S02.E02: Night Finds You

[SFoster21]

I'm guessing there is an incest story with Paul and his mom. She was way too touchy and jealous over who he was dating.

Lolita Davidovich! Never disappoints.

[Constantinople]

If Velcoro's not dead I'll be pretty cheesed off, but I'll still keep watching because I'm enjoying Rachel McAdams as Bezzerides.

 

I also like Taylor Kitsch as Woodrugh, but Gay Woodrugh would be cliche.  I'm wondering if Woodrugh is to gay as Don Draper was to Jewish in Mad Men.  Or perhaps he was raped in Iraq, during which he had an orgasm, and he's still coming to terms with it.

 

I don't dislike Vince Vaughn as Semyon, but I don't like him either.  Plus, you have to be one stupid criminal to put in all your money with someone you know is a crook.

[Petunia13]

Even with the choppy hair and little-to-no makeup, Rachel McAdams is just stunning. I know that's shallow, so I had to get it out of the way first

Her look reminds me a lot of Deb's from Dexter .

[Milburn Stone]

Even getting shot while wearing Kevlar can cause serious internal injuries so Ray can be alive but in critical condition.

 

It took me until this post to realize that "Ray" was Colin Farrell.

[BeatrixK]

Hmmmm....

 

Kevlar at that close range would seem worthless.  However...Rock Salt/buck shot could be survived at that close a range...but hardly see a guy going the lengths to hang out in a weird bird costume and carrying a gun not throwing some lethal ammo into the chamber.  Plus...they did let S1's Rust get practically disemboweled...and he survived that.  So, perhaps, they go to great lengths to get medically iffy death methods into the workable scenarios.  However...if the did kill off CF's character...DAMN....save the curve balls like that for the World Series, yo!  (Hate to see CF's character done...but if he is...I do applaud balls-out storytelling.  Just not sure it makes sense, after introducing all those elements of his life...)

 

Still not sure about VV -- he's doing OK, but not sure his career has given us the kind of broad range necessary to buy him in this role.  I keep expecting him to one line us or something. 

[penelope79]

Ok, whoa! As soon as the episdoe ended I thought Colin Farrell had been "Ned-Starked", but then I read your comments and I realized he may still be alive. And out of all the possible explanations, being shot with rubber bullets it the one I like the most.

In any case, it really doesn't make any sense for him to be already dead, storywise. And I'm saying this even though I don't like CF, but like his perfomance on this show.

 

I am apparently one of the few who appreciates Vince Vaughn acting so far. My problem is that I have yet to understand what TPTB want to do with his character. Maybe I haven't paid enough attention, but it looks like he's been first depicted as some sort of a golden heart gangster, then a former gangster who is searching for redemption with some father issue or something along those lines, then again an asshole and a cold hearted gangster... don't get me wrong, I can see where he's coming from, but I feel like they haven't decided which course Frank is going to take. And if this is intentional, then I guess they should've handled it better. But, again, I think it has more to do with the character than with Vince Vaughn. I guess only time will tell.

 

So far, the only character I don't care about is Taylor Kitsch. I keep forgetting about him.

 

Still 100% love Rachel McAdams; however it was not very clear whether she was searching for something or she was just visiting porn sites because she is into them.

 

I could't help but smiling  when CF was listing all the "bullshits" RM could possibly hear about him with an outraged look on his face, even though they were all obviously true. :)

 

Paul's mom totally creeped me out. With mommy issues like that, it's no wonder he needs Viagra. I can't blame him for not visiting often if that's the way she always acts around him.

 

Completely agree. Their scene was uncomfortable to watch to say the least.

 

Yara Martinez keeps showing up for a handful of lines so maybe we'll see her backstory.

 

I agree. Besides, the fact she has that huge scar on her face let me think there's more to her that meets the eye.

 

Lolita Davidovich! Never disappoints.

 

That was her?!? I didn't recognized her! o_O

[Milburn Stone]

Well, given that the scenes from next week, CF's supervising officer mentions how his officer "got shot" not "was killed"  so I suspect CF might be around (probably in the hospital).

 

Aaannd...this is why I don't watch previews.

 

I am apparently one of the few who appreciates Vince Vaughn acting so far.

 

I'll join you. In his more customary "comedic" performances, I usually find him so synthetic I'm not even sure he's a carbon-based life form. In this role, a heavier and darker one than I've ever seen him play, he's recognizably human to me.

[MarkySnark]

I keep hoping the singer in the bar will break into a depressing rendition of "Smelly Cat."

