10 Reasons Why Season 2 Of True Detective Is Actually Awesome
7. Taylor Kitsch Proved Himself As An Actor
"I like the bike, sir. The highway, it suits me."
While the other, slightly older, characters arrived in the world of True Detective more or less fully formed, Officer Paul Woodrugh seemed to undergo the most dramatic changes of the season.
When we first meet Taylor Kitsch's character, he comes across as slightly two-dimensional: an unhappy man who craves a simple life watching the roads all day as a traffic cop. So far, so dull. But then, as with Vaughn, Kitsch's performance comes through and by the end of the season he has grown into one of the most sympathetic and likeable characters the show has ever offered.
His being 'in-the-closet', coupled with a case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the detrimental effect this has on his mental well being is delicately and subtly handled by both Pizzolato's scripts, and Kitsch's performance - easily his finest to date. What could have so easily descended into cliché does, at no point, allow the character to resort to stereotypes.
Also, as Bezzeride points out in the finale, Woodrugh is easily the most skilled policeman of the lot of them. The way he single-handedly puts down the Mexican drug-lords AND then later his former soldiers rank amongst the most exhilarating scenes of this season.