When a Smart Show Becomes Dumb (True Detective)

[@carloshour8263]

This show is like somebody's memory of a good show. The memory is fading. I was done halfway through season 2.

[@kdizzle901]

Lmfao…….its like there wasn’t anything here but bloopers

[@roscojenkins7451]

Fuck I'm jealous of you. I wish I didn't keep watching it out of spite and wanting to just know what the fucking mysteries were.... Fuck man.... U didn't miss anything

[@adamkastler7538]

You missed out on season 3. Equally well written to the first season, although not quite as tense since the stakes are much lower

[@carloshour8263]

@@adamkastler7538 There are too many other shows to go back to this. I'll take your word for it

[@Proletarian187]

I can small it's psychosphere.

[@hermanperez3220]

I couldn't believe seeing people rating this show +8.0. I saw the first half hour of the first episode and realized it was absolute shit

[@adtastic1533]

This shit makes season 2 look like Citizen Kane

[@Thor-Orion]

Season 2 wasn’t nearly as bad as some people make out. If you don’t compare it to season 1 it’s pretty okay, especially Vince Vaughn’s and Colin Farrell’s performances, I thought they did really well with their roles. The script was a bit all over the place and bloated, could have used another 6 months of editing and such, but overall the season was not the train wreck it’s often made out to be. Especially when Season 4 has now shown everyone what a season of True Detective that’s actually a total train wreck looks like.

[@not_fab]

@@Thor-Orion “If you don’t compare it to season 1”. That make me laugh. if you call two different works by the same name, I have every right to compare them. No excuses.

[@Thor-Orion]

@@not_fab oh, you absolutely have a right to compare them, I wasn’t saying otherwise. Just saying that there aren’t many shows of the quality that Season One had, so if you just evaluate Season 2 by it’s own merits and quality then you’ll find that it’s actually a pretty good show, certainly worthwhile to take the time and watch.

[@adtastic1533]

@@Thor-Orion Agreed. If Season 2 was called something different than True Detective it would get a lot more love

[@thomasnielsen5580]

@@Thor-Orion It's still not good. They could remove the True Detective part, and it would be completely forgotten a year after. It's not a bad season, but the only reason we still talk about it today is because what it is a part of. It's actually quite funny about the later seasons, because they are mediocre for different reasons. The second tries to hard at being intellectual, having the side effect of becoming unintentional comedy in many places and the viewer doesn't take it seriously. Season 3 tries to copypaste everything from season 1 becoming flat and uninspiring in the process. The fourth is just generic and feels very close to some arbitrary series you can find on Netflix, it's not resembling True Detective at all.

[@NASkeywest]

Writer 1: “ok, how can we get our protagonists to find this clue?” Writer 2: “let’s have a ghost do an interpretive dance to lead them to the next plot point!” Writer 1: “are you kidding me?! Just, wow…that’s brilliant!”

[@BIacklce]

"Magical realism" aka introducing super natural stuff for no reason then never referencing it again

[@Yorkie-UK]

It was like going back to the nineties and watching Twin Peaks!

[@Kabodanki]

Look like sweet baby would with video games. Let's put a minority dev push something so bad that it wouldn't pass normaly, and threaten the studio that if they didn't implement that, then they are racist

[@steverye8872]

​@@Yorkie-UK Twin peaks is good, though. Well, most of it anyway.

[@DeadManSinging1]

tbf, that worked in Twin Peaks

[@stephengrigg5988]

It had a son murdering his father in self defense and I felt nothing. Everything was somehow over and underdeveloped

[@timstich1052]

It wasn't even self defense. He defended his boss. His father was trying to get him to go along with it, but he rejected the offer. So stupid. And why did the deputy even need to shoot his boss, to ensure that he could kill the witness? He could have tried again later, or just blown it off since the witness was a junky and who cares what testimony a junk gives anyway?

[@Br_pow]

Wait, so all women are strong, independent, stoick, need no man, and they have no flaws, and men are the bad guys? Never saw that ever in any other shows or movies in the last 15 years

[@thomasmills339]

It's spelled " stoic" Einstein

[@TVGGAMEZCO]

I know it’s a brand new concept! lol thanks

[@rbu2136]

This season blew away all past seasons in terms of ratings. Ahem.

[@ghostinc7]

@@rbu2136 well you heard of propaganda? It is used here to try and make it like the "woke" True Detective is a success! When it is really horrid and cringe.

[@Sammo212]

Well the main women in s4 are very flawed characters. Honestly, unlikeable

[@NickCager]

Lazy incompetent writing... lazy incompetent acting... lazy incompetent casting... what's not to like about season four of True Detective??

[@kambion]

It was good though. Stay mad bro.

[@NickCager]

@@kambion Stay low brow bro.

[@syrhusprod]

Acting was great but they had nothing to work with cus the writing was so bad

[@NickCager]

@@syrhusprod The acting was horrendous. Jodie Foster was so miscast... she looked like a child playing dress up in her parent's clothes. She looked ridiculous and sounded even worse.

[@Grogeous_Maximus]

It's better than season 2 and 3, which doesn't say much.

[@micaelarichard9060]

It was a great point on how the topics in S1 were so nuanced and they let you be in a moral grey area, whereas in S4 it’s just black or white. You don’t get to have thought about it, it’s all just… bad. They don’t trust you to have complex thought analysis.

[@allielushan1971]

I totally agree!

[@michaelsegriff3362]

Playing to a woke female audience. Obviously, most of them are idiots so will lap this up.

[@KuldesacMedia]

It’s amazing how blatant the political evangelizing has become. All forms of media are used to spread the message with the subtlety of an after school special. On a positive note, true creativity will stand out far above the condescending and preachy nonsense. It’s a great time to be an independent artist of any discipline in this environment, audiences are hungry for the good stuff

[@michaelsegriff3362]

@@KuldesacMedia Good points. Very true.

[@Jason-ww3xi]

Like covid. You don't get to disagree with the television or you're a granny killer.