Edited June 29, 2015 by MarkySnark

[teddysmom]

Even with the choppy hair and little-to-no makeup, Rachel McAdams is just stunning. I know that's shallow, so I had to get it out of the way first. I love how competent Bezzerides is, and her interactions with Paul and Ray have been good so far. I especially liked her scenes with Velcoro, I think both McAdams and Farrell are doing Emmy-worthy work already, it's a shame that the show isn't eligible until next year. Paul is fascinating to me, the scene with his mother was incredibly uncomfortable and probably explains why he's screwed up, but I think there's a lot more about him to discover. I'm guessing Velcoro was wearing a vest, but that was a hell of a surprise! So far I am loving this season, I think all four leads are excellent and the supporting cast is equally strong. At this point I'm more interested in the characters than the story, but I am quite okay with that.

 

THIS!!!  I really like this season too!   And I don't get the complaints that the women are all "tropes" or stereotypes.  This is a dark story about crime, corruption and broken people, so there are going to be prostitutes, angry girlfriends, mob wives, as well as mobsters, bad cops, weird sex, etc.

 

What female characters should be in this story?  True Detective explores the underbelly of America, the criminals, police and the personal stories of the characters, no matter how fucked up they may be.  Rachel McAdams character is very strong and capable, but she also has some dark secrets.   

 

If the reviewers and critics wants career women in pretty places, go rent a Nancy Meyers movie. 

[BaseOps]

Guy was shot with a shotgun.  If it was a pistol he'd be a dead man, but there are a lot of things that can be fired from shotguns that won't kill but will hurt like a son of a bitch.

 

This. CF isn't going anywhere. 

[turbogirlnyc]

Hmmmm....

 

Kevlar at that close range would seem worthless.  However...Rock Salt/buck shot could be survived at that close a range...but hardly see a guy going the lengths to hang out in a weird bird costume and carrying a gun not throwing some lethal ammo into the chamber.  Plus...they did let S1's Rust get practically disemboweled...and he survived that.  So, perhaps, they go to great lengths to get medically iffy death methods into the workable scenarios.  However...if the did kill off CF's character...DAMN....save the curve balls like that for the World Series, yo!  (Hate to see CF's character done...but if he is...I do applaud balls-out storytelling.  Just not sure it makes sense, after introducing all those elements of his life...)

 

Still not sure about VV -- he's doing OK, but not sure his career has given us the kind of broad range necessary to buy him in this role.  I keep expecting him to one line us or something

 

If CF is truly gone, I don't know if I'll watch for McAdams. I'm not interested in TK's character. Not yet anyway.

 

Since it's only the second episode, I'm not sure if it's VV, the writing or the character.  I haven't seen any VV comedies (Wedding Crashers, etc.) or dramas for that matter, so the jury's still out. 

 

Maybe it was the angle but I couldn't help but stare at Abigail Spencer's nostrils during her dialogue.

Edited June 29, 2015 by turbogirlnyc

[elzin]

I don't think the writing is any worse than S1, and while I like most of the actors in other roles, I don't think they mostly have the gravitas to pull of THESE roles. I was thinking about how if McConaughey had given that interminable rat speech it would have been gripping, for example.  His character's spaced out, burned out, oddball-ness allowed for him to get away with stuff that the current season's actors just can't do.

[gibasi]

Creepy Mayor is played by Ritchie Coster!  I love Ritchie Coster.  He was great on Guiding Light as evil dad to Jonathan.  

 

And I liked the episode last night.  The people I watch with liked it too.  And I agree it is the same writing as last season; I am not sure even Matthew McConaughey could have done any more with the rat soliloquy.

[Mars477]

Ookay, why don't we cool it with the Vince Vaughn monologues, yeah?

 

A much stronger episode than the first, for obvious reasons.  Taylor Kitsch is still superfluous, but Ray and Ani are working well together and Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams are still great.  Actually, Rachel McAdams was awesome, with her skeptical glares at the mayor/Ray's partner/the psychiatrist and so on.

 

Colin Farrell ain't dead.  Like I said, there are too many things that you can shoot from a shotgun that will knock a grown man around but not kill him.  If it were a pistol that'd be another thing, but bullets penetrate the body in a way that LTL rounds or birdshot do not.

[magdalene]

That beginning scene with Vaughn talking and talking some more was so tedious.

 

The problem I have with Paul being gay is this is what he is so fucked up about? There better me more to it. 

