‘The fundamental difference between the sexes is that one of them can kill the other with their bare hands.’
Did that happen? No way could they do that in episode 2, right? Well the answer to that question is probably not. But whatever happens that was an awesome scene, generating so many questions! What exactly was going on in that house? Who was the fella in the bird mask? Could this be linked to season 1? (Ok probably not, but we can speculate!)
Season 2 is continuing strong. This episode saw Ani and Ray being forced to work together, which was fun. We had the classic True Detective scene of two cops getting deep and meaningful whilst driving around. The back and forth between the two of them is really great, and only Colin Farrell could pull of some of crooked cop Ray’s lines. Upon seeing Ani’s e-cig Ray remarks he’d tried vaping and “Maybe it was just a little to close to suckin’ a robot’s dick.” Some lines are still a little pretentious but so’s Pizzolatto so I wouldn’t expect that to change any time soon. Ray might be my favourite character on TV from recent memory. There’s something about his pathetic, flabby and permantely dour persona and shabby appearance that just makes him so endearing. I hope we get to see more between him and his wife and son, his relationship with them is especially interesting. Ani has some stuff going on too. Sex stuff. Stuff that hasn’t been explored too deeply yet. But judging from the reaction to the female characters in the first series, I’ll just leave that there.
Paul’s storyline in this episode is strange to say the least. Strange in an incesty Game of Thrones sort of way. Also the hints keep stacking up that Paul might be gay. It would certainly explain his behaviour with his girlfriend. If that IS the way Paul’s story is going then so far it’s been handled pretty well and foreshadowed subtly. If that’s not what’s going on then…well we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, but everyone’s collective gaydar is working overdrive when he’s onscreen. Paul didn’t really have much to do in this episode, apart from complain about he just wants to get back on the bike. “I like the bike.”
The show really benefits having all the characters working together towards a shared goal, it feels much more focused and more that the people behind it know where we’re heading. There are still a lot of names and details to remember (the episode really merits a re-watch) but the plot is coming together and deepening, especially after that last scene. Vince Vaughn’s Frank feels a little unconnected right now, but he’s always fun to watch. He’s just acting so hard! And more often than not he’s pulling off a stellar performance.
Honestly I love this series. I find myself being so excited for the next episode. I know it’s not perfect but the characters, the world, the whole grim package, I just love it.
Next episode we lose Justin Lin as director so it’ll be interesting to see if the show can continue with the visual continuity across all episodes, even with different directors. So that might mean more trains and aerial shots of motorways. Yay!
Reviewed by Jack 😛
MyCreativeRamblings 
