Black Maps And Motel Rooms
Warning: This review contains spoilers.
This year’s season of True Detective is like a little puppy that is constantly crapping on the carpet, one moment you are super pissed at it and then with one flash of it’s huge, watery eyes you forgive it. After last week’s episode I was ready to give up (of course I can’t, since I am reviewing it for Novastream) and now I’m back on side again. There’s one more episode left of the season, so one more chance at redemption, but for now things are looking up.
Velcoro, Bezzerides and Woodrugh have got all the pieces they need to solve the puzzle and the bad guys know that. Everyone is out to get them, Bezzerides is wanted for the murder of a “security guard”, Velcoro gets set up for the murder of Davis and someone has the dirt or rather, dirty pictures on Woodrugh. As for Semyon, he disposes of his double crossing henchman, who is also the man Velcoro is after for lying about his wife’s rapist, and sets his enemies world on fire. The fact that Semyon didn’t lie to Velcoro about his wife’s rape is a less interesting route to take than the alternative but the scenes in which Semyon was destroying his bar and preparing himself for the future were quite fun. He even got in touch with the Jewish mafia, man, this town has got every type of criminal you can imagine.
Surely the highlight of the episode is Woodrugh’s meet up with his blackmailers; turns out he was set up from the start and the man he meets is the man he slept with to begin with. While I say that with confidence now, that’s a fact I had to double check beforehand. One of the problems this season of True Detective has is that there are far too many smaller characters, I have enough trouble trying to remember their faces let alone their names and this can really put a dampener on a twist when it comes along. Which is what happened when we reached the police chief, I knew I recognised him but it took me a while to remember exactly where I’d seen him. From here another shoot-out occurs and Woodrugh proves his skills with a gun again until he is shot in the back and killed. At least it looks like he was killed, who knows, maybe he got lucky like Velcoro and was shot by a cap gun or some other bollocks.
As for the personal dramas, well Woodrugh is dead so there is not much his secret can do to him now. I never much cared for Woodrugh’s life story anyway but this episode did prove that it was just Pizzolatto’s way to get Woodrugh down in the basement all along. Nothing is mentioned on Velcoro’s child and maybe that’s how it will stay after he cut himself off in last week’s episode, though I highly doubt it. There’s a small reference to Bezzerides’ troubled childhood but this late in the season it’s hard to care much for that storyline unless Pizzolatto plans to have Bezzerides meet up with her attacker next week. Finally the Semyon’s hopeful baby storyline is hopefully as hopeful as the hopeful baby itself and it too doesn’t get another mention this week, hopefully not next week either, hopefully.
Of course True Detective would never be so kind as to give me an episode that I completely loved and while it strokes with one hand, True Detective is punching with the other. As I begrudgingly predicted last week Velcoro and Bezzerides enter into the relations. There are so many things I find wrong with this decision. First of all, as I have always been saying, no one watches True Detective for the soap opera aspect. It’s as if Pizzolatto can’t get enough out of the main storyline so he has to keep throwing these pathetic side stories in the mix. The other problem I have is that Velcoro and Bezzerides have never had any chemistry. Their relationship was more one of disdainful respect like McConaughey and Harrelson had from the last season. I get the feeling Pizzolatto went, “Hey look I’ve got a lady this time, that means she has to kiss someone right?” Wrong.
Overall I was much more impressed with this week’s episode than last week’s and I still am holding out hope for the finale. You may even say I’m looking forward to it, it’s either that or I’m just excited for it to end. Woodrugh, who was always the least useful character is dead, Semyon still has to answer to Velcoro and the case is very close to being solved. What I will say is that I can’t see how it’s going to end and that is always a good sign. So whether it’s for better or for worse, I’m eager to see how the second season of True Detective wraps itself up next week at the Omega Station.