[@UncleBt]

The show suffers from the same thing a lot of things in popular culture do now days, and that's just because the person has different skin/clothes/culture doesn't make them a different character. It feels like every character is a reflection of Danvers, because the only way the show understood how to make a strong woman so in order to make her "different" they painted her in 15 different ways. Rust and Marty 2 different characters, Danvers and Navarro are the same character with different dressing.

[@Fedorevsky]

Yeah the characters are all just extensions of the writer. These lousy modern writers who get picked by DEI quotas aren't able to write anything but themselves.

[@BlueisNotaWarmColour]

It all comes back to the 'Representation' dogma. Each character is a representative of their sex/creed, rather than a distinct individual with their own unique wants, needs, and fears rooted in unique personal experience. So if you have for example a white woman, she's not a unique woman who is white; instead, she is an unofficial diplomat meant to capture the essence of every white woman who ever lived in all their glory. She is everybody and nobody. She is inoffensive. She is safe. And so are the other characters with whom she has plot-generating conflict. Now imagine entire genres of fiction suddenly overrun by these safe little Captain-Planet-meets-insurance-commercial zombies... and the critics love them. And you're not just lacking in taste if you disagree, you're a bad person!

[@jeremydion5708]

Well stated! 👏

[@dxcSOUL]

They really weren't. Wtf.

[@WoodsUlmann]

@@BlueisNotaWarmColour Damn, that is REALLY well stated. That's exactly it. I'm reminded of 1970's movies where characters of all different stripes were shown to be HUMAN. It was always a combination of the commonality and the individuality that made the characters interesting. I remember Sydney Lumet said about Dog Day Afternoon that the homosexuality of Pacino's character was the hardest part knowing the audience that would likely watch it... and he said something like, "You know at some point, some guy in the balcony at the Loews Pitkin on 48th street is gonna go, 'Yeah, your'e a f'kin f*g! And then we're off... our job was to make the sheer humanity of it stop people in their tracks."

[@JamesPerrone-qq1ph]

In the end season 4 basically came down to this, Magic Toilet Women.

[@indexwell6546]

So skibibidi toilet then

[@jeronimo196]

The Magical Society of Eskimo Cleaning Ladies.

[@suzybearheart530]

And ghosts!

[@jerrysmith8814]

skibidi moment

[@IMMABUSTYOURASS]

But it's dark and progressive......

[@JasonWrightArt]

I’ve seen season one around four times. The scene with them at the end outside the hospital. Tears every time. One of the best shows ever made

[@enterthebruce91]

Season one of True Detective was the best, I liked Season two slightly more than Season three, because Season three tried to be a carbon copy of Season one in that it had two male lead detectives set over three timelines and is set in the American South, but the ending was a huge letdown. My favourite crime dramas of all time are The Wire, Boardwalk Empire and Banshee. Sharp Objects and Mare of Easttown are also very good and Tokyo Vice is an underrated gem, probably my favourite crime drama right now. Nine times out of ten HBO delivers but for every Boardwalk Empire there's a Night Country...

[@gianiladavia8825]

Oh Hey Jason! 😅

[@roscojenkins7451]

​@@gianiladavia8825oh, Hi Mark!

[@laro_yas]

Same probably 5 or 6 times and man I still enjoy every single minute of it really one of the best series ever ever made

[@VishalGowda-dk6bq]

once there was only dark. If you ask me, light's winning. its my profile pic for a quite a while!

[@austinauthor846]

To borrow a bit of a quote from Rust. All of these shows with female leads like this feel like the IDEA of what the writers think a strong female character is, and not actually a strong female character. This is something I'm noticing crop up in movies too.

[@NorthwoodsWolf]

They all play out like adolescent female revenge fantasies.

[@mstrofunloking7736]

Once you start noticing you can’t stop

[@fredbyoutubing]

There are a few shows with good strong and flawed female characters and this wasn't one. I feel like the dynamic of the show would have been better with a cliché idealist, fish out of water cop who moved to Alaska thinking they would change things for the better and pair her with someone who has been there so long they lost faith. Then, develop the characters, subverting expectations about their mentality and why they are that way.

[@mstrofunloking7736]

@@fredbyoutubing you came up with that in 2 mins and it’s already better than what we got 😂 they need writers like you

[@fredbyoutubing]

@@mstrofunloking7736 Thanks haha but I'm not sure they want good writers since they won't treat them fairly. Alaska during the long night is a great setting. I was really looking forward to this series...what a disappointment. The worst part is how they knew fans worshiped the first season and just dropped elements of it without any context or relation to that story. Again, taking us for fools. It was almost passive agressive like "see, here's a spiral, you happy now?" and TiMe Is A FlAt CiRcLe, the guy says in the last episode because....he knew Rust ? He read the same books ? He saw season 1 and is an edge lord ?

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

I just love how the show knows viewers will want an explanation for the tongue, is somehow offended by this, and spits in the face of the viewers for wanting an answer.

[@freshfrozen1712]

Loll 👅

[@hairycoo]

This celebration of extrajudicial murder may be the most morally reprehensible season of television I've ever experienced. Absolutely despicable.

[@toweypat]

So true.

[@freshfrozen1712]

Yeah "interesting" choices on s*icide and vigilantism this season

[@BrennanLDaly]

I dont necessarily agree that it was celebrated. Danvers and Navarro were dirty and were unable to pursue the case in a legal capacity because Danvers fling had the dirt on her. Annie K destroying life saving science wasn't "good". Neither was it when the scientists killed Annie. And it wasn't "good" that the ladies killed the scientists.

[@adamvifrye2690]

​@@BrennanLDalyarresting those women would only benefit the mine owners tho. But who knows, if they would be threatened by a possible release of info resulting from that.

[@lovecraftfan2793]

@@freshfrozen1712 What's the most interesting for me that the vid they found on Annie's phone looked nowhere near as what supposedely happened. So this one scientis was lying and he killed her (or she died some other way...) - nonetheless, the the rest crew of the station was innocent and murdered without cause. OR the writers just forgot what Annie recorded and tried to retcon it in the Clark's retrospective, which failed badly

[@doalwa]

True Detective S1 was Lightning in a bottle, it will never be repeated.

