Mini-Review: True Detective, Season 2

Rachel McAdams, Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, and Taylor Kitsch in Season 2 of True Detective

“We get the world we deserve.”

While season two may not be able to live up the incredibly high standards set by it’s predecessor, there’s no denying that the second season of True Detective  has had me glued to the screen every Sunday night (which was a welcomed distraction after that amazing, but heartbreaking, Game of Thrones finale). Nic Pizzolatto has proven himself to be one of the most talented writers working in television right now, as each episode is a testament to the complex story he has woven over these eight weeks.

Like The Wire before it, the reason True Detective works so well is because the show starts fresh with each season, quickly evolving into a web of intricate story lines following broken people on the verge of foundering as they descend into the darkest parts of mankind’s depravity. While some fans may be missing that Silence of the Lambs vibe from season one, season two is something of an homage to a few of the best crime dramas of the last twenty years, namely Heat and The Departed.

The show may have lost a few stragglers after the shift to a new cast and new plot, but I have loved every minute of this season, almost as much as I enjoyed the first, and I cannot wait to see what’s in store for us in tomorrow’s season finale. Personally, I like the idea of an ever-changing cast and story; it allows Pizzolatto and crew to explore new locations and plots with some of the best actors of our generation, so even though we’ll be saying goodbye to Velcoro, Bezzerides, and Woodrugh — like we did Cohle and Hart — there’s always next season to look forward to.

Review: Beyond Musketeers is Far Beyond Expectations

I hope Alexandre Dumas can understand where I’m coming from; his timeless classic obviously deserves a reverence reserved only for those authors who have proven themselves worthy of our praise. That said, his work has been done so many times on screen and on stage that all of us are very familiar with the Musketeer rally cry; “All for one, and one for all” is as well known as “To be, or not to be.” Putting on Dumas – while timeless – has the same effect as putting on Shakespeare: we’ve all been here before, so why should this time be any different? Brian Maticic and the other writers of “Beyond Musketeers: Utopia Lost” have the answer: because there’s so much more to tell!