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True Detective starts tonight

In contrast to last week, there was a LOT of info tossed out in Episode 4.

Couple of interesting points:

  • Velcorro warns Ani that she is getting set up to take the fall once Vinci pays the piper and the state get their cut. More on this later.
  • Pitlor (Rick Springfield doctor) comes back up in connection with Chasanni's wife's doctor) during interview with Mayor Chessani's daughter.
  • We are reminded of allegations against Woodrugh (CHP guy), with paparazzi at his hotel. Still not sure why so much time devoted to his angle, including showing Dixon tailing him at the end of last episode (more on that later).
  • Woodrugh seen with his girlfriend was odd. Lots of time being devoted to him these past 2 weeks, and more to come with previews of his mother for Episode 5.
  • Ani speaks to her dad, who gives her the scoop about Chassani's lodge in relation to Pitlor. Mentions Mayor Chessani's father, setting up a huge and very long-term cycle at work for at least 2 generations.
  • Velcoro and Ani stumble upon some contaminated land in Fresno that were found in the Mayor's house. Caspere had been visiting these sites based on GPS history. Interesting info from EPA guy regarding water table being contaminated and the land becoming worthless so farmers started selling off this useless land. Hard to tell from the map, but it would appear that the land may run smack dab in the middle of something (future rail route?).
  • Frank goes in and out of shakedowns to start collecting money for his hand deals.
  • Woodrugh and Dixon come across one of Caspere's pawned stolen watch and pick up the video from a guy and girl that could be connected to murder.
  • Bad luck lines up against Ani. Sexual misconduct complaint from her idiot ex. To add to that, looks like she's also getting investigated for gambling debt, looks like she's being cornered to play ball.
  • Frank seems weary of his red-head henchman (Blake). As you recall, he was missing for a couple of days at the end of episode 3 and shows up to tell Frank that Stan was killed. Frank and his wife start connecting the dots with Blake and Osip. In a word, louche.
  • The final shoot-out was unexpected. Dixon took one to the face, again surprising given he was shown tailing Woodrugh at the end of the last episode.
  • Interesting that how the shoot-out even started. I initially thought maybe they were tipped off, as mayor says "Let's be careful out there" just before the team heads out rather than waiting for the SWAT to do the dirty work and bring the guys in. Seemed excessive. Lot of innocent bystanders killed, including those riding a city bus and some local protesters. I believe only 3 cops that didn't die or get shot were Velcoro, Ani, and Woodrugh. All of it had a strange vibe to it.

Still a lot of data to digest, but those were the items I noted while watching the episode. Almost done with viewing #2 now.
 
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Next weeks episode at a glance, appears to jump forward a little bit like this case is closed?
 
Next weeks episode at a glance, appears to jump forward a little bit like this case is closed?

Yep, noticed that. I like it. Season 1 jumped back and forth in time, was wondering if they'd do the same at all with season 2. Don't think they'll necessarily go backward (so far no flashbacks) but I'm happy they're moving ahead. The idea that the whole season would take place across a short amount of time would been unsatisfying.
 
I absolutely loved last season. It was my third favorite drama last year to only Fargo and Game of Thrones. This year....its been very slow and boring. Even the shootout didn't excite me.

I will say that I think Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell have been five stars and the others (excluding gay CHP dude who I think has simultaneously I reacted in parts and severely underacted in others and Ani) have been decent. But they've had nothing to work with so far, I just find the plot up to now dreadful and uninteresting.
 
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Pretty much my feelings Tribe. I didn't even watch this episode yet I just ca me here to see if it was worth it first lol.
 
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What was this about? Tell me where I was wrong.
 
Odds are he is gay if for no other reason than there is no other gay character on the show that we know of (at least yet). And we all know you can't have a TV show without at least one gay person anymore.

What was this about? Tell me where I was wrong.

You think his character is gay just to be gay to meet some Hollywood quota? I prob wouldn't have taken exception to your comment if it weren't for the last part of your comment.

I am not sure yet what the ultimate story line for each of these characters is, but I seriously doubt they have spent this much time exploring Woodrugh's past in the show to appease a certain part of the population.
 
No idea where theyre going with it but Tim Riggins is doing pretty well with a clumsily written bio for his character imho. He looked nervous during the firefight which makes no sense based on what hes said. The personal preference stuff is predictable but the tortured soul is definitely coming across on all fronts. Can only work with what hes been given.
 
Still watching the show of course, but not finding it near as interesting as season one.

There is something about hearing Vince Vaughn say "Casper" that is kind of getting on my nerves now.

The cop chick definitely needs to have a scene where she is in a thong at some point.
 
You think his character is gay just to be gay to meet some Hollywood quota? I prob wouldn't have taken exception to your comment if it weren't for the last part of your comment.

I am not sure yet what the ultimate story line for each of these characters is, but I seriously doubt they have spent this much time exploring Woodrugh's past in the show to appease a certain part of the population.

I was merely making an observation as someone who watches way too much television. Not sure why you would take exception to that. Name your top ten shows that you watch and see how many of them have gay characters.

