Time to Analyze the Preview for next week’s True Detective, “Other Lives”

By Reuben Levine | Jul 13, 2015

Last night’s new episode of True Detective, “Down Will Come,” offered some of the best of what season two has to offer. It allowed us to feel a little more for the leads and ended on tense, brutal note. Going by the preview that HBO released, the fifth episode of True Detective will continue to push tensions to an eventual breaking point.

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The most striking aspect about the preview is that we get to see Ray without his mustache. This is something we knew was coming for several months. We also see a shot of Ray’s wife, so it’s possible that his new look is in response to the coming custody battle. We don’t really see what the outcome of last night’s firefight will be, but it appears that the Caspere case is closed. At least officially.

We have another scene from Paul in which he seems to just be falling apart. Having a baby and getting married in a rush is how problems are fixed, right?

Other short shots worth mentioning are Ani in a different uniform — possibly due to the closing of the Casper case or her recent suspension — and the return of Dr. Pitlor. Another, more cynical way of looking at all this would be to say that there will be more brooding and not much else.

But True Detective season two has successfully proven that it’s more than that. Last night’s episode has become the high-watermark of the season so far. All those brooding, pained looks finally feel they’re worth something.

We’re at the halfway point of the season and there’s no reason to think that True Detective won’t continue to surprise us until he very end. You can watch the preview for next week’s episode, “Other Lives,” below.

Next: True Detective Season Two review, 'Down Will Come'

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