TRUE DETECTIVE

Pilot: “The Long Bright Dark”

Created by: Nic Pizzolatto

Written by: Nic Pizzolatto (All 8 Episodes)

Directed by: Cary Joji Fukunaga (All 8 Episodes)

Premiered on HBO on January 12, 2014

Review by: Sean Kayden

The long awaited new series from HBO called “True Detective” debuted this past Sunday night. With expectations through the roof, did the show live up to all its potential? Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson both star in this dark police drama that takes place in South Louisiana. The two men are two Louisiana State Police homicide detectives who hunt a serial killer in 1995. The show spans across seventeen years, showing flashbacks of the investigation leading into 2012 where both men are interviewed separately by current detectives about their relationship as well as the murder that occurred during their time as partners. “True Detective” is a slow burn miniseries that’s intense, morbid, and richly textured.  The dialogue is provocative and lively that brings an ominous tone to the show. With two solid performances by lead actors who have come into their own as of late, “True Detective’s” pilot episode pulls you into its world. This is not a happy place to be, but one that’s too damn gripping to turn away from.

Matthew McConaughey stars Det. Rust Cohle. He’s mysterious and haunted. He’s battling an alcohol addiction, coping with a deceased daughter and a philosophical pessimist. He doesn’t have any furniture in his apartment and there are several crime novels stacked against a wall. With seemingly no friends or family, Cohle seems to just live for his job. The first episode was mostly about revealing who these characters are and the way they perceive one another. Woody Harrelson stars Det. Martin Hart who is the opposite of Cohle. He has a beautiful family and doesn’t believe in the same ideologies about life as his distressed partner. However, their scenes together are the most powerful in the episode. The relationship is dynamic and multifaceted. These two actors really switched it up these past few years with more dramatic roles. McConaughey, once a guy who did silly rom-com and action pictures is now one of the most dramatic actors on screen. His presence is dominating, convincing, and down right alluring.  In “True Detective,” Harrelson keeps up though with each step and each punch thrown at him. At the very least, “True Detective” already has some of the best acting to be found on television.

In the pilot episode, it seems very few things actually happen. We have the investigation of a murdered girl found by a tree in the cane fields. She was naked, tied to the tree, and had antlers coming out of her head. Cohle believes this isn’t the murder’s first time, but Hart is skeptical. A missing girl from several years ago is brought to attention and the two men pay a visit to the girl’s uncle. This all leads up to an ending with a picture being shown to Cohle, seventeen years later (no longer belonging to the police department) that will have you craving the next episode, if not all of the remaining seven. It may be too early to predict, but “True Detective” appears to have best new series written all over it thus far.