True Detective (HBO) TV Show • Page 29

What is? Not watching it? I never liked the dude and now I wouldn’t go back and watch anything he’s in to support him, such a scumbag. I did see Manchester before finding out about him because of all the raves, and I thought it was fine.

 

This case kind of annoys me. He made mistakes on the set of one movie, it was settled in a lawsuit, he's apologized for it, and it happened 10 years ago. It's not like other people with repeated patterns of misbehavior. We should be able to forgive and move on.

 

Uuuuuhhhhhhhh that’s a hard pass.

 

I essentially agree with this. Also, killer avi.

 

Finale was ok... whole season was really just ok. I don’t think it was bad or offensive or ruined the season like a lot of people seem to think, but it didn’t do much for me. The scene with Wayne and Julie was great and well executed, but I think the pacing of the whole episode was off. They front loaded it with the spoon fed reveals and left way too much time for the happy tying of loose threads at the end. They should have let the mystery tension build a little more and spend less time tidying up. I do like Roland and Purple living together, that was good. The whole Roland bar sequence and dog scene was, uh... iffy.

As somebody said before though, finding someone who has all the answers is not super uncommon in this type of story, they just didn’t execute super well.

Give me another star studded cast and I’d watch another season, but at this point mostly as event TV, not out of excitement.

 

I enjoyed the finale and the season. No real gripes with any of it.

 

Having flashbacks to the end of season one when everyone was disappointed at that ending too.

Really enjoyed the whole season and thought the ending wrapped up the story well and was satisfying in pretty much every way. Wayne coming so close to finding Julie and then forgetting was heartbreaking to see.

 

I think we're approaching a point where many have come to expect too much out of a show. So much so that it seems nearly impossible to satisfy all demands. Just because something isn't ____ (fill this in w the "top tier" TV show of your choice), doesn't mean it's trash. This season was very easily a 7 or 8/10. A distinct cut above most of the non-sense out there, especially network crime shows.

 

Has anyone said that this season was trash?

And a 7 or 8 to you could still be someone else's 4 or 5.

 

Have not seen that word used here, but the derogatory remarks in the last few days seemed to imply that sentiment to me. If I misinterpreted, I apologize but I don't feel like I'm too far off.

 

I think that's more of an issue that I find on the internet in general that if someone doesn't LOVE something or give it a 8 or more that it automatically means that people despise it and want to burn the world to the ground and salt the earth rather than having to endure it again! Haha

It feels like people can't just be in the middle on stuff anymore. I'd say the season overall is probably a 7 or 8, sounds about right to me.

 

I disagree. I think the fact that it’s on HBO signals to people that it MUST be top-tier television and worthy of discussion amongst the greats, even when it isn’t, and that the only thing separating this from tons of network nonsense is the higher budget and aesthetic appeal. If this came out on a different network but had the same poor characterization, writing, structure, and plot holes, no one would be talking about it as if it deserves to be in the same conversation. It presented itself to be something better, and it wasn’t.

And no, something doesn’t have to be the greatest thing ever produced to be good, but it should be held to the standard that it is presenting for itself, and this was an absolute mess. Negative criticism isn’t invalid simply by being negative.

 

I don't agree that something should be held to a higher standard just because it's on HBO. Or that it's a fair criticism that it doesn't stand up to the HBO standard or whatever. There are plenty of shit movies/shows from HBO, Criterion Collection, etc...

It should just be judged on its' own merits.

 

And the way NP continues to write women is worth shouting from the rooftops, because it’s abysmal and viewers deserve better.

 

And yes, I understand how opinions & subjectivity play into rating art. Isn't that why we're all here?

 

And yeah that’s part of what I’m saying. So many people are presenting it as “prestige TV” or part of the highest tier of television simply because of the network it’s on. The responses to it are as if it is up to that same standard, when on its own it is much closer to the network nonsense everyone seems to dismiss solely because of where it airs.

 

If using the term "network" throws people off from my point, then let's just remove that descriptor. What I was attempting to refer to is the category of TV show we all know - regardless of where it airs - where everything is predictable, the characters are one dimensional, and the overall product is terrible as a result. In my experience, most of this stuff exists on network TV.