[@VishalGowda-dk6bq]

damn true. it makes us realize it more n more as these extra series comes in. s1 is golden

[@WorldsOkayestSorcerer]

What I loved about S1 is that, for just a minute, I wasn’t sure if it WASN’T supernatural. But, it always felt grimey and immersive. All the other seasons felt like Law & Order episodes.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Season 1 used Lovecraftian cosmic horror and I hadn't seen anything like that since Twin Peaks or X Files. It's a great source for drama and suspense, but if overused in a cop show context, it gets old really quickly. I didn't watch the following seasons but I suspect they went a different way than the first.

[@jedward635]

Season 4 made season 2 look phenomenal. The “detective” aspect of True Detective was replaced by mysticism, spirit world, and semi-horror tropes. A cop drama should be about the detecting was isn’t easily known. Not following an orange around.

[@osmanyousif7849]

Well, to be honest, that not saying much as Season 2 literally ripped off almost ever James Ellroy novel into one clumsy mess. Check out his film adaptation of LA Confidential to see what I mean. With that said though, one thing that made Seasons 1 - 3 interesting for me, despite the latter's flaws, is that the creator wanted to try different types of approaches with the "detective". Check out Nic Pizzolatto's interview where he brings up how the main characters will engage in "detective-like work", but their actual profession could be something like a reporter (S3), a grief stricken parent (S3), or a criminal businessman (S2). They don't need to members of law enforcement. Yet, with season 4, despite going back to the old roots of the first season with the leads simply being in law enforcement, they really don't seem to do anything that would even called them detectives.

[@ryanrich06]

You’re making this more complicated than it is. The reason season 4 blows is because they gave it to an untalented misandrist who’s more concerned with spreading their personal ideology than telling a cohesive and interesting story.

[@DefinitelyNotAMachineCultist]

Yes, that's the underlying reason, but so what? That's stating the obvious these days. The myriad of ways she screwed it up is fun to dig into.

[@ryanrich06]

@@DefinitelyNotAMachineCultist it doesn’t need any more explanation than that, that’s the point. It’s implied that these people are clearly untalented diversity hires who shouldn’t be writing fanfic much less an HBO series. It’s like using collegiate grading metrics on a 1st graders writing assignment, useless.

[@ryanrich06]

@@DefinitelyNotAMachineCultist there doesn’t need to be more explanation than that, that’s the point. It’s like using collegiate grading metrics on a 1st graders writing assignment…a waste of time.

[@DefinitelyNotAMachineCultist]

​@@ryanrich06 _there doesn’t need to be more explanation than that_ Says who? _It’s like using collegiate grading metrics on a 1st graders writing assignment…a waste of time._ False analogy. First, this is a multi-million dollar production that is apparently good enough on the surface to make it plausible for people to make BS claims about its overall quality. Second, in light of point one, you can learn something from the best and the worst as long as it isn't as extremely incoherent as what you described (e.g. the work of a 1st grader who doesn't even understand language clearly yet). It fails to an unusual degree, but in ways that seem pretty common in this particular era. Seems to make for an excellent example of what not to do, even if any writer worth their salt wouldn't mess up to the same degree in the first place. Plus, more importantly, it's fun. The fact that we're here watching it and arguing over it is evidence of that. Unless you're going to go the Rust Cohle route and argue that you're doing it despite not rationally wanting to. In which case, touché.

[@danielcantiego9374]

​​@@DefinitelyNotAMachineCultist Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeet . You are smart

[@davidvitan3590]

Not to mention the biggest laugh in the entire show: The fact that they guys are SO FROZEN that one cop accidentally breaks an arm off one of the victims and yet one of the guys is STILL ALIVE lol

[@roscojenkins7451]

"Can't have strong women in a story unless you make men look like stupid apes" -shitty writers

[@ivortheenginedriver4264]

That was the moment I turned it off. Came close during the ghost dance, but gutted it out for a few more minutes

[@davidvitan3590]

​@@ivortheenginedriver4264 yeah it was absolutely ridiculous, I made it all the way through but more than the story being bad I mostly found the characters unrelatable

[@GoodComedian2011]

@@davidvitan3590ending is so comedic. I was laughing so hard, as it is written so bad and unrealistic.

[@maxidaho]

...and mysteriously buried 3 feet down in the ice. Somehow...because...cold.

[@Canalus]

It's clearly a script, maybe for a movie, that got pumped up and streched out with a lot of filler, and slapped on the brand "True Detective" for marketing reasons, if you ask me.

[@FlymanMS]

And they still failed to make sense of anything even with this padded time. Episode 3-5 can be shortened or thrown out entirely with nothing lost.

[@fredbyoutubing]

Some of it did remind me of the cloverfield paradox...

[@hatuletoh]

"A preachy show with nothing to say." That could describe 90% of movies and TV shows released in the past decade or so. And of course this show ended up that way, it has all the warning signs: the "strong women" leads who are basically just boring masculine characters, expect without the flaws they need to feel human and real; the strong ethnic women supprtinf characters who are ridiculously tough and smart--solving a murder despite being janitors--and who are allowed to enact vigilante justice without the show questioning their morality, because, the show tacitly says, the grievances they've suffered give them license to behave however they want; and the "evils of society" being the antagonist rather than a dynamic, compelling character, because that's a lot harder to write. And most damning, a show that tells you how to feel about everything and everyone in it and takes it as a fait accompli that you agree. Smart shows written by talented, intelligent writers, i.e., the first season of "True Detective," and other classics like "The Wire" and "The Sopranos" don't give you easy answers, and always respect the audience enough to leave room for differing moral conclusions. But shows are only as smart as their writers.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

The more I think about it the more I see the woke/feminist thing as a new religion. Back when Christianity was the only game in town there were Christian themes in virtually all art and media, but it evolved organically over hundreds of years. The woke thing was engineered by academia, and then bled out into the professional class, and given that it's a neomarxist ideology it just comes off as fake and propagandistic instead of reflection of a real moral system. Also given that it's basically all the brainwashed Hollywood left know these days, it's the only thing they seem to be able to write. Curiously, season 1 of True Detective actually harkens back to a theme of Christian morality vs. Pagan/Satanic chaos.

