Touch the Darkness

The dusty and polluted roads and the suburbs of Louisiana lay premise to the endlessly spiraling quest for the "Spaghetti Monster". It could have been like any other crime drama; from an adrenaline
pumping thriller to a nerve twisting piece of suspense but that's where True Detective strikes a different chord. Its casting, or the whole setting, allusions, philosophies and overall its dark and ever
deepening undertone makes this crime drama an exclusive gem of a mini series. It not only does project the charismatic Mathew McConaughey but also cranks up his career with a power packed performance throughout the season. For the story spanning over 17 years the script is so wonderfully written that each word has been carefully carved out according to the mood, psyche and ageing of the characters. The series which develops in the style of an anthology has its first season cranked to its full potential and has the upcoming of a new talent into the lime light- Nic Pizzolatto. The maker of this mini series has set everything gyrating towards his enigma which shines throughout the course.

It demands a lot of fine detailing from the writer to deliver a fine piece of writing to be portrayed with such an elegance on the show reel. It's primarily about the lives of two detectives of Louisiana State police spanning throughout a 17 year investigation about a series of  mysterious murder concerned with a sort of occult culture happening in the countryside. Though it has an ensemble cast to tell he story in a broad spread, the writer utilizes the rest of the cast to tell the lives of these two protagonists in all its shades. No TV series had a sort of superfluous enigma True Detective so passionately flaunts though the makers seem to tell "Twin Peaks" the series by David Lynch as their huge influence. As the title cries out, it's about a detective among the two leads played by Woody Harrelson and  Mathew McConaughey. Rustin Cohle as the title demands is the true detective played by Mathew McConaughey. Though it vaguely seems like his revolt against the existential crisis that seem to drown him, it appears to be something different as the story entails. Its about an obsessive undercurrent in the darkness of Rustin Cohle that drives him like a mad dog about the serial murders that he is chasing, a person who believes in nothing and gives no value for existence as he cites his philosophies to support his reasons. The philosophies like him are mesmerizing which is partly inspired from Nietzsche but bears no signs of plagiarism as he ably develops his ideas grounded from them.

Cohle believes in nothing, an absolute non believer as he makes another superb quote- "See, we all got what I call a life trap this gene-deep certainty that things will be different that you'll move to another city and meet the people that'll be the friends for the rest of your life,that you'll fall in love and be fulfilled.Fucking fulfillment, heh, and closure, nothing is ever fulfilled until the very end,and closure--Nothing is ever over." 

The series as explained by the maker appears to be developed from a line in the final episode, "The light is winning". The premises and the course came afterwards but this was the foundation of the script. Rustin Cohle is in his nihilistic utmost as he quotes about religion as a language virus that rewrites the pathways in brain and dulls critical thinking. He calls all the moral principles meaningless and firm held on man's hypocrisies. Looking at the preacher's book in a scene he asks his partner "Do you think it's a stone tablet? What's it say about life, hmm,you got to get together,tell yourself stories that violate every law of the universe just to get through the goddamn day?"

Ironically this non believer deviates from the typo. He is intense but always in control, he knows of everything that can drive him like a hurricane but tries hard to have a serene air. Again from some of his words, "if only thing keeping a man decent is the expectation of a divine reward then he's total shit" and he would like to get them all out in the open in their naked perversion. The writing is so crisply carved that the words of the protagonists alters its hue with the time line. Its not the way the protagonists talk in the beginning of the series circa 1995 as in the story. Their principles change from somewhat rebellious tone of a young person to the remorseful and faltering voice of a retiree. It's not the way Rustin cohle talks in the beginning that he does towards the end, his words has a rusty tincture brought out by ageing and exhaustion and a gradual propensity of disorientation in his ideas. Towards the end during the interrogation scenes Cohle has the harsh voice of a tired rebel. He says, "People are so goddamn frail , they'd rather put a coin in the wishing well than buy dinner. 

The other lead portrayed by Woody Harrelson is also an amusing character who in spite of his friction with his partner opts to continue with him in the course of investigation. A make- believe guy who seemingly acts like a family man with all his charades and praise about family life appears to be promiscuous as the story unfolds. He seeks no redemption for his mistakes but get drowned in them. He is partly an embodiment of what Cohle opposes. A real hypocrite whose acts lie in par with none of his words yet advocates for his socially amiable face to be his original self. He believes in nothing he says.His darkness had been infidelity blindness not to see the things under the nose while he blew a hell out of it.

Its exactly the friction between these two leads that makes way to the comic element in the series. The artworks has to be given all the credibility for the originality it indicts into the visuals. Everything about this series is special and hats off to its creator Nic Pizzolatto and the director Cary Joji Fukunaga who tailored the masterpiece.

True detective is all about its leads waging war over the darkness impending upon them. Of all the taglines of the series this one is absolutely amazing embodying all the darkness of the saga that

"Time is a flat circle".

"Time is a flat circle."  Everything we've ever done or will do, we're gonna do over and over and over again...