“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s show, thou art more
complicated and less fun!” Stuart Smally (Al Franken) used to say “Compare and
despair!” But it’s hard not to compare
the new season of True Detective to the brilliantly strange first season. This season sports a brand new cast of big
film stars such as Colin Farell, Rachel McAdams and actors from the small
screen like Timothy Murphy from Sons of Anarchy and Taylor Kitsch from Friday
Night Lights. Will the second season be able to create and explore this new
group of true detectives?
The opening credits role with creepy music and murderous
montage set in Southern California. The
camera focuses on white sticks in a field, each affixed with florecent pink
tape. Ray Velcoro (Collin Farrell) is
sitting in a car in front of a school with an overweight red-haired boy. He tries to impart fatherly advice to the kid
on his first day of school. We learn Ray
is divorced from the boy’s mother. The
boy exits the car to the immediate taunts from other kids.
Ray meets with a lawyer to discuss expanded visitation
rights of the boy. They discuss the rape
and battery of his wife many years before. (The red-haired boy is likely the
rapist’s child.) The lawyer brings up
the fact Ray is not likely the biological father. Ray responds, “My son is my son.” The lawyer recounts Ray’s work history, first
with the L.A. sheriff’s department and later with the fictional L.A. town of
Vinci. She asks him if she’ll find
anything negative regarding his work. Ray hands her a stack of cash and tells
her to do her job.
Flashback to a younger Ray in his L.A. Sheriff’s uniform as
he enters a seedy bar to meet Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn). Frank hands him a picture of a man and a
handwritten note. He explains the man
was possibly the perpetrator of his wife’s attack. He states the man was addicted to meth and
bragged about the crime. (Assuming Frank served prison time with the suspect.)
Frank now lives in a fancy house with a beautiful wife. (Cue
Talking Heads track!) The town of Vinci is revealed to have factories and a
casino which Frank operates. Frank and
his business partners express concern over an investigative piece in the local
paper which seeks to expose corruption in the town. Frank is due to meet an important Russian mob
boss arriving today.
A black Cadillac carries an old man in wrap-around
sunglasses. There is a stuffed raven in
the back seat of the car next to him. For
now, this seems to be a David Lynch bit of bizarreness!
Ani (Rachel McAdams) wakes up after a night of casual sex
and promptly kicks out the man because she has to go to work. She is a member of the L.A. Sheriff’s
department. There is a raid on a rural
location suspected of being a house of prostitution. The male owner insists he’s running a
legitimate Internet business featuring webcam pornography. Ani pulls a tall green wigged woman aside. As they argue, it’s revealed that she is Ani’s
sister. The sister has had trouble with
addiction and the law. Ani seems very
angry and judgmental towards her. The
sheriff’s raid is aborted because the operation was legal. Ani leaves disgusted.
Ray meets with the Vinci Chief of Police to discuss the
newspaper’s investigative piece. The City Manager, Ben Caspere has gone missing.
The Chief tasks Ray in finding the man
and preventing further negative publicity for the department.
A CHP officer (Taylor Kitsch from Friday Night Lights) stops
a woman in a red convertible driving recklessly on the coastal highway. The woman is very attractive but doesn’t have
a driver’s license. The officer notes
she is wearing an ankle monitor. She offers him sexual favors if he’ll let her
off. It’s not clear how the officer responded to this offer.
The officer has a meeting with his superiors over the
incident which has triggered an internal affairs investigation. The officer is placed on leave. He mentions
being a veteran of “Black Mountain.” (Possibly a mercenary group like Black
Water?) He tells his commander when he
was with Black Mountain they were “working for freedom.”
Frank and his wife Jordon ready themselves for a party. Ray interviews a young office manager from the
missing City Manager’s office. She isn’t
too helpful but mentions the manager is important since he holds the purse
strings for most city projects. Ray
discovers his home address and leaves with his partner to investigate.
Caspere’s mansion appears to have been ransacked. The City
Manager has a strange sexual art collection. After surveying the scene, Ray
decides to classify the manager’s disappearance as a kidnapping. The manager’s
computer is missing.
