Before the first season of True Detective aired, there was a lot of hype around it. HBO managed to get an all-star cast for that first season and it was heavily promoted. Being someone that loves crime dramas, it was a series I was very into. As of writing this, True Detective has three seasons and a fourth one is on the way.
How to Download True Detective
You can download or stream the film from HBO Max. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like crime TV series, check out also our reviews of You, Breaking Bad, or Wednesday.
The Movie Review
I think what I liked about True Detective is that it is an anthology series. Each of the three seasons is its own contained story, with its own case, characters, and drama. I liked this as it made each season feel like a brand-new show. I will say that the first season is my favorite, but the other two are also really good.
The first season features two detectives in Rust and Marty, played by Mathew McConaughy and Woody Harrelson and they are incredible in their roles. I am a big fan of both of these guys and honestly, it is some of the finest work that the two of them have ever done in my opinion.
Starting in the mid-90s, Rust and Marty are working on a case where they are looking into the death of a prostitute. Things do not come to a proper close and 17 years later, Rust and Marty have to look back into the case and this opens up a whole new drama. I love how it is a bit weird and off, kind of spooky in some ways if you know what I am saying.
The acting is fantastic and it keeps you invested the whole time as all good crime dramas do, the first season of True Detective keeps you guessing all the way to the end. As well as being about the actual case and the detectives trying to solve it. We also get a lot of drama about them and their families as well which I found interesting.
The second season of True Detective once again features a stacked cast. Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch, Kelly Reilly, and Vince Vaughn make up the main cast, and to be honest with you, the second season probably has my favorite cast out of the entire series so far.
I think that there is a good idea here with the story. Set in California, we have different stories that feature different law enforcement officers (and a criminal trying to go straight) that interweave and cause the characters to have to interact with each other. As I said, the idea is good, but it was a bit hard to follow and felt like it was throwing swerves for the sake of doing so. It is not bad, but certainly not as good as the first season.
This brings us to the third season. Once again HBO got a stacked cast for this with Mahershala Al playing Detective Hays and Stephen Dorff playing his partner detective West. I have always liked the work of Stephen Dorff so seeing him get a starring role in a show like this was really cool.
This series had what I felt like was a much darker and more disturbing kind of detective story. Our two detectives are deep in a case about missing children. This has a bit more of that spooky, horror kind of vibe that the first season had, and actually, the more I think about it, this one comes really close to season one for me.
I have to say that True Detective is a show that is at its best when you know as little about it as possible. Seasons one and three are great and season two is good! I had a great time watching this with my wife and we would always discuss what we thought was going on. If you love detective shows, you have to watch this one as it really is one of the best.
