HBO’s new drama, “True Detective,” just capped off its first season’s midpoint with television’s greatest scene in recent years, perhaps one of the finest ever shot for the small screen. Matthew McConaughey’s chewed-up-and-spit-back-out detective, Rust Cohle, goes undercover in a desperate attempt to solve a case. In a 10-minute single-shot sequence, he sprints through the pandemonium of a failed drug bust, trying to salvage his investigation.
It’s a scene that speaks volumes about television’s new golden age. Recent shows have elevated the stakes of writing with their desire to go where no show has gone before. “Breaking Bad” cast down Walter White from humble teacher to Ozymandias, while “Game of Thrones” hosted the reddest wedding in history. Now “True Detective” assumes that legacy. In the past, and perhaps even now, no other show would have attempted a scene as audacious as the midseason closer. It’s raising the bar of what it means to be great television.
As an anthology program, “True Detective” will have a different cast and plot each season, a la “American Horror Story.” But where the first season of “Horror Story” was a scatterbrained, albeit entertaining, mess, this show hits its stride from the first shot of a roaring ceremonial fire.
This season follows Cohle and his partner, Detective Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson), as they track down a serial killer with an occult modus operandi. The show’s narrative divides its time between interviews in 2012 and the case in 1995. The partners had an unexplained falling-out in 2002 and have not spoken since.
The storyline in 2012 never ventures beyond the boardrooms that hold our protagonists as two new detectives (Michael Potts and Tory Kittles) interview them about the Dora Lange case of ’95. But staying in just two rooms never grows claustrophobic. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga sends us a message with the simple scenes.
Cohle, dapper in ‘95, looks as though he’s been to hell and hasn’t quite made it back. His interrogation room reflects him with its absent windows and unflattering fluorescent lights. Hart’s room seems sunnier, but his missing wedding ring and balding head suggest a rough go since Dora Lange.
The ’95 storyline grabs you with sweeping, gorgeous panoramas of Louisiana’s bayou, belied by savage murders and decaying natives. As they wade into the shadows of backwoods Louisiana, their investigation reinforces Cohle’s nihilistic worldview as it threatens Hart’s fragile bond with his wife (the stellar Michelle Monaghan). They’re star-crossed partners, doomed from the start to clash.
With a more meditative pace than most shows, “True Detective” builds its episodes upon discussions of morality, religion and marriage. The pacing will seem glacial to anyone expecting the tidy narratives of other detective shows. Maybe the show isn’t aptly named, either. Although about detectives, the show’s first four episodes seem more interested in Cohle and Hart’s life and their relationship than in wrapping up the Dora Lange mystery. Its result? A breath of fresh air into the cop procedural.
Cohle and Hart’s voiceovers keep the viewer engaged throughout the first three episodes, in which little action occurs. Fukunaga patiently cuts through the layer cake of the case. The first episode paints Hart as a warm family man, heavy on his religious and moral principles. Depression and paranoia seethe off of Cohle. Later episodes peel back these facades and dig deeper at the show’s reservoir of philosophy.
But for all its steady pacing and meticulously drawn characters, “True Detective” isn’t afraid to stray into sensationalist territory. The writers obviously adore their creation in Cohle, who can violate procedure with impunity and snort enough cocaine to euthanize a rhinoceros. He’s in danger of seeming too invincible, not unlike how the Governor became untouchable for a time in “The Walking Dead.” Hopefully the final four episodes will iron out these wrinkles in an otherwise airtight show.
Of course, part of the show’s conceit is that the story’s not over yet. Even 17 years after the narrative’s main investigation has ended, the plot brews. Both detectives know from early on that they’re not just being interviewed, they’re being interrogated. For reasons unknown, Cohle and Hart are on trial for their finest casework.
The acting in “True Detective” is splendid, and I’m sure awards aplenty will ensue. McConaughey’s drug-addled, nihilistic detective will go down as one of TV’s great characters, while Harrelson’s reserved but layered performance promises a highly combustible element. Pay close attention to its camerawork, too. It’s pure wizardry. Even if you come just to see McConaughey’s abs, you’ll stay for the narrative. The first season is a slow-burn marvel of storytelling, an unassuming crockpot packed with roman candles.
Alex Frail can be reached at [email protected].