[@Ricktellx]

After reading and seeing the avalanche of sugarcoated reviews of this garbage, having an intelligent review is greatly appreciated.

[@Kabodanki]

The left protect their own, of course there would be positive review of that

[@clapdrix72]

Yeah what was with all the hype?hope?? They must have been paid off.

[@agentooe33AD]

White man bad is the theme of season 4.

[@spiffy8576]

Who's pushing that narrative though? Oy Vey.

[@DNW-ks4gp]

It's everywhere , and as a white man I'm getting absolutely sick of it.. I can't wait for the snapback .. imagine a world where we just allow all our enemies call us trash , take our jobs , replace our culture.. you should look up and research what the steps to genocide are , and you will find alot of rhymes with what is happening today..

[@AlexDrums482]

Not it isn't. You didn't watch it.

[@AlexDrums482]

​@@dylancounte1448It's already fun watching you meltdown.

[@michaelsegriff3362]

Female Hispanic writer/director/show runner is sh** would be another theme.

[@Siile_]

I am so thankful for that first season, what an absolute masterpiece. Crazy how this show went nowhere after producing one of the best seasons of TV ever.

[@HailEarendil]

I couldn't get past the west African female boxer pretending to be an Alaskan Inuit police officer.

[@houseofhas9355]

For me it was the kid who was working to provide for his family putting lots of hours as rookie cop. Which is what they do! But his woke wife had a problem with it. And was constantly doing the feminine preaching man hate speech. 😂

[@electricbayonet2]

And the pedarast stepdaughter that filmed herself fingering a 15 year old. Quite the establishing moment for Jodie Foster’s character when her reaction was ‘It was really embarrassing having to watch that with the mother of that girl you statutory’d!’

[@mikescorpio13]

so brave so stunning

[@AJHB2386]

Season 5 will be more of the same nonsense as Season 4. The writer wrote garbage and was rewarded with high reviews and another season. Why would she change it up?

[@Fedorevsky]

Somehow it will manage to be even worse now that the writer/showrunner is being commended for her absolute garbage work on season 4.

[@angiebarth1292]

This should have been a one season show. It has never been as good as it was then.

[@larsanderson5100]

Season 3 is incredible, too. Seasons 1 and 3 are the best.

[@vangaptor]

@@larsanderson5100 Indeed, Season 3 is very close to Season 1 if not on par! Seems quite underrated I really don't get why?

[@roscojenkins7451]

​@@larsanderson5100season three is definitely second best... But season one is Mike Tyson in his prime and season three is a kinda well known welterweight boxer. Followed by a high school boxing club of season two. And season four is just two legless hobos fighting over a corn dog at your local carnival... So sad that you can't look away but you feel like you need a shower afterwards.

[@cmanzati]

Thank you for this honest analysis. I think an important thing to point, is the difference between a "good written season" and a "memorable written season". All shows have it tough if you compare them to the memorable season 1 of True Detective (even it's own 2nd and 3th seasons), but Night Country has so many writting problems that sets the quality bar too low (even compared to season 2).

[@freshfrozen1712]

Totally agree, almost no show reaches season 1 but season 4 was even below s2&3 expectations

[@Caoimhin777]

I literally lol at the murderer reveal. The writers went so woke that they endorsed lynch mobs 😂

[@jamesjoseph6568]

My wife loved season 4. I think I need a divorce attorney.

[@adequatequality]

Don't blame her immediately, make sure she's seen Season 1 so she can realize the downgrade. If she has seen Season 1 and still thinks Season 4 is good, divorce her

[@rocky6703]

My wife liked it too, what a shocker. The characters so brave and resilient

[@broghad8241]

7:54 You should be suprised because the numbers are questionable at best and high critical praise for something thats objectively terrible shows that there is a hidden social/political agenda being played here. It's complete fine to say TD has gone "woke" now and we'll never get back the greatness of Season 1. Fuck HBO

[@FlymanMS]

It's not like critics write their reviews based off trends or some agreements with media people.

[@Corn_Pone_Flicks]

When the online community can actually coherently define what "woke" is in the first place, it will be fine. As it stands, it's just a stupid cliche standing in place of any kind of argument.

[@Gmex_ONE]

If Issa Lopez is at the helm again, season 5 is already doomed.

[@mikescorpio13]

why is evertime i hear about a show that sucks and that preach anti-patriarcal lame stuff its always helmed by a pathetic angry lesbian or produce by one of them.Everything they do sucks asssss big time.

[@MA-go7ee]

You know damn well why it's well reviewed, lol

[@Mopark25]

Yeah who's this guy kidding lol, everyone knows why

[@lee-cl8td]

Why?

[@d1gw33d]

@@lee-cl8td because if you dare criticize shows like this.. you get attacked with ALL types of labels. And pretty much any character in this season, is from a "marginalized" group and thus immune to criticisms. Along with the show runner and probably most the writers. It's all just a bunch of self fellatio by ideological driven hacks. It's tiring and too common in media today. They lack the talent, so their only hope is to hijack established IP's and beloved characters or stories and ride its name and history.

[@t5o3p]

​@@d1gw33dThis show is so much fun and wonderful! Just for fun😊

[@StuTheDon17]

​@lee-cl8td Google ESG investing. Sadly, it has infiltrated deep in society and has way too much influence. Including film and television. Which is why there is a stark difference between season 1 and season 4 of this show, and why "critics" praised season 4 higher than season 1.

[@mikehammer1777]

When geniuses write an original show that idiots think they can duplicate....you get True Detective season 4.

[@Jaco059]

@@tjq4378what was that

[@dxcSOUL]

You do realize season 1 was largely plagiarized off of Thomas Ligotti's work. JFC. It's why the writer for season 1 hasn't done anything amazing since... The brain rot is real.

[@SuiGenerisMan]

It's as if you told ChatGPT to watch the entire True Detective anthology, then read every article about the Twitter Me Too phenomenon, and then asked ChatGPT: "Write an entirely new 7-episode series for True Detective using similar dramatic flair and the cerebral criminology of the first season". If your IQ is above 100, and you watch the entire series, your emotion after the final episode will be "annoyed"; like someone just asked you for a high-five, then they moved their hand at the last second.

