With the season stalling, mired in inter-office romance, prostitution, DIY dentistry, and most importantly a case that was going absolutely nowhere, Pizzolatto channeled his inner War Boy and spit some nitrous into the gas tank. The result was an episode that still felt a little bit more like a teenage driver’s surprised lurch forward than a steady gear shift into a coherent plot. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. How could I not? It contained the most thrilling scene the season has produced. I’m talking of course about Frank Semyon in a cake shop. While “Frank Semyon: Cake Boss” has a nice ring to it, I’m actually referring to the unexpected shootout turned massacre that punctuated the episode.
The shootout was both the best and worst part of the episode. On one hand you have edge of your seat action as our detectives stumble unexpectedly into what is presumably a well armed meth cook house in the middle of Vinci. They’re after a gang member/pimp whose fingerprints turned up on a recently pawned watch that belonged to Caspere. On the other hand, you have a payoff on a plot point that occurred in the same episode. Foreshadowing and payoff are always more impressive (both as a writer and an audience member) when it’s teased out a little more. I’m not saying it’s a huge problem, but I can’t help but think that the climax in this episode would’ve led to the feeling of a more cohesive overall plot if the watch/fingerprints lead had been raised in an earlier episode.
Speaking of last episode, who would’ve known that Woodrugh’s drink order (“Make ‘em doubles”) at the Lux would culminate with a late night booty call with his army buddy. I like to imagine Woodrugh getting super drunk at Lux, standing around awkwardly with no one to talk to, checking his phone to look like he has something to do, and then doing what most millennials do in that situation: text the only person that’s shown you sexual interest within the past 48 hours. We’ve all been there man, you always regret it. Someone tell Woodrugh about Grindr.
Complicating things more for Woodrugh is a “crawling back to normalcy” meeting with his ex-girlfriend. Seeking heterosexual sanctuary, she instead reveals to him that she’s pregnant. This prompts Woodrugh to clumsily propose to her. She responds “Don’t do this because you think it’s the right thing to do”. “I’m not”, Woodrugh mutters both to himself and to her. He’s being more honest than he realizes. A heterosexual marriage and a kid would anchor an otherwise lost existence. I say, why not? TMZ is already blocking him entry into his hotel, he may as well continue to give them fuel for their fires with a sham marriage. It's painfully obvious Woodrugh isn’t getting married because it’s the right thing to do, he’s getting married because he’s drowning and he needs a life preserver. After all, in the episode’s best non-shootout scene, Woodrugh tearfully confesses to Velcoro that he doesn’t know how to live “out in the world”. “Look around, look at me. Nobody does”, Velcoro says comfortingly, proving himself wise in both the fatherly-advice and self-medication departments (if only my friends picked me up with a glove box full of drugs and alcohol when I was hungover).
I’ve described Woodrugh as a perpetually uncomfortable and confused character, but it became immediately obvious in the aftermath of the shootout that led to dozens of dead criminals, innocent bystanders and police officers (R.I.P. Detective Teague Dixon!) that he feels right at home in combat situations. With Bezzerides reduced to tears and Velcoro nervously pulling on his mustache (from the looks of “scenes from the next True Detective” he pulls it clean off!), Taylor Kitsch’s Woodrugh cooly holsters his gun. It’s a perfect moment for Woodrugh, who seems to be catching quite a lot of internet grief as a character. The same can be said for Kitsch, who I believe had his best episode yet.
In this episode, I felt Woodrugh’s shame and confusion every step of the way. It’s hard enough trying to hide a life you’re ashamed of while you sort it out, it’s even harder when suddenly you’re thrust into the paparazzi limelight. His tearful confession to Velcoro that he did everything the press is saying (namely that he committed war crimes and solicited a blowjob from the actress) was heartwrenching. Woodrugh may be a bit cliche, but don’t fault Kitsch, who is finally adding some dimension to Woodrugh.
Speaking of other previously one dimensional characters, Bezzerides finally had the episode fans of the show were desperate for. Unfortunately for Bezzerides (the character) this means that her poor HR practices have cropped back up (I told ya! Warned ya twice!) in the form of a formal internal affairs complaint. She had sexual relations with a subordinate, which is an HR nightmare. She’s suspended, but allowed to work on the special investigation into the Caspere murder. I’ll leave the whole “if this were happening to a guy this wouldn’t be a big deal” angle to someone who better understands the nuances of feminism, but I will say that she is probably right that she’s being targeted for being a woman. That, or Mayor Chessani really is as powerful as Velcoro warned. Warning Bezzerides about Chessani was the second instance of Velcoro handing out fatherly advice in this episode (more on that in a bit) and I personally loved the Velcoro and Bezzerides road trip (Maybe Bezzerides was scouting locations for her future yogurt stand business?).
