Will There Be a Rust-like Character in True Detective’s Second Season?
Matthew McConaughey’s Rust was one of the many highlights of True Detective’s first season and even helped to revive McConaughey’s career. There have been a multitude of True Detective spoofs that focus on Rust, so it’s fairly safe to say that the character has entered the cultural zeitgeist in a big way.
Since season two is set to flip things around, there will be no Rust. Which means that there is officially a vacancy open for a philosophically minded character to either enthrall or annoy the hell out of you. But that doesn’t mean that there should be.
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In order to break free of the first season but still maintain the same feel, there are some things that have to stay constant. One of those things is director Cary Fukunaga, who is thankfully staying on as a producer. The characters themselves, however, should feel fresh while still being able to function believably in the world that Pizzolatto has created.
Season two may be as heavy on philosophy as the first, but it should find new ways to do so. A character as existential as Rust was a brilliant, one-time idea. To have a similar character in the second season would take away from what makes the show so special.
Philosophy has become a large part of True Detective as a whole, whether Pizzolatto intended it to or not. It should still function in some way in the second season, but have a single character carry the burden of it is not the way to go.