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verushka70It's just a few hours until True Detective wraps up with its last episode of this season. I am both incredibly excited and apprehensive. I want to know what's going to happen, but the suspense is kind of killing me... and I'm still kind of numb and freaked out about what happened last week.
SPOILERS for episode 7
1. I'm afraid that Paul Woodrugh -- unlike Velcoro in that second ep -- is really dead. NOOOOooooooo... what about Erica and the baby?
2. I'm rooting for Frank Semyon and Jordan to make it -- as a couple, and out of the fires and burning bridges he literally set aflame last week. Frank especially seems to have fought his way up. The idea that he'd get beaten back down is, well, sadly realistic (seen The Drop with James Gandolfini, Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace?) and very noir... but, please, no...
3. I'm afraid all the corrupt motherfuckers will win. (I mean, if history -- and our recent economic meltdown and the crisis in the financial sector -- is anything to go by, they will totally win, of course. They always do.)
4. I'm afraid Velcoro and Bezzerides are doomed and will end up dead.
5. I'm strangely also rooting for Velcoro and Bezzerides' nascent relationship...
...DESPITE feeling that my Velcoro/Bezzerides fanfic idea from the middle of last week's ep was totally hijacked (I'm into angst, what can I say? and they're two seriously angsty, vulnerable characters who I could see starting over with each other)...
...and DESPITE the fact that having Ani and Ray roll around together sexually felt both (1) predictable, like totally taking the road most traveled, and (2) like a big mistake in the place, time, context, and headspace they both had to be in while on the run from ALL the authorities (after the hooker party where Bezzerides found Vera and disemboweled a couple scumbags to get away, and Velcoro and Woodrugh found all the paperwork proving the corruption).
Oh, damn you, Nick Pizzolatto. Even when I'm mad at some of your writing, I'll still tune in at 8pm CDST to watch the first showing of this last ep.
And I hardly ever do that for ANY shows anymore.
(Except Hannibal, although I missed it last night due to another goddamned POS migraine.)
SPOILERS for episode 7
1. I'm afraid that Paul Woodrugh -- unlike Velcoro in that second ep -- is really dead. NOOOOooooooo... what about Erica and the baby?
2. I'm rooting for Frank Semyon and Jordan to make it -- as a couple, and out of the fires and burning bridges he literally set aflame last week. Frank especially seems to have fought his way up. The idea that he'd get beaten back down is, well, sadly realistic (seen The Drop with James Gandolfini, Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace?) and very noir... but, please, no...
3. I'm afraid all the corrupt motherfuckers will win. (I mean, if history -- and our recent economic meltdown and the crisis in the financial sector -- is anything to go by, they will totally win, of course. They always do.)
4. I'm afraid Velcoro and Bezzerides are doomed and will end up dead.
5. I'm strangely also rooting for Velcoro and Bezzerides' nascent relationship...
...DESPITE feeling that my Velcoro/Bezzerides fanfic idea from the middle of last week's ep was totally hijacked (I'm into angst, what can I say? and they're two seriously angsty, vulnerable characters who I could see starting over with each other)...
...and DESPITE the fact that having Ani and Ray roll around together sexually felt both (1) predictable, like totally taking the road most traveled, and (2) like a big mistake in the place, time, context, and headspace they both had to be in while on the run from ALL the authorities (after the hooker party where Bezzerides found Vera and disemboweled a couple scumbags to get away, and Velcoro and Woodrugh found all the paperwork proving the corruption).
Oh, damn you, Nick Pizzolatto. Even when I'm mad at some of your writing, I'll still tune in at 8pm CDST to watch the first showing of this last ep.
And I hardly ever do that for ANY shows anymore.
(Except Hannibal, although I missed it last night due to another goddamned POS migraine.)
Re: Argh (really doesn't capture it, but...AAARRGH just sounds like a pirate)
Date: 2015-08-20 01:30 am (UTC)Yes. I think having just two of them being gal pals (for any vague definition of that term) + Nails but without the bebbeh would've made for a better finale. I don't think that Ani needed to be "rewarded" with motherhood. Or softened up, for that matter. Dunno. I've grown to resent (or, at the very least, side-eye) the redemption-through-motherhood end game.
