True Detective

True Detective is a miniseries from HBO written by the up-and-coming amazingly talented writer Nic Pizzolatto who was an incredible career ahead of him if he can keep up with this quality of writing. On the surface the show is about two detectives trying to catch a serial killer, a hunt which spans 17 years. However the show is about humanity, the darkness, the light, the forgotten parts of the human psyche, the struggles and coping mechanisms. The show has a star studded high calibre cast lead by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.

The show is a slow burner that builds up to a climax with the final episode, very similar to my favourite show of all time The Wire. The show is deliberately paced so that we can study the characters in each seen, get a feel for who there are, where they come from, what makes them tick and why they do what they do. In Rust (Matthew McConaughey) we have a hardy detective in self imposed purgatory while Marty (Woody Harrelson) seems to be a family man with deep feelings of discontent who occasionally has affairs as a way of avoiding the reality of his problems. Their partnership is a fragile one which grows after passing a few tests of the 17 years the series takes us through. The partnership becomes about the job, the one true passion for both of them and the debt they owe (themselves) in not having solved the case earlier.

The performance from each and every actor in this show is of the highest quality but the stand out performance is from Matthew McConaughey who I believe deserves an Emmy. He delivers performances of outstanding quality every episode that makes him the centre of attention in every scene he's in. The level of performance is only possible because of the excellent writing, and it amazes me that one person could have written all 8 episodes. Usually theres an army of writers but Nic Pizzolatto managed to write this master piece all by himself.

I look forward to the next series in this anthology.

Bones Binging

In my injury addled state of boredom I've sought many ways to fill my time, so over the last 11 days I watched 181 episodes of the great show Bones. I caught it on sky living while channel surfing and didn't pay much attention until the interactions between the two protagonists made me laugh so I started to pay attention. The episode was your typical procedural but the dynamic relationship was refreshing, I liked it enough to decide to watch it from the beginning.

The first season hinted at the typical will they won't they story line but the protagonist didn't reveal their true feelings for each other until season 5. They eventually become a couple in season 7 which left enough time for the show to grow into something more than their relationship. The show is about the murders, rational vs. irrational thought and behaviour, the supporting cast and the engrossing serial killers. One such serial killer got under my skin so much so that I was anxious when the characters of the show was suffering from his torment, thats when you know you're invested into a show.

The best thing about binging on a show is not having to wait weeks and months to watch the next episode, this allows for me to see the gradual change in character development. Thats something that can pass you by if you watch it on a weekly basis. I condensed 9 years of great television into 11 days which afforded me the luxury of instant gratification, I'am now suffering from withdrawal symptoms as I have to wait 5 days till the next episode airs. In the meantime I've been re-watching my favourite scenes from old episodes.