Episode Title: “Seeing Things”
Writer: Nic Pizzolatto
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Previously on “True Detective”:
Two episodes in, it’s clear that ‘True Detective’ is on a very slow burn with its murder mystery. In that way, it’s reminiscent of AMC’s “The Killing,” a show which Nic Pizzolatto wrote for before creating “True Detective” for HBO.
Thus far, the lack of answers or even suspects isn’t frustrating for a simple reason. We’re not here to watch the killer toy with the cops. This show is squarely about Detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson). And we learned a lot about them in this episode.
To start with, Hart confirms that his suspicious behavior with Lisa Tragnetti (Alexandra Daddario) in the pilot episode is a poorly hidden affair. Hart thinks that he’s being sly about it, but everyone knows that he’s seeing someone on the side. Cohle knows it and even Hart’s in-laws seem to sense it. Nor is Hart’s wife, Maggie (Michelle Monaghan) blind to his indiscretions. But the second that anyone calls Hart out on his bulls*** is when he flies off the handle.
Hart may actually believe that he’s making time with Lisa for the good of his family, but it’s just crap. Hart is doing it for himself and even seventeen years (and one divorce) later, he still seems to be deluded about what kind of man that he is.
On the other hand, 2012 Cohle is comfortable with the failure that his life has become. He actually sees his acceptance of his shortcomings as a victory of sorts. But in what world is Cohle’s alcohol fueled haze a victory? To call Cohle a shell of a man would be to give him too much credit. He’s just a shadow of the burned out man that he was back in 1995.
But is Cohle actually the murderer in the 2012 case? His interrogators, Detective Thomas Papania (Tory Kittles) and Detective Maynard Gilbough (Michael Potts) definitely seem interested in pinning that on him if they can. And if Hart is smart enough to realize it then Cohle must have figured it out before he even set foot in that police station.
One of the bigger revelations in this episode is that 1995 Cohle is haunted by drug induced visions that only he can see. Some of it is a Miami Vice-like light show and another vision involves a flock of birds forming the same symbol found on Dora Lange’s body. The vision of the birds was particularly effective because it briefly made me forget that it was a special effect.
2012 Cohle is unafraid of his past and he willingly shares the story of his daughter’s death, his time as a VICE undercover officer and his subsequent stay in a mental institution. Cohle relates his story in an almost dispassionate manner. The only part of his past that really brings Cohle peace is the idea that his daughter died painlessly in a coma before she could be beaten down by the world.
The problem is that Cohle is doing himself no favors in the past or the present. 1995 Cohle is on thin ice with his fellow police officers, with only Hart’s support keeping him in the Homicide division. Yet Cohle can’t resist commenting on Hart’s infidelity or threatening to break Hart’s wrists with a casual demonstration of what he can do.
Even in the 2012 sequences, Hart is very complimentary about Cohle’s skills as a detective. Cohle’s ‘eye for weakness” is also demonstrated in a scene in which he interrogates two men for information while barely breaking a sweat. Hart’s ability to deal with the internal politics of their police precinct and ordinary people is the skill that he brings to that partnership.
However, Hart’s weakness is on full display. He shuts his wife out of his emotional life and berates her when she tries to talk about it. Hart even tries to use the threat of the killer to frighten his mistress, Lisa into staying home when he isn’t with her. To top things off, there’s something very unsettling about the way that Hart’s daughters play with their dolls. But the question has to be asked: did Hart’s girls really place their dolls in a gang rape scenario? Or is that something that Hart only saw in his mind?
Hart’s gender politics also come into play when he and Cohle come across Beth, a young prostitute who knew Dora. The madam of that backwoods brothel, Jan throws Hart’s condemnation back in his face. Jan contends that Hart’s problem with Beth’s underage hooking is that he doesn’t control it. And then Hart proves her right by giving Beth some cash and urging her to do something else.
Cohle has a different relationship with women… which is to say that he has no relationship with them. Cohle turns down sex from a prostitute who practically offers her services for free. In 2012, Cohle appears to be alone by choice. We do learn that Cohle was almost married a second time, to a woman whom we have yet to meet.
One of the more refreshing aspects of “True Detective’ is that it feels like it can go anywhere with this story. Both lead characters are fascinating in both time periods. And without any real suspects to consider, the potential killer or killers haven’t been reduced to TV cliches. There are hints that Cohle and Hart had a shootout with the killer back in 1995, but Detectives Papania and Gilbough aren’t in a hurry to get to the end. In this series, I appreciate that approach.
