Does the Fate of True Detective Matter?
New reports are coming in that True Detective might not have a third season. Does it matter?
True Detective had a wildly successful first season that rarely ever happens in television. The first season was a pop culture phenomenon on par with Empire, and for a short time, perhaps even comparable to Game of Thrones. Season two got almost as much attention, but it seemed to run in the opposite direction — the vitriol towards it was powerful and impossible to escape.
True Detective has now had one incredible season and one disappointing one. At this point, does it really matter if it gets a third? Well, yes and no. HBO already has one hell of a replacement lined up, even if it is a limited series. True Detective did not end up defining HBO liked The Sopranos did, but that’s a weighty, perhaps unfair, example.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – FEBRUARY 28: Anonymous Content CEO Steve Golin (C), director Cary Fukunaga (R) and guest attend Michael Sugar, Doug Wald, and Steve Golin’s Pre-Oscar Party hosted by GREY GOOSE Vodka at Sunset Tower on February 28, 2016 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Grey Goose)
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But that’s not to say that True Detective couldn’t get close. The major derailment that was the second season sealed there series’ fate; it would likely never be able to live that down, even if it wasn’t as poor as it was made out to me. It’s all about perception, and the perception of True Detective is that it has run its course.
This could give Nic Pizzolatto the freedom to work on something else, which we already know he wants to do. He could run regular TV series instead of something like True Detective in which he had full creative control, sometimes to a fault. It’s a shame that True Detective won’t be able to reach its full potential, regardless of whether or not it actually gets a third season.
The moment that the public decided that True Detective season two was terrible, the game was over. If it doesn’t come back, it will be missed. By some. If it does, it will never be able to escape the shadow of not only a fantastic first season, but a poor second one.