10 Best HBO Characters Ever

The quality of the once-masterful True Detective has fallen off in recent seasons. This is due in large part to the fact that the bar was set so stratospherically high by the magnificent performance of Matthew McConaughey's as Rustin "Rust" Cohle, as he hunts a serial killer with Woody Harrelson's Martin Hart in the crime anthology's first season.

Irreparably damaged by the death of his young daughter, Cohle became a drug addict as a result of his time undercover as a narcotics detective. Despite getting clean, the mental and physical ramifications of his drug abuse still haunt Rust. A meticulous detective with an eye for detail and an unmatched willingness to get his hands dirty, he is referred to as "the Taxman" by other detectives due to his habit of recording every tiny detail in a large ledger.

Cohle is nihilistic as a result of the many harrowing influences in his life, considering human beings to be little more than "sentient meat" as he and Marty pursue the abominable Yellow King.

In a career already boasting an Oscar win, Cohle might be McConaughey's finest performance to date. The actor's magnetic turn as Rust is absolutely mesmerizing, invoking a heart-wrenching emotional response from the viewers fortunate enough to have witnessed him. The stunning thing about McConaughey's take on Rust is his ability to effortlessly turn what appears to be a benign conversation into some of True Detective's most captivating sequences. A character for the ages.