That said, rating a TV show should be done on its own merits regardless of where it airs, but things like budget, aesthetic appeal, etc. play into the overall execution of a show so you can't just dismiss them or rate a show based on the imagined version of the show if those things were different than what they are.

 

I guess I don't understand what you mean then. I don't think anyone is considering or dismissing anything about the show because of its' budget. Or even criticizing aesthetic appeal. Just because something is expensive or looks nice doesn't mean it's great.

 

I don't think that either. My last comment was a reply to the comment made about the fact that it aired on HBO signals to people that it's of higher quality by default and that prevents some people from identifying shows on HBO as bad as a result.

Wires are crossed.

My main point is that I liked S3 on the whole and didn't think the last episode was bad enough to warrant all of the backlash.

 

My point is that the writing when you get down to it has almost as many (if not more in some aspects) issues as those other shows, but everyone seems to get rose-colored glasses when talking about it as if the aesthetic quality automatically means the other aspects are just as good. The writing for every character not named Wayne, Roland, or to some degree Tom WAS just as one-dimensional and terrible as those hypothetical shows. The way the show was structured WAS just as manipulative and forced as those shows. And it’s more disappointing than those BECAUSE of the higher quality of the other aspects. A show that is that beautifully shot and acted by its main characters should have better writing to stand up on.

The cinematography, acting, and makeup (except for Dorff) absolutely give it credit and did some impressive work. But that doesn’t mean the overall piece is up to what it should have been or that speaking about these issues is just “asking too much” of TV.

 

I think we are all in agreement on that and I just worded my initial comment incorrectly. The viewers and reviewers as a whole (not anyone here specifically) speak of this as if it is on another level by default when that isn’t the case. That makes it harder to get any traction on criticism when most are saying it deserves that status, AND it makes the issues around things like representation and misogyny more glaring and upsetting, because the show gets to hide behind being *aRT* in many circles.

I also don’t think the last episode is solely what makes it bad, it’s the fact that I was willing to overlook a TON of issues leading into it hoping that they would be addressed and take on a new meaning after watching. That didn’t happen, so the whole season fell flat.

 

https://tv.avclub.com/true-detectives-finale-starts-with-a-bluff-then-tells-1832862726

Good review of the finale from A.V. Club

 

Any review that is written and posted within 12 hours of the finale airing (including time for the author to sleep, ffs) means nothing to me. Especially when 70% of the review is just them re-capping the events in the episode. So lazy.

 

I usually enjoy their reviews, but for this season I often felt like each episode review was leading up to a very different conclusion/takeaway and that their letter grades often didn’t match what was written.

It is definitely sad and hilarious to go back to the episode 7 review where the author hopes that Becca’s appearance will be meaningful to a future viewer who has the whole picture. WHOOPS.

 

When the acting, cinematography, editing, direction and production design are all at such a high level, I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect the writing to be at that same level, and to be disappointed when it is not.

If you were enjoying the entire season right along with no major qualms or hang-ups I could definitely see the finale working great for you. I thought this season started off fantastic, but by probably episode 4 or 5 I started having serious reservations about how everything was going and how the story was being told. There was still a lot to enjoy about the show, and I never thought it was bad enough to not finish watching. Plus, there were still several hours of show left at that point, and a lot of my issues could easily still be redeemed when all was said and done. Unfortunately for me, that didn’t happen. At the end of every episode, I was always looking forward to the next one. At the beginning of the season, it was always out of sheer enjoyment of the show. Somewhere partway through I realized I was looking forward out of frustration hoping the next episode would fix all the problems I was having, or at least start heading back in the right direction. My wife had the same reaction, only much more severe, and said she wouldn't have even finished it if I hadn't wanted to keep watching so badly.

At the end of the day I would still call TD Season 3 a solid season of television. I certainly wouldn’t compare it to the deeply flawed TD Season 2. To my mind, it is better than a lot of stuff out there, particularly the CSI’s & NCIS’s and other crime/detective shows. Would I put it up against something like Broadchurch, or even TD Season 1? No, I wouldn’t.