True Detective - Episode Six

Damn, that Woody can be one scary beast when he wants to be. This is why you never want to get arrested in Louisiana - especially for having sex with a crazy cop's daughter.

That interview with the mother who killed her child was positively bone chilling. I have never seen a cop say that to a suspect in a fictional drama. I am sure they all have thought it but to tell a suspect that she would be better off killing herself is cold blooded.

 

"The newspapers are gonna be tough on you, and prison is very, very hard on people who hurt kids. If you get the opportunity, you should kill yourself."

Munchausen By Proxy? Regressive Catatonia? Someone pulled out his first year psych textbook to write more scenes to freak me out. I guess when you wallow in human misery and depravity you always have somewhere lower to go. Don't get me wrong. I like the relentless gloom. I just want all the sadness to lead somewhere. The bar has been set ridiculously high with only two episodes to go.

Nothing ever goes away. Nothing gets better. No joy in True Detective and I wouldn't want it any other way. I needed this breather of an episode before the final two. I hope I am not building up the ending too much in my brain. I have been burned before - many, many times before.

So we finally see what drove Marty and Rust apart. I figured it had to be something like that. I remember the lawnmower scene.

The damage left in the wake of the evil that we do is the theme of this episode. People get pushed to the point where they can't see any other solution to their pain that to lash out in spite of any and all collateral damage that results. A pretty frightening realization actually. None of us are immune from the effects of our hurtful actions. It worse when all we see is the disappointment in the eyes of those around us. Worse yet when the evil is calculated. What Maggie did to Rust was devastating - a betrayal of trust. How much must a woman hate to slash and burn the men in her life like she did?

The episode ended with Marty checking his gun. This is a man who now reunited with his partner has every reason to believe all the accusations he has heard about Rust. The fact that he has fears says everything about how we feel about the future. For six episodes we have lived in the present and the past. Now we walk shaky into the future. I don't know what's going to happen. I am like Marty. I have no faith that Rust hasn't turned to evil.

That is the genius of True Detective. For six hours I have gotten to intimately know these two men. After all that I have seen and heard I still have NO idea what will happen next. That is a thrilling feeling for a long time lover of TV like myself.