The eyes, it's all in the eyes. MM is brilliant in this, and Woody is paying for a new closet door.

TBone baby!

Yes, many good lines in episode 3, I kept on thinking: "Shit I need to remember this one to quote it" and it ended up being so many lines that in the end I forgot them all!

Spot on TW

"Not everyone wants to sit alone in an empty room and beat off to murder manuals.". Lol

Bastard de Hodor wrote:

---

Unfortunately, there are dilapidated towns/counties like Erath in every state. I'm not surprised at this rural, back-alley depiction at all. Some of my in-laws lived in the heart of such abject trailer park welfare-funded poverty in southern WV. It is not pretty and not too far away from the progressive cities. Unfortunately, in those areas, there are makeshift churches every few hundred yards (not kidding) that take advantage of centuries-old church-oriented federal/state tax loopholes and seem to prey on the meek and uneducated. 

---

Today, I drove across some exceptionally poverty-stricken rural areas in New Mexico, and this comment kept nagging at me.  I tried my best not to comment about this because it’s off topic, but I just have to.  Your former in-laws may be particularly disgusting specimens of humanity to give you such a low opinion of their brethren, but I take exception to your generalization about the rural poor.  No, I’ve never been to West Virginia, but I’ve spent years among the rural poor of New Mexico and Arizona.  I know this much. Poverty does not equal misery.  It does not equal ignorance or meekness.  It does not equal naivete or lack of intelligence.  Rural doesn’t equate to any of those things either.  And dilapidated properties and towns are not equal to run down people. Denigrating people because they have different values and a different lifestyle from yours offends me.

This is Hollywood’s version of something they don’t understand and have contempt for.  I have yet to run into any church out in the boonies that’s looking to victimize the ignorant any more than any other church or religion.  I know they exist.  But they’re only a rampant disease afflicting the poor backward country folk on tv.   

Now I'm gonna go watch TD.   If I can get HBOGo to stream for me...

I have played this over and over and over...

 

Lyrics here: http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858717693/

-- Edited by Lyanna Stark on Wednesday 29th of January 2014 12:08:07 PM

How so? About the eyes of the dead?

Rygar wrote:

---

How so? About the eyes of the dead?

---

 Yes.  Exactly.  I spent a semester working in the Office of the Medical Investigator, where most of the murder victims in New Mexico are autopsied.  And I will never forget the face of a man who was shot by a police sniper after threatening to throw his baby off of a highway overpass.  These lovely peaceful photos are complete bullshit written by people who have only seen dead bodies at funerals.  Some look that way, but an awful lot have a look of terror that is really disturbing.

Rygar wrote:

---

EP 3 was the best one yet.

---

 Dialogue-wise, definitely.  I liked the acting and scenery in the first episode the best.

That is undeniably an incredible scene and a great bit of acting. But still not the best episode.

Black as Snow wrote:

---

Today, I drove across some exceptionally poverty-stricken rural areas in New Mexico, and this comment kept nagging at me.  I tried my best not to comment about this because it’s off topic, but I just have to.  Your former in-laws may be particularly disgusting specimens of humanity to give you such a low opinion of their brethren, but I take exception to your generalization about the rural poor.  No, I’ve never been to West Virginia, but I’ve spent years among the rural poor of New Mexico and Arizona.  I know this much. Poverty does not equal misery.  It does not equal ignorance or meekness.  It does not equal naivete or lack of intelligence.  Rural doesn’t equate to any of those things either.  And dilapidated properties and towns are not equal to run down people. Denigrating people because they have different values and a different lifestyle from yours offends me.

This is Hollywood’s version of something they don’t understand and have contempt for.  I have yet to run into any church out in the boonies that’s looking to victimize the ignorant any more than any other church or religion.  I know they exist.  But they’re only a rampant disease afflicting the poor backward country folk on tv.   

Now I'm gonna go watch TD.   If I can get HBOGo to stream for me...

