True Detective

:

Season 2
  • Network: HBO
  • Series Premiere Date: Jan 12, 2014
Season #: 4, 3, 2, 1
User Score
6.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 837 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 479 out of 837
  2. Mixed: 192 out of 837
  3. Negative: 166 out of 837
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  1. Bertoflyingfox
    Aug 11, 2015
    3
    What a disappointing season. The story didnt entertain, the characters were dull, and the episodes suffered from really bad pacing. It's strange to go from season1 where the characters felt unique, then going to season2 where they all conveniently fit into tropes that were used as cheap plot devices.
    I wont spoil the ending but it all culminated into something a cheap cop-thriller from    What a disappointing season. The story didnt entertain, the characters were dull, and the episodes suffered from really bad pacing. It's strange to go from season1 where the characters felt unique, then going to season2 where they all conveniently fit into tropes that were used as cheap plot devices.
    I wont spoil the ending but it all culminated into something a cheap cop-thriller from the 70's would've covered in much quicker time than 8+ hours.    … Expand
  2. morpheuswalrus
    Jun 22, 2015
    3
    Imagine if twin peaks season 3 was made by michael bay. It was like a bad episode of the X-files, but without any monsters or aliens. Unless I hear some VERY good things, I won't be tuning in again.
  3. carakas
    Jul 3, 2015
    3
    So far, an awful follow up to a really good first season (except for the ridiculous ending, of course). A bunch of dark, **** up characters that we've seen over again & again, plus a slow uninteresting plot that doesn't lead anywhere. Watching the second episode made me realize that I don't give a **** where all this mess is going to next. Even that last scene, where Pizzolatto is tryingSo far, an awful follow up to a really good first season (except for the ridiculous ending, of course). A bunch of dark, **** up characters that we've seen over again & again, plus a slow uninteresting plot that doesn't lead anywhere. Watching the second episode made me realize that I don't give a **** where all this mess is going to next. Even that last scene, where Pizzolatto is trying to shake things up a little, fails to make you sweat about one of the main characters. I'm out.… Expand
  4. Thomas313
    Jul 5, 2015
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Vince Vaughn is killing me. The facial close ups... Horrendous. Storyline is taking forever. The whole thing is a supreme letdown. Not a Harrelson or McConnaughey fan, but S 1 is beating this one up worse than VV gave it to the big Mexican.… Expand
  5. jjtech
    Jul 10, 2015
    3
    Second season of TD shows what good director and good actors are for. Replace A-class director (Cary Fukunaga) with B-class director (Justin Li, Janus Metz (??)) and A-class actors ( McConaughey, Harrelson) with B-class actors (Farrell) and you got junk posing for something that it's not. I managed to watch 2 first episodes and 30 minutes of the third one. Third one is the worst out of allSecond season of TD shows what good director and good actors are for. Replace A-class director (Cary Fukunaga) with B-class director (Justin Li, Janus Metz (??)) and A-class actors ( McConaughey, Harrelson) with B-class actors (Farrell) and you got junk posing for something that it's not. I managed to watch 2 first episodes and 30 minutes of the third one. Third one is the worst out of all of them. Justil Lin is not a top notch director but he must be a genius compared to Janus Metz (whoever this guy is - are they on shoe string budget or what? can't they hire someone with ANY filming experience??)… Expand
  6. maxor92
    Aug 6, 2015
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After hearing that they would use a new cast for the second season, I was sceptical that the second season would live up to the first. Cast seemed and seems decent enough (except for Vince Vaughn), but after 6 episode the plot is not interesting and one doesn't even know what this season is supposed to be about. The characters are all f***** up in some way. I can't wait to write a review anymore.

    Plot: Boring, not catching, all over the place and not interesting. Especially since this show airs every week, every time I tune in to watch the show I really need to think about what happened in the previous episode. Ultimately not a lot happens each episodes in terms of the overall storyline. There are a few scenes that are supposed to add a "shock" value, but they do seem out of place. I enjoy shocking scenes if it elevates the stakes, but these just seem to be randomly placed in an episode to at least deliver some kind of entertainment.

