizing the Eschaton
Posts: 5,673
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Post by Post-Lupin on Aug 11, 2015 15:11:54 GMT -5
Teti, compulsive grudge-starter he is, starts off the revisionist finale review with "Screw The Naysayers..." Sigh.
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