[@u1337ochka]

keep thinking you know everything by slapping "woke propaganda" on everything you didn't like

[@thomasfucillo]

@@u1337ochka keep defending horrible propaganda for your cult ideology. The rest of us will stick to real art.

[@3601-c3k]

@@thomasfucilloyou’re not capable of knowing art if your mind is that narrow and shallow. Keep believing in “cult ideology”, you’re totally different, right?

[@thomasfucillo]

@@3601-c3k you’re just repeating what I said back to me like a parrot. The “mystery” in this season kicks off with a severed tongue that’s never explained. The show goes downhill from there. Sloppy story, two strong female leads that have no flaws (their “flaw” is they care TOO MUCH ABOUT TRUTH AND JUSTICE) and a weird supernatural ending. Whyte men bad, native women good. A political message with an incomprehensible “story” wrapped around it.

[@Corn_Pone_Flicks]

@@thomasfucillo While you're at it, trying sticking to actual facts. Saying "your cult ideology" is a bunch of buzzwords lacking any coherent meaning, and based on an unsubstantiated assumption. It is entirely possible, believe it or not, to think that people have treated certain ethnic groups or other subsets of society poorly, AND to think that this show was poorly executed. At least, it is in reality. In KZbin comment sections, it's reduced to knee-jerk screaming matches full of words like "cult" and "woke," with the arguments left by the wayside.

[@popcornbuster752]

Rotten Tomatoes critics are mostly paid to drop reviews.

[@Corn_Pone_Flicks]

And you can prove this, or course.

[@byronbranch4645]

Someone said it best. The wire is the greatest TV show of all time ( which i agree) but season 1 of true detective is the best stand alone season of any show

[@byronbranch4645]

@@alexandren5131 I heard treme was good but I haven't seen it. I did watch his series the deuce which totally changed my opinion of Maggie Gyllenhaal. I always thought she was mediocre at best but Jesus she is absolutely fantastic in that series. Bosch is my second favorite show though.

[@byronbranch4645]

@@alexandren5131 nah I was the same way but after watching the deuce she gets my respect. If you like the wire you'll like Bosch. Besides Marlo places a homicide detective in it and he's fantastic. And Lt Daniels is in it too..and coincidentally he's also a lieutenant haha

[@byronbranch4645]

@@alexandren5131 she is not as far as I know. And if you enjoy Bosch, watch Bosch legacy after. It follows up at the end of the 7th season and is just as good. I've seen the wire 7 times and Bosch 4 times. I'll probably watch it for a 5th time too. But I got tickets for dune 2 in the a.m I can NOT WAIT

[@alexandren5131]

@@byronbranch4645 I think word of mouth is what really gets me interested in films/TV shows more than conventional advertising by a long shot. I'm glad to hear that, you've convinced me! Also, I envy you friend! I am so excited for Dune part 2! Have an amazing time! I'm hella jelly, definitely the type of picture to see on the big screen. If you think of it, I'd love to hear what you think about it after you see it.

[@STRANGEANATOMYBAND]

I put Mad Men at the top, but The Wire is definitely in the top 5, maybe top 3, with True Detective S1!

[@robertmacias7920]

The Show was getting rave reviews and awards, AWARDS!!! Before it was released. I started watching and by episode 3 I knew I had been had. Manly women and useless men.

[@d1gw33d]

I don't know how show runners and writers have managed to make so many female characters bland, unlikeable and boring. That wasn't a problem in modern cinema. Until they tried to fix the problem that wasn't there.

[@giuliacecconi8812]

No one in this season is a "true detective"

[@mrmhj9925]

Also the crime and actual detective work is so childish and immature. It dose feel like teenagers wrote it. The actual crime has no deeper meaning or weight. It’s so shabby. The crime in Season 1 makes you question reality and actually makes you think: “is this supernatural?” Or “just some very calculated psychopaths that run a cult?” It’s terrifying. Especially knowing the story of the Yellow King. Is it madness or a higher play here? And that ending with Rust reviles that there could be afterlife and there possibly was a supernatural on going with the crime, maybe the cult did know something and also Rust seeing things that he even stated wasn’t hallucinations. That to me, makes it Lovecraftion and also makes it realistic enough that sends me shivers. It doesn’t give you a straight answer on what it all meant, the crime that is. That to me is clever writing and it’s so good, it’s terrifying.

[@freshfrozen1712]

They rode the line between supernatural and reality so well the first season, season 4 couldn't find the balance

[@mrmhj9925]

@@freshfrozen1712 Exactly. The first season made you think for yourself. I love stories like that.

[@mrmhj9925]

@@freshfrozen1712 good video btw. 👊

[@OfArgento]

I never once thought there was anything supernatural going on in season 1. Everything was very grounded in reality. The only thing that was supernatural-esque was rusts hallucinations, which were explained to be a result of his drug use. The supernatural parts of season 4 were ridiculous and made the season worse than it already was.

[@pajeetsingh]

Hate to use the word but "Woke". Identity politics forced onto people by corporations for them to waste time on it and forget about real happenings like Epstein.

[@fredbyoutubing]

Alaska during the long night is a great setting. That's the most positive thing I have to say about it.

[@tomwellman1757]

That's the ONLY positive thing .... even Jodie Foster couldn't save this trash

[@robertblume2951]

Ya but that aint Alaska. Iceland is just to different and they didn't really understand that when they made the show there.

[@fredbyoutubing]

@@robertblume2951 I should have specified: the "choice" of setting was interesting. Not particularly well executed.

[@robertblume2951]

@@fredbyoutubing that is fair because that's why i started watching it.

[@fredbyoutubing]

@@robertblume2951 I watched it because I had hope for the True Detective IP. S3 wasn't half bad but not memorable. If you wanted a detective story set in the cold with ties to Indian Reservations, I recommend "Wind River". Great movie...but it also broke me.

[@JacF6734]

"Not much is worse than a preachy show that has nothing interesting to say." THANK YOU!

