IN LAST episode of True Detective entitled as "Down Will Come," chaos broke out in the streets of Vinci as the bust of a meth lab goes horribly awry. As Ray Velcoro, Paul Woodrugh and Ani Bezzerides stood in the midst of the bloodbath, it was clear that the incident would shake up the show’s status quo. In last week’s episode, aptly entitled “Other Lives”, we get to see what happens in the aftermath of the massacre.
I say that its title fits because as the second half of the season kicks off, all of our four leads are doing different things. The episode opens with shots establishing that Frank Semyon has moved into a new, less swanky home. Ray’s shaved his mustache and quit the police force to work as muscle for Frank. Bezzerides is stuck working the evidence cage and attending sexual harassment seminars. Woodrugh, interestingly, has been promoted to detective after last episode’s events, but we all know that what he really wants is to get back on the motorcycle.
In some ways it’s much like the time jump from last season. A “fall guy” has been established and the case has been closed, and while everyone has seemingly moved on to different things, the mystery is still there and is begging to be solved. Luckily, Bezzerides is contacted by the woman whose sister went missing, and a new lead in the investigation is established. This, and an interesting chain of events in the political arena find our heroes reunited, this time as an off-the-books investigation team looking to unveil the web of corruption surrounding Vinci, and to finally find out just who murdered Caspere.
I feel like this episode is perfectly timed for this point in the season, serving as a sort of soft reboot for the whole plot. As Bezzerides tells Ray, “it’s never too late to start all over again,” it feels like she’s referencing the episode itself as much as she is giving advice. If "Down Will Come" episode closed with the detectives falling for the red herring that was the meth lab, "Other Lives" shows them getting a second chance at making the investigation right, and heading in the right direction.
One of the things I really liked about this episode is how a bunch of puzzle pieces from the first half of the season are finally falling into place, such as Tony Chessani, the diamonds, and the escort parties. It was a little frustrating how a bunch of evidence lead to nothing but dead ends as we didn’t find out how they fit into the greater scheme of things, but this episode does a great job of revisiting those glossed-over elements and putting them into perspective. There’s been a lot of backlash from people wondering where exactly the plot is headed, and if you’ve stuck with the season this long, it feels great to finally see the clear direction the season is going as we head into the endgame.
One of the biggest storylines heading into the tail end of the season is that of Ray Velcoro. A huge twist was revealed in this episode, and will seriously shake up his character for the last three episodes. I feel like the reveal was some of the best stuff this season had to offer. Colin Farrell absolutely kills the scene with nothing but facial expressions, being able to display rage, confusion and pain very well without saying anything. Add to this how the camera slowly zooms in on his face as he realizes he was deceived all along, and you’ve got one of the best scenes in this season.
I’ve got to say, rage-filled Ray is the best Ray. I think the last time we saw him as angry was in the first episode when he whaled on the father of the bully. We finally see it again in this episode as Ray goes searching for answers, and starts to demand them rather than ask for them. Frank Semyon said that “sometimes your worst self is your best self,” and for Ray Velcoro, no truer words have been said. When he’s calm, he’s a capable detective, but when he’s angry, he’s motivated and gets results quickly. I’m not asking for him to be angry for the rest of the season, but I hope we see a lot more of it.
Speaking of anger, Kitsch finally got to shine this episode through it. Woodrugh’s been a real cold dude all throughout the series, so it’s great to finally see some raw emotion from him. It’s not on the level of Farrell’s, but it’s good to finally see him be something else than some sort of brooding blank slate. I’d like to add that I really liked the scriptwriting in his fight with his mother in this episode. I felt like it was a nice slow rise of the two to their boiling points, and the mother’s instant regret in what was said once it’s all over.
While I gave Vince Vaughn a pat on the back for his performances in a few episodes back, I must say I’m disappointed in his character again. It’s been established that he’s a gangster at heart, and his scenes while he tries to be legitimate are horrible on purpose because he’s pretending so hard to be someone he isn’t. While that’s all been interesting to find out, I just can’t figure out why they still continue to utilize and write him that way. Frank’s at his best when he tries to strong-arm people into working with him, and not when he’s trying to be a businessman. It’s just frustrating that there’s more of the bad parts than the good ones, but with three episodes left, there’s still some hope in me that Frank defaults to what he knows he’s good at. For now, however, it’s always a hit and miss with him.
Another gripe is how his script is being written. Frank’s lines try too hard to be deep and philosophical that they end up sounding just laughable in the end. I feel like Frank’s the biggest victim of bad writing in this season, both on which side of the character they choose to use more and his lines. Vince Vaughn did good a couple of episodes back, but there’s not much he can do if he’s given really bad lines and asked to portray an out-of-place gangster.
With a fresh start, a good performance from Kitsch and some of the season’s best acting from Farrell, “Other Lives” is a most-welcome kick-off point for the second half of the season.
Score: 8.6/10