TRUE DETECTIVE Season 1 Finale Thoughts

I hesitate when I get asked if True Detective is a good show to watch.

I'm finding it hard to explain the appeal of the series and often have great difficulty telling someone to, "Go and watch, sure! It's so gooooood!" ... because "good" is subjective.

Good can be an episode of Castle, or Person of Interest, or The Good Wife, or Breaking Bad, or Scandal, or Parenthood, or Episodes, or Portlandia. See the degrees of differences?

It would be hard for me to lump True Detective in a category of greatness.

Because it's just... different.

Setting aside the acting and the cinematography of the show (coz these two elements on True Detective are some of its strongest), I would not be able to qualify its pluses without sounding like I'm over-selling the story.

The essence of every show is in the story --- how it started, how it's played out, and most importantly, how it ended.  For many viewers, the ending is crucial. It must top everything else. It should have the show go out with one big hurrah. Only, True Detective's ending, at least for the first season, is not what you'd expect from a show that started building up the plot with each episode. In fact, too many people were not happy about its conclusion. (Read: Is True Detective Overrated?; The Disappointing Finale of True Detective; True Detective Finale: This is it?)

Most people have mistaken this series for a "whodunit"; for getting suckered into figuring out the clues and secrets, and then figuring out the bad guy(s). I was one of those people. I followed theory after theory thrown on the internet, in the hopes of trying to discover clues to plot twists, in as much as I couldn't really understand where most of these theories lead up to. This habit of reading up on a show's many "secrets" is something I've developed since Lost, by the way. (Damn you, Lostpedia!!!)  But while watching the last episode of True Detective playing out the other day, I finally got the sense that this was all so.....freaking simple.

To anyone planning on binging the first season of the show, bear this in mind:

The real story is not in the plot.

The real story is in the two lead characters.

To understand their development as characters is to get the essence of the show.  To see their relationship --- with each other, with other people and with themselves --- go from one point to the next, is to experience the show's deepness.

Forget all the secrets. Forget hunting down meanings and clues.  Look at Rust and Marty, and watch their transformation.

That's where True Detective is different from all the other good shows out there.

[True Detective] I learned a new word today: McConaissance

I didn't know this word "McConaissance" existed prior to watching True Detective. I wasn't keenly aware of Matthew McConaughey's reinvention or comeback as an actor.

I wasn't a fan.

While I've seen his critically-acclaimed and heavily-nominated performance in Dallas Buyer's Club, and okay…I thought he was good in it, I was not "dazzled" by it.

Was.

True Detective made me change my opinion of him. And now I understand all these praises he's getting.

This guy is so good in the series that I really worry for Bryan Cranston's chances of bagging the Best Actor trophy at the Emmy's this coming September. It would be Cranston's last chance of winning, because Breaking Bad is done, thus, never getting a nomination ever again. But here comes this guy, and the chances of him taking the award instead of Cranston? Is highly probable.

Watching him get lost in his character on True Detective is having me absolutely dazzled this time.

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Have you seen True Detective? It's outstanding!

While the story isn't completely fresh, and some say it's reminding them of Hannibal,  the show makes great use of other elements, like the camera shots (the director's eye --- so powerful!) and the dialogues (the writer's brain --- so deep!).

The actors, like Matthew McConaughey, also bring so much that I really think they're playing off each other's greatness. Not one bad egg in the casting couch. Everyone has delivered so far.

Here's one of my favorite scenes, with Matthew and Woody Harrelson, from the third episode:


I'd say True Detective belongs to a class in itself because somehow, it just doesn't feel right lumping it in the same calibre as other TV greats like Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, or The Wire.

It's really just different. Good-different.

But watching True Detective is also a challenge, I have to say. Sometimes, there's stuff that goes over my head because it is just so profound and my brain cells can only take so much. But I think it's partly why it's appealing to me. I enjoy reading up on an episode afterwards and process what has happened, and then be completely blown away by some of the conclusions from fans who are also loving this series.

Yep, this show is a thinking show…and boy, we don't have a lot of that these days!

If you want to catch True Detective, it's on Sundays at HBO. In the Philippines and in Asia, it airs one week after a new episode.

The series is only eight episodes short and five have already aired as of this writing. No matter how short, however, it is quality television that shouldn't be missed out on.