The following is a review of “Down Will Come” from the second season of True Detective, beware of spoilers.
We’ve reached Jeremy Podeswa’s episode of True Detective, and thus we’re finally halfway through the season. In it we finally get closer to having an idea of what’s happening in the Caspere case, and we get the greatest action sequence of the season.
True Detective really had to show us something in this episode. It has had a hard time in comparisons with the original season, and thus we needed this midseason point to really wow us. And if you ask me, I think it did. It did take some time, but the final moments of the episode were astounding.
In truth, the action in this episode was a nice release for the season. Seeing as the characters are only here for one season, we didn’t know if anyone would make it out alive – and as W. Earl Brown’s Teague Dixon proved, there would be not just civilian casualties, auxiliary characters would be lost as well.
But it wasn’t just the action that was stellar. This was, without a doubt, Vince Vaughn’s strongest episode. Semyon is putting his foot down, and it was much more convincing in this episode than the last. Taylor Kitsch also had a really strong episode.
I’m starting to care about Woodrugh, and while his inner struggle is interesting – what the world is throwing at him is equally notable. His girlfriend is pregnant, he’s lost his bike, and he’s going through a tough time with the press.
And even though my favorite character this season, Farrell’s Velcoro, wasn’t as important in this episode, I enjoyed his scenes with Woodrugh and Velcoro’s son were good. Colin Farrell is giving the best performance in this season, and it is not even close.
If you’ve been reading my reviews for the other episodes, then you know that I am enjoying Rachel McAdams’s Antigone Bezzerides. And even though I still like her character, I did have a problem with one of her scenes. When Antigone met with her sister to discuss their mother, I thought McAdams had trouble with the scene. The delivery was off, and she wasn’t able to handle the lines.
To end this review, I’d like to mention how I am getting tired of the birds-eye-view shots of the Californian highway and traffic. Somehow it didn’t annoy me when the first season showed a highway, but this time it’s really annoying me – almost feels like the season is trying too hard to make us remember the last.
B+
I’m Jeffrey Rex
I'm Jeffrey Rex 