The reason for the road trip also made sense from an investigation angle, unlike some of the scenes in this show. They’re tracking Caspere’s GPS coordinates against dates that were circled red in his calendar. This leads them up state, allowing for a quick stop at Bezzerides’ father’s hippy retreat. There, we learn that her father, Mayor Chessani, creepy Doctor Pitlor and Ben Caspere were all very involved in some bizarre cultish spiritual retreats in the past. We also learned that Velcoro has a huge aura which is green and black. Velcoro acted like he didn’t care about the color of his aura, but I bet his search history says otherwise.
Bezzerides meets with her sister where we learn that sex parties happen all over California. I thought this was old news, so the scene didn’t do much for me, other than deliver a pretty interesting line about the nature of memories: “Those moments, they stare back at you. You don't remember them, they remember you". What can I say? I’m still a sucker for the philosophical side of True Detective. We also learned that her knife was given to her by her deceased mother. It’s an unimportant and slightly weird detail, but at least we know some things about Bezzerides. It took four episodes, but we finally have four well rounded characters.
Following this detour we arrive at the real reason for the trip: figuring out where Caspere was going on his joyrides. As the first episode teased, Velcoro and Bezzerides stand over a field of stakes with pink flags, for the first, but likely not the last, time. They speak with a contractor who informs them that all of the mines in the area have ruined the soil, rendering the farmland useless. This is a pretty important detail, not to mention our second great lead back to back! Looks like we’re finally going somewhere, unless of course we make Woodrugh go back to talking to prostitutes - “Woodrugh, you’re back on prosts”. Ok fair enough, baby steps.
Anyway, back to the plots of land. When I heard “mine” I was immediately reminded of the blue diamonds found in Caspere’s safe deposit box. I think there’s a connection there. Maybe Caspere discovered diamonds or something equally valuable on one of the plots of land? Seems a little farfetched, but anything is possible.
Infertile soil was a recurring theme for this episode. It’s fitting that the light rail that has ruined so many lives is plotted on top of tainted soil, almost like it’s growing from some unholy seed. Semyon has the strongest connection to “plots of land” and it’s no coincidence that he seemed preoccupied with infertile soil for most of the episode. His avocado trees can’t grow and the lawn needs to be cut at his shady project building operation. Yes, Semyon’s journey into the underworld continued, getting further and further away from the glitz and glamor of the party he MCed announcing the light rail. If his journey is anything like Persephone's, I'd advise against sampling any of the Turkish cakes along the way. The locations that Semyon has visited have become increasingly worse, culminating in a run down project building filled with immigrants. He’s groping in the dark for cash, and getting advice solely from his wife who is coincidentally just as infertile as the land he desires so much. He even “benches” his second in command because he doesn’t trust him, at his wife’s suggestion. Is it just me or does she give off a strong Lady Macbeth vibe? If I were Frank, I wouldn’t trust her (and I'd keep an eye out for floating daggers).
Unfortunately, Frank doesn’t have many true confidants left at this point. In an interesting role reversal, Velcoro meets with Semyon and provides his third instance of fatherly advice. “You’re always poor. It doesn’t go away just because you have money”, Velcoro tells Semyon. Semyon would be wise to listen to a “soberish” Velcoro, maybe he was better off as a small time crook than a big shot investor.
It’s fitting that with every other character getting some much needed screen time, this episode deployed Velcoro mostly in a supporting role, as a sort of confidant. When he wasn’t cutting the gordian knot known as LA traffic, he was doling out advice left and right. He even found the time to give his son Chad (what are the odds Velcoro chose "Chad" as the name? I doubt he had much say in it) the glass encased badge that his father was so eager to throw away, his fourth and final instance of fatherly advice. “Someday, you’re going to want to know where you came from”. It’s a touching scene, but coupled with an awkward glance from Mayor Chessani (who seemed to know that our detectives were all about to walk into a trap) it had all the makings of “just kidding we’re going to kill Velcoro THIS episode”. Luckily his aura (and a combat ready Woodrugh) protected him.
With this episode in the books, we’ve officially arrived at the halfway mark for the season. Seems like a good moment to pause, sip some glovebox smirnoff or smoke some medicinal indica and think about the case: the murder of Ben Caspere. The case is far from being resolved, and leads are appearing as fast as they disappear (the car is gone, Tasha is gone, and the watch pawning gang member is dead). I’m starting to think the case is beginning to matter less and less for Velcoro, Woodrugh, Bezzerides and even Semyon. It took four episodes, but there are some real relationships here. After last night’s shootout, our detectives are brothers in arms. The old adage is that soldiers enlist for a cause, but ultimately end up fighting the war for their fellow soldiers. Figuring out who they’re fighting against is the tricky part.