"All flattened circles broken. True Detective likely dead. (SWIPE)" Wed May-25-16 02:17 PM by mrhood75
The show became a tragic misstep in evolution and became too self-aware. So HBO appears to be doing the honorable thing and walking hand-in-hand with it into extinction.
2. "LOL. It wasn't great though" In response to Reply # 1
>I was always a little bit confused on why it got as much hate >as it did. It was not as good as S1, but c'mon.
If there was no season 1 I agree people would hate it as much as they do. That said, taken on its own, it was just an Ok to good show. They should have left it as is with one season because that quality drop...woooh.
That said, Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn were good and the story itself was a good one, just horribly told
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86672 posts
Wed May-25-16 04:22 PM
3. "I didn't think the quality dropped that much." In response to Reply # 2
In terms of the scripts, they just got more stylized with the dialogue and added two more characters to follow. I can understand the complaints that it was too sprawling and/or too serious (there was definitely more humor in Season 1), but I never understood the blanket "bad dialogue/bad acting/bad story" complaints people were making.
Now, there was a significant cinematography drop off. That I will agree with.
But I didn't think the overall quality was so much worse that everyone should give it an F and never want to see another season. This is a huge bummer to me, as someone who loved season 1 and really liked season 2.
11. "Nah, the dialogue and story was bad" In response to Reply # 3 Thu May-26-16 09:14 AM by BigReg
>In terms of the scripts, they just got more stylized with the >dialogue and added two more characters to follow. I can >understand the complaints that it was too sprawling and/or too >serious (there was definitely more humor in Season 1), but I >never understood the blanket "bad dialogue/bad acting/bad >story" complaints people were making.
Acting imho was fine and I think the critiques of it was because of the bad dialogue and story. Farrell was able to elevate it because his story had such tragedy...Vaughn was saddled trying to elevate a general gangster trying to go straight written to be...a generic gangster trying to go straight.
First season we can argue if the dialogue was hammy at times but it was self aware (Woody calling bullshit on many of the monologues). Here there was no self-awareness and nothing to bounce it against...it was needlessly wordy to the point of parody. It reminds me of this twitter account:
The plot was huge covering hollywood, local government, police corruption, organized crime, etc...but horribly executed and plain overwrought to the point of confusion. You basically had a murder mystery where the main perpetrator+mystery was pushed to the side for 90% of it to focus on plotlines that the audience didn't care about.
I understand art that tries but fails isn't necessarily a bad thing. But to me, this was plain bad.
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86672 posts
Thu May-26-16 11:11 AM
13. "I disagree. *shrug*" In response to Reply # 11
I really like Pizzolatto's style of dialogue. It's insanely stylized, but I dig that. The story was probably too sprawling for its own good, but I was still invested in all of it and hung on the series week to week.
We just disagree on the quality of the season. I still really enjoyed it.
7. "It was an overly ambitious, largely indulgent mess" In response to Reply # 1
I don't mind ambition and I can appreciate the effort that Pizzolatto made in trying to execute a sprawling James Ellroy-type novel as a mini-series, but Season 2 was all over the place.
I think even narrowing the scope of the show geographically would have been one fairly simple solution to reigning everything in (made it about Southern California rather than trying to make the entire state a character). And he should have found a way to tell the complicated story without throwing in all the extra shit.
dula dibiasi Member since Apr 05th 2004 21925 posts
Wed May-25-16 06:10 PM
9. "lots of flaws, but i enjoyed it." In response to Reply # 1
___
it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86672 posts
Thu May-26-16 10:39 PM
17. "People grossly underestimate him as an actor in general." In response to Reply # 15
It's because he's cashed a few checks in shitty Hollywood flicks... but his performance in True Detective and his performance in The Lobster (out in theaters right now) are two of the bravest and most terrific performances I've seen in any medium in the last few years.
the majority of the actors and actresses did good to great jobs, given how shitty the writing and stotylines were. Rachel McAdams in particular did a great job given the dreck she had to delivery. Have to feel somewhat sorry for the actors and actresses that had a part in this second season; I'm certain they felt they were going to have the stellar material shown in the first season. McAdams in particular probably fared to worse with the bad reception for the second season given how hard it is for actresses to 'make it' and fare well in Hollywood. Also tougher for her since the True Detective role played against roles she typically held in the past and she may get pigeon-holed going forward.
"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.
5. "They should have kept the brand name around." In response to Reply # 0
Give it at least for one more try.
I thought season 2 was pretty much a complete dud and I'd have happily let Pizzolanti (sp?) do something else and just be an Exec. Producer while someone else takes a crack at it but I feel like the brand name still had a little life left in it. Build it as kind of American Noir Story but give different writers/directors a shot at it.
Was looking forward to seeing how they rebound from Season 2. I wanted to like it so badly, but Vince Vaughn's laughable casting/performance and the convoluted storyline devoid of any trace of humor really killed Season 2. I agree with the suggestion above of narrowing the scope, but I also say with better casting of Vaughn's role a difference couldve also been made. He and the terrible wife ruined episode after episode. So bad. We'll always have Season 1 I guess.
12. "I'm somewhat surprised." In response to Reply # 0
Unlike the majority of folks responding, I thought the second season was rancid trash, but I'm surprised because HBO is normally more loyal to its shows. That second season must have been a big embarrassment to HBO for them to pull the plug like that.
I do believe I've read that the Pic Pizzlotano (sp?) dude still has a deal with HBO. I have to think that relationship is somewhat strained at this point. It'll be interesting to see what his next project will look like. I'm wonder if he'll look to partner with Netflix like his former director did.
"Sean sparks like John Starks, nah, Sean ball like John Wall" - Rest In Power Forever Sean Price.
Writer was trash ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~ You cannot hate people for their own good.
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