True Detective Fans Need to Let Go of Cary Fukunaga

By Reuben Levine | Oct 2, 2015

The first season of True Detective brought a level of artistry to the television detective story that hadn’t been seen in a long time. That was due, in part, to Cary Fukunaga’s direction. His cinematographer, Adam Arkapaw, also deserves a fair amount of credit. Season two, for the most part, was missing this. With directors switching off every episode (except for Justin Lin) season two didn’t share the same cohesiveness in its direction.

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Cary Fukunaga was recently interviews by Vulture in which he stated that not only had he not watched season two, but that he would also not be directing season three. The latter doesn’t come as a surprise, and the former could be twisted to fit any meaning one could think of concerning Fukunaga’s relationship with Nic Pizzolatto, or lack thereof.

It was never the plan to have Cary Fukunaga stay on for more than a single season, but it was apparently the plan to get another director to take on the entirety of season two. That creates a lot of work, and isn’t something that Fukunaga is looking forward to when he starts work on The Alienist. But True Detective has become more than Cary Fukunaga, and it doesn’t need him to be great.

The potential return of Fukunaga would not act as band-aid to fix True Detective’s perceived problems.

Cary Fukunaga, for example, was not responsible for Frank’s incredible death scene. Nor was he involved with the crow man shooting. True Detective does not need him to be great, as skilled as a director as he is. Fans and critics who pine for the old days of season one will continue to be burned by the turns that True Detective takes in the future.

The potential return of Fukunaga would not act as band-aid to fix True Detective’s perceived problems. The future is wide open, and now is the most exciting time to be a fan.

Next: See a different side of Matthew McConaghey in this still from Gold.

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