    Characters: Colin Farrell's character is pretty cliche, Rachel McAdam's character is not very convincing, Taylor Kitsch's character actually has a lot of potential (he is pretty badass), but you can't figure out what the character is about. These characters are all ok, but Vince Vaughn's character... From the moment I saw that he was cast in this TV show, I was worried. Vince Vaughn can only act in one way and has a very monotone voice, that ultimately only fits into comedy. Cutting it short - he isn't a very good bad guy. His scenes are painful to watch.    … Expand
  7. Marrr
    Aug 10, 2015
    3
    I thought the acting was fine. The atmosphere was creepy and the corruption was palpable. I even liked the stylish cinematography and the noir-ish dialog. What I did not like is the fact that the plot is nigh incomprehensible. Did you memorize all the names of the characters briefly mentioned but not necessarily shown within an episode? Did you memorize their motivations or whether theirI thought the acting was fine. The atmosphere was creepy and the corruption was palpable. I even liked the stylish cinematography and the noir-ish dialog. What I did not like is the fact that the plot is nigh incomprehensible. Did you memorize all the names of the characters briefly mentioned but not necessarily shown within an episode? Did you memorize their motivations or whether their actions took place 20 years ago or in the present. I hope you did, because if you didn't you won't know what the hell anyone is talking about the next time the show decides to spring an unsuspecting "detective" scene on you from amongst a slew of aimless subplots about the main characters. There are a few good set pieces in the season, most notably, an awesome bloody shootout at the end of one of the episodes, but good god was the finale disappointing. There's not enough here to spend a full seasons time watching.… Expand
  8. ryanbrad10
    Aug 11, 2015
    3
    What a massive shame. The first season was certainly one of the best shows in dramatic TV history. In season 2, the plot was convoluted, a complete mess; there were too many characters, and most of them were pretty hammy and terribly acted. Scenes with Vince Vaughn and Kelly Reilly were just so cringeworthy, an am-dram interpretation of Bacall and Bogart. However, Colin Farrell redeemedWhat a massive shame. The first season was certainly one of the best shows in dramatic TV history. In season 2, the plot was convoluted, a complete mess; there were too many characters, and most of them were pretty hammy and terribly acted. Scenes with Vince Vaughn and Kelly Reilly were just so cringeworthy, an am-dram interpretation of Bacall and Bogart. However, Colin Farrell redeemed himself with some credible moments.… Expand
  9. jimmypowder
    Jul 22, 2015
    2
    Wow,what a drop off from last season. Boring,poorly written,lack of chemistry between the actors .

    No wonder nobody can get an erection in Season Two.
  10. leaveit
    Jul 7, 2015
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. "Don't do anything out of hunger - not even eating." "He looks half anaconda, half great white." "By the strident dialogue, I'm going to guess you're drunk." "Not strident, apoplectic." "I'm feeling a little apoplectic myself." "Alright Semyon, you wanna squab?"

    Every character has reproductive issues. Ray sterile. Paul gay. Ani noncommittal. Frank impotent. Jordan Semyon barren. Is there some kind of significance to this or is it just so we can make ordinary HBO scenes more "noir?"

    Ray survives something that should have been impossible to survive. Remember when Rusty needed a lengthy hospital visit to recover from the season finale last year? This should have been about as bad, but no.

    The characters seem to have no motivation whatsoever for being officers of law. Do they not understand that they're just pawns of the cliched mafia? How do they not understand this? Is this supposed to be a plot twist later or something?

    The dialogue is truly horrible. Even with captions on so that I can manage to understand precisely what everyone is saying, it sounds like LiveJournal. There is no balance to it like in the first season. When Rusty went on his noir thing, Hart would tell him to stop being pretentious. Now when someone goes on a Noir thing with dark lighting and face closeups, we cut instantly to a police department office with entirely unemotional dialogue that means nothing, yet is far more important to the plot. When the viewer looks back, they're going to remember looking at Vince Vaughn's face while he gave a dialogue, not the significance of Colin Farrell's character in the investigation. Thus in addition to terrible dialogue, it is terribly edited as well, a double-whammy of tedium.

    The music doesn't fit anymore because this is LA, i.e. the cradle of half of the American entertainment industry practically. At least the more successful noir examples like LA Confidential get this atmosphere right rather than affixing a weird alien soundtrack to a place that we should probably be familiar with in some tryhard-nihilist fashion.

