As "True Detective ends - "True Detective," quite possibly the most buzzy, buzzable and buzzed-about HBO drama series since "The Wire" - did not last night's wrap at the very minimum raise the possibility of (if not flat out demand) a reprise?
Woody and Matt together again? The boys back on another case, because, after all, there are other cases...
Do not read on if you are averse to spoilers.
But seriously, at the end of this ride, and an enjoyable one it was, there were really only two reasons that drew us or most of us - Okay, me -- through eight episodes: That unexpected McConaughey Harrelson chemistry which essentially was a bromance and an effective one as that.
The story was good if hardly surprising; the conclusion foretold even if everyone in the viewing audience spun too much nonsense out of a few red (or green, or yellow) herrings.
Yes, Ed Gein -- Leatherface himself who has inspired a hundred horror flicks, from "Halloween" to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" -- inspired yet another. Even "daddy," Erol's father tied down in the shed, his lips sewn together like shoe to heel, invoked Leatherface's brother, Drayton; Erol's suitably wacko sister certainly invoked him...
Did "True Detective" or Nic Pizzolatto really need eight episodes to tell us that the guy with crazy eyes, serious acne scarring, an Oxfam accent, and pretty much unlimited access to children as the extremely creepy looking school janitor that nobody at school ever suspected might just be a little bit insane...was the bad guy? Or "the Yellow King?"
As crime fiction, "True Detective" was one long tease, predicated on a story or compilation of them, that has been told over and over. But, it was good and fun and the wrap was satisfying and that final bro moment under the stars was priceless.
Rust musing about the meaning of it all... "It's just one story, the oldest. Light versus dark..."
It woulda been a laugh out loud moment, the final pricking of the balloon with all the air coming out in a noisy flatulent rush... except the camera then went to Marty's (Harrelson) face, where the slightest breeze of a smile blew by.
Then this: "Well, I know we ain't in Alaska, but it appears to me the dark has a lot more territory..."
Perfect!
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