No reason to be internet snarky, if that is in fact what you are attempting. I read your first line but I guess I felt you contradicted what you stated with your next statement in wanting more. I could be wrong in that and if so, it happens on the www often. We can deal with it and move on.

So maybe I should have clarified better. Not everything gets all wrapped up in a nice CSI/Law and Order/Insert Crime Drama fashion you seemed to have wanted. And you did seem to want that or else you would not be upset about not having the closure you wanted. I think because of that you dismissed the show as being low quality and you are entirely entitled to your opinion on the that. I am not in an internet battle to sway you to my opinion on it :) I promise.

I still hold to the point I also made about season 1, which I am guessing you liked and so did I. The Big Bads there, they were NOT caught. So, if you liked Season 1 and in the end, the Big Bads were not caught, and you require that closure, things don't add up for me.

I liked season 2 for what it was. I liked season 1 for what it was. Things weren't wrapped up all nice and tidy in either one. I will move on to Mr. Robot tonight and things will be great :)

Yes, Ioved season one and yes, the bad guys still won. But there was a payoff. I am not just talking about the bad guy getting shot in the head either. If you cannot see the difference between season one and the mess that season two was, we will just have to agree to disagree.

The Wire was not some fluffy show with a ton of happy endings and where all of the characters walked away in a great emotional state at the end of every season. But there was a real payoff with each show, much less each season.

Maybe you found it with this. For my tastes, while I thought the show improved the final four episodes, I thought the ending was predictable and non sensical on many levels. That is not how I wanted to end 8 hours of my time. HBO and the rest of the internet doesn't care about that and if you "got it" that's fine and dandy.

I still think you are missing my point but maybe I am not making it clear enough. To put it simply, I think the show wasted a great cast and was mediocre throughout with one of the single worst endings I have ever seen. To each his/her own.

HA! Troy, I don't know if 'I got it' on this show. I agree with you that overall the show was quite a mess and it was extremely hard to follow along, but again, I guess I took it for what it was worth and liked it for that. You didn't, others didn't. It is all good. I do thought think a lot of the issues was that people (me included) like that mystery that season 1 brought. The unknown factor maybe? Supernatural thing they hinted at. We as a whole also compared season 2 to season 1. I think someone mentioned in this thread that had the show been titled something other than 'True Detective' it would have maybe fared better. Who knows. I do have to disagree with you on the fact that season 1 wrapped everything up all nicely though, but will agree with you to disagree on it.

I have heard numerous ravings about The Wire and have watched 2 episodes I think. I need to probably re-watch them because it has been awhile.

And maybe neither one of are making our points very well. :)

The ironic thing, for me at least, is that the supernatural stuff made me like the show a lot less than most during Season 1. I think I posted here at the beginning of this season that the way it was shaping up after the premiere seemed a lot more up my alley than S1. Oh well.

Finally watched the finale last night. I totally missed this discussion as a result.

Gotta say, glad I missed it.

"Tell us about Reginald Ledoux."

[Rust Cohle takes long drag off cigarette, sips beer, exhales smoke]

"How bout I Reginald Le-don't."

— Brian Grubb (@briancgrubb) February 17, 2014

The first 2 episodes of Season 3 kicked off last weekend. Any thoughts on those before I delve into it?

I dropped Season 2 like a bad habit after a few eps. But after reading through this thread I may give it a go once more.

There's nothing wrong with season 2, infact, i think it's pretty good, and if people weren't comparing it to season 1, then I think it would not be shit on as much, but if you felt it was so bad that you stopped watching it, i wouldn't touch it again. Stick to your guns.

Season 3 started out great, and i can't wait to see more.

Season 2 was a hot mess. The last straw for me, however, was when they killed off Stan. I couldn't believe they killed him. He was such a great character. The show really fell apart without him.

Fuck them, fuck them all, for killing Stan.

First two episodes of season 3 are solid. Not breaking new ground or anything but an enjoyable few hours. Mahershala Ali is predictably excellent.

I am enjoying it so far. As noted, Mahershala Ali has been excellent so far. It's enough for me to keep watching.

Season 2 for me was actually passably good for most of it, IMO, but I really feel they screwed up at the end. Unlikeable characters mostly, and it felt like they didn't know how to end it properly.

Agree with this. I abandoned season 2 pretty early on after absolutely adoring season 1. Season 3 feels more like the season 1 groove...even if we've just replaced weird wood sculptures with cornhusk dolls.

It's those shadows of the uncanny seeping into a noir setting that make this show, even if the payoff is always going to be mundane. If we accept that noir is a sort of modern American mythmaking doubles down on social ugliness, the not-really-uncanny bits that excite our imaginations are brilliant. We want to make the evil in our midst a supernatural "other" rather than a natural consequence. We want to look right past the obvious because the truth is too ugly to bear...so that uncanny letdown (when it's just an inbred cajun motherfucker or whatever) is part of what makes the storytelling so powerful.

I thought season 3 was every bit as good as the first season. And that final episode was incredible.

Maybe I missed something, but the finale was very unsatisfying for me. Not quite "How I Met Your Mother" finale bad, but still pretty bad. The director seemed determined to show the audience that he's more clever and smarter than us. It's just a tv show, Nic. Make a better ending.

I liked Season 3 a lot but I thought the ending was a bit meh. I would have been good with them leaving it that she died and ended at the grave stone. I think where it was off was the part about tying it back to the boy who she went to school with. A bit too fairy tale.

Stephen Dorff was an unexpected bright spot for me during this season. I also thoroughly enjoyed his over the top wtf barroom brawl scene in the finale.

I really enjoyed season 3. Kind of had the scooby doo ending a bit with the one eyed guy. But great climax.