I wanted to share this great interview with Jodie Foster, whom I consider my favorite actress. Partly because she is in my favorite movie of all time, Contact, but I think she is great in...
I wanted to share this great interview with Jodie Foster, whom I consider my favorite actress. Partly because she is in my favorite movie of all time, Contact, but I think she is great in everything I see her in - even if the movie is subpar. She has that "strong woman" vibe that relies on something else than just attributing usual masculine traits to a female actor. A quote from herself says it better than I can:
“Vulnerability,” she told me, “is code for ‘women.’ And it’s code for what you’re supposed to bring to screen that’s nice and girly, that everybody wants you to be.” She hates when reviews accuse her of “showing no vulnerability.” “Yeah, I know what that means,” she said, shaking her head. It means, she said, that some women’s vulnerability “just doesn’t look the way you’re used to seeing it.”
Jodie Foster has done some phenomenal interviews in the past, including this one in January: ‘There are different ways of being a woman’: Jodie Foster on beauty, bravery, and raising feminist sons...
Jodie Foster has done some phenomenal interviews in the past, including this one in January:
I mention to Foster that I saw a photo of her recently with the young British actor, Bella Ramsey, the non-binary star of the HBO zombie hit The Last of Us and who, at 20 years old, is on the brink of megastardom. Last month, Ramsey introduced Foster at the Elle magazine Women in Hollywood celebration, a pairing Foster says she requested herself. “I reached out to Bella, because we’d never met, and said, ‘I want you to introduce me at this thing’, which is a wonderful event about actors and people in the movies, but is also very much a fashion thing. Which means it’s determining who represents us. [The organisers] are very proud of themselves because they’ve got every ethnicity, and I’m like, yeah, but all the attendees are still wearing heels and eyelashes. There are other ways of being a woman, and it’s really important for people to see that. And Bella, who gave the best speech, was wearing the most perfect suit, beautifully tailored, and a middle parting and no makeup.”
I'm sure you've seen this season of True Detective, but if you haven't... Hoo boy are you in for a treat. Considering what you've said, I'm pretty sure you have. I just watched the final episode...
I'm sure you've seen this season of True Detective, but if you haven't... Hoo boy are you in for a treat. Considering what you've said, I'm pretty sure you have. I just watched the final episode and it's very close to how much I enjoyed season 1, which is the best TV I've seen.
Do you want to talk me through this one? I had the exact opposite opinion of that finale (although none of that had to do with Foster) and I'd love to hear in detail from someone who enjoyed it.
Do you want to talk me through this one? I had the exact opposite opinion of that finale (although none of that had to do with Foster) and I'd love to hear in detail from someone who enjoyed it.
this is the first time I finished a series and thought, 'I wish I kept a list of questions as I went' --- but then again, absolutely nothing was answered or connected and I am certain that Issa...
this is the first time I finished a series and thought, 'I wish I kept a list of questions as I went' --- but then again, absolutely nothing was answered or connected and I am certain that Issa didn't even watch the other seasons of the anthology they forced her show into.
I was so excited for this series, I even joined a chat specifically for it. I'm glad I did, but in the same, its really ramped up the awareness of the mess we experienced.
There were just so many elements that didn't mean anything, writing that didn't go anywhere or served absolutely no purpose. Spoilers Why the Russian fiance plotine? Why did they go out to find...
There were just so many elements that didn't mean anything, writing that didn't go anywhere or served absolutely no purpose.
Spoilers
Why the Russian fiance plotine?
Why did they go out to find Oliver twice recieve nothing of value from him and never mention him again.
Why waste time on the vet completely misdiagnosing the method of death?
Why did the scientists have weird creepy wounds and damage to their bodies that ultimately didn't matter?
Why were these creepy wounds similiar to the injuries Otis suffered?
What was the night country?
Why the domestic abuser incident flashback when it was ultimately pointless ?
Why twist and shout?
Why an emo melancholy cover of Twist and Shout? What the hell was with the twist and shout?
What was the deal with the rednecks fighting eachother?
Why include Rust's dad long aafter he was supposed to be dead and make him do a weird ghost dance?
Why are the ghosts and hallucinations essentially real in universe?
