stop and chat

Let’s Talk About the True Detective Finale

Photo: Lacey Terrell/HBO

Fear not: Our trusty True Detective recapper Kenny Herzog is organizing his thoughts about the final episode and furiously typing away — we’ll run his recap first thing in the morning. Also coming tomorrow is an analysis of True Detective’s first season by our television critic Matt Zoller Seitz as well as a big interview with … well, check back tomorrow to find out. But for now, here’s a [obviously spoiler-heavy] place where we can discuss the events that just occurred in the finale. And clearly, there is a lot to discuss, including:

1. Errol’s British accent. So bizarre, yet as creepy as the millions of dolls lying around the house and his idea of foreplay. (What movie was he watching, by the way?) But he was an effectively menacing villain— a mix of Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs and the Peacock boys from the “Home†episode of The X-Files.

2. “L’chaim, fat-ass.†Rust’s closing salvo to Steve “Just Following the Chain of Command†Geraci, is among the better one-liners in the history of television. How much will it cost Geraci to repair the sniper holes in his Maserati?

3. They got their bad man. But any other insidiuously heinous men (Louisiana Senator Eddie Tuttle, et al.) will go unpunished/un-shot in the head. But getting even the one guy is part of Rust’s light vs. dark theory — the light is winning. Did the finale tie up all the loose ends? Did it create more questions than it answered?

4. Did anyone see an upbeat ending coming for this show? Marty and Rust, essentially moseying off into the sunset. Prediction: In 30 years, those guys will be the protagonists of Nic Pizzolatto’s remake of Grumpy Old Men.

True Detective Finale Discussion