I was so glad it ended with Jordan though, that he got to his dame-in-a-white-dress, even if it was only just right before he died.
I'd gotten spoiled about his death (but not about the hallucinations) and yet I found that whole scene beautiful because of its fragility. Frank reuniting with Jordan (even if it all happened in his mind) was perfectly bittersweet. ;___;
Wait, are you saying that you had a darker wish that he had lived?
Indeed I did. Ray had merged himself so much with his death wish (down to being resigned to his fate even after tumbling in bed with Ani) that I'm curious to know what would've happened if he had made it. Would he regress to the substance abuse? Would he try (and possibly fail) an actual relationship with Ani (including its ups and downs)? Especially since he'd fathered a kid with her? Sometimes, the worst option for such a dark character is to live. Because it means that they have to own up to whatever has changed within them and keep pushing forward.
I had several moments throughout, even up until she got Ani on the boat, of wondering if there was going to be some double-cross by the barmaid
Yes, me too! It's pretty obvious she was crushing/pining for Ray since before episode 1. She kept glancing at Ani at the oddest moments too. Very good acting.
But then, I'm one of those people who just avoids mpreg and kidfic like the plague. I've never understood it.
Funnily enough, I loathe regular pregnancy fic but mpreg hits a strong id button for me. It's one of those things I can't quite explain why it works for me. It just does. Kidfic I can leave or take. Some of it is good, a lot of fics are awful. It depends on the pairing and what exactly I'm in the mood for. *hands*
But I got a very strong feeling Frank Semyon was the most Gary Sue of the characters for Pizzolatto.
Huh, I hadn't thought about that. For me, Ray was more of Pizzolatto's stand-in/Gary Stu than anyone else. Perhaps it's because Velcoro was front and center (since Frank didn't really solidified as a character--at least for me--until episode 3).
I hung on virtually every word Cohle said because he was prone to philosophical rants and I was freaking out that a fictional prime time TV character was articulating and saying things I'd been thinking morosely...
Putting the whole plagiarism thing to the side, I actually believe that the main reason why watching Rust go on and on about all kinds of things was solely because of Matthew McCoughnaey. He had a very specific delivery as well as the physicality to enhance his dialogue. Another actor might've come across as ridiculous to the point of obnoxiousness. But Rust (as played by Matthew) was living art. YMMV.
I haven't read any critical commentary on S2 yet. Have you? What are they saying (if you have)?
I think that the general opinion was lukewarm. A lot of people kept bitching about how S2 wasn't anything like S1 or that the plot was hella complicated.
FWIW, I did come across a lot of people in comment threads being very enthusiastic about the entire season. Perhaps the fans weren't as vocal as they were last season, but the show (even though it "wasn't as good as S1") still got a viewership. So, if S1 got an A+, S2's final grade hovered between a B- and a C (depending on who you asked).
Re: Argh (really doesn't capture it, but...AAARRGH just sounds like a pirate)
Date: 2015-08-30 07:57 pm (UTC)Yes. I think having just two of them being gal pals (for any vague definition of that term) + Nails but without the bebbeh would've made for a better finale. I don't think that Ani needed to be "rewarded" with motherhood. Or softened up, for that matter. Dunno. I've grown to resent (or, at the very least, side-eye) the redemption-through-motherhood end game.
I agree 100%, especially with the side-eyeing thing. Plus, Ani+Jordan+Nails finale just feels more noir. Any kind of bebbeh ending is just anti-noir... It would be interesting to check through every "redemption through motherhood" series or movie script, too, just to check whether that's largely a male-written trope or female written. I'm thinking it's a largely male-written trope (and, if so, what a surprise /sarcasm).
And why would Ani need to be redeemed or softened, anyway? She didn't; maybe she could have used a little more trust and openness to love -- for her own happiness. But that had already happened with Velcoro while they were awaiting Woodrugh's return. Why take it that step too far (with baby) and ruin it?
