Does True Detective’s Second Season Mystery Really Matter?
The second season of True Detective is officially one month away. That’s just enough time for one more trailer if HBO chooses to go that route. The first two trailers that we saw for True Detective season two were heavily focused on the characters and didn’t show us much else. They also, so far, haven’t been able to match the feeling of dread that a few of True Detective’s first season trailers had.
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True Detective season two will be heavily character focused — there’s no other way to interpret what we’ve seen so far. Even though all the actors aren’t able to talk about it in any great — or minor — detail, none of the promotional material for True Detective season two that we’ve seen so far focuses on the central mystery.
And that’s feeling more and more like it’s okay. Nic Pizzolatto’s strength doesn’t come in the form of the ability to weave an intricate mystery. That was a huge failing of True Detective’s first season. By brining the villain front and center, in this case Vince Vaughn as Frank Semyon, True Detective will be able to focus on meaningful character development for all of the leads.
The fact that so much of True Detective’s first season was hidden behind a murder mystery ultimately held it back. The final reveal was a let down and made it feel like much of what we knew about The Yellow King didn’t really matter.
This time around, Vaughn will be able to bring us a compelling villain that gets (hopefully) the same treatment as the protagonists. Even though HBO hasn’t been upfront about True Detective’s actual plot, if handled right it won’t really make much of a difference.
The stronger focus on characters will let Pizzolatto shine. The mystery taking a backseat will ultimately make True Detective a stronger show. We watched the first season of True Detective for Rust and Marty; its ultimate downfall was wrapping us up in its serial-killer plot.
With everyone front and center, True Detective’s second season has the capability to be stronger than the first.
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