True Detective Season 2, Episode 2: Review

Ray: Am I supposed to solve this [case] or not?

 

                SPOILERS AHEAD!

                WTFWTFWTFWTFWTFWTFWTF?!?!??!?! This was actually my ending note for the second True Detective episode. They actually went this far, killing what was supposed to be the leading character, fan favorite and by far the most interesting character so far! And only two episodes in!? Jesus, what would follow this? 

               Okay, I postponed saying, just in case someone did not believe the spoiler warning sign, but Colin Farrell’s Ray Velcoro got shot twice with a fucking shotgun, the second shot being point blank! I would say shock is a pretty good word to describe what I was feeling looking at myself in my screen’s reflection when the ending credits started rolling. Especially with the slow tempo of everything that happened prior to that last shot – questioning, some character interaction; it was all kind of slow politics and some ballsy power moves coming from Vaughn’s Frank Semyon (who it seems has been fucked out of several million dollars). Anyway, this potential death, and I’m saying potential, because there is a lot of media speculation that the character may yet live, would definitely turn the show on its head. Most of the series’ fan base reacted in a negative manner – “How could the best character die so early on?”, but I have a slightly different opinion (and trust me, I already miss Ray). My take on this is – the second season needs to separate itself from the first one or else I fear it is just doomed to live in its shadow. So far I have seen a fantastic performance by Farrell, good enough by Vaughn and somewhat lacking by McAdams and Kitsch. And this potential death is what could kick-start the season – throw us straight into the action with all of its twists and turns, even if it is by sacrificing its possibly main character. 

              There are a lot of comments on Ray actually surviving the shooting, like the fact that it was announced that Farrell has signed for eight episodes, or that there have been pictures of the character where he was shooting scenes that we are yet to see, but we can’t know anything for sure before the next episode. At the moment, as far as I’m concerned – Ray Velcoro is dead! How could he not be after those shots? 

             To comment on other significant scenes in the episode – Kitschs’ character (Paul) seems to be getting some momentum going after a great performance in this episode. All in all – the show is speeding up, shit is starting to hit fans with every further step into the story we take. I might remind you that there were opinions on the first 3-4 episodes of season one being slow, but it was all just masked by quintessential performances by Harrelson and McConaughey. So we wait and hope for the best (and miss Cary Fukunaga soooo muuuuuch) and I’m sure the show will deliver all that we have come to expect from it.

                R.I.P. (?) Ray Velcoro