EPISODE
SEASON
True Detective - Season 2
A bizarre murder brings together three law-enforcement officers and a career criminal, each of whom must navigate a web of conspiracy and betrayal in the scorched landscapes of California. When police officer and war veteran Paul Woodrugh discovers a crime scene, it attracts detectives Ray Velcoro and Ani Bezzerides to the investigation. Also involved is Frank Semyon, a career criminal and entrepreneur, who is married to Jordan.
November 26, 1983 in Santa Rosa, California, USA
4 November 1969, Uvalde, Texas, USA
June 19, 2015
The story is dark and atmospheric -- just the way fans like it. Meanwhile, the first three episodes hint at enough buried secrets and fresh angles to indicate that the story still has a lot to give.June 19, 2015
There's a lot of plot that makes the first couple of episodes a bit difficult to ease into, but at the end of the second episode, Pizzolato's penchant for abrupt violence with a side of freakiness will leave you with panting for more.June 18, 2015
This go-round - not as surreal, except for the episode that opens with a cheesy lounge singer performing The Rose in someone's Twin Peaks-style fever dream - is a straight-ahead, contemporary L.A. noir thriller.June 19, 2015
True Detective Season 2 may not be subtle ("this is my least favorite life," a performer mournfully sings at the Vinci bar.) But the actors provide enough light to make it worth navigating the gloom.May 08, 2017
This season seems to be parodying itself. Sometimes, the romance between a show and its viewers ends badly. To paraphrase True Detective 2's tagline: Maybe we get the television we deserve.June 19, 2015
It may be impossible for it to strike TV lightning twice, but True Detective in its second iteration definitely has a charge.June 18, 2015
True Detective is a very different beast in its second season: less Cthulhu and more garden-variety lizard. It doesn't haunt so much as slither.September 26, 2016
Vaughn does not have half [McConaighey's] charisma, however, and Semyon's wordy meditations on his ambition and paranoia do not work nearly as well.June 18, 2015
Pizzolatto is a terrific writer who crafts elliptical dialogue that builds the mystery and intrigue. The story, too, is the classic onion variety, with character reveals, motives and backstory arriving as each layer is peeled away.June 18, 2015
Is it the breakthrough, landmark television of the first season? No. But it is a rock-solid crime drama with film caliber production values, intriguing plotting and great performances.