 

Nobody talks like the characters in this show. It does come across as pretentious.

 

I am trying to remember whether there was more CF other than what already was shown in the preview trailers. As I watched last night I thought for sure he was a goner, but reading this thread now I am not sure.

[TVHappy9463]

Caspere had a freaky animal head fetish. Lot's of red hair on this show, Kelly Reilly, Vince Vaugn's sidekick, ( are the wife and the sidekick related?), Taylor Kitsch's mom ( Lolita Davidovich) and of course the son. I agree with a poster upstream, the kid is not of the son of the guy Ray killed.  I am glad they sobered CF up last night, I like him and McAdams together.  Vaughn and Kitsch are the weakest of the four.  IMHO, I think Caspere's murder and the missing money are an inside job, either Frank or someone on Frank's ream is behind it. That is why Ray isn't dead, they need their pawn. Keep in mind, right before Ray got shot at an address Frank sent him to, he did turn down Frank's offer. And you could see Frank panic a little that he might loose control of his buddy.  

I guess we are to assume Rachel McAdam's character was molested on the commune, Ray said something to her about having to watch her back or always being on guard.  So far this season's themes seem to be, parent/child, and repressed sex urges. SO.... time is a flat circle jerk?  

[Morbs]

I immediately thought of the scene in Kill Bill Vol 2 when Uma is shot with rock salt from a shotgun.

 

Why is everyone assuming Paul is a gay?  Because he was offended that the guy hit on him?

[snowblossom2]

That beginning scene with Vaughn talking and talking some more was so tedious.

 

The problem I have with Paul being gay is this is what he is so fucked up about? There better me more to it. 

 

Nobody talks like the characters in this show. It does come across as pretentious.

 

I am trying to remember whether there was more CF other than what already was shown in the preview trailers. As I watched last night I thought for sure he was a goner, but reading this thread now I am not sure.

 

If, in fact, Paul is gay and that is one of the reasons he is troubled, it is sadly still true that many professions that have a "macho" or "manly" orientation continue to be bigoted toward people who are GLBT. I imagine this is the case with the police force. Cater that with his inappropriate mom - shades of Gillian Darmody from Boardwalk Empire anyone? - I could see it being a realistic, and sad, portrayal of someone who loves his job but cannot be who he is because of its culture of being homophobic and a possible preying mother

[islandgal140]

I don't know any of the characters names yet.

 

I had two widely differing reactions this episodes:

 

1st: Holy shit is that Rick Springfield?!?

2nd: Holy Shit did they just kill of Colin Farrell. 

 

The 1st was utter bemusement, the 2nd ... not so much. I have to say if Colin ain't dead there have better be a damn good explanation or I will think less of the show. I can't think of a reason for a dude in a damn bird costume who just poured acid in some guys eyes and shot his junk off to be sitting in a car outside the scene of the crime waiting to shoot someone with a shotgun full of rubber bullets twice for shits and giggles. If they were real bullets and Colin does survive it is even more ridiculous at such close range unless he is half Kryptonian. 

 

Vince Vaughn ain't working for me either. That monologue was indeed tedious and no he doesn't have the gravitas to pull it off. I can't stand the speaking voice of his wife/girlfriend. Irrational hatred!

 

Okay, gonna come out and say ... I hate the new opening song. I hate talk singing. Either sing or rap. 

 

Jeez, the bar Vince and Colin frequent is the saddest, sad sack establishment ever filmed. Between the ambience, the lighting, and the depressing songs sung by that depressing girl (who does have a gorgeous voice) how do patrons keep from killing themselves?

 

 

Why is everyone assuming Paul is a gay?  Because he was offended that the guy hit on him?

 

It was an awkward slur drop which seemed a way to impress or bond with the other cop and the way he reacted to the gay male prostitute getting out of a car. Plus, the little blue pill to help him have sex with his girlfriend.

[Penman61]

Paul is 30 at most, right?  And our story takes place in the present?  In LA? Paul has been in the military, in some private defense contractor thing, in the CHP?  

 

And yet he's still weirdly closeted, even going to the extreme of popping Viagra for sweet sweet ladyhump time?

 

That can't be right, right?

 

Right?

[cpcathy]

I have to be honest, I fell asleep for about ten minutes and I don't feel I missed anything. Not loving this. On a high note, the scene with Ray at the mall with his wife was filmed at one of the malls local to me.

[Mars477]

According to Lera Lynn she's played in worse dives. Not really surprising, if you think about it.

