OTHER RECAPS:
Wow. Usually when you’re right about a prediction, in this case that one of the characters was going to be killed off prematurely, you’re supposed to be happy. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be more unhappy. Velcoro, and specifically Colin Farrell’s portrayal of him, was the best ammunition I could use when trying to defend season two of True Detective to any naysayers. With him presumably dead (more on that later), you’d think that would make defending the show a lot more challenging. Luckily, episode two, Night Finds You, was a great episode from start to finish. And boy, what a finish.
Some show runners, notably the two creative madmen behind Game of Thrones, dismiss that their episodes are centered around themes. I don’t know as much about Nic Pizzolatto as I’d like to, aside from the fact that he is not married to Amanda Peet, nor do I know his opinion on themes in episodes. It’s a little early to pass judgement on where he stands on the issue, but at the very least the purpose of episode two was: motivation. Not just scene to scene motivation, but big picture stuff. What is driving these characters?
Now, structurally there is a reason for this. Episode one was Velcoro and Semyon heavy. Woodrugh and Bezzerides [Note: why does every character on this show have names that are impossible to spell?] didn’t get as much love, and were more mysterious. Well, mysterious is a kinder term than some of the internet’s most opinionated users are using. “Wooden”, “Flat”, “Rust Cohle Wannabes”, and “Sad Riggins”, are just some of the terms being tossed around. Ok I may have made that last one up (Texas Forever!).
We find out that if Woodrugh works as a special investigator he could become one permanently, and put the TMZ worthy blowjob solicitation which almost cost him his job, behind him forever. We all know how Woodrugh feels about blowjobs, so let's hope this settles in his favor. As of episode two, his involvement in the case has been limited. But hey, he had to abandon his beautiful girlfriend who asked too many questions about “Black Mountain”, his weirdly sexual trailer park mom, and his homophobia behind and head south to Vinci. His episode arc ends with him staring out at a male prostitute, with a pensive look. There may be more to Woodrugh than meets the eye, at least sexually. And I’m not talking about his reliance on viagra and disdain for blowjobs. His motivation, for now, seems to be clearing his name.
It’s worth noting that, in his most dynamic scene thus far, Woodrugh’s father is absent, replaced with a weird familial obsession with Clint Eastwood. Clint's picture is featured prominently in the trailer, and his mom suggests they watch a “Clint” movie like old times. After seeing that scene, if Woodrugh has issues with his sexual identity, I doubt anyone would be surprised.
Speaking of strange sexuality, Antigone Bezzerides is still a weak character for me. Somewhere between watching pornography for “research” [Note: Big shout out to HBO for showing actual pornography on cable] and explaining to Velcoro that she needs to carry knives to make sure that no man can ever touch her, sort of like a reverse King Midas with knives, she lost me. Speaking of mythology, it seems (according to Wikipedia) that Antigone is a figure from a Greek tragedy. The Greek character has strong familial ties, which is telling because Bezzerides and her hippy commune upbringing still proves to be the most interesting aspect of her character. Bring back Hack!
Until we find out more about her family, Bezzerides seems content to be the beast of burden in this investigation, moving things along and grinding it out. And for what it’s worth, she also seems to be the most competent detective aside from Velcoro. Dana Scully she ain’t, but it’s refreshing to see a strong female detective in a male dominated show. One quick HR tip: if you let your entire team leave early on the first day, it’s going to be tough to make them stay late. Come on Bezzerides, that’s bush league leadership! Regardless, her motivation is still a little ambiguous, but for now it seems that she wants to be a good detective and solve this case. I’m not totally buying it, but I don’t want her to make me bleed out so I’ll move on quickly.
I won’t claim to be an expert on crime procedurals, and the scene where all the political parties agree to work on the investigation, with clearly different motivations, was a little bland for me. Suffice to say everyone is now involved in finding out who killed Caspere. They set up shop in an abandoned hangar in Vinci which immediately made me miss the dusty basement in The Wire. Velcoro’s corrupt boss doesn’t want him to solve the case, and arguably Velcoro’s REAL boss, Frank Semyon, doesn’t care if Velcoro solves the case or not, he just wants his money back.