Why did a group of PhD's instantly go berserk and murder someone without hesitation?
How did the tongue get there? It makes no sense.
Why was Prior so calm about killing his dead, cleaning up his corpse, and disposing of him?
Why was it implied that Prior killing his dad, his family, was for the best, but for the Inupiat women, including his wife, salvation was embracing your culture and people.
Why was Navarro's likely suicide basically celebrated?
Why were all the murderers in that same house at the same time first thing in the morning?
Why did neither of the two main characters do any detective work?
Why was this called "True Detective" at all when it was missing significant qualities that made the original show.
Why did the show mostly spin it's wheels for the majority of episodes 3 and 4?
Why is vigilante mass murder straight up celebrated?
hahahahahah yes! this is a great list. What a shame to waste Travis Cohle. my one question Why didn't they investigate the scene of the crime and see the big button on the wall?! I feel like we...
hahahahahah yes! this is a great list. What a shame to waste Travis Cohle.
my one question
Why didn't they investigate the scene of the crime and see the big button on the wall?!
I feel like we got GOT'd in a way. So much potential wasted.
My thoughts on some of your questions: Spoilers Humanization for Hank's character. It shows he had his own life, and talking about it with Peter gave viewers a look at their relationship outside...
My thoughts on some of your questions:
Spoilers
Why the Russian fiance plotine?
Humanization for Hank's character. It shows he had his own life, and talking about it with Peter gave viewers a look at their relationship outside of the main plot. Also gives a glimpse at how gullible and desperate he actually is to fall for a romance scam like that.
Why the domestic abuser incident flashback when it was ultimately pointless ?
If you mean the Wheeler case where Navarro shot the guy, disagree it was pointless. It's the origin for the rough dynamic between Liz and Navarro, because Liz knew Navarro's temper towards culprits could be lethal. Murder is a step beyond the typical rogue cop who goes too far. The fact she was willing to cover it up anyway, and not force Navarro into retirement, shows she's also not strictly a "by the book" officer herself. Them covering it up was also ultimately used to try to dissuade Liz from investigating the Tsalal case any further.
One other reason I realized while replying though: it shows the limitations of the police to intervene with certain situations due to the larger systems. They'd gone to that house multiple times and KNEW that there was domestic violence and abuse occurring, but they couldn't actually intervene because the victim refused to press charges. They had no legal grounds to arrest him, so they could only watch and wait. This limitation ties into the overall season's themes and ending.
Why did a group of PhD's instantly go berserk and murder someone without hesitation?
For the first guy, it was heat of the moment anger because she'd ruined a good deal of their research. Then she lashed out at the next guy to get near her (I think he was trying to help/check on her, but I'd have to watch the scene again), at which point the rest seemed to join in partially due to rage, partially "self defense" because she attacked them (in self defense). Basically just felt like it escalated super fast and they were moving on instinct/panic, not going berserk.
Why was Prior so calm about killing his dead, cleaning up his corpse, and disposing of him?
Shock. Dude's brain basically shut down as a defensive measure so he could do what had to be done, and then break down later.
Why waste time on the vet completely misdiagnosing the method of death?
Why did the scientists have weird creepy wounds and damage to their bodies that ultimately didn't matter?
Why include Rust's dad long aafter he was supposed to be dead and make him do a weird ghost dance?
Why are the ghosts and hallucinations essentially real in universe?
How did the tongue get there? It makes no sense.
Putting these all together because they're all related. This season (admittedly the only season I've seen so far) seems to be toeing the line of supernatural and non-supernatural. I'm thinking the implication is meant to be that ultimately most of the case is mundane, but that there was a bit of influence from spiritual forces to nudge events to unfold the way they did.
Alternatively, I'm wondering if there was some sort of natural gas or something churned up by the mining operation that caused hallucinations. The wounds were self-inflicted if I remember right, so seems likely they were hallucinating something horrifying before dying of hypothermia. Don't know if there's any natural gases that would fit the overall symptoms, but it'd be a more rational explanation for the mining disaster Otis was caught up in too.
It still wouldn't explain the tongue though, so I think that was meant to be supernatural and a sign of Annie's spirit seeking justice.