I'd gotten spoiled about his death (but not about the hallucinations) and yet I found that whole scene beautiful because of its fragility. Frank reuniting with Jordan (even if it all happened in his mind) was perfectly bittersweet. ;___;
Yeah, that kind of killed me. I had tears in my eyes. I was really rooting for Frank and Jordan, really rooting for Frank a lot. I guess I sympathize with the up-from-nothing-seeking-legitimacy underdog gangster, lol.
Ray had merged himself so much with his death wish (down to being resigned to his fate even after tumbling in bed with Ani) that I'm curious to know what would've happened if he had made it. Would he regress to the substance abuse? Would he try (and possibly fail) an actual relationship with Ani (including its ups and downs)? Especially since he'd fathered a kid with her? Sometimes, the worst option for such a dark character is to live. Because it means that they have to own up to whatever has changed within them and keep pushing forward.
True, Ray had definitely merged himself with his death wish prior to the encounter with Ani. His surrender to his death wish seemed to be sealed by agreeing to give up custody of his son so his ex wouldn't reveal the kid's paternity (to the kid) in an "only when you've lost everything are you free to do anything" perspective (ala Fight Club). I wanted to see what Velcoro would do with himself after having lost what was most important to him. Pizzolatto has him get involved with Ani (in a redemptive fashion) and I can see the narrative logic in that (although it was kind of disappointingly predictable). But Velcoro could have done anything else besides that (or along with that) and it would have been interesting to see... falling back into known/ingrained patterns vs redefining himself in an unknown future would have been interesting to watch.
Funnily enough, I loathe regular pregnancy fic but mpreg hits a strong id button for me. It's one of those things I can't quite explain why it works for me. It just does. Kidfic I can leave or take. Some of it is good, a lot of fics are awful. It depends on the pairing and what exactly I'm in the mood for. *hands*
Huh. Interesting. (but what do you mean about "a strong id button"? do you mean "id" in the Freudian sense?) I have things where I'm like "IDK why I like this, but I do!" too... and I suppose slash in general would qualify (though I've kind of felt like a gay man in a woman's body for a few decades at this point, lol). From a whimsical/magical, bodyswap, or scifi perspective I can tolerate mpreg. But any other use of it, No. I def don't seek it out and would never write it. Kidfic, if it's not canonical (e.g. Fraser's concern for the welfare of some child/ren) and embedded in something like casefic, I avoid.
Huh, I hadn't thought about that. For me, Ray was more of Pizzolatto's stand-in/Gary Stu than anyone else. Perhaps it's because Velcoro was front and center (since Frank didn't really solidified as a character--at least for me--until episode 3).
I can see that. I just sort of came to the Frank/Gary Stu conclusion based on what little I know about Pizzolatto (mostly from Wikipedia, lol)-- that he's from a poor multi-child family, estranged from his father, has never gone back to visit, that violence was a factor. There are some things that don't add up (like that his father was an attorney and his mother a schoolteacher but there were no books at home? a little hard to believe, unless maybe mom and dad were working on becoming attorney/school teacher while Pizzolatto was growing up). But I can totally believe that there was violence in the Pizzolatto home because (1) such violence cuts across all demographics, and (2) my own father's working class upward mobility from blue collar steelworker to middle class college instructor included all the family violence of his family of origin.
So, based on what I had read about Pizzolatto, and Frank's dialogue about himself and his childhood, I got the Frank Semyon/Gary Stu impression. Ray doesn't really talk about his childhood at all. The paternity/fertility issues were kind of spread across both Ray and Frank, though -- and of course there is no reason to think they can't both be Gary Stu aspects of Pizzolatto. It's just the feeling I got.
Putting the whole plagiarism thing to the side, I actually believe that the main reason why watching Rust go on and on about all kinds of things was solely because of Matthew McCoughnaey. He had a very specific delivery as well as the physicality to enhance his dialogue. Another actor might've come across as ridiculous to the point of obnoxiousness. But Rust (as played by Matthew) was living art. YMMV.
