True Detective(HBO)

Indulging in binge watching an exquisitely crafted series has turned into one of my favorite, albeit destructive passtimes.

True detective Season 1 consists of 8 episodes and the finale aired yesterday(March 09), here in the States. It is an anthology series, which would mean whole new cast and story for the next season. The story is a psychological crime solving thriller. Hart(Woody Harrelson)and Coehle(McConaughey) are Louisiana state police detective partners. They share a mutually uneasy partnership with each other, but they make a very good professional team. They pursue a ritualistic, satanic serial killer case during a time span of 17 yrs. It’s directed by Cary Fukunaga(Jane Eyre, Sin Nombre fame)and written by Nic Pizzilatto.

The cast is stellar and the story will leave your brain going in circles for days after you watch the whole thing. It flows like a 8 hr movie filled with psychological and emotional twists and turns that leave you at the edge of your seats the whole time. The scope of the series allow Pizzalato,enough time to spend on character development for his two leads. Hart and Coehle are two of the best psychologically flushed out and interesting characters I have seen on TV since Dr Weston from In Treatment( another great series, till the second season)

I started watching True Detective half heartedly as I am not a Mathew McConaughey fan, mostly because his younger roles turned out to be such a caricature of himself. Kind of like a hollywood Sharukh Khan, very linear in his portrayals. His performance in True Detective was anything but linear. He has truly transcended his previous roles to give us an amazing, completely immersive character experience. I was not very happy about his Oscar win as my imagination couldn’t stretch enough to comprehend him giving an oscar worthy performance. I know, I know I judged him on his past performances and on his over the top acceptance speech, without even seeing Dallas Buyers Club. Can you blame me after his movies like The Wedding Planner? But it is undeniable how much effort he has put into breaking free of his past and to grow as an actor while redefining his space in Hollywood. In a way his crazy Oscar speech makes sense about him striving to overtake his own better self. I take it back. That speech is still way out there. I am guessing Matthew will be adding an Emmy to his Oscar for his role in True detective. Definite must watch if you have 8 hrs to spare, especially to see McConaughey’s unusual career arc, great writing,directing and acting.