True Detective
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The second season, on the other hand, had a much rougher time.
Just two seasons in,True Detectivelooked to have run its course.
That may not be entirely by accident.
(A question for further study: is Pizzolato a Weezer fan?)
Based on these first two episodes, that strategy is working pretty well.
Waynes smart and he doesnt suffer fools.
Hes sensitive, too.
If it werent for Alis performance, Wayne might come off as a little, well, much.
But Ali stays forceful and understated.
I used to think back then there was before Nam and after Nam, the older Hays says.
Anymore its before the Purcell case and after.
And what exactly is the Purcell case?
It begins simply enough, though this beingTrue Detective,it doesnt stay that way for long.
They dont, and soon Wayne and Roland are in the thick of a confounding case.
This, it would seem, is no simple disappearance.
Its the sort of case that splits a true detectives life into what came before and what came after.
Whether his departure will slow the third seasons strong start remains to be seen.)
But first, back to 1980, where Wayne and Roland keep bumping into apparent dead ends.
First up is Woodard (Michael Greyeyes), the scavenger popularly known around town as Trash Man.
Which isnt to say that thereisnta seedy underbelly to the place.
Wayne and Roland question a child sex offender another apparent dead end and the aforementioned creepy Cousin Dan.
Then, near the episodes end, they receive a ransom note suggesting Julie is still alive.
Then, in 2015, we find Wayne still rattled reflecting on these moments.
And, from the look on Waynes face, its somewhere he hoped hed never return.
The song this season is a cover of Death Letter, a.k.a.
Death Letter Blues, as recorded by Cassandra Wilson for her excellent 1995 albumNew Moon Daughter.
A fitting intro, in other words.
We are clearly in the midst of changing times.
Wayne wasoriginally written as white until Ali convinced Pizzolatto to make some changes.
Nor is he suggesting the experience of being black in the South is the same for all his characters.
Amelia spent time as a leftist radical in San Francisco.
Wayne went to Vietnam and seems to be a Republican.
Wayne has also, we learn, struggled with dyslexia.
This makes all the sense in the world based on what weve seen of the character so far.
Spotted in Wills room: A Boy Scouts manual and anAdvanced Dungeons & Dragonsguidebook.
The latter game will also play a role in the satanic panic of the 1980s.
The ominous aerial establishing shots are another returning signature.
One soundtrack quibble: The Black Sabbath shirt seems appropriate for a burnout teen in 1980.
(And that scene suggests the season might draw some inspiration from the West Memphis Three case.)
