I don't watch a lot of these cable series. The only ones I ever got into were the Sopranos, Hung, and the Americans. I really liked the Americans until I started watching True Detective. I can honestly say I have never been so wrapped up in a show. Now when I see the Americans, I realize the depth of the True Detective story and the quality of the dialogue. I am sorry others felt the payoff was weak. That is a consequence of so much Internet speculation and elaborate theories. We were all waiting for some unknown details to emerge. Instead it was much more obvious than we expected. I was ok with it.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Not really.

The writers put a metric shitload of red herrings in it. The internet ran with it, but the internet wasnt responsible for the terribly unfinished daughter storyline or the uselessness of the Grandfather.

I just disagree. I spent lots of time researching all the Internet theories. The grandfather was barely in the show. I think the entire point of the grandfather was to have that line that things never really change throughout generations.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Im not arguing that internet theories didnt exist. Im saying the writing begged for it. The writers knew the internet would go crazy for every detail so they put a bunch of symbols and innuendo that ended up going nowhere.

I don't even care about them placing easter eggs in the show. However, there is no way to get around the daughter drawing the symbol of the cult in a picture and playing dolls with a mockup of the scene with children without her having been exposed to the cult. It just could not happen. It had an impact on her life. It would have impacted the lives of the characters and the story. Yet, the writer just let it sit there like it didn't happen.

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

I think maybe the daughters playing with the murder scene was just Woody's imagination. But the symbols were definitely there in the notebook and on the walls of the house. There was the same damn painting in Woody's bedroom and on the wall of the nuthouse, for God's sake.

Seven episodes of complexities and intense character development and these two turned out to be Riggs and Murtaugh.

_________________
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 I wrote it before and TM wanted to dispute it but I think the first six or so episodes may have just been a situation of the writer being in a zone and creating the best work of his career.

I don't sit here thinking True Detective II is going to be some must watch show. I think it will have to prove itself to me.

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

Grandfather? The one that had aprox. 3 min of screen time? Yeah, the writers were sure sending all sorts of red herrings with him!

A Seven like ending would have been great. But this was clearly a show about the journey instead of one about the ending. It was highly entertaining dialogue, great character development, plenty of plot lines, sex scenes. It had everything but the monster ending. It basically had a thinking man's ending about the larger fight of good vs. evil.

I couldn't have been happier.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Don't you believe in the Law of Economy of Characters?

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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 agree. Very well put.

I believe in the Law of Economy of SomeGuy

yeah, he was completely useless and the part where the daughter spoke up against asking for his help was nothing. Just filler I guess.

Thinking man?

That ending was straight out of every Law and Order ever.

"Spoke up?" What does that even mean? I know young children not wanting help with something is crazy, but maybe youre reading a bit too much into the daughter saying the word 'No.'?

Ok, so that scene was completely useless and meant nothing.


Kinda stupid to have it then. The best shows dont have filler. Everything is important for one reason or another.

Ever read the full version of the Count of Monte Cristo? It's a great book. The character depth and plot lines are complex. Yet, the ending was much like this. The book spends 1,300 pages on elaborate tales of love and revenge. In the end, Dumas writes:

“All human wisdom is summed up in two words - wait and hope”

You realize, he took 1,300 pages with numerous examples to show the underlying meaning of human existence. This show went through great pains to show that good can triumph over evil, but in small, incremental ways. Evil will always be there, and it takes lots of effort to overcome it.

I liked it. You, JORR, and GD didn't like the payoff. I get it.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

And I get that you and Someguy liked it, but it certainly was not a "thinking man's finale"

Quite the opposite, in fact.

The show acted like it was one thing for 6 episodes and then changed for the last two.

It set up Harrelsons lines, and gave you a look into his marriage and how he thinks about the world.

Again, you're aet on seeing things one single narrow way.

Not really.

You saw the show as one thing for 6 episodes, you were convinced it was a certain thing....and it turned out that it wasn't. It wasn't the rabbit hole the internet armies thought it was.

It turned out to be a damn good detective crime show that ends with the partners getting their guy.

Set up Harrelson's lines? No, sorry all he said was cmon girls or something like that. There was no need for her to specifically rebuke the suggestion of Grandpa's help. They could have said anything and Harrelson would still say "Cmon girls"


Do you honestly believe the line about the grandfather was not put in purposely to make people consider the grandpa?

If so, we disagree.

Anyway, great 6 episodes

The first 6 episodes promised more than that though.

Just my opinion

I thought the point of the scene was to show that his wife married beneath her economic class, that the troubles with their marriage were apparent to everyone and that it was not all Woody's fault from unbiased sources.

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

I was talking specifically about the line about her grandpa

They didn't get their guy. They got a guy...maybe even someguy. They could have ended the show after killing LaDoux and they would essentially have been at the same place they are today. They cut off the head of a hydra.

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

I could agree with your point were it not for Rust being so grandiose in his descriptions of his belief system for seven of the eight hours. Then, he almost dies and rather than rely on logic, he jumps into a new belief system with both feet.

However, rather than the end, I see everything after they are saved as post script. The ending, to me, is the chase through the ruins and the killing of Green Ear Spaghetti Monster. I find it highly unsatisfying and the opposite of the thinking man's conclusion because the writer essentially laid blame of a complex, multi generational conspiracy to an in bred flunky.

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

and while I am on the subject, no reasonable person could be satisfied with the young prostitute simply popping back into Woody's life in such a chance manner

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

Ultimately, I think that was the message of the show. That evil will always exist and good people just do the best they can. But that's about as far from a "think man's ending" as one might get. Two hillbilly cops can't wipe out evil? No shit. But that ignores the complex themes that came before. In certain ways Rust and Marty were evil themselves. I'm sure a certain type of viewer was thrilled to see them turn into Tango and Cash.

_________________
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

Haters gonna hate!

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Why do I always seem to be on the opposite of the thinking man's side of every viewpoint?

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