Matt Smith reviews the first episode of True Detective….
One of the keys to making great art is making something different to what’s come before. You must adhere to the most basic principles of your chosen form, but with everything being bought into context, you have to show your audience something new.
Not to get all high-end and snooty about things. While what’s been said above isn’t exactly bourgeoisie (although just typing the word ‘bourgeoisie’ makes me want to beat myself up), every art form also needs the nitty gritty little things to get by. Everything must come together to at least be a twist on what you’ve seen before.
One of the first things you might notice about True Detective is the high-end production values; in even it’s opening credits. No simple ‘stars, created by, show title’ quick chute into things, True Detective wants you to stay still and watch carefully, as it patiently tells you what it thinks you should know.
It takes place in a Louisiana populated by a diverse range of people, but with a feeling in the air of intense pressure. It feels like this police force are pushed by the public, as opposed to being in service to them. This is a place where if the real culprit isn’t captured, it wouldn’t be too far to think they’d grab the closest thing to.
Out to stop an elusive serial killer, we’re presented with the past and present images of Detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson). While the prospect of travelling from past to present is sometimes used as a gimmick (and sometimes done badly) True Detective blends this form of storytelling seamlessly to the point where it doesn’t matter. It simply helps tell the story.
Proper applause should be given to those with the job of giving McConaughey and Harrelson their looks of past and present. Some actors look as if they’ve been caked in make-up, bad wigs, CGI or a mixture of all three, but like all things in this episode the ideas are kept simple. Again, the point of these things isn’t so we marvel at the job done, but that we don’t even notice.
Something I did notice, however, is the seemingly strict adherence to the rule of the grim. With visuals similar to another great series, Hannibal, shocking images are laid out on screen. While it gives the serial killer a strange kink and gives our detectives plenty to look at in terms of potential clues, it seems like almost every show with a detective as a protagonist needs a horrible image to stick in your mind, because great storytelling isn’t enough.
What’s more interesting is the two main characters, stuck in the middle with each other. It’s part buddy-cop, part carer-child. Cohle, a man who sticks out so much even his name is a rare spelling of a more common name, does his thing. He chases up cases his way, while Hart sometimes tidies, sometimes chides. Will Martin Hart, the self-admitted everyday normal guy who sees life in seemingly simpler terms, continue to be a representation of us the audience? I can’t help but think with Woody Harrelson given the role, he’ll be given more to do than chase after Rust Cohle’s ‘wacky’ antics.
Another old thing made new, is the way audiences eyes are drawn more to one character than the other. It helps having one reactionary character sat next to one who creates their own actions. While people may strangely like to think they’re closer to the more obviously interesting Cohle, not many people are like George Carlin if he’d joined the police force. His attempts to wax lyrical about his philosophy comes across as part-enlightened meditation, part-child stumbling over growing limbs. And for once, this is a detective who does things his own way without going out of his way to break the rules (see Elementary, The Following, any show where the tagline includes the words ‘plays by his own rules’).
There’s a true darkness that lies somewhere within some of the characters’ souls, as opposed to the more artificial darkness shoved in your face by other shows. Darkness within characters and the moral ambiguity of everyone isn’t made out to be a big thing, at least so far (as much as I gush, this is only episode one). It’s more about how these two characters connected with each other and what really happened with their relationship.
In so many ways, True Detective seems like it has the potential to overtake every cop show around in an instant, because of a calmness letting us in on the confidence of those involved in the production. This episode doesn’t try to take you on a rollercoaster ride, it just sits back and lets you squirm without realising. And without anyone else realising it was there, True Detective has discovered the new within this oversubscribed genre. Which is probably what you’ve read about every cop show coming out of America, but that just makes True Detective even better, doesn’t it?
Matt Smith – follow me on Twitter.
Originally published February 25, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
