True Detective (2014): Journey of a Character
Nic Pizzolatto and cast create some of the most intense and claustrophobic moments on screen
Besides the fact that crime dramas have always been my favourite genre, with two of my most favourite actors in cast, True Detective captured my attention well before its release. I am still fresh from the memories of the first time I watched it back in April 2014. It was so captivating that I had to rewatch it immediately to make sure I din’t miss any detail or the gospel-esque philosophy from the characters. Without further ado, lets dig in. Some spoilers ahead.
The story follows a nonlinear narrative, jumping between 1995 , 2001 and present day(2012). In 1995, Louisiana State Police homicide detectives Rustin Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) investigated the murder of Dora Lange. 17 years later, Cohle is called into an interrogation by the police regarding some new unsolved crimes which might be linked to the 1995 murder. As new evidences surface, doubts arise regarding the murder and what had undergone between the relationship of the two detectives in the process.
In the first episode, we are taken to 1995 where a prostitute’s corpse is found posed as if in prayer, her head crowned with deer antlers. Hart and Cohle are assigned to a missing child case. The kidnapping gives them clues to Dora Lange’s murder. The characters begin to develop through conflict, as we arrive at our first tense scene when Hart invites Cohle for dinner, and he arrives drunk, making Hart furious. In the other timeline, Hart and Cohle are separately interviewed about the Lange investigation. They seem to have not spoken since an altercation in 2002. A recent crime scene has been found and it closely resembles the Lange murder scene, suggesting that despite Cohle and Hart’s claims of apprehending the killer in 1995, the killer may remain at large. For the next three episodes , a similar narration follows as the story jumps back and forth between 1995 and 2012. Hart and Cohle continue the investigation while their personal lives are gone for a toss. Hart’s wife discovers that he has been cheating on her and Cohle on the hand, is having psychological troubles, as he is continuously troubled by hallucinations. Back to the present day, he reveals his traumatic past and his work in the narcotics division, which explains the hallucinations. In episode three, they find their first suspect in the dead girl’s husband’s cellmate — Reggie Ledoux (Charles Halford). The interviews continue, revealing Hart’s questionable moral views and Cohle’s nihilistic views of humanity. The highlight of the fourth episode is a long tracking shot, where Cohle follows a failed robbery, which I will discuss later. Things start to pick up speed as there is another timeline added in the fifth episode. By 2002, Hart and his wife have reconciled. While Cohle is consulting on a police interrogation, the prisoner asks for a plea bargain in exchange for information about Dora Lange’s killer, who he claims is still at large and killing. Back to the present day, things have heated up because the investigators accuse Cohle of the murder and misleading Hart into a made up investigation. The episode ends with Cohle walking out of the interview. In the next two episodes, the story starts to round up, as we move on to the 2002 timeline when Hart cheats on his wife again, and as a revenge she sleeps with Cohle. After she tells Hart, he and Cohle fight and Cohle quits the police force immediately after. We are finally back to the present day, where Hart’s wife is being investigated. On the other side, Hart also walks out of the interview when Cohle is accused infront of him. They both decide to meet and talk. They reopen the investigation with the new found information and track down the murderer. The last episodes portrays a tense confrontation which ends in a fight, where Hart finally kills the murderer, while Cohle escapes with near death injuries. The show ends as the two detectives reflect on the ongoing universal battle between light and dark.
The whole premise of show at large, is a decaying world. From the first episode itself, we see a world in which humanity is fading away. The city is filled with vacant industrial building, missing person signs and a lot of crime. The same decay creeps into our protagonists, indicating how the environment around us influences our morality and as a result, our life. The focus of the series is entirely on the conflict between the two characters — how they don’t get along, their families and how this affects them.
Let’s start with the characters. Hart is just a regular hardworking guy who loves his wife, leads an average life and has average ambitions. He is religious and hates the world the way it is. Despite all the good, he is an adulterer and often resorts to alcoholic violence. He doesn’t understand the world around him, nor does he understand the purpose of his existence. This comes back to haunt him later when he realises screwed up his priorities; through his daughter. This microcosm is directed to a large portion of humans — who are willing to do the least amount of work to get the job done, never looking beyond what is presented to them. Only in his later years , after his wife has left him, we see him looking at things more closely and discovering who he really is. The change starts in 1995 when he kills Reggie Ledoux and Cohle commends him for finally committing to something. Somewhere between that and 2012 is where he finally realised that he was just lying to himself that he was a good man and began the transformation. On the opposite side of the spectrum, we have Cohle, who seems to have to figured out life. He knows his place in the world and what is off limits for him. We never really learn too much about him, barring few glimpses of flashback to his time working in narcotics and some memories of his daughter. In these 17 years, he never really changed. He transformation happened in his past — from a person with positive outlook of life before his daughter died, to losing himself and control of his life after the accident. At this low point in life, he was working in narcotics and met some of the worst people. This period changes him again as he spirals into a breakdown until he finally pulls himself out of it and moves into homicide. In the course of the 17 years, he seems to have better control over himself and knows what he wants to do in life. In the present day, it initially appears that he has gone back to the state of despair with his shabby hair and drinking habit. But as the investigation continues, we see that he hasn’t lost his focus and continues to work for answers until he finds the murderer. All his philosophy is perfectly captured at the very end of the show in his conversation with Hart about light and darkness.
The show draws draws a lot of inspirations form the works of Nietzsche and Carl Jung, which are beyond me. However, what I did understand is that the takeaway from all of this how the problem doesn’t lie in the individual but in the institutionalisation of evils that places like Louisiana face. And the whole advantage of an eight hour series over a movie is evident here. The story gets enough time to render and develop characters who the audience can relate to and care for, despite their flaws.
The entire show was made on film, making it a very gritty viewing experience. The locations and the landscapes were very well chosen, always surrounding the characters. The swampiness is maintained through the three timelines, giving a timeless feel to the story. The writing is smart, philosophical and nihilistic in its approach towards human nature. It is apparent that the story was written by a novelist with the introspective and character driven approach.
The direction is very on point, making justice to the 450 page script and given the fact that there was only one director. The jumps in time are very well edited and every thing feels well paced. The six minute tracking shot I mentioned earlier is one of the most complex TV scenes I have ever seen. A lot of the shots in that scene are framed on a semi wide angle. Pulling in close-ups when necessary for the script and switching to steady cam as the characters move, leading the camera’s path. They move, stop, duck, roll around — get back up and move on the path again. The camera pivots on the angles when they stop, to create more disorientation for building tension. But then, then they come to the fence and the camera is then hooked to a sort of jib lifted up to keep the framing, then unlocked as they get over and continue the path. All the while the extras, the sound department , boom guy, wranglers and prop department moving along right behind the camera. Cueing everyone and timing everything. The helicopter flying in and hitting its mark, in the night sky. Truly remarkable.
All in all, a very cinematic experience, even more so than many movies. Only reiterating the fact TV will always remain the best visual platform for materialising deep, lasting character development. The second season turned out to be a dud for various reasons, including the addition of multiple directors/writers, which did not work out in this case. The trailer for the third season is out and Mahershala Ali in the lead role; getting my hopes up again.