---

Well, I feel thoroughly chastised but I appreciate your response. I apologize if you were offended by my comment. That was not my intent at all. I most assuredly did not imply that rural = poverty = misery. In fact, I feel quite the opposite. Even though I live and work in stressville, my heart is forever yearning for the peaceful, rolling mountains and a simpler existence of rural America. As you get to know me, you'll realize that I really care about this. 

The most endearing woman in my life was my ex-mother-in-law, who showed me many miracles of existence and faith within the dilapidated backdrop of H*****, WV, (once a robust railroad town) where she lived. On our travels and porch talks together, she gave me many memories and stories of strong, content folk who were at peace and amazingly motivated, even though life had not dealt them a fair hand. Sadly, she died a few years back and some of the brightness she brought to my life has faded. Her husband was a minister and I often spent days with him debating the various meanings of "the meek shall inherit the earth" and related topics. They were quite stimulating conversations, and I must say that my definition of "meek" has evolved after those many discussions.

But given that they were also active in the local political and volunteering scene, I also witnessed a different, disturbing side of southeastern US poverty during my travels and visits, and I continue to see it in my volunteering activities. This was the side of town, just a block past the nice state-funded road that travels from town to town, where I was told not to linger; a side where the discarded and untethered reside; a side that looks like it has given up and didn't really give a shit. This was, like its urban underbelly counterpart, where the idea of America has failed. There is the more kids = more welfare $$ reality; there is the 2-3 year unemployment insurance without re-education that encourages inactivity; there is the higher rates of disease and neglected health/obesity/alcoholism; there are the barely-sanitized fast-food joints that are cheaper/easier than normal groceries/cooking; there are the welfare $$ and paychecks going into the lottery; there is the significantly higher ratio of kids going into the military as their only option; and there are the churches. They are everywhere.

None of these observances will ever get me elected, but I ain't no politician. 

Personally, I don't like seeing more churches than businesses along a country road. Churches with weird names, very odd slogans ("Don't die before you are saved!", etc) and odd meeting times....where the fear, fire and brimstone of the old testament matters more than the grace and love of the new testament. I honestly don't get it...in H*****, WV there is the First Baptist Church (for Whites) at one end of the town and the Second Baptist Church (for Blacks) at the other end. I am not kidding...WTF? Plus, many of the folks seem to put more of their energy and time into their church community rather than looking after themselves.

That's what I see in TD, and what I identify with in Cohle's perception and attitude. Someone else (the writer) has been inspired by this dilapidated part of America and has decided to produce a fictional tale that so far isn't too far from reality. I am very fascinated and disturbed by it.

That being said, I once again apologize for offending you. I definitely didn't mean to generalize anything about rural America's character and integrity. Take care, BaS. 

-- Edited by Bastard de Hodor on Friday 31st of January 2014 01:27:55 PM

Yes...blame me....I tend to drift to the macabre...pull me back, please!

Yet, in my defense....."Darkness Becomes You" is the tagline for this series. I'd say all is fair regarding what sights we see on screen and what is around us every day. As various reviewers have stated, serial killers and other morbidity are all the rage these days: http://screenrant.com/true-detective-series-premiere-review/. 

Have anyone seen the movie "Candyman"? It's like a warped urban version of TD. 

The tension surrounding the kids is almost unbearable. I thought that scene in the boat would turn sour but didn't....the concerned look on Cohle's face when he looks at the kids...the drawings, the discussion and confusion....no mention of the kids during Hart's interview ...so far the kids have been marvelous, totally riveting.

Well, I must watch episode 3 again tonight....What the hell is wrong with me?   

Wait one comment about poverty and this happens? Discussions? Good grief!

Great episode, that closing shot was as hilarious as it was terrifying.

Or the Borderlands Psycho!

So I gave in and watched it and I have to say I really liked it. Even though the pace is slow it kept me glued to the screen. It's got the feel of the scandinavian crime shows which I love, and even though WH continues to play below par, I am most happily surprised with MMcC. Who ever knew he can act? I'm in!!