That's very true. MM's performance was kind of amazing. I'm not sure if it was Method acting or what, but he really seemed to inhabit Rust. Before and throughout True Detective's S1 run, HBO ran other MM movies (they have a tendency to do that; this summer they ran a lot of Vince Vaughan and Colin Farrell flicks, both recent and quite old, throughout TD S2). So, besides the previews/trailers for S1, I had a glimpse of the possibilities with MM in that role. But had I not seen MM in Killer Joe, Bernie (with Jack Black), and Mud before or during S1, I would never have guessed MM was capable of such a performance of Rust -- either the willingness or the chops. He'd kind of fallen off my radar years before with all the rom-coms. Easy on the eyes as he is, it seemed he'd gone the Tom Cruise route: just play himself/the same role in everything. And you're totally right; his specific choices in delivery, cadence, and physicality deliver Rust's dialogue like no other actor probably could have pulled off. I like Woody Harrelson but considering he was the first choice for Rust, I can't picture myself hanging on his every existentialist/nihilist word the way I did with MM delivering those lines.
Also, totally superficially: MM's hands. They fascinated me like CKR's hands, lol; they're totally sexy hands and forearms.
I think that the general opinion was lukewarm. A lot of people kept bitching about how S2 wasn't anything like S1 or that the plot was hella complicated.
Well, I'm glad I didn't read people's opinions about it, fans or critical. I was hoping for something every bit as fascinating and hypnotic as S1 and in that respect I felt S2 delivered. But I sure didn't want S1 version 2.0. I have little patience for people who complain about complicated plots. It's a fucking noir mystery -- the entire point is a complex plot with suspense, red herrings, and major surprises! I love hella complicated plots that refused to be dumbed down because I find most everything on TV and in movies so formulaic and predictable and increasingly dumbed down (which was one reason I really loved S1: it wasn't). I totally wanted more not-dumbed-down S1 plotting and dialogue in S2, and I'm glad we got it.
FWIW, I did come across a lot of people in comment threads being very enthusiastic about the entire season. Perhaps the fans weren't as vocal as they were last season, but the show (even though it "wasn't as good as S1") still got a viewership. So, if S1 got an A+, S2's final grade hovered between a B- and a C (depending on who you asked).
I'm glad to hear there were some enthusiastic fans for this season. In a way S1 and S2 of True Detective are kind of apples and oranges, imo. There are common threads but the southern gothic corruption noir vs. sleazy corrupt LA noir are really very different, lol. And the main characters of each season were also quite different. So I'm not sure if I can even decide which I liked better, because I really liked both for some totally different reasons. Although the main reason I loved both S1 and S2 is intelligent, not-dumbed-down writing. I have had my quibbles with certain things but they are really just quibbles -- as a whole, True Detective has been nowhere near as predictable or dumbed down as like 80-90% of the other stuff like it on TV. (Though there's really nothing like True Detective on TV.)
I'm hoping to rewatch S1 and S2 while on vacation (which starts next Friday and goes through 9/21, yay). I was going to rewatch TD S2 this weekend but then yesterday HBO ran an all day/night marathon of Rome on HBOZone channel. So I got sucked into that, lol! I have to say, I am really glad HBO exists. It's not that there aren't quality shows on other networks. It's just that HBO consistently produces some of the most enjoyable, most engrossing TV I've watched in the last decade. The vast majorit of their stuff is well written, gorgeously produced, well cast, and not predictable. They've had some duds, sure, and other stuff I find "meh," but they seem to inhabit a space in popular entertainment that more consistently than any other network or studio falls into the "art" side of the "art vs. product" realities of TV/movie production. HBO seems the most likely to take risks, to be unpredictable, to refuse to dumb shit down, to not succumb to the temptation to make everything "appropriate for family viewing" just to capture the largest possible audience.
I still miss Boardwalk Empire -- hell, I still miss Deadwood and rewatch it periodically (and then there's Rome). In a way, HBO seems like one of those old movie studios from the golden age of cinema -- it just keeps putting out great stuff. Even some of their less popular and short lived series like In Treatment and Tell Me You Love Me have been engrossing. There's plenty of HBO stuff I don't watch, of course (just because it's from HBO doesn't mean I'll give it a shot -- like, Ballers with The Rock? totally not interested). I also haven't gotten into is GoT. But that's because there are so many seasons to catch up on (since I haven't watched it from the beginning) and starting in the middle as I have a few times makes it harder to get into.