True Detective creator talks about why season 3 will be better than season 2

True Detective season 1 was a critical success, which made the lackluster season 2 so disappointing.

With the premiere of season 3 of True Detective two weeks away, creator Nic Pizzolatto talked to Cinema Blend about his views on the disappointing second season of the show.

"I learned and understood there was a lot of stuff in Season 2 that people hadn’t really wanted to see, based on Season 1 of True Detective. But I’m very proud of the work everybody did."

The first season of True Detective starred Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as two police detectives who investigated the murder of a prostitute in 1995 and then revisit the case 17 years later along with other unsolved crimes.

The second season of True Detective had some big name actors in Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn, but it was a critical disappointment, albeit a polarizing one.

What went wrong with True Detective season 2?

When it comes to the second season, former HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo said that he took the blame and it was not Pizzolatto’s fault.

Lombardo revealed that he asked Pizzolatto for a second season to arrive one year after the first and that time crunch hurt the crafting of the season itself.

Pizzolatto is the show creator, but it was Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation) who directed season 1 while six directors helmed the second season.

For season 3, Nic Pizzolatto will make his directorial debut alongside Jeremy Saulnier and Daniel Sackheim. Star Mahershala Ali called the scripts better than any movie he was offered last year.

This is a major shift from season 2. HBO offered David Cronenberg told the audience during a talk at the University of Iceland that he had the chance to direct the premiere episode of that second season and he rejected it.

"Last year I was approached to direct the first episode of the second season of True Detective, I considered it but I thought that the script was bad, so I didn’t do it."

That season had officers from three different police departments cooperating to find out who killed a corrupt city manager. The biggest complaint was that the story and mystery were too convoluted.

True Detective season 3

The trailer for True Detective season 3 shows a different story and one much more similar to season 1.

Mahershala Ali is a police detective from Arkansas who investigated a missing children’s case in 1980. The story then goes through three different time frames in his life as he relives this case over again — as well as the aftermath throughout the years.

Early reviews are positive, ranked at 79-percent on Rotten Tomatoes based on critics who saw it before its release. IndieWire reports that True Detective is “good again” while Entertainment Weekly called the magic “a bit stale” now.

Nic Pizzolatto told Cinema Blend that he is just trying to get better at what he is doing. He thinks the criticism from season 2 helped him as he crafted season 3 and that is all the team that is working on True Detective wants to do — get better.

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True Detective season 3 premieres on January 13 on HBO and Show Snob will have full coverage and recaps of the entire season. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook & Twitter for more on your favorite shows!

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