    So far, the season is pretty cringeworthy.    … Expand
  11. Axgrinder
    Jun 23, 2015
    2
    I was a big fan of Season 1 of True Detective. The end of Season 1 was like getting off a carnival thrill ride. It was a bit of downer to learn that the Season 1 finale represented the end of the ride, and I had to adjust to the idea that Season 2 would tell a new story involving different characters. Like many, I was skeptical about the new cast (Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell), butI was a big fan of Season 1 of True Detective. The end of Season 1 was like getting off a carnival thrill ride. It was a bit of downer to learn that the Season 1 finale represented the end of the ride, and I had to adjust to the idea that Season 2 would tell a new story involving different characters. Like many, I was skeptical about the new cast (Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell), but I’ve known what was coming for quite some time, and I’ve had time to adjust (lower) my expectations.
    What I wasn’t prepared for was the change in Directors. Gone (unfortunately) is Cary Fukunaga, replaced by Justin Lin. Lin tries to be highly stylized with lots of close ups of Colin Farrell’s face with the lighting just so. It’s sort of reminiscent of Michael Mann and the movie Miami Vice, but without the color or sultry heat of the Miami night. Overall the direction comes across style over substance.
    The story line is also underwhelming. Last season, the crime scene in opening episode hooked me like a big river catfish, and I couldn’t turn away. The plot simmered slowly like an all-day Louisiana Gumbo, and the story behind the two main characters unfolded like a slow southern drawl. I savored the way the show took its time letting me discover the characters, their histories and their deep flaws. You might not understand them, but you could empathize with and root for them.
    The opening episode of Season 2 fell flat. It was like, “Episode 1: Everything you need to know about the characters and their flaws. This year we have four main characters instead of two and we don’t have time to develop the back story of each character so, we’re just gonna throw all our cards down on the table and get on with the main story.” Not surprisingly, the pace felt forced. The episode also lacked drama. Instead of dramatic tension, there was dramatic music, much too much dramatic music, telegraphing the coming of each new scene. The music was a like a sitcom laugh track, trying to make me feel something that wasn’t there.
    Rachel McAdam usually gets cast to play “nice girl” roles and it will be interesting to see how see does as a cop with anger issues and a dysfunctional sister and father. Dysfunctional is putting it nicely. Her sister is an on-line “entertainer” and her father, unable to cope with the world, has withdrawn to a life of teaching platitudes in an ashram. The problem isn’t that the characters have messy lives. The problem is that the characters are sendups. It’s hard to identify with or feel any empathy toward any of them. Here’s hoping S2,E1 is an aberration.    … Expand
  12. barzozwierz
    Jul 1, 2015
    2
    you always compare the 2nd part to the 1st one. in this case it's painful. no one can introduce more complex character than Rust, or redefine the crash of personalities. now... it's just blockbuster cliche, trying to be more deep than it should, touching relations between people in most common and unintrusive way. ending up really, really cringy. take away the horror of Chamber'syou always compare the 2nd part to the 1st one. in this case it's painful. no one can introduce more complex character than Rust, or redefine the crash of personalities. now... it's just blockbuster cliche, trying to be more deep than it should, touching relations between people in most common and unintrusive way. ending up really, really cringy. take away the horror of Chamber's imagination, disturbing combination of human judgement, redemption, replace rural, unexplored Louisiana with comfy LA and you get this... thing. six minute uncut, disturbing insight into human psyche with unspoken words, CGI that are not there to make it more interesting but actually having a meaning, and music that perfectly fits the atmosphere of the setting - i don't believe such thing will be ever possible in this season.
    it feels forced, unnecessary. cheap

    it might be interesting. but not as another part of True Detective. you cannot match perfection.    … Expand
  13. 15MaxCharacters
    Jul 16, 2015
    2
    Halfway through the season, and I still don't care about any of it. The first season was slightly above mediocre, but this one is way below what I had hoped for. Every episode needs to give you a reason to keep watching, but these don't.

    Laziness is the key word here. It's even set in L.A.!!!! Are the actors and director too lazy to even go somewhere else to shoot? Acting, pacing,    Halfway through the season, and I still don't care about any of it. The first season was slightly above mediocre, but this one is way below what I had hoped for. Every episode needs to give you a reason to keep watching, but these don't.

    Laziness is the key word here. It's even set in L.A.!!!! Are the actors and director too lazy to even go somewhere else to shoot?

