I hesitate to wade into this discussion of the finale because the shyt seems contentious already, but fukk it...
I kind of liked it. I definitely didn't
love it. Of the 8 episodes this ranked near the bottom for me.
There's a cliche, annoying phrase people use in writing classes when assessing short fiction:
did this story earn its ending? I didn't think what I saw in episode 8 was a natural extension of or conclusion to what we'd seen over the season's build up
. That's not saying the episode was wack or the show is somehow now a letdown, so sheath your knives, zealots
.
One major issue for me was pace. The pace of the entire show, of life in rural Lousiana, of the characters' lives was an enjoyably slow, messy burn. The final episode felt quick and neat. I was worried about that after episode 7, because, shyt, how the fukk can you tie up so much we've obsessed over in one hour. Of course you can't, and the point of the show is that it reflects the nature of the human experience, where loose ends are more prominent in a life than closure... But still, I wanted at least a bit more. Maybe an extra half hour would've allowed for that.
Anyway, yeah, the green paint seemed like a cheap trick to bridge an impasse.The serial killer was dope, accents were great, house was creepy - but I wanted better than a standard "chase the killer into his lair" scene. The vicious stabbing and resultant "cliffhanger" as to whether Rust lives felt hackneyed, as did the last-second headshot. Throw in the tender moment outside the hospital (and yes, Matty Mac killed that scene, no doubt, he was on fire) and the final line about the light... Suddenly a show that hooked me by operating outside of conventions shrunk itself to fit comfortably within them.
I flashed back to the movie Se7en a lot while watching this season. Both have distinctive cinematography, that slow burn pace, a tense partnership between two compelling detectives, one more impulsive and hotheaded, the other more world-weary and prone to philosophizing about human nature and the ugliness of the world. To make this as simple and succinct as possible: True Detective, for whatever reason, didn't put the head in the box.
If there's no head in the box, and somehow they catch Spacey's character, we get the traditional hero moment, I guess. Or if Brad Pitt's character doesn't shoot Spacey... Whatever the case, the movie ends with Brad Pitt having quite literally stared into the face of evil, into the horror, and being forever ruined by it. Morgan Freeman maintains his ethics and his wisdom but he is also profoundly changed. "The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for." Freeman's character will only concede the latter half. And
that is what True Detective built itself to be on a collision course with - and what is represented by the "Yellow King," a play so horrifying it ruins its audience - "the horror, the horror." The world as worth fighting for, sure - but not the world in which light is gaining on dark and quasi-religious epiphanies restore a man to some existential equilibrium. Instead of ruin, we get redemption. And that felt like a capitulation to tastes dictated by convention, not a conclusion worthy of all the scenes that built on each other to reach that point.
All that said, I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I agree with Mel though, that it was on the brink of being transcendent, but ended up being an excellent show instead. Which isn't the worst thing one can say about a program.
weak.
It was a True Bromance 