Starring: Mahershala Ali, Stephen Dorff, Carmen Ejogo, Scoot McNairy, Mamie Gummer, Michael Rooker, Sarah Gadon
The first two seasons of True Detective wasted so much energy on the gloomy lives of the leads that it all but forgot about the murder they were attempting to solve. They drank, did drugs, cavorted, and by the time they got around to figuring out who did it, we forgot what was even done. Names were thrown about at a dizzying pace, and after eight episodes of red herrings and false leads, we simply didn't care anymore.
Season 3 of True Detective managed to keep its eye on the ball and never let the case of two kidnapped children in 1980 Arkansas stray too far from the action. When episode six (out of eight) ended, I felt the series had turned in emotional corner and we were in for something extraordinary. But, extraordinary had to wait. The final two episodes brought the case to a satisfying, if not overwhelming conclusion, but the greatness which was in its grasp slipped away. My argument is the same for True Detective as it was for Sharp Objects, the HBO limited series from last summer which was a stylistic cousin of True Detective. Eight episodes is far too gratuitous. The stories can be wrapped up in half that time. How many fights and reconciliations are we going to have to endure between Wayne Hays (Ali) and his wife Amelia (Ejogo)? How much leaping back and forth between three different years (1980, 1990, and 2015) can we stand? And does this season want to challenge The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King for the record for sheer number of false conclusions?
In this season, two Arkansas youngsters named Julie and Will Purcell go bike riding and never return. Detectives Wayne Hays and Roland West (Dorff) are on the case, and the theories of what happened are endless. The children's troubled parents (McNairy and Gummer) are suspects for a brief time, as expected, but then the case leads to something more troubling and darker (of course). Wayne and Roland are tight, drawing on their experiences as Vietnam vets and their mutual respect to do their jobs as a cohesive unit. Because we soon meet Wayne again as an old man losing his mind to dementia in 2015, we know the case remains unsolved. A reporter (Gadon) interviews Wayne about the holes in the investigation, which produced numerous suspects and even one killer convicted in absentia. Wayne is haunted by his inability to solve the kidnapping, and wants nothing more than to solve it before his memory is gone forever.
The transitions between time periods are done well, but we wonder why they are done at all. A chronologically ordered series would serve the purpose better. Ali's performance is all the more impressive given the burden he has to carry, but for my money, Dorff's performance is the most complex, sensitive, and multi-dimensional. He has the most powerful moments, especially in episode six, in which he reconciles with Wayne after many years. Less impactful are Ali's scenes with Ejogo, which oscillate from quiet tenderness to full-fledged arguments at the drop of a hat. We just wish they would stop seeing each other so we have one less tangent to go off on.
At least this season of True Detective keeps all of the clues, suspects, and plot twists straight enough to be followed. The sheer gloom of the first two seasons is replaced by a genuine sense of guilt and regret for Wayne and Roland. This case got away, and it eats at them because they are professionals. This season at least indicates a step in the right direction. Like the Oscars, True Detective should understand that less is more.
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