    Acting, pacing, and plot are slow and lumbering. I find myself spending more time playing games on my phone than watching when it's on. I really wanted something interesting to watch so I can procrastinate a bit, but I think at this point I might prefer actually scrubbing the grout in my shower to procrastinate from watching this.

    I blame the director—almost any script can be made interesting if you know how to tell a story.    … Expand
  14. Idiota150
    Jun 26, 2015
    2
    Disappointment starts at the intro already and then there's just nothing that ever becomes remotely interesting. Rather than introducing some intriguing crime (barely comes up), we get to watch a full ensemble of people with more problems then your general population. If it's gonna revolve around these unbearable characters I'm not watching.
  15. jferreir
    Jun 29, 2015
    2
    Season 1 was known for its creative and convincing dialogue with moving performances. Season 2 is so bad it makes me wish True Detective was never created in the first place. The casting is downright terrible -- Ferrell is his predictably cliched 'detective with a moustache', while Vaughn ominously walks around screen trying to look serious as the viewer patiently waits for the punchSeason 1 was known for its creative and convincing dialogue with moving performances. Season 2 is so bad it makes me wish True Detective was never created in the first place. The casting is downright terrible -- Ferrell is his predictably cliched 'detective with a moustache', while Vaughn ominously walks around screen trying to look serious as the viewer patiently waits for the punch line/Owen Wilson. Dialogue isn't nearly as interesting or deep, the characters aren't nearly as developed, and the entire story-line feels like it was thrown together at the last minute to meet some arbitrary deadline. There is literally nothing about this show that makes me want to continue watching it.

    In short, Season 2 is such a flop that it makes Rachel McAdams appear less attractive by extension. Someone deserves to lose their job over this.    … Expand
  16. snagglepuss
    Jun 29, 2015
    2
    Meandering character development of characters that feel fake and phony. Just take the darkness and grumbling from Season 1 and slap it onto season 2 - none of the magic or what made season 1 any good. None of the characters are even that interesting and that's why they doubled up and have given 4 of them now. Rachel McAdams likes rough sex - why is this info I needed when the audienceMeandering character development of characters that feel fake and phony. Just take the darkness and grumbling from Season 1 and slap it onto season 2 - none of the magic or what made season 1 any good. None of the characters are even that interesting and that's why they doubled up and have given 4 of them now. Rachel McAdams likes rough sex - why is this info I needed when the audience first meets her? Vince Vaughn was eaten by rats as a kid. Lame. Day 2 he ran out of food day 3 the light bulb went out day 4 the rats came. Just bad exposition and lame character dev.. Really had high hopes for the show but now after watching episode 2 - I can tell that with 20% of the show now out - I don't know why anyone would want to continue with this really unnecessarily convoluted but not interesting storyline with characters that are all dark/depressing/cynical.… Expand
  17. Eliotts
    Jul 6, 2015
    2
    Disappointing is the only word fit for this season. After a first season of deep philosophy, incredible acting, not one single line wasted, and a good storyline, this season bores the soul out of the audience. Especially Vince Vaughn's forced, lifeless acting is frightening. The stupid jokes (I didnt want to use offensive words but that is what they are) like "it is like sucking a robot'sDisappointing is the only word fit for this season. After a first season of deep philosophy, incredible acting, not one single line wasted, and a good storyline, this season bores the soul out of the audience. Especially Vince Vaughn's forced, lifeless acting is frightening. The stupid jokes (I didnt want to use offensive words but that is what they are) like "it is like sucking a robot's dick" are just too juvenile. The not-so-complicated-yet-over-decorated background stories of the characters are dull, not intriguing at all. There are too much to be criticed yet the season is not worth the effort or the time.… Expand
  18. avan1976
    Jul 21, 2015
    2
    So disappointing to see such an exciting franchise crippled in its second season. The characters are cliched (all with their own run-of-themill demons, including a gangster grappling with fertility issues), the dialogue stilted (with characters often announcing 'who they are' to the audience, just in case we missed it) and the story line overly complex. I simply did not care enough to trySo disappointing to see such an exciting franchise crippled in its second season. The characters are cliched (all with their own run-of-themill demons, including a gangster grappling with fertility issues), the dialogue stilted (with characters often announcing 'who they are' to the audience, just in case we missed it) and the story line overly complex. I simply did not care enough to try and decode the investigation. Except for Vaughn (who needs to practice his ominous/inner turmoil face at bit more), the actors do an admirable job of injecting at least some life into a cardboard script.… Expand
  19. evomedia
    Aug 2, 2015
    2
    From the very first scene in Series 2 I was disappointed, its not simply that Season 2 is different from S1, it just seems like the script is trying too hard, the Photography is sub par and has none of the subtle nuance of the original, worst of all it has no clear story arc per episode.

