Exactly, the only reason either character is so effective is because they reflect off of each other. Marty would just be a cheating asshole without Rust to poke at him and peel back Marty's many layers of superficiality. Rust would just be a nihilistic, broken man who takes himself too seriously without Marty to tell him to shut the fuck up and to challenge his innate self hatred. They are an absolute perfect duo acted by two masters.

Both are critical. Marty grounds the show as you say, though Marty alone makes this pedantic kinda bad cop show, where he purposely blinds himself to the landscape. Cole alone, well Marty tells him repeatedly what he’s like, and the ‘faded psychopaths memory’ banter would get old fast. Imagine Martin Sheens character in Apocalypse Now, or Brando’s Kurtz talking w no stops for hours about “the horror”. Thanks, no, Cole’s bond w Marty and Marty’s family allows him to be of interest again and thus drive the investigation story.

@@Jackson...hah, yes, exactly, both are boring alone.

Martys problems are only normal from your pov. Are Martys action those of a ration man? I'd argue his actions are narsicistic and he has no more faith than Cole. Cole is also a father, disapointied and angry at losing his kid . Marty always denys his nature, Cole seems to accept it. Both men are much different in 2012. Perhaps its age that grounds a man in realism, though some never accept who they are at any age. Harrelson is a gehius actor, theres no doubt, that point is unrelated mto your arguement.

@@chalermako all those are normal (common) problems. Narcissism leading to cheating. Irrationality, at times. The Cole character doesn’t work without him. Some monologue w him driving around saying ‘’looks like a forgotten memory of a town’ would tedious in 30s w out Marty.

The soundtrack is superb just like every other aspect of the show. Both the ambience and music sets the mood in every scene perfectly.

Yeah I was a little surprised no one else mentioned the Lovecraft aspect of the story line as far as the interviews went. I got one of my best friends to watch this years ago, he looked up The King in Yellow, or The Yellow King on the church walls. There's literary history there Such a goddamn shame the second and third ones are utter fucktards of crap. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It was insane good! I was tense the entire scene even knowing they are interviewing him in the future relative to events! TD S1 is the best entertainment ever

The craziest thing about that amazing single tale scene, they really shot it in the projects, basically all of the "extras" were people who lived there and not actors, and Pizzolato/Fukunaga were sweating bullets the entire time praying things wouldn't go completely off the rails with so little actual control over the scene.

Also... harrelson and mccoughnahey might be brothers

definitely lightening in the bottle. so many things have to come together. first, nic has been trying to turn this into a novel for a while, so there was a looooong creative germination phase, plus Carey's amazing camera work, plus two longtime actors delivering the best performances of their lives, and many more....

​@@Brandon-tk2rwand since then we are trying to find any sort of reminence and feeling of the first season. But alas there were some moments in season 3 but nowhere near. I am dreading watching this new season but I have given up and will at the shows as "night country" rather than true detective

Marty kind of makes the show work though. He’s the character who grounds the whole thing. He’s got relatively normal issues. He’s jealous. He’s unfaithful. He struggles with the weight of his responsibilities.

Rust is a great character, though he can’t work alone. There can’t be any sequel or prequel of an audience listening to Rust drone on for hours and about the futility of existence, no matter how brilliantly done. Imagine Brandos Kurtz from Apocalypse Now rambling by himself about “the horror”. Fascinating for a few moments, but then we’d be begging Martin Sheen to shut him up.

@@ahmaranwar1488yep, all weak echoes of S1. Fukunaga was the primary writer behind S1, and he was out after, so we won’t see another masterpiece.

Band of brothers

Yes, yes, and yes! It's so heartening to read so many enthusiastic responses like yours. Watching this gave me chills all over again.

agreed...better than Breaking Bad, Sopranos, GOT, etc

True Detective S1 & Band of Brothers are untouchable for me regarding Limited Series

@@badbijan Chernobyl was awesome but I don't think it's in the same tier as band of brothers and TDS1 Hell I'd take Succession S4 over it easily

100% accurate. No doubt when this was made, the powerful pagan elitists irl started sweating and thinking they might get found out because of this show. lol

Yep, people in plain view can commit heinous acts on others in private.

