The Official Good Television Thread

Justified has been excellent thus far. And for some reason, I've been liking Dallas. Quuuiite the guilty pleasure
 

At this point, I think it's pretty clear where the show is going; but I'll still be happy with the conclusion even if I've predicted it (actually, my wife was the one to vocalize it first, a few episodes back).

That said, they could whip out a major twist and I'll be happy as well. At this point, I simply approve of what the show has done conceptually and formally. It's also fun to read all the internet fans going bonkers over the show's pretty remarkable level of intellectual commitment. This isn't even vulgar pseudo-intellectualism; it's a very well-done exploration of the anti-humanism of deep theory.
 
What's your/her prediction?

I think it's a conspiracy organized by Tuttle (but extending through the town, including the police) to drum up concern over occultist beliefs; an attempt to foster a surge in fundamentalist Christianity as a response to occultist/pagan-driven crimes, and to inaugurate some kind of Christian revolution and institute what would, for all intents and purposes, be a state-sanctioned Christian regulatory body.

In this case, the Christian judiciary would be free to condemn nonbelievers to fates as equally horrid as that of Dora Lange, with the primary difference being that their ritualistic executions will be performed in the Name of the Law.

My wife adds a conceptual twist to this that I also agree with; it is a conspiracy, but a conflicted one in that the perpetrators themselves actually believe in the atrocious acts that they're committing (e.g. the murder of Dora Lange). She says that fundamentalists as crazy as those portrayed in the show must also believe in the existence of external opposing forces of "darkness," or "evil"; so she thinks we'll see not only some total farce or simulation of supposedly occult crimes, but people - including the higher-ups, maybe even Tuttle - who genuinely believe in the acts they're committing.

The most avid and fundamentalist of Christian believers, by definition, also avidly and fundamentally believe in the existence and necessity of the alternative; in contrast, the most avid and fundamentalist of atheists also accept the premises of theism ("a-theism" only makes sense as opposed to "theism"). Outside of both of these modes I think we find Cohle; someone who knocks on the liminal arcs of the world and hears it ring hollow.

"Hell is empty and all the devils are here."
 
I don't really think the show is going that direction, we shall see though. I sorta see it reflecting back on to what Rust said, and what Tommy Lee Jones' character says in No Country, that people are evil and nothing's ever really changing...(paraphrasing) I also don't think anything will be solved this season and will probably get prolonged into at least 3 seasons
 
Ein, I agree with everything you said. But, like you said earlier, I think anyone who's been paying attention thinks this too. I hope there is a major twist.

I also love the idea of The Yellow King as a symbol and Carcosa as a state of mind.

rms, yeah, good point. no country is in the same alt universe as TD.
 
This narrative is actually going to end after the eighth episode. The writer and director have stated that each season will be a new narrative arc with a totally new cast.
 
Yup, I remember seeing the writer say on twitter it's three acts (Ep 1-3 = Act One. Ep 4-6 = Act Two. Ep 7 & 8 = Act Three.)
I really appreciate it too. I hate when a show goes into 3-4 seasons. It just becomes so watered down with filler episodes.
 
This narrative is actually going to end after the eighth episode. The writer and director have stated that each season will be a new narrative arc with a totally new cast.

I saw that too, but I assume the next episode is all about Rust telling Woody Harrelson all about what he's been doing and then episode 8 heads into a cliffhanger into the second season. If they can find the guy they are talking about and kill/arrest him in two episodes, i'd be pretty surprised.
 
I don't follow. How can it be a cliffhanger if they don't pursue the same story into the second season? Unless you're just saying that this narrative will simply end on a cliffhanger with no resolution.
 
Aren't you suggesting that they are going to find the character Rust talks about in the preview for the upcoming episode? If so, i'd be very surprised.

I also saw that each season was a different narrative but not different characters, other than offering female perspectives in the second season. Where have you seen this?

Jimmy I disagree, you see it in The Wire where the characters change but the plot is always different, there is no reason not to expect the best out of this show thus far.
 
Aren't you suggesting that they are going to find the character Rust talks about in the preview for the upcoming episode? If so, i'd be very surprised.

I also saw that each season was a different narrative but not different characters, other than offering female perspectives in the second season. Where have you seen this?

I'm suggesting that some form of resolution will occur by the end of the eighth episode; whether it is the kind of resolution that we might expect is another question. I'm entirely unsure how the final episode will wrap, but I do think they will find the person they're looking for. To be honest, I think Cohle already knows who it is.

As far as its anthology format goes, the second season changes the narrative and replaces the cast:

True Detective's first season will follow the the 17-year hunt for the killer with following seasons replacing the cast and story -- a similar format that FX has employed for its freshman hit American Horror Story

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/hbo-matthew-mcconaughey-woody-harrelson-true-detective-318152
 
That's almost two years ago, but I guess we'll see. Not sure I can see this show changing characters completely unless it changes location per season as well, or something of that extent.
 
That's almost two years ago, but I guess we'll see. Not sure I can see this show changing characters completely unless it changes location per season as well, or something of that extent.

Sure, but that's how it's been worked on for two years. I doubt at the last minute they changed their minds and reformulated the entire idea.

I think they will change locations. I think each season will take place in a new location. The only possible network I can conceive of forming is if, after several "unsolved" seasons, we begin to realize that all these apparently disparate cases are somehow connected. That would require some intense foresight, but it would be impressive.
 
Vikings was totally epic. Many dynamic moments strait away.

Spoiler alert...& review

















To start...the brothers at war against one another and the consequences was off the charts. Then Ragnar sat on the shore and said fairwell to his young daughter who had previously passd from the plague. As a parent of a young daughter, i totally lost my shit here. This was beyond any emotional moment ive ever seen. Ragnars mistress then shows up carrying his child and she is presented to his wife.
 
What did you guys think of True Detective last night? Still hoping it's not going to be some political/christian cover-up thing...but doesn't seem like that's not going to happen
 
To me this show is all about Rust and Marty, the human condition and each characters nature (at the core and as they've developed). Although everything around them is uncovering I feel like it means less and less. The conceptualization goes way beyond the case. And the conclusion will see both men, although very different, wind up in the same position at the end.