The motive is obvious to the point of not having to be discussed, unless the writer throws a curve ball. The tape backs it up. It's ritual murder with some pedophilia thrown in unless you find a different meaning from guys in animal masks dressing children in costumes and assaulting them in a regular and very systemic manner.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Last night's episode got dangerously close to the first half-hour of a Law & Order episode but got it back toward the end with what the show is strong at which is getting Rust and Cohle talking to each other and Rust telling Maggie to get lost because she's classing the place up too much.

I think they are getting unnecessarily complex with the actual whodunit of the series, unless their ultimate point is that the entire state of Louisiana is related to each other.

The show is about the characters and it's starting to get lost in web of crime-solving a confusing set of crimes. I suppose they want to make it complex in order to demonstrate how difficult it is to get to the bottom of it and why it took Cohle 17 years to do so. But, I don't know if proving that fact at the cost of character study is worth the screen time.

I don't have high hopes for next week. I fear it will be even more of some of the lesser points of last night's.

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You know me like that.

So its obvious to you that there are several, maybe more than 10, people, many of them wealthy and powerful, who are involved in pedophilia and child murders? That seems perfectly plausible to you?

This show requires more suspension of disbelief than the Walking Dead, and that's a zombie show.

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Maybe they're trying to cover up an international art theft ring.

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I have to disagree and I think last night's episode cements the fact that the show is about the characters, not the story. For the most part we've known "whodunit" (and for most of us, why) for a while now. That's why I won't really care if they don't tie up all the lose ends next week. Last night was about Marty and Rust and the bond they share that has kept them connected to each other the past 10 years. Think of how opposite they were in episode 1 and even through episode 4.

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I agree, Franky T - that's why I think it's unnecessary for the crime aspect of the plot to be so convoluted. It takes the focus away from the better moments that you describe.

My mind is trying to organize the relationship of the maid to the guy's father who had another kid out of wedlock and it was his son that is related back to the sheriff father and the cop with the same name....all the while I could just be soaking in some great performances and dialogue.

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You know me like that.

Frankie nailed it. The crime plot is secondary (by a mile) to the interpersonal relationships and character development/aging throughout the series. The dialogue is Tarantino worthy...

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I think that's a red herring. My guess is that in the last scene we'll find out that this whole thing stems from the fallout of Julia Robert's brief about pelicans.

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Yeah, that family tree posted earlier would have helped last night.

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I love the dark humor in this show:

Cohle: "Here I am, you know, my whole life is one expanding circular fuck up, and I think it's about to close out with me getting clipped in a home invasion. I mean, what I'm saying is, I was aware that I might have lost my mind."

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

the crime is pretty much already solved

The only thing left is the resolution

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

And it can't simply end with Rust and Marty killing the bad guy(s) or slapping cuffs on them. To me, that would be a major disappointment. I don't think this story is really about the specific crimes themselves. Those are incidental and simply allow for the dialogue to exist. The actual plot is immaterial. If it isn't, it's just another cop show.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I think they pretty heavily foreshadowed Rust dying, and probably Hart too with that bar scene with Maggie.

The writer has said a bunch of times not to expect a crazy twist at the end, and I tend to believe that. That said, while some loose ends would be ok, I would be pretty disappointing if they don't clear up Hart's daughter's experience with the Tuttles. And I think we will, just based on the commentary about her painting.

I'd have no problem with the bad guys winning. That's real life.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Not sure the bad guys will win. I think Rust will bring them down which will ultimately allow him to feel like he's paid off his debts. Can't imagine he would die without resolution on the case. Since we now know the two cops are in the area, they may ultimately be the "hero" in the public eye.

It would maintain the integrity of Hart's character and the perpetual circle theme if Hart killed one of the flunkies with Senator Tuttle escaping blame

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Or maybe 1 of the present-day detectives kills the lawnmower guy and they cover it up.

I think Rust dies for sure and I'm kind of 50/50 on whether Hart dies. My gut says they are setting us up to expect Hart to die but I could see them flipping that and him get some of his life back by solving something here.

Ultimately, though, I don't see them really bringing anybody to justice.

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You know me like that.

So the finale is 2 hours long, according to Jay Zawaski. That gives me a bit more hope of a complete, it not altogether clean, resolution to everything.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Where did he read that? Hoping it's true. Haven't seen that anywhere yet.

Yes, this is incredibly important news. I don't know what these news outlets think they are doing but I guess unless Putin says it, it's not news. DO YOUR JOB!

This makes me rethink how much resolution we will be getting. I'm more hopeful.

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You know me like that.

I googled "true detective finale 2 hours" and got nothing. It's possible Jay is full of shit. If he's not, that's the biggest news story broken on the Score in the station's history and he needs a promotion ASAP.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Seriously.

He'll be walking in the bayou to catch his killer

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

It's not 2 hours. #fired.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I'm not sure they even want to bring anyone to justice under the law. Cohle did define justice differently when Hart killed Ledoux

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Two hour finale of True Detective imminent.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Just checked my DirecTv guide, one hour finale. Snitch is on from 6:00-8:00. Girls (shitfest) is on from 9:00-9:30.

I started re-watching from episode one last night, paying greater attention. Goal is to watch one a night and wrap up Sunday afternoon...

Why would you want to read anything about the finale and what to expect before you see it?


That seems like it defeats the purpose of watching the show. Its kind of a spoiler, too. I mean it could have been a crazy twist ending. Now that's off the table.

To each their own, but that seems a little weird to me. Would you read author's comments about how a novel would end?

Damn straight RPB. I don't even watch the preview of the next episode. I want it to be a total surprise.

I have watched all seven episodes twice. The dialogue is amazing.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

According to HBO.com, the finale is only 55 minutes. You can look it up on the schedule.

Incidentally, I have begun reading Pizzolatto's novel, Galveston. I'm only about 20 pages in, but it is amazing so far. The guy is a master of the hardboiled vernacular.

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