    But back to the opening scene .. and why this series is annoying me rather than entertaining, we    From the very first scene in Series 2 I was disappointed, its not simply that Season 2 is different from S1, it just seems like the script is trying too hard, the Photography is sub par and has none of the subtle nuance of the original, worst of all it has no clear story arc per episode.

    But back to the opening scene .. and why this series is annoying me rather than entertaining, we open on the scene where Colin Farrel is talking to his son ... now I know they haven't brought up the whole rape thing in the first scene, but the script is going to question CF as being his dad ... I don't mind that concept, but visually and conceptually it was as subtle as a brick to the face. Its like the director/casting agent thought ok we have a dark haired skinny CF and later we want the audience to question if he's the father, so ok we'll cast a Ginger haired fat kid, it leave no question marks, no is he or isn't he the father to play on. It was almost like watching a comedy sketch. Simply put, this season lacks any sense of mystery.

    There are also TOO many storylines, it felt like a train wreck, your introduced to what felt like 20 characters in the first episode, it gave you no time to buy into any scene or character, you get a few lines and your jarred of to another character.

    It also lacks any sense of atmosphere, Season 1 practically oozed Deep South America, Season 2 has alot of aerial shots of cars on highways, shots that frankly could be filmed anywhere, in fact it seemed 90% of the opening episodes felt like they were shot inside some generic soundstage ... it simply lacks any real sense of location.

    Its cliched, muddled, lacks nuance, and has some terrible acting at times, it's as if everyone knows it should be great, knows the writier is capable of great things but no one wants or knows how to commit.    … Expand
  20. AContext
    Aug 9, 2015
    2
    I stayed until the end; through all 10 mumbling, convoluted, glacier-paced, dark, Twin Peaks stealing, too convenient episodes. Can I get these 10-and-a-half hours of my life back? Sadly, no. This was an intentionally confusing piece of pulp fiction, but without the wink and a nod that says, "Hey, we're really just playin' around here." This was supposed to be serious drama. It wasn't. II stayed until the end; through all 10 mumbling, convoluted, glacier-paced, dark, Twin Peaks stealing, too convenient episodes. Can I get these 10-and-a-half hours of my life back? Sadly, no. This was an intentionally confusing piece of pulp fiction, but without the wink and a nod that says, "Hey, we're really just playin' around here." This was supposed to be serious drama. It wasn't. I almost gave it up after episode 8, the party piece where - in a 40-room mansion - Taylor Kitsch manages to end up outside the very room where the bad guys are discussing their dirty deeds. And the cop arrives just in time to hear the bad guys talk about exactly what's taking place, what the critical information is and who's involved. Puh-leeze, Did Pizzolatto realize in episode 8 that he had too much story yet to tell and only two episodes left in which to accomplish that feat? I was expecting so much more after the McConaughey/Harrelson tour de force....but noooooo!!… Expand
  21. annbd
    Jun 29, 2018
    2
    Because I have burned, I feel it's necessary to warn all the people out there, who have watched the masterpiece, that is the first season and they are satisfied and happy about it. So.. Do NOT waste your time with this total s**t !! Second season of True Detective is completely unsuccessful and most of all disappointing.
  22. razavidavi
    Feb 9, 2019
    2
    Where do I start. Season 1 was excellent. The performances by McConaughey and Harrelson were top notch. The story was compelling, albeit a little abstract and then rushed to its conclusion.

    Season 2 was the exact opposite. I always wonder how this happens to something that was created with so much promise. The characters are all unlikable in the sense that you don't care about them. The    Where do I start. Season 1 was excellent. The performances by McConaughey and Harrelson were top notch. The story was compelling, albeit a little abstract and then rushed to its conclusion.

    Season 2 was the exact opposite. I always wonder how this happens to something that was created with so much promise. The characters are all unlikable in the sense that you don't care about them. The lines are very abstract for the sake of being abstract, with zero substance. Everything about this season screams pretentious and lacking substance. All the characters are flawed, yet band together for an altruistic mission. Come on give me a joke.

