# True Detective - HBO - McConaughey / Harrelson \[SPOILERS\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697 "2013-06-11T03:43:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/121 "2014-02-13T14:34:37Z")
Isn’t it too much of a coincidence that Rust has an “in” with the specific biker gang that LeDoux supplies? Really? His sole customer? A bit far-fetched unless it’s a clue to the ultimate solution. That said, I’m really glad I latched onto this show. The imagery alone is reason enough. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/122 "2014-02-13T18:17:03Z")
Somebody goes off in an air boat so you have a general idea of what direction they are heading? I swore they drove a car to stash house not an air boat. 😉 If Rust had on a a wire or something at least it would have been (very) remotely feasible Marty might have known what was going on. As it was, Marty could not have had ANY idea of what was going to happen next . Or where. For all he knew, they could have been taking Rust off to kill him. Or to go gigging frogs. Piss poor writing, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/123 "2014-02-13T18:42:49Z")
**MikeF** , I’m starting to agree. Beaumont is a big place, pop. 100,000 - Wiki says it’s the largest Texas city east of Houston. So it’s hard to figure how Marty managed to be so close to where Rust ended up, unless he knew in advance the general area where the stash house was – and he didn’t, did he? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/124 "2014-02-13T20:23:07Z")
Since the big story is that they caught the supposed murderer (LeDoux?) several years earlier, and the murders are happening again, I watch with one eye on “Where did they screw up?” They keep wasting time following bad leads and not enough following the good leads. If LeDoux is not the real killer, then all the crap they just went through was for naught. What was that line Rust gave to the interviewers about him figuring out why they were questioning him? ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/125 "2014-02-13T20:37:06Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Wait so the scene at the end of the previous episode where they find LaDoux’s cabin and he’s walking almost naked in the mask happens _after_ yesterday’s episode? It was a flash forward _within_ the flashback? I was so confused by that. Unless I’m remembering it wrong, they never found LaDoux’s cabin in the previous episode - it was just a shot letting the audience see the killer. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/126 "2014-02-13T20:37:22Z")
I wish they would draw things out to make them a little more realistic. As it is, it seems like a quest line in an RPG game. Go see this guy, who tells you about another guy, who gives you a side quest, etc. And it seems people are way too forthcoming with info. Like the bartender knows the whole backstory for the stripper. Then the stripper’s husband tells Woody everything right away and it’s all true. While this episode was great to watch, logistically it doesn’t make sense. There’s no reason to go rushing into this off-the-books undercover operation. Of course it all goes bad, which makes them seem incompetent. There’s so many other ways they could have done it that would have made more sense. This episode asked for a little too much suspension of disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/127 "2014-02-13T21:00:30Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > Somebody goes off in an air boat so you have a general idea of what direction they are heading? I swore they drove a car to stash house not an air boat. 😉 This is a good point. I rewatched it again last night to marvel at the unbroken scene, and paid attention to the details of how Marty got there so fast. I was a little off: Before it goes down, Rust tells Marty that if Marty loses him, monitor Beaumont police chatter. After Marty loses him, we see Marty drive to Beaumont and park his car in what appears to be a rideshare right off the highway. (But could be a parking lot right next to the police station.) He then starts reading his book while listening to the Beaumont police band. We do not see Marty again; the next two cuts are of Rust in the car on the way to the long, continuous take. The helicopter overhead picks up on a disturbance pretty quickly, calling in for police backup. Consider this: several cop cars get there _before_ Marty. The assumption is that Marty hears the same call from the helicopter that brings those cops running, and it’s not unreasonable to think that Marty can simply follow those cops to where it’s happening. A bit of artistic license with the timing, for sure, but Marty is the lesser of two “how’d they get there so fast?” evils. The police cars getting there so fast strains credibility at least as much as Marty getting there. Multiple cop cars respond within 3-4 minutes of shots being fired in the projects? A gripe I haven’t seen mentioned: How did Rust know to send Marty to Beaumont? He didn’t know Ginger’s plan at that point, did he? ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/128 "2014-02-14T17:02:26Z")
…well of course, Ginger is working undercover, (you know how these Agencies are :rolleyes:) and after trying to bust Rust during their last get confrontation, decided to call the cops, as backup to take him down… wait, I’m confused…😕 ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/129 "2014-02-14T18:33:12Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > A gripe I haven’t seen mentioned: How did Rust know to send Marty to Beaumont? He didn’t know Ginger’s plan at that point, did he? I’m assuming the biker bar is in another part of Beaumont. As mentioned ealier, it’s a big town. So, even though the left the biker bar this doesn’t mean they travelled all that far. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/130 "2014-02-14T18:51:10Z")
