Variety Calls True Detective Season Two “Watchable.”

By Reuben Levine | Jun 12, 2015

The second season of True Detective will premiere on June 21st, but some outlets have been able to watch the fire few episodes early. This is a standard practice, of course, and it can give fans a taste of what’s to come. But in the case of True Detective season two, perhaps expectations need to be put in check.

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That’s the gist of Variety’s review, which is neither very hard on the new season or entirely in its corner:

"“Although generally watchable, the inspiration that turned the first into an obsession for many seems to have drained out of writer Nic Pizzolatto’s prose, at least three hours into this eight-episode run.”"

That’s not a great sign. It should be noted that this particular Variety reviewer has a tendency to be hard on returning series. Still, keeping expectations in check is always the wise thing to do. True Detective season two needs to strike out on its own, and a constant comparison to the first season is only going to hurt it in the long run.

The review also seems to take umbrage with a more “mundane,” tone, perhaps indicating that the detective dynamic that Pizzolatto is so excited about may not work so well the second time around. Especially with two more leads added to the mix:

"“Once the ball gets rolling, though, the new “Detective” feels increasingly mundane — in tone and style…Part of that might have to do with the necessity of serving the multiple leads, at the expense of the focus on two that the first enjoyed…there’s marginal evidence of things really heating up until after July 4.”"

The review is not of the entire season, and Variety seems to think that things could really take off in the latter half of the season. We’re going to reserve judgment until we see what True Detective has to offer for ourselves, but the main conceit of this review is, and always will be valid: keep your expectations in check.

You can read the entire, not very long review over at Variety.

Next: True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto given a nice spread in Vanity Fair.

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