March Makeovers: Can ‘True Detective’ season 3 find itself once more?
Before we push too far into this new edition of our March Makeovers article series, we should begin with a key admission when it comes to “True Detective”: We still do not know for sure it will come back. While creator Nic Pizzolatto does have a deal at HBO, that doesn’t mean that he will go back to making a third season of the anthology.
Therefore, we’re painting this article with a slightly different brush than some others we’re planning to do for the entire month. Hopefully, what we write here will apply to either “True Detective” or any other show that Pizzolatto comes up with in the future.
What went wrong – Season 2 was a little rushed, and in some other ways a self-serious mess. While it was visually spectacular and featured very good performances from Taylor Kitsch and Rachel McAdams, it was difficult to figure out what was truly going on, the tone was extremely depressing, and the dialogue felt way too much like something trying to be incredible rather than something that was. Everything was a little forced. Critics largely panned the show, and while it did have its moments, it was coming off such an excellent first season that it struggled under the weight of its own expectations.
How to fix it – Regardless of what Pizzolatto does next, the biggest thing that he needs is time. He’s a brilliant writer, but he’s of the sort that he does almost the entirety of the work on a series himself. He needs time to recharge and figure out what he wants his next story to be, and that distance should help him in regards to term. We’d also suggest that he find another director similar to Cary Fukunaga, who can do the entire season of a show. This will further exercise a singular vision, which is what happened to make season 1 so innovative and fantastic.
In the end, fixing “True Detective” isn’t hard since you’re starting from scratch every season. All you need is a focus on story first, and if you have something that is truly earned over time and compelling, then you can get the A-list cast and all the frills that make it something special.
(Photo: HBO.)