[@Ic3h0rnEt14]

There is absolutely NO WAY a fifth season will delve any deeper than the fourth. Issa Lopez will take her 92% on Rotten Tomatoes as affirmation that she did everything right. I expect to see more of the same. The end of episode 5 is all I really remember from this season.

[@Sparda11222]

It's clear as day what happened in S4. No need for complex explanations and going arounds. It transitioned... to activism.. ofc it was "reviewed" as a great success by major outlets. Those are full of "toy soldiers".

[@excedrintablet]

Storytelling's slow death continues unabated

[@ricksomething]

You forgot your period. Punctuation is also dying, apparently.

[@cokebottles6919]

There are plenty of great stories being told still, maybe more than ever. It's just depressing when a great franchise gets squandered by ideological deviants after the real explorers move on to the next frontier. RIP Fargo, Star Wars, Ghost Busters, Marvel and many others.

[@excedrintablet]

@@ricksomething Storytelling? Dead. Comment section pedantry? Stronger than ever.

[@excedrintablet]

@@cokebottles6919thank you for the optimism, and the reminder that there are still good original stories being told.

[@ricksomething]

@excedrintablet Knowing how to speak and write properly and intelligently is what makes us human. Enjoy your refried beans in your trailer park.

[@keldsports8337]

Season 1 also involves great character arcs for both Marty and Rust. Marty finally stops lying to himself when his family visits him at the hospital and he starts crying after proclaiming he’s fine, because obviously he’s not. And Rust goes from a nihilist mocking faith to accepting it at the end. But, both are done in subtle, realistic manners which makes it more impactful.

[@jonfreakinj2308]

"Make it gay and lame"

[@TVGGAMEZCO]

I think people need to understand, this show was made to be its own show, until HBO forced Issa to make this connected to True detective. That being said, it would’ve been terrible either way

[@kambion]

except it was pretty good either way. 🤷‍♂

[@cmk921]

@@kambionwas it? Was it?

[@adtastic1533]

​@@kambionIt really wasn't.

[@bannedmann4469]

@@kambionpfft lol

[@TVGGAMEZCO]

@@kambion if you consider it good that’s completely fine, but for me the plot holes, lack of explanation of what the scientists were even digging up, Navarro being dragged after she got hit for no reason, Danvers not breaking the glass when she had a gun, and Danvers being ok with Navarro almost killing the last scientist and then right after screaming at Navarro for letting him die just makes the show terrible for me.

[@cursed_nerd]

Season 1: True Detectives Other Seasons: Fake Detectives

[@dustinlattimore7336]

3 was pretty good

[@neuromancer886]

So this show feels like somebody's memory of a good story, and the memory is fading.

[@EldenRinging]

I think professional journalism just doesn't want to hate on woke materials, that's why they write it more positively about it.

[@marklachney420]

What does woke mean?

[@Peter_Turbo]

@@marklachney420shut up, you know what it means. It’s descriptive of the ideology behind CRT and intersectional feminism.

[@crozraven]

legacy media & critics scores means nothing to the reality of the product so I think we should stop of keeping & judging a products from RT scores or whatnot. It's all clearly money & agenda based shenanigans.

[@justice_for_peanut]

Danvers took in a native girl and looks after her like her own daughter. So I don't think it's fair to call her racist just because she teases her native partner about spirit animals and things like that. But yeah, S4 sucked balls and only serves to make people appreciate seasons 2 and 3 more. It's like the "New Coke" of the TD fanbase.

[@Duende2211-ds5hx]

I was expecting a realistic crime with realistic causes and realistic criminals, but by the end of this season i got angry spirits and magic. Wtf? Disappointing.

[@WizardKot]

Anything with strong wamen will be universally praised by reviewers regardless of quality

[@Corn_Pone_Flicks]

I don't know if you got the memo, but misspelling the word "women" is completely meaningless.

[@rocky6703]

Its like women contant is the new "slaves". Always comes back full circle

[@TheMattyNation]

Don’t let anyone make you think this was a good season. All “official” reviews from legacy anything are compromised and fake.

[@miguelpablo7278]

looks like the 4th season drew its inspiration from the Panderstone

[@jessfarr5667]

might be the worst ending to a show I’ve ever seen. I wanted to like this show, so I looked past some of the boring character developments, but that ending…damn.

[@freshfrozen1712]

The ending feels like one of the weakest ever agreed

[@ABDULLAH-j5q1u]

SEASON 1 is INSANE GOATED

[@HonkHonkler]

One correct, Childress wasn't the Yellow King. The Yellow King is a cosmic being far FAAAAR away in the cosmos. Childress was just the last head of the cult of the Yellow King.

[@qwerty975]

So Yellow King was that cosmic entity Rust saw in Mithra'esque style cave?

[@Corn_Pone_Flicks]

@@qwerty975 No, that was a hallucination. The fact that these people are part of a cult doesn't mean that the deity at its center is real.

[@SolidSnake240]

Journos really said this dumpster heap is better than season 1. Crazy

[@mikeg5025]

I was hyped on this season too long. Took me till episode 5 to realize it was a huge mess with a lot of “and then” story actions, rather than everything building on previous actions. Then we started the finale and I completely checked out within a few minutes. We’re all just hoping for a return to S1

[@allsmilesguy]

2 white guys with actual fantastic writing. Compared with the modern token female and minority characters who aren’t written to be anyone

[@Msmithjonesraven]

When Season 2 was not bad at all but we treated it way too harshly.

[@agaspversilia]

The problem is that Season One set a bar too high. S2 was okay-ish, the third season yuck, the fourth: I've only watched episode one, absolutely refusing to watch more

[@Msmithjonesraven]

@@agaspversilia for me 3rd season was still better than season 2 as it sets on the same vibe as season 1 but yeah season 1 set the bar high which is good as showrunners should stick to that high standard. But now I don't think that's possible so I will conclude that True Detective was over with end of season 3 but Truest True Detective was over with season 1.