Why was Navarro's likely suicide basically celebrated?
That was an open ending related to the above supernatural themes. Apparently the implications are that either she died having found some sort of peace with herself; she just left Ennis and is now living off the grid (maybe at the lake house Liz visited at the very end); or that she's now straddling the line between the living and the spirit world thanks to her maybe-supernatural visions. (Last one came from an article with Kali Reis I looked up afterwards.)
Why is vigilante mass murder straight up celebrated?
Now, for my personal take and opinion: I don't think there would have been any justice otherwise.
The mining company's influence tainted the case from the beginning. They had strong influence over the police, as directly shown by that superior from Anchorage going along with the "slab avalanche" story and pressuring Danvers into dropping the case. Before that, they also covered up Annie's murder by having Hank, a police officer, move the body and hide a tip about her being in a relationship with Raymond Clark. No one knew about Hank, but most people suspected the mine was involved in her murder somehow. Tension had also been building for a long time between protesters, the mine and the police.
When the women found the evidence that the scientists had covered up the pollution, they had no reason to believe the police would help. Trying to raise a case through legitimate means would likely just have it covered up and buried, or else dragged on for years before anything was changed, just like what often happens in the real world.
The murders were the women snapping because they felt a need for justice after delivering multiple stillborn babies and now knowing for a fact that their home was in danger, but also knowing that the proof they had wouldn't really change anything.
I think Danvers going with the slab avalanche story after learning the truth was a little nod from her about how corrupt the overall system is and that she knew the case wouldn't have been solved either way. Even at the end, she secretly leaked the recorded confession about the pollution online rather than submit it officially with the implication that it would have been buried otherwise. It ties into what I said about the Wheeler case showing how police ultimately have limited power within the larger systems at play.
And after all that, here's MY question:
My One Question about Night Country
What was with the one-eyed polar bear?? Because when it first showed up, it had the air of a Character instead of just a random polar bear. I thought for sure it'd be tied to Danvers' son's death or the overall plot beyond her son having a one-eyed polar bear plushie.
Overall this season and the finale seems to be hit or miss with people. I enjoyed it a lot, but my mom was more conflicted, especially with the finale and how it all wrapped up. She was also specifically underwhelmed by Jodie Foster, and kept citing that she'd seen her do better in other roles and that she felt like she flip-flopped too much in this one. But we both agreed that Kali Reis did freaking fantastic as Navarro, especially given it's apparently her third acting role ever.
It's always possible to come up with answers post hoc, I didn't ask those questions because I couldn't come up with my own answers, but to display the weakness in writing, episode blocking, and...
It's always possible to come up with answers post hoc, I didn't ask those questions because I couldn't come up with my own answers, but to display the weakness in writing, episode blocking, and the general weakness in taking a unique concept and trying to tie it into the True Detective IP.
I just watched season 1 as a palate cleanser from season 4 and the writing is immediately and obviously superior. Every moment served the narrative. Not a single episode spins it's wheels. The investigation progresses in a believable and interesting fashion of detective work. The pair stumble, find a new clue or catch a break and then they move forward in the investigation looking for more clues/answers. Marty and Rust's character development/B-Plot scenes all serve the greater narrative in one way or another.
We start the third episode at the Evangelical Tent Revival listening to Shea Wigham's incredible turn as a preacher working the crowd. With this occurring we have another character building moment between Marty and Cohle that showing of both characters, erm, "character". Marty shows more of his "man of the people good ol' Louisiana boy" while Rust, ever the philosopher, draws attention to how Shea Wigham's preacher, and religion as a whole, works. Talking about how religion is a verbal virus that preys on the weak minded. "Transference of fear and self loathing to an authoritarian vessel. It's catharsis, the preacher absorbs their dread with his narrative, because of this he is effective with the proportion of certainty he projects. We all have what I call a life trap, a certainty that things could be different, that you'll find fulfillment, closure."
Typical Rustin Cohle nihilistic atheist moment in the show.
But then towards the end of the same episode Rust is in the interrogation room with a suspect in a scene that was supposed to show how he is so effective at getting confessions. He speaks exactly like the preacher, with the same intonation and patterns. Telling the suspect "God" made him the way he is, and he's not wrong because of that. He says he will only find salvation through the grace of God. Using vaguely religious metaphors like "There's a weight and it's got it's fishhooks in your heart and your soul."