-- Edited by Tir Airgid on Tuesday 4th of February 2014 06:37:54 AM

I think that in a lot of ways WH has a tougher character to portray than MM. Rust is a pretty straight shooter. He calls things like he sees them. He's obsessive and driven. I don't think that's makes for a difficult role. WH is so much more conflicted. He's such a hypocrite, so selfish, so self-righteous, and he's in pain because of his inability to live by his morals. You just know his world is about to come crashing down. That's a much more difficult character to get across, and I think WH is doing a pretty good job of it.

andrea wrote:

---

I think the pretentious writing bugs me sometimes,  tho I love existential philosophy... in books. I agree with almost everything Rust says but nobody talks like that (except some douches I know from various places) so the writer becomes transparent in his lines... sometimes even obvious. That´s not bad but I dare to say can be a bit superficial. But, we´ll see.

---

This.  Episodes one and three have both had me conflicted about this.  Some of Cohles' dialogue is quite funny and brilliant, and so much of it is just and almost contradictory.  If Cohles truly believes his contention that people are merely "biological puppets" indulging in mutual illusions, who only delude themselves into believing that they are unique individuals and that their life has meaning, while they are in fact only the sum of their urges, why does he concern himself with the IQ of the people at the religious revival.  Aren't they doing exactly as he would predict, and deluding themselves with beliefs that reinforce those mutual illusions?  Blah. Blah. Blah.

Pseudointellectual crap.  And yet I agree with an awful lot the man says. 

Rygar wrote:

---

Same here. I was floored by Ep3. In case you didn't know its the BEST ep yet. ;)

---

   It's a great episode.  I think it's the best in the sense that we have a better feel for who the characters are, so their actions are so much more meaningful.  I think the first episode was better in a lot of ways.  Episode had too many individual scenes that I didn't care for.

Rygar wrote:

---

Again. He is contradictory. I think that's the point. Like the hallucinations, what is real?

---

 Now there's a question.  Does he really believe a single word of that crap he's spouting?  Lol.  Actually, I don't think he is contradictory. The comments about IQ and obesity and poverty just didn't fit with the rest of his character somehow.  I think one of the writers just wanted to slam on fundamentalist christians, so they threw that in for their own gratification instead of worrying about how well it fits with MM's character.

Funny but the writer, its one guy, said alot of Cohle is MM improv.

Hmmmmm...so maybe MM is the problem.

it's true what ye say about the WH's role being harder, but... i just can't with his facial expressions. they seem too forced. though i admit maybe it's my dislike of him in general coming through

i agree on the author's voice being too strong at times, even to the point of making ooc remarks or slowing the narrative too much, though other times it works and it's funny. i hope eventually they'll get the balance right.

The heart of darkness has arrived in all its glory! 'Tis a spiralling journey downward into the pits of Lucifer's realm.

TD Ep4 just killed it and everything is going to hell. Hart is diving headfirst into hell after his mistress destroys his marriage (as if we didn't see that coming!). Cohle is swimming nicely in his formidable Hades as well. Although the plotline took a serious, murky detour into the bowels of the drug/slum world, we are really starting to see the depths that Cohle has gone to remain on the force. Extremely interesting detour to our eventual meeting with Mr. Gasmask, eerily hinted at in the ep3, epilogue.

And I'll be damned if the last 15 minutes of this episode is not considered some of the most intense sequence of events I have ever witnessed on the small screen. A fuckin' war zone in Erath! Cohle as an undercover narc is almost too real, the look in his eyes almost makes me uneasy at times. The crazy racial overtones were also quite disturbing. I need to hear the black perspective on the final scenes as well.

Maggie, oh assertive Maggie, not even a moment of second thoughts.....she's outta there! Hart is fucked! And WH does angry and desperate (at being caught) extremely well. And she is connecting with Cohle....deeper and deeper we go.

Daddario is insane and vindictive (but Hart drove her to it). However, I wonder why they didn't show the Maggie - Lisa interaction in front of the kids. Probably unnecessary but it would have been even more explosive and tense.

There also seems to be an indication that Cohle is a suspect....hhhmmmmmm...got to be a red herring....

Even GRRM noted on his blog that TD was excellent. Like GoT, a week is too frickin' long in between episodes!