"Hell Of A Day When A Gunfight Is The Second Most Exciting Thing To Happen To You..."
With the effects of the Woodard shootout still lingering in the forefront of the 1980's timeline this week, it very much seems that whilst the season's definitive action set piece seemed at the time to be no more than just a glorified, if well executed, gun fight, in reality, the death of Woodard and the discovery of particular elements pertaining to the Purcell case seems to have been the kickstarter for a much deeper and dark hearted conspiracy, one which became more evident throughout the two unbelievably addictive hours of television in this ever-improving chapter of a True Detective. With HBO's latest flagship show not only blossoming thanks to a much needed return to form, the decision to return to the almost psychological horror aspect of the show's debut season really makes the drama tick as we attempt to string together the wailing dots in order to come to some sort of amicable resolution come the final episode. With episode six coming to terms with the definitive notion of Julie still being well and truly alive, the tables all turned towards Tom as the lead candidate for her brother's murder, whilst the return of the now drug addicted Dan O'Brien and the first, more low-key interrogation of Officer James seemed to nod towards the opening of previously locked doors which pointed to a much ominous overarching explanation. With a full-on, nail biting sense of oppressiveness throughout, the tone of the episode felt comfortable in being able to resort back to the spine-tingling and wholly unnerving sensibility which the first season managed to get so spot on, and with creepy monologues from incidental characters both ambiguous and crucial to solving the many riddles at the heart of the central mystery, "Hunters in the Dark" also featured the discovery of the infamous "pink castle" and the creepiest conclusion to an episode this season by a considerable distance.
With such a dramatic discovery, it wasn't exactly surprising to see that the first act of episode seven was to see the lengths certain power-hungry figures will go to in order to keep the now solidified conspiracy under wraps and as far away from both Hays and West as humanly possible, with the death of Tom and his convenient suicide note one of the less effective narrative twists so far due to an alarming sense of inevitability. As pointed out by Sarah Gadon's Elisa, the nature of the conspiracy almost uncannily becomes quiet after a sudden act of violence and the discovery of a dead man, and with the elder Hays clearly misdirecting and misremembering her particular line of questioning, the "bad thing" involving Hays and West is finally revealed, with the accidental death and subsequent attempt at removing every trace of Officer James the enormous elephant in the room and potentially a deciding factor in Hay's penchant for mental illness and memory confliction. Add into the mix the return of the one-eyed black man and joyous, if slightly off-hand, link to the Rust/Hart investigation from the first season, and the cards heading into the finale all begin to slightly stack up, concluding with a long-awaited meet-up with the ambiguous figure of Mr. Hoyt, whose telephone conversation could not hide the fact that the man on the other end of the line was Yondu himself, Michael Rooker. With the tension unbearable, the tone now full on Wicker Man style oppressive and questions still remaining, next week promises to be either an enormous and jaw-dropping hour of television or a complete cop-out. We shall see.
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