The writing never really draws specific attention to this. There's no "wink wink" moment. Rust never turns to Marty and says "See what I mean?". The scenes aren't back to back so if you aren't paying attention it could pass you right by. The writing serves the characters. The placement of the scenes within the episode serves as subtle payoff for the previously established idea.
And all it does it remind me where Night Country goes wrong. There was no payoff for a significant portion of the ideas that the show established. Things just happen because they need to happen (and even worse sometimes th y don't need to happen) within the moment without serving a larger narrative purpose.
To add to your questions, one I had was this. Spoilers What's the explanation for the timing of Raymond Clark suddenly knowing what's going to happen ahead of time without having any way of...
To add to your questions, one I had was this.
Spoilers
What's the explanation for the timing of Raymond Clark suddenly knowing what's going to happen ahead of time without having any way of knowing?
He's in the background of the video being taken by the other guy when he suddenly gets some sense and says "She's awake" or something. The season tries to push the supernatural, and then sort of walks it back and seemingly wants to straddle the line of supernatural, to maybe appease those who simply don't believe in the supernatural or don't think it belongs in True Detective, while using supernatural elements to lazily push mystery and intrigue in ways that would be harder to write without it. I even saw it coming by episode 3 that the tainted water was going to be used to explain all the weird things happening, the hallucinations people are having and what not, and even though the finale did incorporate it, they barely even covered it and just broad stroked it and essentially doesn't actually try to explain or justify it in any way.
So with the finale explanation of the cleaning women orchestrating this whole thing, how is it that Raymond Clark happens to be the only one who manages to avoid the attack? Either the show wants us to believe he actually has some kind of supernatural sense, or he got stupid lucky that he had a hallucination or psychotic break that has nothing to do with the cleaning women just outside about to attack the scientists.
I also found the part where they find Raymond Clark at the facility in the end a bit strange, and once they secure him, the first thing they do is torture him by making him listen to the video of Annie dying. At this point, they don't even know that much about what happened or his involvement. They know he just attacked them since he trapped Liz in the freezer and hit Navarro with the extinguisher so in theory this could be used as an explanation, but it seems a bit over the top considering that they're chasing him with guns and after what happened to the rest of the scientists he would obviously be a bit on edge not to mention from their perspective he probably wasn't seen as mentally stable exactly seeing as they saw what happened in the above mentioned video. Jumping straight to torturing him with the sound of his ex-love interest before they even know what involvement he had in her death is just strange.
The other thing that bothered me was the pacing, like I know part of the show is detectives who take these cases personal and go above and beyond the job, maybe the other issues with season 4 bias me on this, but I didn't seem to have this kind of issue with pacing in the other seasons. It was just unusual how much they pushed the case in every circumstance, with literally no concern for personal lives at all. Like I get it, that's a personality flaw that can make people interesting, in season 1 Rust basically had no personal life and was working the case nonstop pretty much, but he wasn't a total lunatic attempting to ruin others lives by making them like him. Meanwhile, Liz literally does not care about Prior's personal life, and Prior seemingly doesn't care for this brief window of time and then has some weird explanation if you can even call it that about how he doesn't want to be the smiling idiot. Again, I can get that it can be an interesting personality flaw, but it just felt so pointless. Like there was no real clock ticking in most of the circumstances, so it was like purposefully destructive just to keep the pacing fast and ensure there was always some easy tension available.
The other part that I found strange was Hank was pretty straightforward to Kate (the mine company owner) that he wasn't a killer, and then all of a sudden he just shoots the engineer guy right in front of Liz in a brazen execution. Like at that point he's basically committing to not only killing the engineer, but likely killing Liz (or what else is he going to do?). Now one could certainly argue that he already helped cover up a murder by moving a body so it's not too far a step removed from killing someone himself, along with his personal life issues happening at the time, but it still felt like a weird amount of escalation for no reason. Again like the pacing thing above, it just doesn't seem to have a compelling reason to push the pace or escalation like this. If he's ready to convert into being a killer, and he already got away with following her in such an obvious way and apparently she didn't seem to notice (the finale mentioning he awareness of him following was only something she would have seemingly realized after it all happened), he could have just followed her out into the middle of nowhere and killed them then rather than deciding to do it in her house.
