A Quick Thought About True Detective

I was already feeling a bit disenchanted about how the season finale of True Detective panned out, right about when Rust shoots murderer/spaghetti monster Erroll Childrens in the head. And then this exchange happened.

Marty: “Didn’t you tell me one time, dinner once, maybe, about how you used to ... you used to make up stories about the stars?”

Rust: “Yeah, that was in Alaska, under the night skies.”

Marty: “Yeah, you used to lay there and look up, at the stars?”

Rust: “Yeah, I think you remember how I never watched the TV until I was 17, so there wasn’t much to do up there but walk around, explore, and...”

Marty: “And look up at the stars and make up stories. Like what?”

Rust: “I tell you Marty I been up in that room looking out those windows every night here just thinking, it’s just one story. The oldest.”

Marty: “What’s that?”

Rust: “Light versus dark.”

To put it in Buzzfeed terms,

I was like: 

No.

Not again.

I could not help but think of Lost, and how profound I thought it was; that light vs. dark was a decent enough motif for a show. That - and the mystery behind the Dharma Initiative which surfaced in season 2 - kept me watching through the 6th and final season. (Thankfully I just binge watched the first 5 online and saw the 6th as it aired, instead of wasting 6 years of my life).

Because I liked this:

 And that:

But instead I got this:

 And that:

Too busy crying to notice that everyone sitting in a church answers nothing.

Just like how I liked these things:

 But then I got these things:

True Detective was too good to ride "the oldest story" for the whole season like Lost did. Nothing that sappy is uttered in all 8 episodes until that moment. It felt like that line was used to hurriedly wrap up the show, and make us feel all gushy inside so we forget that very little was actually resolved or explained. If I didn't get confirmation that the next seasons would continue to cover The Yellow King, then I would feel like my dedication to this show was a waste. I'm going to go read The King in Yellow and then I'll get back to you.

Video and transcription from Slate.