True Detective S02E03 Recap/Review

“Where is this?”

-Ray Velcoro

Hey everyone! Spocktopus here with this week’s True Detective recap! I apologize that last week I wasn’t able to write a review! I was in Carcosa doing some cleaning for the Yellow King…

Anyways MAN. What a relief. I know that many people were disappointed that Ray did not die after last week’s shooting, however I was very glad. Ray is my favorite character and I LOVE the sometimes God awful interactions he has with his son. The show opens at a dive bar with a Conway Twitty impersonator singing Bette Midler’s “The Rose”. Ray and his father are seated in the bar when he asks his father “Where is this?”. It appears that the two are in some sort of blue tinged purgatory. Ray, being the person he is, is more concerned about where he is than why he is there. His father, who appears to have also been a cop at some point proceeds to tell Ray about how he saw him running through tall trees before being violently shot to death. Ray looks down at himself after his father’s story is over and sees a large bullet wound in his chest. Frightened, Ray is awakened and is shown to be quite alive after peeing his pants. THIS SCENE WAS SO GREAT. It straight up reminded me of the feeling I had when I first watched Twin Peaks and saw the red room scene. That surreal imagery has really permeated this season 2 and given it a distinctly dream like feel. Last week we also saw a glimpse into Frank’s childhood and saw him question whether or not his life has all been one big dream. This season is all about what is real and what isn’t, what is a lie and what is the truth. Also… this episode inadvertently reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite… DAMN YOU TINAAAAA!!!

After Ray wakes up we discover that he was shot with riot shells, commonly used by the police. Ray’s assailant was wearing the same bird mask that we saw in the car that dropped of Caspere’s body, so we still have yet to get a good look at any suspect. Ray has to get cleared before he can work on the case again, so Paul and Ani team up to go inspect the mayor of Vinci’s house. A few facts come to light after investigating Caspere’s house and his safety deposit box. Turns out that the house was bought for him by a company called Catalyst. Also, numerous phone calls had been made from Caspere’s safe house to the mayor’s house so it seems like the obvious next step. The mayor isn’t at his McMansion in Bel Air so Ani and Paul investigate his house only to be kicked out by his “event coordinator” son. Now Mayor Chessani is NOT happy that he is being investigated. We get to see in a sort of split scene how badly the state wants an in to the city of Vinci and how much the city of Vinci wants to keep the state out. If you want to learn more about the real life corruption that inspired the city of Vinci, the Vulture did a great article on it that you can find here.

Paul getting his bro on with a fellow ex Black Hawk Security Member

Paul and Ani back off on the mayor for now and start to pursue the prostitute angle of the investigation. Paul begins to comb the street for people who might recognize the former city manager and is able to find a young male prostitute who recognizes Caspere. They go together to check out a club that Ben frequented which turns out to be the club Frank had already investigated. Frank and Paul even bump shoulders *Worlds collide!!*. Paul FINALLY looks comfortable in his own skin surrounded by all the trade in the club and after having a few drinks. They inform him (after a bit of coercing with money) that Caspere would pay them to have sex with women while he watched and that he frequently bought a girl named Tasha. Paul asks them how they’re able to do it with women and they inform him that anything is possible with the right medication. HMMM, WELL DOESN’T THAT SOUND FAMILIAR PAUL?! Aside from getting information about Caspere, this episode helped confirm some things about Paul. The scene with his friend at the motocross event was particularly informative. After a day on the job Paul goes to hang out with his homie that used to work with him at Black Hawk Security. They bro out a bit and then things start to get uncomfortable for Paul when his friend starts to talk about how things were out in the dessert and how nothing has felt more right than when he was there. Paul tries to make it seem like he’s talking about combat being natural, but I’m sure you can figure out what most likely REALLY went down there. The scene between Paul and his friend was kind of devastating because his friend clearly does not want to forget what happened while Paul so vehemently denies it.

While Paul is out chasing the prostitute lead, Ray and Ani are out looking for the car that dropped off Caspere’s body. Turns out that security footage has revealed that the car belongs to a film production company that Caspere had ties to. Before they leave, Ray’s ex-wife Gena comes to his house and tries to bribe him with ten thousand dollars to just leave. Ray refuses and wants to know why she’s offering him this. It turns out the state had come to her house to ask some questions about Ray and his past. While Ray is looking into the Caspere’s murder, the state is looking into him. After Gena leaves, the two go out to investigate the studio and find out that Caspere had been partying with the studio’s bigwigs. Also by looking at a list of the studio’s recent employees they noticed that one employee had quit right before the crime. They go to investigate and end up finding the missing car up in blazes a few blocks away from the ex employee’s house. The arsonist is still there when Ray and Ani arrive. The masked man tries to give them the slip through a large homeless camp but Ani is almost able to catch up to him. Just as he is about to be caught he is saved by an oncoming truck that almost hits Ani. Ray saves her in the nick of time and asks that in return she tell him what the state has on him. She tells him that she doesn’t know anything.

Frank about to kick some major ass.

Now while Ray, Ani and Paul are doing their investigation, Frank is doing one of his own. He’s feeling a lot of pressure to solve who killed Caspere. His business partners are dropping like flies, his associates are being killed (RIP STAN) and he and his wife are trying to have a child via IVF. Frank doesn’t just want this resolved, he NEEDS it to be. Last night we got to see how Frank used to be. The man he was when he used to inspire fear in others. When he asks for the help of club owners and other gang members Frank is defiantly refused. However Frank has neither the time nor the patience for that and decides to fight the current owner of the club that Caspere frequented. The guy gets the living sh*t beat out of him by Frank and even gets his grill removed by pliers. Talk about harsh. This scene reminded me that Vince Vaughn is a huge man capable of using violence to inspire fear in others. If you told me that one day I would be afraid of crossing the staple of comedy that is Vince Vaughn, I wouldn’t have believed you. Now, I’d believe you in a heartbeat and that’s True Detective for ya.

What do you think is up with Caspere and all his ties? Who is the man in the bird mask? What did you think of this episode? Tell me in the comments and see you next week! 😀

-Spocktopus