True Detective - The Long Bright Dark *

You kinda know that when you being a series and there is an interview with a police detective about his partner, immediately the thought comes: What did his partner do? To say Detective Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey; nothing short of mesmerizing and enigmatic) is overcome by the darkness of the miseries he’s encountered/experienced/seen. He considers himself a pessimist, opening up his bleak worldview to his partner, Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson, a terrific alternative to Cohle, with a family and less dark purview of the world for which he lives). Hart is opinionated, counterpoints Cohle’s immediate conclusions to crime scenes with a “woah, don’t rush into judgment just yet” approach that grounds both detectives so that they can investigate without tunnel vision. Allow the evidence to determine the case’s results and solve it without determining motive at first glance and observation. But Cohle is brilliant, reads a lot about true crime and differing investigative methods, what makes killers tick (case history, interviews with killers, profiling, etc.), and his mind creates an entire picture, painted through his studies and intellect. You can just tell his mind is different than the other law enforcement within his department. Martin speaks of how the department nicknamed Cohle “the tax man” due to his heavy notebook. A shot of Cohle literally sketching the victim of a potential serial killer (“she had antlers” says Martin Hart when speaking to his boss in the office alone), as twig-and-moss “bird baskets” hang from tree branches. Ligature marks on the wrists and ankles, and Cohle determines she was on her back before being “presented” for discovery (also found stab marks in the abdomen), on her knees, blindfolded, with her “crown”, placed in a position of prayer. Later it is determined she was a prostitute (Cohle was sure of it after an examination of her at the scene but Hart wanted him to slow down until further data was collected), so Cohle goes to a bar to question girls that might have known her. This tells us that Cohle is trying to avoid potential alcoholism but the drink, readily available, is too much of an allure to resist…as is the ability to secure Quaaludes from one of the girls in the bar. Then Cohle and Hart interview a felon in prison once romantically tied to her, just to gauge who she was. In this interview, the former ex spoke about how odd she was on the phone, certain comments that were baffling, about a “king” and such. He took it she was just high and wasted. But Cohle clearly felt there was more to it, tabulating every bit of what he hears in his big notebook for future use.

The big interviews of the episode alternate past (1995) and present (2012) and how the two detectives had a “falling out” in 2002. What that falling out was is mentioned not elaborated just yet. There is a dinner where Cohle finally agrees to come to eat at the table of Hart’s family, at the urging of wife, Maggie (Michelle Monaghan). Maggie learns that Cohle’s daughter is deceased and that his marriage deteriorated because of it. This might explain why he’s in such a dark place, trying to avoid alcohol, and cannot sleep. Any talk of his overall philosophical view of humankind and the atmosphere of Louisiana (he’s from Texas, once lived in Alaska, he tells Maggie), Hart wants left away him and his family. His daughters giggle while talking about Cohle at the table and Maggie, having prepared dinner to engage with this partner that she knows so little about, finally gets a little information. Hart simply considers Cohle very much a very superb detective but not necessarily “friend material”. And when brass come by to “spirit” Cohle and Hart with confidence they’ll find results, considering the ritual murder case at that present in ’95 “anti-Christian”, Cohle is furious of the label, denouncing it while Hart, always politically and career-minded, tries to cull his sentiments about it. And Cohle doesn’t handle other cops very well, either, who challenge his attitude about their work. Cohle is very much presented as an anti-social misfit trying to solve a case but not committed to “being one of the boys”. The work is important even as his relationships with other cops aren’t. But Hart wants to solve the case and secure further prominence in the police department. In 2012, it is clear Hart has achieved success, all fancied up in a suit and clean-cut while Cohle is a boozing mess, his face clearly weathered with disheveled hair and appearance. Both in ’12 realize that they are being interviewed not just because of their casework being destroyed by Hurricane Rita, but that there is another ritual murder that is eerily similar to the ’95 case…and Cohle mentions that that case was solved.