Matt Smith reviews the sixth episode of True Detective…
To put it in a clichéd way, like a puzzle, True Detective is coming together. The missing pieces are revealing themselves at a delightful pace. Is the whole puzzle complete for Marty and Rust though?
The missing pieces coming together simile is none more apt than when connected with McConaughey’s Rust Cohle. A great performance from McConaughey bridges the gap between modern day Rust and the youngest one we see. He’s talked about the different time zones Rust has been in almost as different characters, but you can see the character journey in his face as he goes from damaged enigma to deranged lunatic.
Rust is the one after the missing pieces this week. In some ways midpoint Rust is more far-gone than modern day Rust. He’s a man frantically searching for meaning among everything, including some closed cases he’s adamant are connected. It’s this push for answers that is pushing Rust closer to the exit as everyone at the station, including Marty, aims to squash Rust’s theories under their boots.
Are Rust’s ways the best method to find the truth? The classic question of whether a cop in a corrupt location must do things the unlawful way to do good is implied, and along with Marty’s focus on his own personal problems, a satisfying ending to their partnership crops up.
Vibrant cinematography pops when exterior scenes are shot, giving a neat juxtaposition to the interiors of the police station that’s grey and downbeat. There’s some cloying imagery from the colour scheme and general visuals, almost a mist or haze that accompanies the cigarette smoke and humidity. It’s no wonder this is the home of broken cases and broken people. Everyone’s a liar; no one is black and white.
Everyone has their respective breakdowns, events culminating in a car wreck that leaves families and partnerships lost. Rust and Marty’s partnership, summed up with the bar name Fox and Hound, breaks apart brutally, and no one’s in the right. And it’s all so good; you just want it to carry on forever. But like a puzzle, everything’s coming together and it does have an end. Whether Rust and Marty ever find the bad guy is still up for debate, but we as an audience will soon see what really happened, despite the liars, cheaters and lawbreakers that show that maybe there isn’t such a thing as a true detective.
Matt Smith – follow me on Twitter.
Originally published April 1, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
