TRUE DETECTIVE 2.7 BLACK BLACK MAP AND MOTEL ROOMS
“Look me in the eyes. I wanna see your lights go out.” – Frank Semyon
So much happened in this weeks episode. A tease to who the identity of the killer, Crow Head might be. Frank engaging in a full-out POINT BLANK mode, Ray and Ani transition their brooding rage and anger into intimate feelings for one another, and Paul is dead.
Let’s start with Frank. I am so completely satisfied with the transgressive story arc of Frank Semyon. Anyone who continues to ridicule Vaughn’s performances is now, undoubtedly an idiot, and has no idea what they’re talking about. Semyon rose to a successful gangsterless business man before we saw the first episode, and from that first episode we slowly watched Frank lose everything that he built, and now it’s time from him to rise like the phoenix from the ashes and completely obliterate anyone who has wronged him. The escalation of the last scenes with Frank were a direct homage to the epic preamble of the climax to THIEF. Remarkable writing. I truly hope that Semyon makes it out alive, out of all the characters that we’re given this season, Semyon is the most pure hearted one. He didn’t choose the life he has, it chose him, and he did his best to shake it. I can’t imagine a better thematic end to Semyon than to get LONG GOOD FRIDAY’D.
Ray and Ani’s final scenes in the episode together were beautifully poignant. They are two people who are completely burnt out by their lives. They are dead inside, partially from where they came from, but particularly the choices they made in the past and how they’ve dealt with their lives splitting. Whether or not if Ray and Ani are good people is irrelevant. They are good with each other, and trust and embrace each others shadows. They are the only ones that can ever really understand and accept one another.
Then there’s Paul. Wow. I was legitimately sadden by his fate. What made it even worse was cutting to his fiancée laying in bed, watching that old movie with Judy Garland embracing the baby. Wow. Just…wow. Out of all the characters, I think Paul was the one who had the hardest time coping with life. He was a killer, who lived the life of who he thought he should be. He hit a breaking point of either ruining the life of his beautiful fiancée, Emily, or trying to make it work. Maybe he couldn’t have, but he was going to try. And now, now it’s all over. He’s dead. And his baby is inside of a pure hearted good woman who is stuck in a hotel room with Paul’s awful mother. That might even be more profound and sadder than Paul’s death.
As for Crow Head. So, cult killings are out. Blake fessed up to killing Stan, giving Frank a glorious scene to showcase his well warranted brutality. My guess is Crow Head is either Tony, the Mayor’s son, or the girl from the diamond robbery where Caspere was the sole proprietor of. Maybe that little girl was the one who worked at Caspere’s office and was seen in that photograph from the party with him. Maybe she isn’t, and maybe it’s something bigger and/or completely different. All I know is that next week is the finale, and they have not announced a director yet. One can only hold out hopes for the likes of William Friedkin or HBO player Timothy Van Patten. Or, maybe, just maybe Nic Pizzolatto will direct it. That would be worth it if only to see all the rage hater’s heads explode. Either way, I am counting down the days and cannot wait for the conclusion of what I still say is, the best show on television.
Podcasting Them Softly 