‘True Detective’ season 3 debate: Should series be renewed by HBO?

Tonight, we are going to have a chance to witness the season 2 finale of “True Detective,” but at the same exact time there is spontaneously no clear word as to when season 3 is going to air on the network … or even if.

First things first, though, you should not take the lack of a renewal at the moment as some sort of evidence that HBO has zero interest in bringing the show back. This is for the most part right now just par for the course on what they did last year with the Nic Pizzolatto series. They took their time after season 1, waited to see if there was another idea, and then renewed the show for more. For now, we at least know that the network is interested in more, and network head Michael Lombardo even defended season 2 while at the TCA Summer Press Tour recently.

As for whether or not the show needs a third season, it doesn’t. It didn’t need a season 2, either. What it really needs more than anything else is time to come up with a great idea. If there is something that Pizzolatto can do that is very different than the first two seasons, give it a try. Otherwise, what is really the point.

To us, the biggest problem with season 2 was apparent even before the show premiered: It was too similar to season 1, just with different characters and a new setting. It needs to make at least a slight shift in tone, focus on very different people, and maybe move to a setting that is very unusual and different from what we’ve seen. You don’t also have to make everything inherently so depressing, either; some of the nightclub scenes this season are an example of that.

Another problem for season 3 may be securing a cast of big names who are willing to come on board after so many took cheap shots at season 2 really from the moment Vince Vaughn came on board. Nobody wants to really associate with something that’s going to be mocked, even before in some instances people give it a chance.

We do hope that if the show returns, it is given an opportunity to go back to its season 1 roots. There was at one point so much that “True Detective” did on its way to being a magnificent series back then, and the last thing we want to do is see that be forgotten.

If you want some more news on tonight’s season 2 finale of “True Detective,” be sure to head over to the link here! Also, you can sign up now to get some other updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: HBO.)