I agree with most, this season hasn't been nearly as interesting as season 1. The nice part is that with a different cast, you can look at them independently.
 
The guy that blew up the Caddy was wearing a white mask. Was there a white mask on the wall in that apt. that CF got shot? Can't find an image of the wall. May not mean anything other than a disguise.
 
The guy that blew up the Caddy was wearing a white mask. Was there a white mask on the wall in that apt. that CF got shot? Can't find an image of the wall. May not mean anything other than a disguise.

Don't think so. Here are photos of the wall. No masks that resemble the guy they chased after the car blew up.

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Well it looks like we were right in thinking vv lied to cf when giving him the rape suspect.

Also, everything seems pretty straight forward at this point. There's got to be something else right?
 
Well it looks like we were right in thinking vv lied to cf when giving him the rape suspect.

Also, everything seems pretty straight forward at this point. There's got to be something else right?

Yeah, everything this week pretty much was wrapped up in a bow in line with earlier suspicions:

- Frank's red headed henchman is working a side deal behind his back.
- Ray was set up by Frank and killed the wrong guy (not his wife's rapist).
- Dr. Pitlor, red headed henchman and Tony Chessani are all involved with a sex/escort service ring.
- Frank's clean-up business contaminated the farm land to lower the property value so Catalyst could acquire it.

There's only 3 weeks left, but the storyline has forked considerably with the time flash forward.

Interesting angle with the Attorney General's office still wanting the investigators to find Caspere's killer. So, once again, we in a position where multiple parties are looking for the same thing, but this time instead of just Caspere's killer they're also looking for this hard drive that has incriminating evidence on it. Looks like some high ranking politicians are driving the pressure from the AG's side. Then Catalyst is the one dangling the carrot for Frank to find the hard drives as well.


I still go back to why the killer never grabbed the hard drives to begin with. Not sure they'll expose the logic there, but why were the hard drives still at Caspere's other house when Ray went by to investigate? Seems like the only reason for that slip up was a means of Ray finding out that they existed.

I'm still at a loss for why so much time is being spent on Woodrugh's storyline. Nothing about that whole angle is subtle. Ani's storyline seems to get the least amount of time of the main 4 characters. Frank's story by far gets the most screen time. Again, very little subtly, every aspect of his existence is cliche and obvious.

Critical that they pick up steam with these final 3 episodes. Would be nice if they spent more time with the main characters interacting with each other and less with their individual stories. The scenes where they appear together is when the show is at its best, IMO. Split them up and it gets a little flat.
 
Good episode today. Once again, the show excels when it focuses more on Ray and Ani, and less on Woodrugh. Glad they focused less existentially on Frank than in past weeks.

Things are coming together, but there are some interesting angles at play.

1. What will Vera (Mexican girl Ani rescues from orgy) bring to the story and case?

2. Other than for Ray to have an internal struggle, what is the deal with all the effort on Ray's son? And why does he look so unlike everyone else? No one else on the show is fat and red headed. Blake is a red head, but no one else looks like this kid. Not even the alleged rapist.

3. Saw another blog recap brought up that the two kids who witnessed the robbery of the blue diamond and murder of their parents look like and are about the same ages as Mayor Chessani's kids. Not sure what that would even mean, but thought it was interesting.
 
This might be reading way too much into it but it ties in well with the "Jordan was a party girl" theory. Maybe Mayor Chessani's wife was a party girl too, and the operations Pitlor had performed on her rendered her unable to have children, like Jordan. There's a big emphasis on the dynastic nature of the Chessani family, so maybe it was vitally important to the Mayor to have children to pass the Chessani legacy on to. The fact that Chessani had to resort to taking in foster kids to secure that legacy could've driven his wife crazy.

Given the Chessani local political power, it probably wouldn't be a difficult thing to arrange for Mayor Chessani to take the kids in as fosters, and then formally adopt.
 
This might be reading way too much into it but it ties in well with the "Jordan was a party girl" theory. Maybe Mayor Chessani's wife was a party girl too, and the operations Pitlor had performed on her rendered her unable to have children, like Jordan. There's a big emphasis on the dynastic nature of the Chessani family, so maybe it was vitally important to the Mayor to have children to pass the Chessani legacy on to. The fact that Chessani had to resort to taking in foster kids to secure that legacy could've driven his wife crazy.

Given the Chessani local political power, it probably wouldn't be a difficult thing to arrange for Mayor Chessani to take the kids in as fosters, and then formally adopt.

They've spent a ton of time revolving around the Chessani family for it not to come back to him. Heck, they even had photos with Chessani and both Bush presidents (office and home). I would be shocked if things didn't come around in some way similar to what you've described above.

Also odd that earlier in the season when Chessani is talking about worrying "his son is a destroyer" (when discussing his drug habits), he talks about sending him to be a prince somewhere else (Oakland I believe). Then later Frank calls him out when he notices his son never left. Just thought all that was odd and a waste of time if they didn't circle back around to it.
 
When trying to solve a mystery, always a good idea to pay attention to characters they introduced briefly without a seeming need to do so. It is the writer's way of saying they played fair even if they spent 89% of the time misleading you.
 
