True Detective Season 2: 10 Big Questions From Episode 1

5. Who's The Hero?

Season 1 initially presented Marty Hart to viewers as the trustworthy hero, a likeable everyman to Rust Cohle's ultra-moody action hero. This facade was eventually torn down, revealing Marty to be just as flawed as his outwardly darker partner. Season 2 has taken an entirely different route, presenting its audience with a handful of main characters, none of whom are easy to throw support behind. Ray is initially a sympathetic figure, given the horrific ordeals of his past, but seems slightly too good at playing the corrupt cop role. He almost relishes masking up to terrify the corruption-exposing journalist, comically "shush"ing a homeless witness along the way. Paul is similarly tainted with the whiff of corruption, and is easily the least fleshed-out of the series' four major players, while Frank must go down as a cutthroat criminal first and foremost - regardless of the surprisingly tender relationship he shares with his wife. That leaves Ani, easily admirable as a by-the-book cop, but not so likeable in the human sense. She exudes no warmth, whether issuing eviction notices or frightening off a sexual partner, but is perhaps most likely to emerge as the season's "protagonist" (if such a clear-cut label can be applied to such a dark series). Questions Raised: Who can the viewer truly get behind, if anybody? Whose secrets will bring them down?