Will True Detective Season Two be able to Wrap Everything Up?

By Reuben Levine | Jul 28, 2015

As the preview for next weekend’s new episode of True Detective season two will remind you, there are only two episodes left. Taking that into consideration, there’s still a lot that we don’t know. Who are the crow men? Who is the one that gave Frank the phony information for Ray? Is Paul physically capable of smiling?

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The first season of True Detective raised many mysteries as well, and then quickly tried to wrap everything up in a bow. That led to an ending that felt a little in-authentic. Going into True Detective season two, we already knew that Nic Pizzolatto has had a problem with endings. Now that there are only two episodes left, it’s fair game to wonder if True Detective will actually be able to take care of all of its loose ends.

In order to facilitate a more fulfilling ending –we hope — the final episode of True Detective, “Omega Station,” will run for 87 minutes according to Bustle. That’s about twenty minutes longer than the average episode, and is probably as close to a True Detective movie as we’re ever going to get. But will it be enough?

True Detective season two has made it clear that it’s about the personal lives of the characters, not so much about the case they’re trying to solve.

The last couple of True Detective episodes have done a fine job of bringing everything into view. These episodes have focus and feel purposeful, which is something that some of the earlier episodes were missing. The problem with True Detective’s first season is not that it didn’t answer the big questions; it’s that it did so quickly, unceremoniously, and altogether inadequately.

Season two is arguably juggling more, and potentially has more to lose if the ending doesn’t come through. True Detective season two has made it clear that it’s about the personal lives of the characters, not so much about the case they’re trying to solve. But with Ben Caspere having roots all throughout the city, there has been some crossover.

It’s more important for True Detective to wrap up the individual stories of the detectives: Paul’s homosexuality and whatever he did in Afghanistan, Ani’s past with her father, Ray’s relationship with his son and with Frank, and Frank recovering from what happened to Caspere and moving on with Jordan. Add in some conspiracies and there’s a ton of ground left to cover.

With how the second half of season two has been going, we’re cautiously optimistic that Pizzilatto will be able to pull it off. But there’s till plenty of room for doubt.

Thanks to Märcõ Brûn for the tip.

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