[susannot]

Paul's military service seems to have been as an employee of Blackwater. Some heavy shit went down in Iraq involving Blackwater and I suspect we will find out what happened to Paul and what he did.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisour_Square_massacre

[walnutqueen]

I am not feeling the Rachel McAdams love.  Meh.

 

I am, however, liking the story so far.

 

And I love the dive bar.  I'd be nursing a beer there all night.  :-)

[iMonrey]

I think the main problem I'm having right now is that I don't understand Frank's deal. What exactly was he trying to set up with Caspere and the Russian? I know they are building some kind of high speed rail through central California and it has something to do with that but . . . what is it? Were they trying to buy land? Land the government would have to buy from them to put the railway line thru? Some kind of commercial enterprise? I don't get it. I watched the first one twice and I still don't understand what this deal is all about. And from what I can gather it's the key to this whole "mystery" because it seems like whoever killed Caspere was trying to kill this deal.

 

Am I not supposed to understand it? Because if that's the case it makes all the scenes with Vince Vaughn too vague. I don't want to watch endless conversations where they talk in circles and you don't know what's going on.

 

 

I keep hoping the singer in the bar will break into a depressing rendition of "Smelly Cat."

 

This is my other main problem, the music. Between the opening credit song, which I can mercifully fast-forward through, and the wailing of this bar singer over endless visuals, the show is overloaded with pretentious music choices. It appears this is going to be "a thing" every week with this bar singer, and that's a mistake IMO.

 

Also, the rat soliloquy went on for way too long. It annoyed me.

[monakane]

 

Vince Vaughn ain't working for me either. That monologue was indeed tedious and no he doesn't have the gravitas to pull it off.

 

I agree, but in fairness to VV, I think the dialogue was poorly written.  I envision Vaughn as a street level gangster not the guy who is the boss.  Imagine what Gandolfini would do with this role.  Although I don't think even he could salvage that clunky rat dialogue.

[represent]

Yeah, that was Rick Springfield right?  I think I spotted at least three other soap actors as well.

Anyway, I love Vince Vaughn, I happen to like his silly comedies, at least when I catch them on cable. I think he does drama well, but this is True Detective. I don't know what it is about this show, but sometimes I have no idea what the hell is going on I certainly had no idea what the hell MM and WH were doing last season with that storyline. All I could think was damn, everyone looks so hot and sweaty. Half the time I had no idea what the hell MM character was saying and it was not the southern drawl either. It was like he just talked in circles to me.

 

This season I'm trying a bit harder to focus because I like McAdams and I think this is the first time I've ever seen her not play the girl next door, or damsel in distress role. It's a nice change and I'm buying her in the role. Damn, she's hot mess personally, but looks like she's a damn good detective.

[SFoster21]

Last year, there were many complaints that the show was pretentious and derivative. Guess this year won't be any different.

The county stuff is hard to track. That's why it's best to be vague about the McGuffin. Enough to know he gave someone five million and got zilch. Motive enough.

[shapeshifter]

I am not buying Vince Vaughn as the gangster. Every time he says "ain't" or uses a double negative I giggle a little....

Yeah, well, he went to Lake Forest High School, so we might as well expect to giggle at his fake non-standard grammar.

 

...Rock Salt/buck shot could be survived at that close a range....

That seems most likely, especially since it was a long gun, although my first thought was: Oh, so the rest of the season will be done as flash backs.

 

I'll watch next week, but it's just not the same without Woody & MMcC.

[teddysmom]

I'm loving the music so far. As it was last season, T Bone Burnett is making great choices, either with Lera Lynn's appearances at the club with her original music, the opening theme etc. 

 

All may not be a fan, but I was just listening to Lorde's cover of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and it struck me that it would work really well with this show. The arrangement is very dark and makes the lyrics much more foreboding than the slightly more upbeat version originally sung by Tears for Fears. 

[CodeNameDuchess]

Considering Velcoro is in line to become the next chief of police in Vinci, I think those two point blank rounds (rubber, rocksalt, or birdshot???) were to ensure his continued loyalty.

Especially in light of this little image...

[Ellaria]

Not thrilled with this show so far but I will watch until the end of the season.

 

Last night's dialogue was particularly bad. It was pretentious last season but...I don't know...maybe Matt was better able to pull it off. VV can't handle it and, as a result, I'm not invested in Frank nearly as much as I should be. Like a few others, I had to turn on closed captioning. I can't understand what some of the characters are saying. 

