It seemed like the key piece of True Detective's formula was there: Nic Pizzolatto, the show's creator, was once again set to write every episode of the second season. The first season had such unbelievably strong writing that fans and critics were certain that Pizzolatto's follow up would at the very least be good. Nevertheless there were a few niggling worries. Unlike the first season (in which every episode was directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, lending it an amazing aesthetic coherence) various directors were set to helm individual episodes, including Fast And Furious director Justin Lin. Not only that, but the plot was less Louisiana occult and more LA crime. And what on earth was Vince Vaughn doing on the cast list? When True Detective season two finally arrived, many fears were confirmed. The story was a mess. The dialogue was frequently laughable. And Vaughn wasn't the revelation we'd all hoped he was. Gone was the weighty, oppressive atmosphere, replaced by a bunch of depressed cops whose defining characteristics were that they drank a lot. Whether or not we get a third season remains to be seen, but perhaps it's best the show uses this failure to admit how much lightening it managed to bottle during season one.