Not only do they exist, they thrive, and nobody with the power to do anything about it is hunting them

i enjoyed reading your comment.....sad stuff though

fav series by far. There is no 2nd place. Nothings even close to this.

Welcome to the party pal

It only gets better each rewatch

go watch season 4 now if you're not watcing the other seasons. It's looking to be up there with season 1.

@@cloud9847 can one watch it without watching 2, 3?

like in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?

no one cares

no one is so caring.

What’s the loop

​@@Rob-fn1kpIt's a joke. He's replaying the show. It's a loop. And people liked it, but not you.

Well said. It's an absolutely riveting and compelling experience. The writing, the directing, the acting -- all as good as anything gets or ever was.

What’s that issue?

@@upsidedownlogic175child trafficking, sexual abuse, ritual murder.

​@upsidedownlogic175 small-town corruption. These crimes were covered up. Also, there has been an issue with crappy shows that don't offer viewers anything.

Hi sir as a connoisseur, I would love to get recommendations from a man with your experience. I can also share my perspectives on tv and movies.

Impossible without Fukunaga. He’s the primary mind behind S1, then he left.

What does it mean to you

@@Qwickv 😂

​@@Qwickv Okay, I'll take a crack. 41, divorced (she cheated, not me), but here's what's going on there: Marty is a cheater, so he suspects everyone is, or is capable of it (he's not wrong, rare exceptions aside). He doesn't like seeing another man at his house when he isn't around, because of very I guess toxic masculine territorialism. "This is all mine" - his house, his wife, his lawn, etc. Seeing another man there makes him feel threatened and insecure, especially because he's cheating, and he knows his wife is attractive (Michelle Monaghan IS gorgeous) and kind of over his bullshit. Furthermore, he doesn't like Rust, he doesn't TRUST Rust, and he definitely doesn't want him hanging out with his wife when he's not around, for multiple reasons. He's unstable, he's dangerous, he's in slightly better shape, probably more attractive...he feels threatened by this person's presence in his house, around his wife, when he isn't around. There's also a strong element of guilt - HE should have mowed the lawn. HE should be spending time with his wife. He's not doing those things because he's out fucking about, which ALSO makes him feel guilty. Ultimately, he's unhappy with his life and looking for someone to blame in that moment, and Rust is a very convenient target, so he chooses to take issue with the kindly act of mowing his lawn. As we see, Rust has no designs on Maggie (while he DOES find her attractive, and knows Marty fucks around, it would break his moral code - which she seduces him into, for her own good reasons), he just enjoys her company and felt that mowing the lawn would be a helpful thing to do. Rust is clearly not in the wrong here, and Marty very much is, however Rust chooses to be the bigger man and walk away from the conflict, because, let's face it, he is. Excellent scene, well acted, the show is a complete masterpiece. Possibly the best single season television show ever filmed. You were possibly just trolling, but there you go, fellow internet stranger.

@@fredlodge1275 fucking spot on.

Season 3 is very solid

Yes, the filming is stunning. Love the project scene with one camera, stunning. xx

Im here for it man

It was even better than sopranos. It was the best.

I wouldn’t agree on the sopranos

Unfortunatly s4 isnt that great. Theres no depth to the characters and no weaving of a greater story. Just despair and jumpscares

more of a realist than pessimist.

Eh one episode left and it’s just okay.

So disapointed in season four... Total ripoff of the John Carpenters version of "The Thing" with so much woke dogma thrown in that I could barely take the first two episodes... Which sucked for me because I love Jodie Foster So I tried to like it.. But lets face it Season 1 with McConaughey and Harrelson was really such a convergence of talent on so many levels that the Zeitgeist of it all created something really special , It's a classic that I will always watch every year or so...

I bloody hope they don't. You cant capture lightning in a bottle twice. It was perfect, let's leave it at that

Just watched it twice

Agreed. Cruelly short run that provided a stunning education about American domestic politics.