‘True Detective’ episode 6 review: Is Martin Hart the real monster here?

With just two episodes left until its finale, “True Detective” continues to excel on so many different levels. Are we going to say that the episode that aired on HBO last night is the strongest in the history of the series? We’re not, mostly because last week’s was nothing short of brilliant and the best thing we’ve seen from any drama in 2014.

However, tonight still was a top 3 episode that contained a lot of good information, even if it did not do very much to solve the actual case. It was more the story of how Rust Cohle and Martin Hart ended up leaving their partnership at the police department, only to later on down the road meet up again. Through all of this, we were reminded through and through that Martin is probably one of the most terrible people on TV right now.

Here is the anatomy of this man. He is a serial cheater, and yet nearly strangles his wife when she retaliates. He’s also a liar, and cannot handle the fact that someone knows something more than him. In going back to the cheating, shouldn’t we mention that he was cheating with someone who was underage when he first met her? It was all sorts of creepy, especially since there were some pretty bad parallels between this woman and a path that we saw for one of his own daughters.

Rust is no saint either, and the fact that he slept with Maggie is proof of that. We understand some of his anger at what he feels was probably him being used in a heat-of-a-moment situation by a woman desperate for something to hit Marty back with. He could’ve said no to her, but a part of him wanted it. Maggie is one of the saddest characters out there, mostly because she seems to desperate to actually be loved, and she cannot genuinely find it.

All of these emotions culminated into a fistfight in the street, and the resignation of Rust from the force in 2002 after he was already suspended for looking into cases against orders. The only part of this that was a letdown was that all of it was so predictable. Of course Martin was going to try to punch him, just like he was going to berate his wife for doing the same thing that he’s done to her for years.

Still, we’re okay with the little progress on a case when there is so much quality acting and writing here. “True Detective” is our new addiction, but we’re unfortunately going to be going cold-turkey on it very soon. Grade: A.

What was your take on tonight’s “True Detective” episode? Share below.

Photo: HBO