海角大神

With the seventh episode of the second season of 鈥淭rue Detective鈥� having aired and only one more to go, it has become evident that the second installment of the HBO drama has not been a success.聽

While some found the season鈥檚 second-to-last episode to be intriguing 鈥� and to be a relief in that it provided some answers to the show鈥檚 mysteries 鈥� many critics and viewers seem to agree that the season finale, which airs on Aug. 9, will have to be spectacular to make up for the previous episodes.聽

鈥淒etective鈥� debuted in 2014 and starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as police detectives in Louisiana. It was critically acclaimed and both McConaughey and Harrelson received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for their work.聽

However, 鈥淒etective鈥� is an anthology show, and 鈥淒etective鈥濃�檚 take on that format means having all-new characters and a new setting from season to season (at least so far). Therefore the second season centered on four new characters: police detective Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell), police detective Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams), highway patrolman Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch), and criminal Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn). The three law enforcers are working to solve a murder that took place in California.聽

But the second season hasn鈥檛 been as well-received as the first. Part of what may have led to this struggle is the anthology format. Creator and writer Nic Pizzolatto had to start from scratch with the second season, creating new characters and a new story (though he did already have the audience鈥檚 goodwill from the first season). For any TV show to accomplish that is challenging.聽

What could have helped this second season succeeded? Taking out about eight different plotlines (give or take a dozen) probably would have helped. The show鈥檚 central mystery is who killed Ben Caspere, the city manager of the California city Vinci. However, the mystery has come to also involve a missing young woman, a corrupt police department, and Frank鈥檚 business associates, among many more. Critics have complained over how many characters there are to keep track of, with writing of the most recent episode, 鈥淲ho killed Ben Caspere? Why, it would seem, Laura a.k.a. Erica did it. And if you鈥檙e saying, 鈥榳ho?鈥� right about now, then you鈥檝e zeroed in on one of the problems at the center of聽True Detective聽Season 2.鈥� mentioned two characters involved in the show鈥檚 conspiracy and labeled them as 鈥渢wo of the Very Important People that we met for like two scenes, five episodes ago,鈥� while yet another 聽noted that 鈥渆ven 'True Detective's' detectives have trouble following the case鈥� Twice in the scene [in which the detectives discuss the case], someone says, 鈥業t doesn't make sense.鈥� It ends with Ani literally throwing up her hands and groaning.鈥澛�

Another problem has been how many protagonists have been at the center of season two. With the show delving into the personal histories of Ray, Ani, Paul, and Frank, as well as having secondary characters like Frank鈥檚 wife Jordan and Ani鈥檚 sister, all of them have felt shortchanged. One wrote that viewers 鈥渇lail to learn about four main characters鈥� and called the character of Paul 鈥渦nderdeveloped.鈥澛�

Michael Lombardo, HBO president of programming, recently , 鈥淚f [Pizzolatto] wants to do another season, I said [that] the door is open. We鈥檇 like to do another season of it.鈥� If 鈥淒etective鈥� does return for more episodes, those behind the show will have to address some of the problems of the second season before the program can move forward in a satisfying manner.