True Detective [Day 2102]

Photo-a-Day: Year 6, Day 276 – Total Days: 2,102

Canon 6D | ISO 400 | 67 mm | f/5.0 | 1/100 sec

I had heard some good things about the HBO series True Detective and so last weekend I finally got around to checking it out (thank you HBO GO app!)

It was late Friday evening and I had only planned to watch one episode, but pretty early into it I was hooked. Found myself watching the next three and staying up to 3AM in the process, it was that good. Over the next two days, I then proceeded to watch the remaining four episodes of the first season (which concludes the story-arc, as it’s being done as an anthology type of series, with all new characters, setting and story for each season.)

I’ve described the show to friends as being a police procedural, CSI-type of show, but one that was co-authored by Cormac McCarthy and H. P. Lovecraft – largely due to the frequent philosophical ruminations on the nature of humanity, the disturbing and nightmarish crime being investigated, and some pervasive elements of existential dread.

So even though I could see the show thanks to having HBO, I ended up buying a copy on disc just so I could share it with friends. So yeah, I’m a big fan.

I’ll also add that Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey’s performances are stellar. McConaughey in particular has a pretty unusual and difficult character, but he pulls it off in a remarkably compelling way. No surprise that he’s won awards for it and was nominated for the Emmy. The show is also shot gorgeously, and turns the setting of the southern Louisiana bayou region into a character in its own right.

Warning though: the show is definitely not for everyone. It’s got some dark subject matter and is frequently rather disturbing, so if you don’t deal well with that, you might need to skip it. Think a little bit of movies like Se7en or Silence of the Lambs, to understand what I mean. If you’re fine with those, then definitely check out True Detective.