Also one more thing, it was a seemingly cheap tactic or twist how the ice cave was right under Tsalal station, and as they are pointing this out on the map or talking about ice caves, there's no mention of it ever being near Tsalal station or directly under it actually. Felt like it was intentionally omitted to be part of a cheap twist or story development without giving too much away too early.
I just loved how supernatural and weird it all was. Spoilers Foster's performance was excellent, even in the way she speaks about her portrayal of vulnerability. Reis' performance and challenges...
I just loved how supernatural and weird it all was.
Spoilers
Foster's performance was excellent, even in the way she speaks about her portrayal of vulnerability.
Reis' performance and challenges about mental illness and the significance of her heritage to herself were insightful and moving.
The murder scene was horrific, impactful, and yet not gratuitous. The "interrogation" was perfectly cruel and in line with both characters' feelings of complete disregard for the humanity of a person who's done those things.
The ending was perhaps less compelling than season 1's finale, but it did stick to a theme of bad ass women, forced Foster's character to accept some things are out of her control, and led Reis' character to a reckoning.
Again, I think season 1 might be the best TV I've seen, so I'm not going to quibble about how close it was. I enjoyed this season a great deal more than 2 & 3, and I'm happy about that.
I wanted to share this great interview with Jodie Foster, whom I consider my favorite actress. Partly because she is in my favorite movie of all time, Contact, but I think she is great in everything I see her in - even if the movie is subpar. She has that "strong woman" vibe that relies on something else than just attributing usual masculine traits to a female actor. A quote from herself says it better than I can:
Jodie Foster has done some phenomenal interviews in the past, including this one in January:
‘There are different ways of being a woman’: Jodie Foster on beauty, bravery, and raising feminist sons - For a long time, the actor was the most visible lesbian in Hollywood (not that she really wanted to talk about it). Now the True Detective star feels liberated – and is helping the younger generation follow suit
I thought this in particular was really great:
I'm sure you've seen this season of True Detective, but if you haven't... Hoo boy are you in for a treat. Considering what you've said, I'm pretty sure you have. I just watched the final episode and it's very close to how much I enjoyed season 1, which is the best TV I've seen.
Do you want to talk me through this one? I had the exact opposite opinion of that finale (although none of that had to do with Foster) and I'd love to hear in detail from someone who enjoyed it.
this is the first time I finished a series and thought, 'I wish I kept a list of questions as I went' --- but then again, absolutely nothing was answered or connected and I am certain that Issa didn't even watch the other seasons of the anthology they forced her show into.
I was so excited for this series, I even joined a chat specifically for it. I'm glad I did, but in the same, its really ramped up the awareness of the mess we experienced.
There were just so many elements that didn't mean anything, writing that didn't go anywhere or served absolutely no purpose.
Spoilers
Why the Russian fiance plotine?
Why did they go out to find Oliver twice recieve nothing of value from him and never mention him again.
Why waste time on the vet completely misdiagnosing the method of death?
Why did the scientists have weird creepy wounds and damage to their bodies that ultimately didn't matter?
Why were these creepy wounds similiar to the injuries Otis suffered?
What was the night country?
Why the domestic abuser incident flashback when it was ultimately pointless ?
Why twist and shout?
Why an emo melancholy cover of Twist and Shout? What the hell was with the twist and shout?
What was the deal with the rednecks fighting eachother?
Why include Rust's dad long aafter he was supposed to be dead and make him do a weird ghost dance?
Why are the ghosts and hallucinations essentially real in universe?
Why did a group of PhD's instantly go berserk and murder someone without hesitation?
How did the tongue get there? It makes no sense.
Why was Prior so calm about killing his dead, cleaning up his corpse, and disposing of him?
Why was it implied that Prior killing his dad, his family, was for the best, but for the Inupiat women, including his wife, salvation was embracing your culture and people.
Why was Navarro's likely suicide basically celebrated?