[@austingallo4023]

Ehhh sorry season 2 was convoluted and bloated as fuck. Colin Ferrell was absolutely excellent but Vince Vaughn was laughably corny

[@brianfitzsimmons6074]

Rose colored glasses. Granted it's better than this pap, but it had a lot of flaws.

[@caleblim6890]

I watched season 2 of TD having already heard how “bad” it was, and never got why it was so reviled. Sure, it lacked the same mysticism that made the first season so chilling and compelling, but it was a decent story with great performances (okay fine, except for Vince). Then I saw season 3, which became too murky in it’s mystery but was held together by an epic lead performance by Mahershala Ali. I watched Night Country with a lot of hope because the setting was so good. Then the story broke apart because Lopez forgot how to do a coherent episode arc.

[@TheExodusV]

Guessing Kathleen Kennedy made this season “put a chick in it…” 😂

[@yonahda8911]

Because most of those terms are discussed in the public and schools in a revisionist and dimwitted manor. Now you have all these people that have horrific taste believe this is a geeat season.

[@Corn_Pone_Flicks]

A manor is a large house on a typically large estate. But please, tell us more about the dimwitted.

[@Palindrome3945]

Love how you pretend to be surprised by the positive reviews, the writing and he themes, like we don't see this kind of propaganda being pushed for years.

[@MettleHurlant]

S1 had MM at his peak and a great director. There was nowhere to go but down. S4 was bogged down by the woo woo and unlikable protagonists. I wish we got more about the scientists, the mine, and the people and less about the spiral and the ghosts. What was the point of Navarro’s sister? Why the ambiguity of Navarro’s fate? Why was Peter’s baby mama such a ball buster? Who cared about Leah’s story?

[@FlymanMS]

You won't get answers, Lopez thinks in "cool ideas" and stereotypes, she never refines what she writes.

[@adtastic1533]

Bro, are you seriously surprised the MSM reviews are positive? Anything woke gets 9/10 minimum from those guys and S4 is woke as fuck.

[@marklachney420]

What does woke mean?

[@chrisdee1583]

​@@marklachney420It means garbage,trash created for dimwitted viewers who will sap up any old shite they pass off as good.

[@adtastic1533]

@@marklachney420 Woke is being obnoxiously obsessed with "social justice" issues to the point of delusion

[@marklachney420]

@@adtastic1533 when did that happen in the show?

[@bannedmann4469]

@@marklachney420When they wrote it. Character tropes are a 1 to 1 with their demographics. If you’ve seen one woke production, you’ve seen em all. You can predict exactly what they’re going to do before you’ve seen the next.

[@Wellington-nl7vm]

There is only one simple reason as to why critics gave season 4 good reviews and that is because it was an all female production. Let’s be honest

[@Fedorevsky]

Huh? You think critics gave it good reviews because of bad writing and acting? @@freshfrozen1712

[@mikescorpio13]

and thats why it is sucking balls... they cant do anything good

[@maclnmacln]

The ending to the night country, the big revelation was a complete slap to the audiences face. The sloppy, slapped together ending completely ruined the entire season. The ending made the tie in to season one, the supernatural elements, the research center, completely pointless, it became a waste of time.

[@DaneofHalves]

Season 4 made House Party look like House Party 2!

[@maxidaho]

I can write a murder mystery too if I don't have to connect any of the plot points. "Let's throw in a one eyed bear. That would be cool. Ooo oo oo, let's make all the men both utterly impotent AND, and, evil."

[@WhatisReal11]

Rust doesn't "think" he is superior to others. Outrageous read of Rust. He is objectively more intelligent perceptive and honest then other objectively, ... he has zero need to compare himself to other in being worse or better.

[@SucceedwithaccentCa]

What happend to True Detective 4? DEI ( Diversity, equity, and inclusion) happened. Anton Chekhov ( Russian playwright and physician) once said " there is nothing worse of a masculine woman and iffeminate man". I wouldn't recommend Mr. Chekhov watch the show.

[@danieljabonski4705]

Whole ending about this Almighty Woman's Cleaner-Killer-Detective Club is just one big "scr*w you! Ha, ha!" from producers for viewers. Greetings!

[@tedbrownlow4617]

Looking back, a lot of the characters don't really change from the start to finale. Danvers begins as a corrupt cop hiding an vengeful murder Navarro did. Danvers ends as a corrupt cop hiding an vengeful murder the janitors at the facility did. And that alone seems to win her daughter back over, which felt weird. I mean, they could have played this whole dire "police are broken" angle, but the finale is framed in a very positive light, as it literally features a long-lost sunrise. And the only reason that this can't become a feud is because they happened to kill the ENTIRE group. I mean, plotwise it's not a hole, but to portray vigilante justice and then cut the reel before any consequence can occur and/or make the vigilantes sneaky enough that nobody is caught feels overly convenient and dismissive. Navarro begins as a cop who does deeply loves her sister (and would do anything for her) but otherwise avoids getting too close to people. Navarro ends as a cop who deeply loves her sister (but can't do anything for her) but otherwise avoids getting too close to people. The son cop begins as a cop who gives too much of himself to his work, at the detriment of his family. His father is a corrupt cop, but that was never a moral conflict, as the son wasn't in-the-know. He ends as a cop who gives too much of himself to his work, covering up the death of his father to protect Navarro. In general, the characters lives are uprooted by external details, but their internal decisions remain frustratingly consistent. I'd be really curious to see what a rewrite could look like, as the initial setup of the characters did feel like it had a strong structure.

[@freshfrozen1712]

Great analysis, I agree

[@gavriloprincip11]

lights! cameras! affirmative-action!

[@Oblivion8393]

😂

[@toweypat]

No, affirmative action means hiring qualified minorities. The people who made this show weren't qualified.

[@solobloke8116]

I still watch seasons 1 & 2 every couple of years, phenomenal

[@JimmySnakes]

Rotten Tomatoes is beyond compromised, it's like the Snopes of media reviews

[@hazardsigns]

I wrestled with season 1, but on rewatch I came to really appreciate the attention to detail and effort that brought the whole thing together, especially after learning more about the symbolism embedded throughout. None of the following seasons came anywhere close. Didn't even watch this season, after hearing reviews

[@szellemsam]

There's only one true detective season. The real one (the first one)

[@phillipp5538]

How come video essays don't actually name the bad writers they just say the writing is bad. If you don't name, the bad writers they stick around and make more bad media....

