true detective | Bottlegate

Episode 1 – The Western Book of the Dead

Last night’s episode seems to be getting a fair share of heat on the interwebs, and I think it’s somewhat justified. From Frank’s failed attempt at a Rust Cohle monologue to kick things off until right before that final scene I was in-and-out of it mentally. That being said, I think I felt the exact same way two episodes into season 1 so I’m not pressing the panic button just yet but really it’s because I smashed it watching the Indians yesterday.

Let’s get this out of the way right now though: Ray Velcoro is very much not dead. On one hand, you’d think Pizzolatto would be above the classic “is a main character really dead” TV cliffhanger. On the other, there are plenty of photos from promos and trailers that show Ray in scenes we haven’t seen yet. Now those could be flashbacks or something, as we all know this show isn’t afraid to use multiple timelines. But there wasn’t any blood. This same episode showed a girl watching DP porn and a dead body who had his goodies blown off by a shotgun but they wouldn’t show Velcoro quite literally being blown to bits from about three feet away? I don’t think so, people. Those were rubber bullets or rock salt and meant to be some sort of warning (although I’m pretty sure they’d still do some serious damage from that close).

EDIT: Yeah he’s alive.

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(/u/OutspokenHindude and @jonathanesal)

Other bits I learned thanks to Reddit:

The car they panned to right before Ray went inside the house was the same car that was transporting Caspere’s body in episode 1 (/u/lonesoldier4789)
Artwork in the (creepy ass) therapist’s office showed a human body with bird head similar to Ray’s shooter

(/u/righteousloaf)

Wall with animal masks hanging in the final scene was missing one (presumably the bird)

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(/u/mstr_roboto)

Lone Star sign in the bar 🙂

(/u/PraiseDarkGods)

Reddit theories:

Is Paul gay / why was his mom so touchy-feely in the trailer?

Crazy theory that Ani’s hippie dad was part of the Jonestown cult

Frank having his men beat up that guy then “saving him” –> Frank having his men assault Velcoro’s wife then “saving him”? One of his henchmen is a red head…

Until next week.

Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell, Taylor Kitsch and Rachel McAdams instead of Woody Harrelson and Matty McConaughey. The highways of California versus the swamps of Louisana. The twang of The Handsome Family’s guitar against Leonard Cohen’s electronic bass line.

A lot has changed from season one to last night’s season two premier of True Detective. What’s one of the very few common denominators between the two, you ask? If you guessed “crazy, terrifying Redditors popping off theory after theory based on things you didn’t even notice happened in an episode”, you hit the nail on the head.

Reddit is a scary place to begin with. Redditors will hunt you like wolves, smelling weakness and pouncing on you just when the time is right. They’ll follow you from subreddit to subreddit, stalking your every move and downvoting your episode reviews on the Battlestar Galactica sub from 2008. But theorizing about Nic Pizzolatto’s disheartened views on humanity is right in their wheelhouse. I would have been toast by McConaughey’s first sip of Lone Star in season one if not for Reddit. So instead of me tripping over my own feet trying to write a recap, here are some of the most popular theories and posts from r/TrueDetective.

True Detective – 2×01 “The Western Book of the Dead” – Post-Episode Discussion

Great summary. The two big things I was still confused about after first watch were:

Did Tim Riggins take that girl up on her proposition after pulling her over? Probs not, as he seems like a by-the-books kind of cop and I also didn’t even connect the bathroom scene with that situation right away. Guessing she just accused him after he arrested her.
Was Riggins’ (get used to that if you’re gonna read Bottlegate blogs about True Detective because I’ll be lucky to know his characters real name by the end of the season) girlfriend the missing girl McAdams was looking for? Still up in the air but I doubt it. I think it’s probably more likely the girl with the scar on her face that was serving Farrell and Vaughn at the bar is her. The girlfriend seems too obvious for a show like this.

Nice little homage to Matt/Woody in the Opening Credits