Even in the golden age of television we live in today, few events as anticipated as the beginning of True Detective's second season on June 21. But with a whole new cast of characters, actors and locations, it's not clear if the return of Nic Pizzolatto's can live up to the show's fantastic first season. And with the first reviews for the season now online, it appears even critics disagree on whether or not the new batch of episodes live up to the potential.
The first reviews for HBO's latest anthology season came online, and it looks like everyone and their brother has an opinion on these new episodes. Keep in mind, these critics only got to see the first three episodes. But of those, it appears critics have diverse opinions on what they saw.
For example, Variety didn't seem particularly enthused with the new detective stories dispelled so far. They warn "those expecting anything approaching the magic conjured by the original Matthew McConaughey-Woody Harrelson pairing should immediately temper their enthusiasm," and note that, despite its "impeccably" cast stars and having the "requisite noir-ish qualities," it's "feels like a by-the-numbers potboiler, punctuated by swooping aerial shots of L.A.," even though it's "generally watchable" and new director Justin Lin brings to mind a Sergio Leone western.
The reviewer also believes True Detective becomes "increasingly mundane" in its tone and style, and is something of a "lesser Michael Mann movie stretched out in episodic form." This may be because of the multiple leads this time, instead of the two leads, played by McConaughey and Harrelson, the first time.
Even more forthcoming in their negative assessment are The Hollywood Reporter, who are quick to warn "it's no season one" and that the first season gave "a magical melding of writing, acting and directing (and music, and yes, even plot for the most part) that gave viewers something memorable, if not perfect," which is "missing" in these first three episodes. They are even quick to call this "a sophomore slump" and saying "the pressure's on for the final remaining five episodes."
Not to worry, though, because not everyone is negative on the season. Esquire claims Pizzolatto's new season is "nearly as addictive" as the first. They also say it's "an exercise in genre fused with existentialism," somewhat similar to what transpired in the first season.
GQ also enjoyed the new season, as they claimed the first episode to be "bats**t" and say it should "chase away any lingering doubt about what True Detective ever was, and clearly still is. It's still trash shined up like gold." Although, this time "it's a bit trashier" but the "same theory still abides."
Also pretty favorable is Vulture, calling it "like a cousin of The Wire as directed by Michael Mann" and while it joshes it for taking everything so seriously, you "admire it for being true to whatever it's trying to be and not really giving a damn what you think of it."
These are just a handful of reviews released so far, and one should expect some more in the weeks to come. It looks like one things for certain, based on these reviews: this new season isn't quite as good as the first. But is it still good? One will have to find out for themselves, as they watch Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Vince Vaughn and Taylor Kitsch lead this new season in a little over a week's time.
Image courtesy of INFphoto.com
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