True Detective S1E1/2

I watched S1E1 and most of E2, many years after doing the same; I remembered very little.

What a great show. Between GoT and True Detective, HBO in 2014 was like Athens in 400 BC, where popularity and quality somehow coexist in the same objects, and those objects are multiple, making that locale an exciting place to be.

Woody Harrelson is decent as a deliberately archetypal cop bro. Matthew McConaughey is far more compelling as an almost byronic antihero: aloof, brilliant, dark, misunderstood. I wonder if he'll take a Jaime Lannister heartfelt heroic turn, or a Heathcliff free fall. Based on the foreshadowings, I guess he ends up wasting away somewhat. Either way, his performance is classic.

This show has strong characters and a strong atmosphere: all it needs for true greatness, other than continued execution, is an intriguing plot. So far, the leads they're chasing are a little dull. It doesn't feel like Sherlock where you as the viewer are on the edge of your seat for the solution. I would love to see this case get more intriguing, as opposed to the series just being a character study. If that happens, the initially dull leads will make sense.

I also just love McConaughey's aesthetic. Thin without being skinny, tall enough, clean yet shaggy haircut, looking old enough to look weathered and young enough to look athletic, smartly dressed yet the tie is loose and nothing is stiff, always a dark brow