Geofferson

Never thought I'd see a TV show continue to push the boundaries of the medium so soon after Breaking Bad ended. I went into this series with very high expectations and have been nothing but impressed.

Gunde

Fuck that was amazing!

Why So Blu?

Man, this episode made my balls hurt - they totally went Children of Men style at the end. I think I also developed restless leg syndrome while I was watching it.

Cellar Door

I thought that last scene was amazing before I found out here that it was one long take. Now I'm doubly impressed!

chowderhead

last 10 minutes was amazing. omigod that was movie quality.

Giantrobo

That was probably the BEST TV I've seen in a while. It started slow but ramped up.

After the credits rolled we immediately rewound the ep to when he arrived at the Biker Party and watched everything that followed it again. I'm hearing lotsa folks posted on the show's FB page that they did the same.

HN

i didn't catch on to the continuity until they got into the house where Cohle calls Marty to get him. then i'm like "fck, i gotta watch that again when the scene ends" to see when the shot started and it just kept going and going

then on the rewind, i'm watching when they're first in the stash house and the camera goes back and forth from cohle telling ginger to hurry the fck up and also yelling at those fools up front not to do anything stupid. damn that was good.

(i may have watched this scene more than the daddario reveal and that's saying alot)

Geofferson

Very good point. 4 episodes in and this show has given us two key scenes that warrant repeat viewing for wildly different, yet equally important, reasons.

Michael T Hudson

I just rewatched the end on HBO GO. It was still amazing. I can't believe the season is already to the middle.

Nausicaa

I just did the same. Even though it was my second time through, I'm still shaking.

This show is going to blow up after this episode. The word of mouth today has been incredible. I haven't seen people this excited about a TV show in a while.

StephenX

This was incredible.

I told my wife during that last scene, "holy shit, this a single cut."

You are literally holding your breath for 10 minutes. That final shot behind the helicopter, surveying the riot as Cole and Hart get away... Oh man. The feels.

How is another cast going to top this? McC and Harrelson are insanely good.

johnnysd

true but GOT is incredibly popular

Rypro 525

its only been 4 months since Breaking Bad ended

majorjoe23

I've got a certain hierarchy in my Sunday night viewing. Breaking Bad was always the first thing I watched when it was on. Game of Thrones when it's on.

The Walking Dead has always been first when it's on, but after this episode, True Detective is dethroning it.

Cory02

I was so wrapped up in the episode it never crossed my mind that the last scene was a single take. After reading this thread I thought, "Oh yeah..." then immediately re-watched the episode.

Mike86

Damn I can't really add anything that hasn't been stated by others in this thread already but absolutely an incredible episode. That last half was just amazingly well done. Can't believe the season is already halfway over.

HN

If you want to scrutinize it (or just watch its awesomeness again):

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/N7XFZmE3ZMo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

slop101

Yeah, I almost didn't notice it was a single take, which is what makes it a good single take, if that makes sense. Alfonso Cuaron would be proud.

Shannon Nutt

I too was blown-away by that final six minutes (a cut isn't made until McConaughey gets in the back seat of the car). However, as far as delving more into the storyline or the detectives' psyche, I thought a lot of this episode seemed like 'filler' to delay the finding of Reggie Ledoux. The whole biker gang storyline is just a plot device to get information that will lead the detectives to him...otherwise, they're not going to figure much into this story.

So, this was actually my LEAST favorite of the four as far as the plot goes, but the most impressive of the four as far as filmmaking/cinematography.

Groucho

Especially since we know that they already find him (the ending of the previous episode).

slop101

Yeah, I actually thought that was odd, and figured they'd pick up from that, especially since they had the whole big race to get there, with their sirens and everything.

But then, they also show the two cops in the future, so you know neither of them are in any mortal danger either.

0073735963

Thought that sequence was riveting and also just found out it was one long shot...wow.

Geofferson

The .15 second mark (from the clip above) is when we knew we were in for something intense. I've said it before, but the music queues in this show are like none other in recent memory for me. Gives everything a very visceral tone.

Keep in mind, this show isn't so much about the case as it is about these two detectives. We know they eventually find Reggie. This episode was more about Cohle and his days as a narc. We got to see the type of stuff he used to go through when he talked about his experiences 1-2 episodes back.

StephenX

On the rewatch with the wife (it's that good) what are Cole/Hart staring at in Coles apartment? It looks like a thermostat but Hart says something about seeing two eyes?

Shannon Nutt

It's a piece of broken mirror, but it's only big enough to catch the reflection of one eye. The significance is it's the ONLY mirror that Rust has in his apartment (Rust obviously doesn't like looking at himself).