    Predictable at times, boring throughout, this is the fabric of a show that had a lot of promised, but burned on its own substance less grandeur. Somebody in the production process of this show really thought they had something that resembled a masterpiece, and hey with such a great cast and directing, sure you could have. But then you get this. its like a really good cut of rib eye steak. You pay top dollar. By the time you get home, your famished. You have all the right ingredients, you cook it for the right amount of time, it looks great. One bite, and you realize you under cooked it. All that went to waste. Now you could throw it back on the cast iron, but after its cooled down, your likely to get leather like steak. Gross.

    Luckily, Season 3 doesn't suffer this same fate. So there's that.    … Expand
  23. Chapa9dj
    Aug 20, 2015
    1
    A perfect example of how a lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place.
    Season 1 was a masterful piece of art. I have no idea what were they thinking with Season 2.
    Underwhelming story, boring characters, no mistery and one of the most anti-climatic endings i have ever seen. Also, there's a strong feminist agenda behind it, it made me want to puke more than once, why can't they    A perfect example of how a lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place.
    Season 1 was a masterful piece of art. I have no idea what were they thinking with Season 2.
    Underwhelming story, boring characters, no mistery and one of the most anti-climatic endings i have ever seen.
    Also, there's a strong feminist agenda behind it, it made me want to puke more than once, why can't they just keeps these politics to themselves?

    Really disappointed, i wish i could had my wasted time back but i can't.    … Expand
  24. Mike_M
    Apr 15, 2016
    1
    Now, if you're really smart, you can use what you learned from season 2 being terrible to go back and watch season 1 and understand that it was also well-made, well-acted, well-shot garbage storytelling.
  25. itsatrain
    Jul 8, 2015
    1
    This season is unbelievably bad. Unbelievable, because I can't honestly believe the same creators of season 1 had anything to do with this.

    The writing is just...I can't even begin...absurdly bad. With such famous lines as "If you keep talking like that, you're gonna need a baggie to take your teeth home", you can go wrong. Much less, Rachel McAdams is the one saying it. It honestly    This season is unbelievably bad. Unbelievable, because I can't honestly believe the same creators of season 1 had anything to do with this.

    The writing is just...I can't even begin...absurdly bad. With such famous lines as "If you keep talking like that, you're gonna need a baggie to take your teeth home", you can go wrong. Much less, Rachel McAdams is the one saying it. It honestly feels like a 17 year old Boondock Saints fanboy wrote this whole season. It doesn't quite fit the show, nor HBO.

    Everywhere from the direction, opening theme, acting, the corny jazzy soundtrack, the Vince Vaughan one-liners, the pathetic attempts at symbolism, and of course, the plot of the show, you see this lack of a mature attempt to try and produce anything whatsoever that resembles the first season.I keep giving the show another chance every episode, and all that crap is still there, if not to a greater extent. You would have to see it to believe it, but why the hell would you want to do that?    … Expand
  26. Plissken23
    Aug 11, 2015
    1
    Season 1: True Detective, Season 2 : True Disaster.

    8 Episodes which some of them lenght between 1h and 1 hour 20 mins, The whole season is just blah blah blah, long dialogues that lead nowhere, 4 characters that never got well developed in 8 EPISODES, the shooting scenes are just rushed, it seems that the writer just wanted to mess up the show, (lets just write a bunch of random crap    Season 1: True Detective, Season 2 : True Disaster.