Why were all the murderers in that same house at the same time first thing in the morning?
Why did neither of the two main characters do any detective work?
Why was this called "True Detective" at all when it was missing significant qualities that made the original show.
Why did the show mostly spin it's wheels for the majority of episodes 3 and 4?
Why is vigilante mass murder straight up celebrated?
hahahahahah yes! this is a great list. What a shame to waste Travis Cohle.
my one question
Why didn't they investigate the scene of the crime and see the big button on the wall?!
I feel like we got GOT'd in a way. So much potential wasted.
My thoughts on some of your questions:
Spoilers
Humanization for Hank's character. It shows he had his own life, and talking about it with Peter gave viewers a look at their relationship outside of the main plot. Also gives a glimpse at how gullible and desperate he actually is to fall for a romance scam like that.
If you mean the Wheeler case where Navarro shot the guy, disagree it was pointless. It's the origin for the rough dynamic between Liz and Navarro, because Liz knew Navarro's temper towards culprits could be lethal. Murder is a step beyond the typical rogue cop who goes too far. The fact she was willing to cover it up anyway, and not force Navarro into retirement, shows she's also not strictly a "by the book" officer herself. Them covering it up was also ultimately used to try to dissuade Liz from investigating the Tsalal case any further.
One other reason I realized while replying though: it shows the limitations of the police to intervene with certain situations due to the larger systems. They'd gone to that house multiple times and KNEW that there was domestic violence and abuse occurring, but they couldn't actually intervene because the victim refused to press charges. They had no legal grounds to arrest him, so they could only watch and wait. This limitation ties into the overall season's themes and ending.
For the first guy, it was heat of the moment anger because she'd ruined a good deal of their research. Then she lashed out at the next guy to get near her (I think he was trying to help/check on her, but I'd have to watch the scene again), at which point the rest seemed to join in partially due to rage, partially "self defense" because she attacked them (in self defense). Basically just felt like it escalated super fast and they were moving on instinct/panic, not going berserk.
Shock. Dude's brain basically shut down as a defensive measure so he could do what had to be done, and then break down later.
Putting these all together because they're all related. This season (admittedly the only season I've seen so far) seems to be toeing the line of supernatural and non-supernatural. I'm thinking the implication is meant to be that ultimately most of the case is mundane, but that there was a bit of influence from spiritual forces to nudge events to unfold the way they did.
Alternatively, I'm wondering if there was some sort of natural gas or something churned up by the mining operation that caused hallucinations. The wounds were self-inflicted if I remember right, so seems likely they were hallucinating something horrifying before dying of hypothermia. Don't know if there's any natural gases that would fit the overall symptoms, but it'd be a more rational explanation for the mining disaster Otis was caught up in too.
It still wouldn't explain the tongue though, so I think that was meant to be supernatural and a sign of Annie's spirit seeking justice.
That was an open ending related to the above supernatural themes. Apparently the implications are that either she died having found some sort of peace with herself; she just left Ennis and is now living off the grid (maybe at the lake house Liz visited at the very end); or that she's now straddling the line between the living and the spirit world thanks to her maybe-supernatural visions. (Last one came from an article with Kali Reis I looked up afterwards.)
Now, for my personal take and opinion: I don't think there would have been any justice otherwise.
The mining company's influence tainted the case from the beginning. They had strong influence over the police, as directly shown by that superior from Anchorage going along with the "slab avalanche" story and pressuring Danvers into dropping the case. Before that, they also covered up Annie's murder by having Hank, a police officer, move the body and hide a tip about her being in a relationship with Raymond Clark. No one knew about Hank, but most people suspected the mine was involved in her murder somehow. Tension had also been building for a long time between protesters, the mine and the police.
When the women found the evidence that the scientists had covered up the pollution, they had no reason to believe the police would help. Trying to raise a case through legitimate means would likely just have it covered up and buried, or else dragged on for years before anything was changed, just like what often happens in the real world.
The murders were the women snapping because they felt a need for justice after delivering multiple stillborn babies and now knowing for a fact that their home was in danger, but also knowing that the proof they had wouldn't really change anything.
