True Detective Season 3 Premiere Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs From Episodes 1 & 2

2. Jeremy Saulnier Feels Too Restrained

With Blue Ruin and Green Room, Jeremy Saulnier carved out a reputation as a true rising star of a director in the gritty area between thriller and horror, which meant him directing True Detective was extremely exciting.

Through both of these films, there was a clear style from Saulnier: his films not only managed to mix grim storytelling with real artistry, but he conjured up a real sense of claustrophobia, the intensity bubbling away until eventually it boils over, and things explode into visceral violence, with his depictions of such as inventive as they are gruesome.

While these episodes are well shot, nicely paced, and generally have some solid direction, it also feels like Saulnier's voice has been lost. There's been talk of major creative differences between him and Nic Pizzolatto, which resulted in Saulnier departing the project earlier than expected (although the official reason was 'scheduling conflicts'), and this perhaps gives us some insight here. With a murdery mystery, Saulnier's style should've worked easily to help craft that searing intensity, and given the season a clear sense of identity (much as Cary Joji Fukunaga did for Season 1), but instead it feels like he's been massively restrained, and that's something of a letdown.