Frank Semyon meets with the Russian mob boss Osip. (Timothy
Murphy from Sons of Anarchy.) The mysterious black Cadillac continues down the
road with its elderly passenger. Ani and
her partner Elvis serve foreclosure papers to a young Hispanic family. The woman complains to Ani that her sister
Vera disappeared without a trace a few weeks ago. Vera’s last known job was at a religious
institute which Ani seems familiar. Frank
addresses the crowd about the new high-speed rail project which will provide a
lot of revenue for the town of Vinci.
Ani and Elvis arrive at the Panticapaeu Institute. An old hippy looking man is giving a lecture
about philosophy while dropping Allen Ginsburg’s name. Ani interviews the maids about Vera but she’s
left the Institute and it’s not clear where she went.
Ray is drinking scotch in his car and surveying the neighborhood.
There are papers next to him indicating
this is the home of the lead investigative journalist. Ray dons a balaclava, sneaks past a woman
smoking meth and proceeds to kick in the door of an apartment. The blinds move,
but the beating takes place off camera. Ray
leaves with a stack of papers.
Ani speaks with the old hippy at the institute who is her
father. They discuss her sister Athena
and how she’s earning a living. Ani’s
father isn’t upset by Athena’s choice of occupation. He seems perturbed by Anitigone’s (what an
amazing name!) anger and judgment of her sister and the world. Ani leaves in a rage.
Ray meets his son at school to give him a sleeping bag for a
camping trip. (Unfortunately, the trip was last week.) He inquires about the
shoes he bought his son. The kid’s stepfather says there was an “incident” with
the shoes. Ray forcefully pushes his son
to reveal some bullies cut up his new shoes. Ray learns the main kid’s name was Aspen.
“That’s a boy’s name?” (Perfect!)
Ray sits in the car after this interaction and speaks into a
tape-recorder presumably to apologize to his son. Would a twelve-year-old even know how to
listen to a tape?
The CHiPs officer, Paul, enters his apartment to find his
girlfriend eagerly awaiting his return. He
pleads for some time to shower. Paul has
scars on his right shoulder and needs to pop some pills before he can get
romantic with his girlfriend. Paul seems
pretty tightly wound.
Frank and Osip discuss their future business partnership.
The Russian implores Frank to respect the “old rules” of conducting business.
Ray drives to his son’s bully’s house. Speaking to the father he asks to see Aspen, and
then proceeds to don some brass knuckles and beat him in front of his son. Ray states if he ever bullies his kid again
he’ll “Butt fuck his father in front of his head-less mom’s corpse on the front
lawn!” I don’t think Aspen will be
cutting up anyone’s Nike’s again.
The Cadillac stops. The
old man is dragged out of the car and placed on a bench, still wearing the
wrap-around sunglasses.
Paul leaves his horny girlfriend to “do some side job.” She is jealous believing he’s going to see
another woman. Paul assures her he’s not
in a good place and is figuring some things out for himself. Paul rides his motorcycle helmetless at great
speeds.
Ray meets Frank at a seedy bar. A depressing woman is
singing a depressing song to virtually no one.
Ray hands Frank the reporter’s notes and computer. Ray slams down shots of Johnnie Walker Black,
while Frank attempts to ask him about his kid. Frank reveals he and Jordon are
trying IVF to conceive. Frank’s handler
urges him to leave, and tries to take the whiskey bottle with him. Ray protects the whiskey.
Ani is at Frank’s casino, drinking and gambling. Paul continues his helmetless ride at over a
hundred miles per hour. Paul stops at a
picnic table by the road, only to find the man from the Cadillac. It’s clear he’s dead and the wallet on his lap
reveals he is the missing city manager Ben Caspere. Paul calls 911. The coroner reveals the man’s eyes were
blinded, possibly by acid, and had sustained a severe pelvic fracture. Ani, Ray
and Paul meet one another for the first time.
The camera zooms out on the flashing lights in the breaking dawn.
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