I think Danvers going with the slab avalanche story after learning the truth was a little nod from her about how corrupt the overall system is and that she knew the case wouldn't have been solved either way. Even at the end, she secretly leaked the recorded confession about the pollution online rather than submit it officially with the implication that it would have been buried otherwise. It ties into what I said about the Wheeler case showing how police ultimately have limited power within the larger systems at play.
And after all that, here's MY question:
My One Question about Night Country
What was with the one-eyed polar bear?? Because when it first showed up, it had the air of a Character instead of just a random polar bear. I thought for sure it'd be tied to Danvers' son's death or the overall plot beyond her son having a one-eyed polar bear plushie.
Overall this season and the finale seems to be hit or miss with people. I enjoyed it a lot, but my mom was more conflicted, especially with the finale and how it all wrapped up. She was also specifically underwhelmed by Jodie Foster, and kept citing that she'd seen her do better in other roles and that she felt like she flip-flopped too much in this one. But we both agreed that Kali Reis did freaking fantastic as Navarro, especially given it's apparently her third acting role ever.
It's always possible to come up with answers post hoc, I didn't ask those questions because I couldn't come up with my own answers, but to display the weakness in writing, episode blocking, and the general weakness in taking a unique concept and trying to tie it into the True Detective IP.
I just watched season 1 as a palate cleanser from season 4 and the writing is immediately and obviously superior. Every moment served the narrative. Not a single episode spins it's wheels. The investigation progresses in a believable and interesting fashion of detective work. The pair stumble, find a new clue or catch a break and then they move forward in the investigation looking for more clues/answers. Marty and Rust's character development/B-Plot scenes all serve the greater narrative in one way or another.
We start the third episode at the Evangelical Tent Revival listening to Shea Wigham's incredible turn as a preacher working the crowd. With this occurring we have another character building moment between Marty and Cohle that showing of both characters, erm, "character". Marty shows more of his "man of the people good ol' Louisiana boy" while Rust, ever the philosopher, draws attention to how Shea Wigham's preacher, and religion as a whole, works. Talking about how religion is a verbal virus that preys on the weak minded. "Transference of fear and self loathing to an authoritarian vessel. It's catharsis, the preacher absorbs their dread with his narrative, because of this he is effective with the proportion of certainty he projects. We all have what I call a life trap, a certainty that things could be different, that you'll find fulfillment, closure."
Typical Rustin Cohle nihilistic atheist moment in the show.
But then towards the end of the same episode Rust is in the interrogation room with a suspect in a scene that was supposed to show how he is so effective at getting confessions. He speaks exactly like the preacher, with the same intonation and patterns. Telling the suspect "God" made him the way he is, and he's not wrong because of that. He says he will only find salvation through the grace of God. Using vaguely religious metaphors like "There's a weight and it's got it's fishhooks in your heart and your soul."
The writing never really draws specific attention to this. There's no "wink wink" moment. Rust never turns to Marty and says "See what I mean?". The scenes aren't back to back so if you aren't paying attention it could pass you right by. The writing serves the characters. The placement of the scenes within the episode serves as subtle payoff for the previously established idea.
And all it does it remind me where Night Country goes wrong. There was no payoff for a significant portion of the ideas that the show established. Things just happen because they need to happen (and even worse sometimes th y don't need to happen) within the moment without serving a larger narrative purpose.
To add to your questions, one I had was this.
Spoilers
What's the explanation for the timing of Raymond Clark suddenly knowing what's going to happen ahead of time without having any way of knowing?He's in the background of the video being taken by the other guy when he suddenly gets some sense and says "She's awake" or something. The season tries to push the supernatural, and then sort of walks it back and seemingly wants to straddle the line of supernatural, to maybe appease those who simply don't believe in the supernatural or don't think it belongs in True Detective, while using supernatural elements to lazily push mystery and intrigue in ways that would be harder to write without it. I even saw it coming by episode 3 that the tainted water was going to be used to explain all the weird things happening, the hallucinations people are having and what not, and even though the finale did incorporate it, they barely even covered it and just broad stroked it and essentially doesn't actually try to explain or justify it in any way.