Semyon had a great episode. The diatribe about being locked in the basement by his alcoholic father was like a dark version of the Pied Piper, and may have been a little too on the nose, but I’m not faulting Vaughn’s performance. Semyon is a divergent role for Vaughn, who usually is seen playing the type of fast talking con man we’re used to in Wedding Crashers and Old School. Rat smashing aside, I believe Vaughn as Semyon: a mobster who was one step away from being legit, who is now forced to transform himself back into his mobster self to get his money back. When Caspere died, he had 5 million dollars of Semyon’s hard earned mob money. This was his chance to go legit, and now he’s left with nothing. No land for the light rail, and no cash. He can barely afford kick backs to the drunkest city official I have ever seen on television. How do you even manage a city, even one as corrupt and small as Vinci, while you’re so drunk? Can you even remember who has paid you your weekly kick backs? A conversation for another day. After an embarrassing and diminishing meeting with an official, Semyon calls in all of his mob connections and starts the hunt. His motivation is roughly five million times clearer than Vinci’s water (Vaya! Peligro!): get the money back and get the land, so he can go legit.
Motivation is an interesting thing. As a writer your goal is often to hide the exposition of a character’s motivation. If the audience doesn’t notice it happening, then your job is done. Sort of like that episode of Futurama where Bender meets God. Velcoro’s motivation has primarily been the protection of his family. He’s gone to great lengths for just that. In a scant two episodes we’ve had Velcoro’s motivations thrown into our faces with a brass knuckled fist. The tragic thing about Velcoro is that every decision he has made in his life in order to protect his family, has poisoned him morally. He has sacrificed all of his decency for what now amounts to scraps. All he has left is his son, and in this episode’s best and most heart wrenching scene, that gets ripped away from him.
“He needs me! Even if he doesn’t know it!”, Velcoro pleads with his wife, “You’re a bad person Ray. And you’re bad for our son...You used to have something. A decency. You were good at being decent. Until...something happened”, his wife laments. Someone should tell her to listen to what she’s saying, because Velcoro responds by saying “I will burn this fucking city to the ground first”. Ok, be chill Velcoro, relax, it’s all good. No need for - “I’ll get a paternity test Ray”, his wife counters. She knows the boy is all Velcoro has, even if it is a lie everyone knows the answer to. I mentioned that the show has (for now) departed from the “forbidden knowledge” that is so prevalent in Lovecraft’s writing. Somehow finding out definitively that your son is actually the son of the rapist you murdered seems worse than any forbidden knowledge Lovecraft came up with.
The scene leaves Velcoro rudderless. His next encounter with Semyon plays out like a suicide note. Semyon gives Velcoro a new lead in the investigation - a house Caspere used for his sexual escapades - and tells Velcoro to check it out. He dangles chief of police and a 300k salary in front of Velcoro. Velcoro doesn’t bite. He leaves some money on the table, which Velcoro ignores. As he leaves, he tells a waitress “It’s not my money”. This may seem like a small detail, but it sheds light into Velcoro’s motivation for the remainder of the...well episode I guess. He isn’t investigating the house for money, indicating he doesn’t care about his connection to Semyon. He has no connection to his family anymore. So what is his motivation? I think it has to do with that whole “being decent” thing. Maybe his conversation with Bezzerides triggered something in him, aside from reminding him that smoking an e-cigarette is like “sucking a robot’s dick”. Maybe he just wants to be a good detective again. We may never know, because like so many Californians before him, his dream dies in Hollywood.
Long story short, Velcoro goes to the Hollywood address and gets shot twice by a bird-mask wearing killer. The house had just enough strange imagery to tease out the bizarre side of the story, which I haven’t been shy about saying was my favorite part of season one. Animal masks, sex camcorders, and old radio. Count me in! Sounds way more fun than anything that ever happened in Carcosa.
To add some credence to the "Velcoro is super dead" corner, he raised some pretty important red (or in this case, possibly pink) flags to some key characters. Notably, his conversation with Bezzerides stating that there is something fishy about this investigation. "They don't want this thing solved", he says, before being dropped off at his apartment (or at least nearby it...he doesn't live at the police station, does he?). His death would also signal to Semyon that he is on to something, and that he should keep pressing his sources. The balls are rolling, with or without Velcoro around.
Still, the internet is ablaze with rumors of Velcoro being alive. But short of a resurrection ritual involving King’s Blood, I think Velcoro has bullied his last 12 year old. Even with a kevlar vest, two shotgun blasts are hard to survive. And even if he survives, Velcoro said it best “Reasons for all this, for all that, may not exist anymore...I’m tired.” For now Velcoro is likely dead, murdered by this season’s mysterious killer, but what was left of Velcoro died in that parking lot as his wife walked away and took his family with her. I just hope he finally gets to rest.