True Detective’s Second Season Won’t Surpass the First

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The above words may seem like a damning judgement before production even gets fully started on True Detective season two. In some ways, it’s possible that it is. It’s also the only way that season two is going to be able to move forward without being constantly compared to what came before. It’s a belief that could help break a lot of fan’s current attachment to the first season, and such a break is going to be necessary for the second outing.

True Detective’s first season hit a nerve in popular culture that is rarely done. Season one created the foundation for True Detective going forward, which, in a way, means that we most likely won’t see the same mass-interest in the second season as we did in the first. Now matter how excited we all may be for season two, True Detective has established itself already; it’s no longer the new kid on the block.

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Being an anthology series can help with that somewhat, but that then brings in the new trouble of comparing new characters to old ones. True Detective is going to have to shake the ghost of the first season, and so it’s both a bless and a curse that it was so successful right out of the gate.

Season two can improve in certain aspects that the first season stumbled on, such as the poor character development of the villain and the disappointing ending. We will for sure be seeing an increase in female characters, which is a plus, but it will come down to the writing to see how well that pans out.

True Detective’s second season should be thought of as a separate entity; it will fail or succeed based entirely on its own merits. Season one’s success is, right now, the greatest hurdle that True Detective faces going forward.