So with the finale explanation of the cleaning women orchestrating this whole thing, how is it that Raymond Clark happens to be the only one who manages to avoid the attack? Either the show wants us to believe he actually has some kind of supernatural sense, or he got stupid lucky that he had a hallucination or psychotic break that has nothing to do with the cleaning women just outside about to attack the scientists.
I also found the part where they find Raymond Clark at the facility in the end a bit strange, and once they secure him, the first thing they do is torture him by making him listen to the video of Annie dying. At this point, they don't even know that much about what happened or his involvement. They know he just attacked them since he trapped Liz in the freezer and hit Navarro with the extinguisher so in theory this could be used as an explanation, but it seems a bit over the top considering that they're chasing him with guns and after what happened to the rest of the scientists he would obviously be a bit on edge not to mention from their perspective he probably wasn't seen as mentally stable exactly seeing as they saw what happened in the above mentioned video. Jumping straight to torturing him with the sound of his ex-love interest before they even know what involvement he had in her death is just strange.
The other thing that bothered me was the pacing, like I know part of the show is detectives who take these cases personal and go above and beyond the job, maybe the other issues with season 4 bias me on this, but I didn't seem to have this kind of issue with pacing in the other seasons. It was just unusual how much they pushed the case in every circumstance, with literally no concern for personal lives at all. Like I get it, that's a personality flaw that can make people interesting, in season 1 Rust basically had no personal life and was working the case nonstop pretty much, but he wasn't a total lunatic attempting to ruin others lives by making them like him. Meanwhile, Liz literally does not care about Prior's personal life, and Prior seemingly doesn't care for this brief window of time and then has some weird explanation if you can even call it that about how he doesn't want to be the smiling idiot. Again, I can get that it can be an interesting personality flaw, but it just felt so pointless. Like there was no real clock ticking in most of the circumstances, so it was like purposefully destructive just to keep the pacing fast and ensure there was always some easy tension available.
The other part that I found strange was Hank was pretty straightforward to Kate (the mine company owner) that he wasn't a killer, and then all of a sudden he just shoots the engineer guy right in front of Liz in a brazen execution. Like at that point he's basically committing to not only killing the engineer, but likely killing Liz (or what else is he going to do?). Now one could certainly argue that he already helped cover up a murder by moving a body so it's not too far a step removed from killing someone himself, along with his personal life issues happening at the time, but it still felt like a weird amount of escalation for no reason. Again like the pacing thing above, it just doesn't seem to have a compelling reason to push the pace or escalation like this. If he's ready to convert into being a killer, and he already got away with following her in such an obvious way and apparently she didn't seem to notice (the finale mentioning he awareness of him following was only something she would have seemingly realized after it all happened), he could have just followed her out into the middle of nowhere and killed them then rather than deciding to do it in her house.
Also one more thing, it was a seemingly cheap tactic or twist how the ice cave was right under Tsalal station, and as they are pointing this out on the map or talking about ice caves, there's no mention of it ever being near Tsalal station or directly under it actually. Felt like it was intentionally omitted to be part of a cheap twist or story development without giving too much away too early.
I just loved how supernatural and weird it all was.
Spoilers
Foster's performance was excellent, even in the way she speaks about her portrayal of vulnerability.
Reis' performance and challenges about mental illness and the significance of her heritage to herself were insightful and moving.
The murder scene was horrific, impactful, and yet not gratuitous. The "interrogation" was perfectly cruel and in line with both characters' feelings of complete disregard for the humanity of a person who's done those things.
The ending was perhaps less compelling than season 1's finale, but it did stick to a theme of bad ass women, forced Foster's character to accept some things are out of her control, and led Reis' character to a reckoning.
Again, I think season 1 might be the best TV I've seen, so I'm not going to quibble about how close it was. I enjoyed this season a great deal more than 2 & 3, and I'm happy about that.
I haven't actually, but I see all episodes are now out so I better get at it soon.
hot take: don't watch True Detective S04 if you like Jodie Foster. Its an incomprehensible mess that absolutely wasted the talent.
The season was mediocre for sure, but Jodie herself wasn't bad.
yeah, that’s why i wouldn’t watch it as a fan of hers. she did a lot with some bad writing. it’s nice to see her back working.
You'll enjoy it! Thanks for posting.