TV review: True Detective's season two finale

A scene from the final episode of True Detective's second season. Photo / HBO

Spoiler alert: This article contains True Detective spoilers.

The finale of True Detective season two was everything the previous episodes hadn't been. It was exciting, it was tense, most of all, it was coherent.

For the first time this season viewers were empowered with all the information needed in order to understand just what in blazes was going on. It made for a nice change.

It also highlighted how great this season could have been if we'd been given just a little more to work with along the way. The intricately connected web of a plot was ingenious and compelling. If only we'd been allowed to understand it.

Conjuring up a fog of mystery and intrigue is one thing, employing a determined strategy of stubborn obliqueness is quite another. To the show's detriment creator Nic Pizzolatto erred way to the far with the latter this season, delivering his story in the most impenetrable way imaginable.

It sounds ridiculous, I know, but understanding what was happening - and why - caused the show to come to life. All of a sudden the nuance and dimension behind the frowning main cast was revealed.

Sure, we never got a McConaughey level revelatory performance here, but the hard lifting these guys were doing finally got a proper chance to shine in this final feature length episode.

Now, I don't know if it was the direction or the editing that ultimately failed them but I really do think the show failed its actors. This episode more than proved what they were capable of and, in hindsight, what they were bringing to the table throughout its run.

But there's no denying their performances were just obliterated by some awful decisions in the production process. I reckon there's an utterly fantastic series lying on a cutting room floor somewhere.

The infuriating thing is that it didn't take much for everything to fall into place. There were some clunky bits of exposition, yes, but for the most part it was just characters naturally discussing things and occasionally connecting a few dots for the viewers at home.

A couple more of these conversations and a couple less of the droning monologues disguised as conversations that had bogged down the season would have done wonders for both our understanding and enjoyment of the show.

Still, credit where it's due. This final episode answered all the questions I had as well as all the questions I didn't even know I needed to ask. It piled on terrific action set-pieces and anchored them with quieter, suspenseful scenes that left me feeling more than a little uneasy.

It also had Colin Farrell walking around a mall in disguise as a double-denim clad cowboy and it had Vince Vaughn gunning down fools while delivering action-hero one liners with the exact right amount of grim mirth. What more do you want? What more could you want?

If anything this final episode proved that there really was a tremendous amount to like buried deep down in season two.

The fact this all goodness came at the very end, rather than right from the start, is what will ultimately go down as the real crime of True Detective season two.

* What did you think? Post your comments below.

- nzherald.co.nz