    8 Episodes which some of them lenght between 1h and 1 hour 20 mins, The whole season is just blah blah blah, long dialogues that lead nowhere, 4 characters that never got well developed in 8 EPISODES, the shooting scenes are just rushed, it seems that the writer just wanted to mess up the show, (lets just write a bunch of random crap and lets let the episode roll like that, with all due respect for people that defend this season, i would suggest you to watch the first one again without messing any detail, and later watch this one again and compare!!! Season 1 was a true detective show, this crap isn't even about "Detectives" isn't about a "Case" this is just a crap that could be like Training Day... some people give this 10? i give 1! and i'm being generous!!!..    … Expand
  27. ak2381
    Jul 19, 2015
    1
    It pains me to be as generous as to give this a "1".
    What pains me even more is how frustrated I am at myslef for continuing to come back to this piece of garbage every week, in the hopes it will (like many other HBO shows) develop into something worth the inital time spent.
    At this point, I have no one to blame but myself. The acting is just god-awful but in truth, I feel bad for these    It pains me to be as generous as to give this a "1".
    What pains me even more is how frustrated I am at myslef for continuing to come back to this piece of garbage every week, in the hopes it will (like many other HBO shows) develop into something worth the inital time spent.
    At this point, I have no one to blame but myself.
    The acting is just god-awful but in truth, I feel bad for these actors as I can sense them trying their best to work with the drab, pointless, direction-less dialogue that has been given to them.
    That said, i think ironically what bothers me the most about this season is the music. Sounds crazy, but the Composition here is actually brilliant; it did wonders for setting the dark and creepy ambiance that defined the first season. The music once again is brilliant, but theres nothing creepy or dark or remotely intriguing about this story, so it too is useless! The music leads you to believe that something incredible is going to happen and all you end up doing is looking at your watch to find out when the pain will be over.
    I cannot recollect another TV series in history that had a such a huge divergence in quality between the first and second season.
    Please HBO...I cant do it myself as I am apparently a complete slave-like-idiot....take this damn show off the air. I beg of you.    … Expand
  28. Qldgamer
    Jun 25, 2015
    1
    Rambling swear fest. The flipping back and forth between now and what happened is over used and distracts from the show.

    In the end all the characters are pretty unlikable and thus I don't give a @#$ about them.
  29. TexasAtheist
    Jul 14, 2015
    1
    Season 1 of True Detective is (in my opinion) the greatest piece of television ever produced. Season 2 on the other hand, seems to be going out of its way to be ridiculous and terrible. From the dialogue that will literally make you laugh out loud (unintentionally), to the terrible chemistry between lead actors, to the shootout in Episode 4 that makes little to zero sense, it's all a mess.Season 1 of True Detective is (in my opinion) the greatest piece of television ever produced. Season 2 on the other hand, seems to be going out of its way to be ridiculous and terrible. From the dialogue that will literally make you laugh out loud (unintentionally), to the terrible chemistry between lead actors, to the shootout in Episode 4 that makes little to zero sense, it's all a mess. Season 2 didn't have to live up to Season 1 to be positive, in fact nobody expected it to. But it's rather telling that after 4 episodes of the season, I'd rather watch Failure to Launch then another episode.… Expand
  30. PaulSoleil
    Jun 27, 2015
    1
    Instead of something new and fresh for the second season (the advantage to an anthology, the ability to re-invent), this feels like a cheap knockoff of season 1. Maybe not so bad, since season 1 is easily brilliant (enough to overlook the satisfying conclusion), but Justin Lin's directing fails to communicate the story in any stylish or coherent way. (even the trailers looked like aInstead of something new and fresh for the second season (the advantage to an anthology, the ability to re-invent), this feels like a cheap knockoff of season 1. Maybe not so bad, since season 1 is easily brilliant (enough to overlook the satisfying conclusion), but Justin Lin's directing fails to communicate the story in any stylish or coherent way. (even the trailers looked like a Lifetime cop show). I'll keep watching, just like when you go to your high school reunion and see your old high school crush is now 330lbs, but you still stare at her to try to see the girl you once liked so much. I can see the actors trying....and maybe that's a problem....… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Most Discussed TV Season of 2015
56
#56 Most Shared TV Season of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
61

Generally favorable reviews - based on 41 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 41
  3. Negative: 0 out of 41
  1. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: John Anderson
    Jun 23, 2015
    50
    True Deetective is both underwritten and over-plotted.
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  2. The Lincoln Journal Star
    Reviewed by: Jeff Korbelik
    Jun 22, 2015
    75
    It’s difficult to like or root for any of the four, making this one difficult watch. Still, creator and writer Nic Pizzolatto has a knack for storytelling and character development. Especially intriguing is Farrell.
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  3. Kansas City Star
    Reviewed by: Sara Smith
    Jun 22, 2015
    60
    Although it was wise not to try to repeat the double interrogation format of the first season, there are clever nods to those closed-room confessionals, and the show eventually eases into rewarding drive-and-talks between Farrell and McAdams.... What keeps this Detective from being quite as compelling as the first is the lack of early focus.
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