[@invinciblesoldier7025]

This is basically suffering from sucess 😂 . Nic Pizzolato wrote the 1st season so damn good that he can't outweigh it with anything else 😂.

[@jizzaymz]

Season 1 = masterpiece Season 2 = alright, has its moments Season 3 = better Season 4 = pure woke garbage

[@wingthomaux]

It’s shows perfectly how modern feminism corrupts good projects and turns them into an ideology driven uninspired version. This doesn’t happen in media only, but it’s most apparent to every person. There are so many examples in modern media it’s actually insane people haven’t caught on. Well they have, they mostly are afraid to talk about it, wich shows how dangerous this whole development is. These days it’s so easy to please an audience because if a movie basically just wasn’t created with the ideology in mind, it will turn out better than all the other projects. That’s also why people are starting to appreciate older movies, from pre annoying era, that were considered fairly mid at the time, but now they are the only watchable content.

[@waltervanlille2263]

Perceived societal problems, not societal problems.

[@scotthallgv]

When someone tells you who they are, believe them. Lopez told us who she is with s4, so dont expect her to change her stripes going forward cuz youre just setting yourself up for disappointment.

[@TheBerylknight]

Good video. It mystifies me as well how this show has such high ratings, especially for the finale.... which was objectively awful. I won't be giving season 5 a chance though. Last time I ever watch anything Issa Lopez writes or directs. I try to learn from my mistakes.

[@adamrikkers3271]

Yup, I gave this season a chance but won’t be doing the same for the next. I thought, “Jodie Foster in True Detective? Sign me up”, I learned my lesson

[@freshfrozen1712]

I don't blame ya

[@ElectrickWizard]

Not a single opinion you have on art is objective. You aren't special, and your opinions aren't fact.

[@TheBerylknight]

@@ElectrickWizard Nah. Night Country's finale was awful. That is a fact. And you're not special either. So just because you might like it, that doesn't make an ending that makes no sense and leaves nearly every plotline unresolved good. Just because something is "art", that doesn't mean it's immune from objective criticisms and true observations.

[@masonmccarthy9057]

​@@ElectrickWizardit's a garbage season through and through, stay mad clown.

[@topperharley54]

As soon as I seen rug muncher and token black girl boss leads I knew what this would be 😂😂😂😂😂

[@danielcantiego9374]

I love how no one has the courage to compare season 4 with season 2

[@noahsmith5715]

The top 4 seasons of true detective for me are Season 1 Season 3 Season 2 Season 4

[@ishitrealbad3039]

its bad because it has DEI all over it.

[@Corn_Pone_Flicks]

No, what's bad is I feel depressed for not liking the show, since it means that I'm in at least partial agreement with people who write bigoted garbage like this.

[@GoogleUser000]

I think its even simpler than that. Season 1 was a solid, one-time written, comprehensive story fully based on the vision of its creator, Nick Pizzolatto. He wanted to tell the story, and he did. Everything since season 2 feels forced af because HBO wanted to keep milking the series further. And here we are, it only makes so much sense the show won't get any better.

[@EldenRinging]

Sounds like another "go woke, go broke" moment, in some way or another.

[@freshfrozen1712]

I think it's just bad writing and acting tbh

[@marklachney420]

What does woke mean? Also it had the highest ratings ever so how did it go broke?

[@Richard-oo6pc]

@@marklachney420 You keep posting "What does woke mean?" Everyone knows what it means. Nobody likes to be lectured about bs social justice issues when they're looking for entertainment. You're attempt at gaslighting people into believing they don't see what they're clearly seeing is pathetic and weak. Even the writers admit what they're doing so stop being such an NPC.

[@marklachney420]

@Richard-oo6pc lol none of that happened in the show though. You just equate women to woke and that's not even what woke means.

[@Richard-oo6pc]

@@marklachney420 No I don't. You do since you said it. Getting lectured about the plight of indigenous people against the white man and other race based nonsense is one aspect of what being "woke" is. Again, you are gaslighting and it's cringe AF and doesn't work because everyone knows what woke is.

[@Devil-Made]

I was flabbergasted when my parents said they’d finished S4 and they liked it. They’d never seen True Detective and their favorite crime drama is NCIS. I wasn’t being a True Detective snob, but I was genuinely perplexed as to how they thought that garbage was good. So I asked them. Turns out they didn’t like it. They hated the way it ended. They hated the simple story. They hated the characters. But for some reason their initial impression was, “huh. That wasn’t bad.” I still don’t understand why.

[@dc100dc100]

The director is on record saying she made Season 4 as a female version of season 1. There are so many duplications, parallels, echoes.

[@musstakrakish]

The fuck is that supposed to even mean? Just make a good show with good writing female characters. That's literally all she needed to do.

[@lee-cl8td]

The ratings are fine when you realise the target audience is probably people who look like the main characters

[@KelticTim]

Dude, it’s really not that complicated, it hits all the woke criteria so the reviewers love it.

[@marklachney420]

What does woke mean?

[@KelticTim]

@@marklachney420 you being funny?

[@marklachney420]

@KelticTim ? No. I keep seeing people use that word but I don't keep up with new slang

[@KelticTim]

@@marklachney420 so essentially someone is “woke” when they are so far left politically and culturally that they can’t see how harmful, ridiculous, and untenable their position is. They literally believe things like that men can have periods, that a trans man is literally a man as tho there’s no difference in men and women biologically, Trump is evil and nothing he does could ever be considered good no matter what, straight white males are the cause of all evil in this world, segregation is a good thing, and the list goes on and on. They’ve moved so far past being a traditional “liberal” they don’t see that they’ve gone so far left they’ve actually ended up becoming pretty fascist and racist in their beliefs. Instead of a gestapo they have an organization called Antifa, which is their extremely violent Jack booted thugs. And before anyone says anything, of course there is a right wing equivalent, but the question was “what’s woke mean?”.