This show is basically the new x Files and the new Twin Peaks at the same time. 5.

The intellect of the writing is not the strong point of the show, but it's pretty well-made overall.

Yeah, Rust really gets on my nerves with all his pseudo-intellectual BS. His character is very intense, and his lines are very well delivered, but once you start analysing his rants for content, it quickly becomes clear that it's all gibberish. He's like a community-college Satanist who just smoked a bowl and churned out a Youtube video on his Deep and Freaky Thoughts.

I'm operating under the assumption that this is *intentional*, and the writers really want to drive home the fact that a) Rust is smart and has a lot of potential, but also b) he's a misanthropic burnout with serious emotional issues who isn't nearly as clever as he thinks he is.


*
Time is like, a circle, maaan! You ever heard of m-brane theory? It's like Michio Kaku, man, yknow, circular, but we're all just like little atoms on a rug only the SHEEP are too blind to see what's really going on... durf durf hurf

have you ever heard of The Other?

Though Rust does get called out on his "philosphizing" and how annoying it is, at least.

He does get called out, but it's usually by his partner, and it's usually just Marty saying something to the effect of: "But Rust! Ya jist can't say stuff like that 'round us decent Godfearing redneck types! It ain't PROPER!" Rust gets called out on propriety (an objection which I think we as an audience are trained to discount), instead of being called out on the fact that his streams of pop-philosophy are disjointed, inconsistent, and quite probably wrong.

Granted, Marty has some serious philosophical flaws that are never directly addressed, either - the hypocrisy in the way his behavior (womanizing, roughing up suspects, letting his emotions get him into trouble) does not match up to his stated philosophy of being a straight-laced, morally-guided family man. But I think guys like Marty are so common in our media narratives that audiences don't really NEED any more comment than that; we can all of us pick up on what's wrong with Marty, because we've seen him so many times.

Rust is more sophisticated; he's an anti-hero with the emphasis placed squarely on the anti, but his lines are delivered with so many big words, and with such conviction (to re-purpose a quote from Rust himself: "...he is effective in proportion to the amount of certainty he can project"), that I think many people in the audience who are... let's say, less discerning and less educated than us clever bastards here at poeTV, I think the problems with Rust may go over their head. I've already met a couple people IRL who think Rust is some deeply insightful philosopher, and just skimming the Youtube comments, it looks like there are a lot more.

Anyway, it is a great show, and even Rust is a thoroughly enjoyable character once I get over how much I hate his face. It's no Vikings, but it's making the post-Breaking-Bad TV era a lot more bearable!

Hey we might be bastards, but where do you get off calling us clever!?!?

Thinking that Rust is supposed to be some badass nihilist who tells it like it is is like thinking that Walter White was a badass chemist who was only trying to do what was right for his family. I swear, for how much people bitch about television being dumbed down they really suck at basic comprehension of shows where things are directly spelled out for the viewer.

It's good but it's way overhyped by Breaking Bad fanboys that need a new grimdark antihero show to worship.

i already like this show way more than i ever liked breaking bad

Oh, are we doing that Internet thing where we pretend we're above awesome stuff three months after it ends?

there's still two episodes left, you don't even know which cliche the ending is going to go with. :/

and I don't hate Breaking Bad, I think it's better than TD personally. It actually had some moments of levity, more interesting characters, etc.

You can always watch it on project free tv. Wait.. They're not renewing it?

I called the ending of Breaking Bad after only seeing like 2 episodes of the final season, and called the ending of Lost without seeing a single episode, just overhearing office banter. In case you don't know the endings, because you don't go outside, I won't spoil em. I love this show enough to have faith that they won't go with the conclusion people are expecting.

I think the ending will be that Rust discovers he was part of the Baptist minister's rape gang, possibly even the ring leader, only he forgot about it because of his blackouts. But then he will discover that one of the children he raped and murdered was actually the Anti-Christ, so by being "evil" he actually killed the Anti-Christ and saved the planet. Then Rust and Marty will get medals from Jesus and everyone goes out for ice cream. The End.

I don't know where the internet's obsession with "calling it" came from or who came up with the idea that serialized fiction is some puzzle to be "solved" but I genuinely feel badly for people who can't appreciate a show like Breaking Bad or LOST because they place so much value on twist endings.

I totally agree. The only reason I haven't watched Lost or much of Breaking Bad, or The Wire was, specifically when they were on, I had no time to watch them. I swear I'll catch up, and I know it's not much of an excuse because I had the time to half-drunkenly watch Timecop at 3 in the morning last night, but I think shows of that calibre deserve more attention.

With True Detective, I've had the time to watch every episode, and not overhear people at coffee shops, the place I work at, or bars etc. talk about it ad infinitum. So when I say I "called it" it wasn't out of negativity or disappointment, just that I kind of figured it'd go in that direction.

I think the only thing that'd piss me off about TD is if it was the Lawnmower guy. That'd be fucking stupid. Trust me I don't think that's a spoiler.

In my perfect little world, if there is a season two it would replace Chole and Hart with Adam Scott and Michael Gross, and take place in Missoula Montana.

I'd like the Pacific Northwest, but Twin Peaks and Grimm kind of have that covered (never seen Grimm but they film part of it in my neighborhood all the time), shows like CSI have LA, Las Vegas, Miami, and Law and Order has New York.

The good news is that True Detective is doing the American Horror Story thing and having each season be an entirely new story and cast so you may very well get your wish.

"I think the only thing that'd piss me off about TD is if it was the Lawnmower guy. "

HAHAHAHAHAHA, hey Zest, didja catch the newest episode?!?!

I like how they made that alternate Dallas/Newhart-esque ending where he's back to being the dad from Malcom in the Middle waking up from a dream. That's testament to the show's genius right there. After hearing countless people going "I can't believe they were in purgatory the whole time!" and then cursing the show for "wasting their time.." What were they expecting? Everybody gets rescued at the end and goes home? Not even Gilligan's Island writers were that dumb, hence the opportunity for future movies or spinoffs, like Breaking Bad's Better Call Saul (which I really want to see)

I saw the lumberjack, but where was the repentant? I thought the point of that ending was Dexter did not get his "comeuppance" (like anyone really thought that should happen, hello, Sopranos nerds!), instead cutting all ties to his "real" life and going back to doing what he always loved - being a creep-o loner who kills people.

I really hope lumberjack Dexter wasn't a repentant lumberjack; that'd just be all sorts of unsatisfying.

Homer, the people who actually made Dexter disagree with you, he went into exile as a form of self-punishment.

http://tvline.com/2013/09/22/dexter-series-finale-spoilers-deb -dies-dexter-fakes-death/

It was pretty clear to me when I watched it the first and only time, though.

Self-punishment where he can shirk his responsibilities and go back to murdering people sans consequence. If the people who made Dexter disagree, if they think Dexter is just not going to have a family AND not butcher teenage hikers, then they're wrong; it wouldn't be the first time they were wrong, especially not in light of the way they botched everything since Season 2 with the possible exception of Season 4.

I mean, for Chrissake, the guy they interviewed said that people were going to wonder what happened to Quinn. No they aren't. Nobody will do that. So he's clearly an unreliable narrator, and obviously we can not take his word for it that Dexter is now a Zen hermit.

Oh, I have no doubts your imagined ending to Dexter is superior to the actual one, anyone could make a better ending.

The point is, Dexter will always stand as an example of a TV show flubbing the landing (or the whole second half of the routine).