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I see a Mexican gang vs Franks gang scene coming up.
Who think's Ani's sister is gonna get wacked now, she gave them her name "Athena".
"What did you do"?, asked the dying Russian, You got Zoro'd by an ate up crazy chick with knife skills dude.
They went hard as MFr's in that last scene, they have to keep that quiet. I would love to see them go rouge vigilante on them know.
Blake is on the shit list now and is probably the one who mislead Frank and Ray up with the fake rapist.
The retired cop said that the people who murdered the kid's parents were wearing masks...I wonder what kind? Are the kids getting revenge?
Ray's kid wants to watch Friends and eat pizza while his dad tells him the most important and last words he will ever say, and the little fat ginger says "K" while stuffing more pizza down.
Kitchen table scene and the nail torture scene were great! Wish we had more of that. "Ray don't you effin shoot me!"
Bucket list scene with the Mexican Stand off made me real life lol.
Ray wants to use a cheese grater on the rapists dick? Damn
Had to look up the last song playing as the credits rolled. Great song and this band was used in an episode last year as well.

 
I see a Mexican gang vs Franks gang scene coming up.
Who think's Ani's sister is gonna get wacked now, she gave them her name "Athena".
"What did you do"?, asked the dying Russian, You got Zoro'd by an ate up crazy chick with knife skills dude.
They went hard as MFr's in that last scene, they have to keep that quiet. I would love to see them go rouge vigilante on them know.
Blake is on the shit list now and is probably the one who mislead Frank and Ray up with the fake rapist.
The retired cop said that the people who murdered the kid's parents were wearing masks...I wonder what kind? Are the kids getting revenge?
Ray's kid wants to watch Friends and eat pizza while his dad tells him the most important and last words he will ever say, and the little fat ginger says "K" while stuffing more pizza down.
Kitchen table scene and the nail torture scene were great! Wish we had more of that. "Ray don't you effin shoot me!"
Bucket list scene with the Mexican Stand off made me real life lol.
Ray wants to use a cheese grater on the rapists dick? Damn
Had to look up the last song playing as the credits rolled. Great song and this band was used in an episode last year as well.


thought this was VV's best performance in an episode yet. No more sad puppy dog face, he is finally becoming Frank. Wish it hadn't taken this long to get his sea legs.
 
Good episode. I'm glad they brought back the sex and drug scenes...finally felt dirty and gritty. They way True Detective supposed to be.

One thing that does crack me up is how someone can go on a major bender (Colin Farrell scene) and then has the capability to immediately sober up, make a phone call and have conversations with ex wife, and then off to work like big thing. HA,,,riiight!
 
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3. Saw another blog recap brought up that the two kids who witnessed the robbery of the blue diamond and murder of their parents look like and are about the same ages as Mayor Chessani's kids. Not sure what that would even mean, but thought it was interesting.

It all ties back to Velcoro's father and his time with the top Vinci PD officers. Those guys were dirty back in 92 during the riots and they're richer and dirtier now.
 
Kitchen table scene and the nail torture scene were great! Wish we had more of that. "Ray don't you effin shoot me!"

Had to look up the last song playing as the credits rolled. Great song and this band was used in an episode last year as well.



The kitchen table scene was reminiscent of the Pacino-Deniro diner scene in Heat, and nearly as good. When they cut in the middle (I think to the other 2 cops) I said to the wife "that scene had all kinds of potential- if they don't show how the confrontation ends it will be a complete waste". Good for them that they did show the rest of it, and made it really good.

I had never heard the song at the end, which was good. I also had never heard the song that CF was getting high to-- I thought "that's a Stones song I've never heard", but turns out it was the New York Dolls. Great music for the whole thing.

Speaking of which: anybody else notice the weird change to classical (almost like non-vocal opera; didn't recognize it) in the party scene? Was an abrupt, incongruent change, but not bad.
 
Speaking of which: anybody else notice the weird change to classical (almost like non-vocal opera; didn't recognize it) in the party scene? Was an abrupt, incongruent change, but not bad.

Had a friend say it reminded him of a sad Pink Panther caper song. The music was very noir-esque, what made it odd was the juxtaposition in comparison to the rest of the music in the show.

The scene really reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut.

The orgy scene was a let down b/c I read where they hired a bunch of pornstars and we got some half assed orgy scenes.
 
Wonder if Lt Burris is the "thin cop" that the woman Frank was pursuing said paid her to pawn Caspar's stuff.
 
Wonder if Lt Burris is the "thin cop" that the woman Frank was pursuing said paid her to pawn Caspar's stuff.

I think that's a safe assumption, I also think he's the crow mask killer who offed Casper and shot Valcoro with the rubber bullets. He was first on scene after he was shot, he was also all up in Valcoro's apartment without a key.
 
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I think that's a safe assumption, I also think he's the crow mask killer who offed Casper and shot Valcoro with the rubber bullets. He was first on scene after he was shot, he was also all up in Valcoro's apartment without a key.
Yea, I think he is involved. I don't think that he is THE killer, but definitely involved somehow.
 
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