The problem with these great episodes is that they shed too much light on earlier failures; Woodrugh bites the big one (probably) and we should care more. So much time was wasted, so much half written dialogue that said nothing, that now when Woodrugh dies, it's no big deal despite the pathos of his hidden world... in the end, he's just a classily disguised extra, like the red t-shirt guy who always gets killed in Star Trek while Kirk and Spock save the day.
There's so much plot and so much person stuff, where the hell was it all before? Now it has to be crammed in, busy busy busy, and it's great to have this pace, but there are so many faceless officers and let's face it everyone's involved, and there's diamonds and hookers and Russians and gangsters and gougings, and all I can ask is, how come this was so stilted for so long? It's building up to an amazing end - I hope - but some real damage was done by early unnecessary padding.
Anyway on to the good stuff:
Semyon was, I think, meant to parallel Rustin Cohle's pontifications. But Cohle's a one-off; no good trying to echo it. Vaughn gives it his viciously elegant best, and there's a grandeur in Frank's ruin. I'm looking forward to seeing his end, or his new beginning
Ani and Ray: Predictable - almost boring tbh - NP's got to sort himself out about his male and female leads; they don't always have to make out. Still, this is very human, with the booze and the tension and the sadness. Tender.
Vera; I love the way some hookers just want to be hookers. It will be OK if no-one messes up, it's a sweet deal, she didn't want to be rescued... she may be kidding herself, same as Athena may be kidding herself, but at least these women aren't just vacuous. They're human beings trying hard to be vacuous, not quite the same thing.
The betrayal of Paul and the tunnels; best bit, classic shadows in the dark stuff. Always check behind the door.
Strong episode, I'll be watching it again tonight.
Edited to add: Tried to watch it again, kinda lost interest within the first 10 minutes. There you go.
There's so much plot and so much person stuff, where the hell was it all before? Now it has to be crammed in, busy busy busy, and it's great to have this pace, but there are so many faceless officers and let's face it everyone's involved, and there's diamonds and hookers and Russians and gangsters and gougings, and all I can ask is, how come this was so stilted for so long? It's building up to an amazing end - I hope - but some real damage was done by early unnecessary padding.
Anyway on to the good stuff:
Semyon was, I think, meant to parallel Rustin Cohle's pontifications. But Cohle's a one-off; no good trying to echo it. Vaughn gives it his viciously elegant best, and there's a grandeur in Frank's ruin. I'm looking forward to seeing his end, or his new beginning
Ani and Ray: Predictable - almost boring tbh - NP's got to sort himself out about his male and female leads; they don't always have to make out. Still, this is very human, with the booze and the tension and the sadness. Tender.
Vera; I love the way some hookers just want to be hookers. It will be OK if no-one messes up, it's a sweet deal, she didn't want to be rescued... she may be kidding herself, same as Athena may be kidding herself, but at least these women aren't just vacuous. They're human beings trying hard to be vacuous, not quite the same thing.
The betrayal of Paul and the tunnels; best bit, classic shadows in the dark stuff. Always check behind the door.
Strong episode, I'll be watching it again tonight.
Edited to add: Tried to watch it again, kinda lost interest within the first 10 minutes. There you go.