This is, precisely, my gripe. Marty would have absolutely no idea where Rust was going or what he was doing. ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/131 "2014-02-14T18:51:19Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > I like how Rust sobers up, more or less instantly, after all the drinking and snorting. One minute he looks like he’s about to keel over and the next he has his wits completely about him as they hit the stash house. . If you’ve ever been drunk or high, and then suddenly found yourself in an emergency situation, you could probably relate. Adrenaline gets the job done. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/132 "2014-02-14T19:15:39Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > This is, precisely, my gripe. Marty would have absolutely no idea where Rust was going or what he was doing. I’m not from a place with bayou’s, so I’m not sure how they work, but the boat did have big 'ole bright lights on it. Was it possible he was able to follow it (if not to Ginger’s place exactly but to fairly close) and then was able to follow the car they were in to where he waited? Would it be fair to assume that bayou’s have roads along side or close enough to follow the boat lights? And that perhaps there was only one road in and out of Ginger’s place? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/133 "2014-02-14T20:17:18Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I just watched the shootout sequence again. Incredible! I didn’t even notice it was one take the first time I saw it, that’s how intense it was! I’ve been a bit lukewarm about the series so far, but that sequence blew me away. Holy shit was that tense. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/134 "2014-02-14T22:12:40Z")
> [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](#): > > I’m not from a place with bayou’s, so I’m not sure how they work, but the boat did have big 'ole bright lights on it. Was it possible he was able to follow it (if not to Ginger’s place exactly but to fairly close) and then was able to follow the car they were in to where he waited? Would it be fair to assume that bayou’s have roads along side or close enough to follow the boat lights? And that perhaps there was only one road in and out of Ginger’s place? If Marty parked across the street from the police station when we saw him reading his book, all he had to do was follow the half dozen cop cars who responded to the helicopter’s call. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/135 "2014-02-14T22:12:56Z")
I’m enjoying it. Weirdly, I agree with just about everything Rust says regarding life, the universe, and everything, while generally being pretty happy go lucky about it all. Yeah, I’m a meat puppet constructed by my DNA to replicate itself. Oh well - let’s have some fun! (Granted I’ve never had a child get killed. Shit - maybe I’m just a much doughier version of Rust waiting to happen.) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/136 "2014-02-15T02:31:20Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I never heard him say that… I thought once they discovered Ledoux was the sole meth provider to that biker gang, he was going to use the coke swap with the “Mexican cartel” to get close to him. > [@madmonk28](#): > > Just watched that part again, Rust says “we get him alone, snatch him up, work him over and he gives up LeDoux.” I just rewatched, and that’s _not_ what he says when he originally lays out the plan to Marty. He says, “We make them an offer, get a line on their supplier, confirm it’s Ledoux, bring him in.” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/137 "2014-02-15T02:37:19Z")
Okay, weirdly he then goes to the work him over plan. Got it. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/138 "2014-02-15T21:52:10Z")
This was an interesting article: [The One Literary Reference You Must Know To Appreciate True Detective](http://io9.com/the-one-literary-reference-you-must-know-to-appreciate-1523076497). And here is the Wikipedia link to the Literary Reference: [The King In Yellow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_in_Yellow). ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/139 "2014-02-15T22:26:32Z")
There’s also the description the little girl gave of the man chasing her through the woods, which sounded rather Lovecraftian/weird fiction to me. The Chambers stuff is what attracted me to the series in the first place - I’m interested to see if they go at all supernatural, or if it’ll just be a cult that believes stuff that isn’t real. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697/140 "2014-02-15T22:42:10Z")
> [@Algernon](#): > > This was an interesting article: [The One Literary Reference You Must Know To Appreciate True Detective](http://io9.com/the-one-literary-reference-you-must-know-to-appreciate-1523076497). > > And here is the Wikipedia link to the Literary Reference: [The King In Yellow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_in_Yellow). It was mentioned in post 37 of this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-detective-hbo-mcconaughey-harrelson-spoilers/660697.md?page=8)