True Detective – ‘Down Will Come’ Review

“You have one of the largest auras I’ve ever seen. Green and black. It’s been taking up this whole room.”

Remember how last episode I said that the last episode would divide the audience? That it would split people down the middle and you’d either keep watching or just flat out stop? Well I think this episode may have just split the remaining audience AGAIN. By the final episode there might only be ten or so people still tuned in.

Let’s start at the end, with the shootout. I’ve seen people declaring it the best shootout on TV or a hokey throwback to crappy movies of the 70’s and 80’s. I loved it, but people shooting each other in movies/tv is my jam. Ok so yes it wasn’t the same as the cool tracking shot from S1E4, but it was never meant to be. The detectives of this series are tackling the problem head on, Rust was stealthier. It was a completely different set piece for completely different characters and that’s ok, both were awesome. The implications for the characters are going to be exciting to watch. Surely a shooutout with this many casualties will be world news? We’ll find out soon enough. But it was very well done, reminiscent of Heat and a great way to speed up the pace of the show.

The general consensus is that the plot to True Detective season 2 has got awfully complicated. There’s a dead city official with a penchant for hookers, who owed money to Vince Vaughn for a railroad deal. That’s the basic outline. Throw in some corrupt officials, a thousand side characters and a hippy commune and sex parties that are (possibly) linked. On top of that there’s a film being filmed in the city with connections to the dead official. Honestly if you just concentrate it’s really not that bad. So many people nowadays complain about shows being too complex, but if they just looked at the tv instead of their phones for 5 minutes then the plot would be crystal clear. It’s not that much more complex than season 1, in fact I’m following this one BETTER than I did season 1. On the other hand there are a lot more subplots revolving around the personal lives of the characters, but again it’s not crazy to follow. It’s no different from other shows with plenty of characters, like The Wire.

This episode pushed the plot forward a little, possibly giving the detectives a lead on the death of Caspere. A pimp and his girl sold some of Caspere’s stuff to a pawn shop. It’s this lead that takes the characters into the middle of a shootout. But like season 1 this will probably be a false alarm. Reggie LeDoux was killed and the case was wrapped up neatly (but not neat enough for the True Detectives!) In this season, that bald cholo may close the case. But he probably won’t be the guy who killed Caspere. There are 4 episodes left after all, and these culty sex parties have been foreshadowed so much that they have to appear at some point.

The characters all had horribly depressing things happen to them in this episode. Like every episode I suppose. Paul is now super gay. He woke up in his gay army buddy’s bed and then didn’t even stay for waffles! There’s repressed homosexuality and then there’s just plain rude. Seriously though, he is having a hard time of it. I couldn’t help laughing when, upon finding out she was pregnant, he proposes to his girlfriend. He may as well have held a big sign above over his head and screamed from the rooftops “LOOK I’M NOT GAY ANYMORE. PROMISE.” Ray had a touching scene with his son, giving him his grandad’s badge and then vanishing like Batman. I hope the custody battle goes Ray’s way but alas this is True Detective and his life is shit. Ani had a lot of great, happy things happen to her this week. Oh wait, no she didn’t. She got suspended for having sex with a subordinate. This raised a lot of questions about gender politics and frankly the messages around that are so muddled now that I can’t really comment on it. Vince Vaughn continues as the weirdest oddity on television. Is his performance good? I can’t tell. No one seems to be able to. He is busy going around muscling the local crime element for money and not trying for a baby with his wife. His scenes have a scary charm to them though, and seeing him threatening people is pretty fun.

I’ve been hating on the show a little in this review but I should say again that I still love it a hell of a lot. For better or for worse True Detective is far and away the most interesting show on television. I find myself laughing at parts of it, but I’m still enjoying it immensely. It’s like the family dog that’s been hit by a car. It’s kinda messed up and depressing to watch but you still love it. The performances are excellent and, as convoluted as the plot is, it’s still super interesting. The intricate, flowery dialogue comes with the noir inspired territory and I for one am already excited for next week. As it goes, Down Will Come is a great episode with an excellent payoff…if you like that sort of thing.

Reviewed by Jack 😛