True Detective: 10 Reasons Season 1 Can’t Be Topped

9. A Novel Approach

It is hardly surprising that True Detective would adopt narrative techniques more common to literature than with film or TV, since its creator started as an author. This novel approach can be seen predominately in how the show ties multiple story threads from different points in time through the bookending interview scenes but, most importantly, True Detective shows its colours proper with affective use of the unreliable narrator at the series' mid-point. Alarm bells probably started ringing in episode four when Cohle requests personal time in order to visit his sickly father, but then proceeds to infiltrate a gnarly gang of bikers (more on that later). In essence, this small fragment of a moment would go on to inform the most critical moment in the next episode - The Secret Fate Of All Life - and possibly the entire series. The sequence begins innocently enough as Cohle and Hart€™s interview is cut together in order to tell the story of how the shootout in the bayou occurred. As the disembodied voices of the true detectives continue over the footage, subtle clues begin to tell the audience that what is being said and what is happening are at odds with each other. It is here that True Detective finally hammers the point home that it does not matter what is happening but how it is happening. It is an important piece of story-telling that makes sense only in its current form, but manages to pay off dividends for the audience and the narrative as a whole. What this scene does going forward is the sense that these narrative-based tricks will be expected in season 2. Repeating any of the methods displayed in season 1 is out of the question, however, replicating the function of creating an unpredictable moment is a must if the same heights will be reached.