 

I don't believe that Velcoro is dead. If he isn't, I hope we get an explanation for his behavior outside/inside that creepy house.

 

I'm trying not to overthink this, especially after last season but...

Velcoro's ex-wife is clearly not a ginger yet the son is. Putting aside the possibility that either Velcoro or his ex-wife had a red-haired grandparent, this suggests that the boy's biological father is the rapist. Do we have any information about the man that Velcoro killed on the "tip" from Frank? There isn't any confirmation that he was, in fact, the rapist. Have we seen any other "gingers" in the show? The only one that I noticed was the thug in the car crash incident. 

Edited June 29, 2015 by Ellaria Sand

[bbolto]

Kevlar at that close range would seem worthless.  However...Rock Salt/buck shot could be survived at that close a range

 

I'd like to pause and have a laugh at the juxtaposition of this comment with the username of BeatrixK :)

 

Yeah, that ending suddenly made me interested, though I'm not on board with the dialogue either and this season seems to be really suffering for the lack of a character dynamic that's even comparable to Marty/Rust.

 

Also, the singer's way closer to Hope Sandoval than Tori Amos; this brought to you from the Foundation Of Correct '90s Singer Comparisons, now taking donations via PayPal and Patreon and a tin can near you.

[magdalene]

Considering Velcoro is in line to become the next chief of police in Vinci, I think those two point blank rounds (rubber, rocksalt, or birdshot???) were to ensure his continued loyalty.

Especially in light of this little image...

Well, I was completely wrong, I thought he was Ned Starked dead. Eating crow now.

[Hobo.PassingThru]

 

Keep in mind, right before Ray got shot at an address Frank sent him to, he did turn down Frank's offer. And you could see Frank panic a little that he might loose control of his buddy.

You're right. That is what happened. I just don't see what scaring him, like Frank did with that money guy on the highway, would accomplish. Obviously, shooting Ray could steer him from suspecting Frank and instead suspecting someone else is trying to spook him.

 

Though, up until I read this thread, I thought that whole sequence could have been as insane as either the Rick Springfield doctor in a mask or it could have been part of the submissive kinkiness that Caspar guy was into.

 

One thing that (somehow) stood out was the full sink when Ray walked in. It didn't seem to be flowing over yet. So, I got stuck on how someone had been there recently but not recently enough. 

[susannot]

OK,I usually avoid spoilers but happy to see them in this thread.

Would not have liked a way too abrupt character demise.

Does anyone else think that, in the preview, Birdman is the tall dark-skinned guy? He seems like the right size and he looks demented. Does he work for Frank?

Edited June 30, 2015 by GenL
Added spoiler tags for a spoilery comment

[BeatrixK]

I'd like to pause and have a laugh at the juxtaposition of this comment with the username of BeatrixK :)

 

 

I'm so glad SOMEONE got that reference.  (Yeah...pretty much my favoritist movie EVER!)

 

It's so hard to work in Kill Bill references most days.

[sjankis630]

 

Nobody talks like the characters in this show. It does come across as pretentious.

I agree with this statement. I am now remembering how boring last year's first couple of episodes seemed at the time.

This writing reminds me of some of David Mamet's stuff - words for the sake of words but I have never heard anyone talk like this in my 49 years having lived on West and now East Coast.

(of course maybe I don't get out enough)

 

Regarding the land deal I am still partially in the dark. I listened to a podcast about this show where they were speculating that the owners of this land/deal could milk it because the understanding was that the govt would pay overages on the development and that someone who knew what they were doing - like organized crime folks - could work that into some major $$ over time.

 

I will have to rewatch the first episode though in order to get a better understanding.

[Penman61]

Nobody talks like Shakespeare or Shaw, either, but their dialogue works.  The measure is not accuracy but effectiveness.  I'd personally argue that Mamet very often works (and is distinctively consistent to boot), but of course YMMV.

 

But a LOT depends on the actors, and while I'm rooting for VV in this role (no idea why; he seems personally like a kinduva douche IRL), I agree that he is NOT putting over this dialogue.  But no other actor is sticking out for me like this, so I tend to think it's the actor and not the writer(s).

 

Obvious point:  The murder victim had his eyes acided because he SAW something he wasn't supposed to. (I shudder to think where that logic takes me with respect to his gunshot wound.)  His sex apartment had a hidden camera.  Not spoiled, but I predict we are going to see some VERY weird psycho-sexual stuff on video in future episodes.

Edited June 30, 2015 by Penman61

[Hobo.PassingThru]

 

I will have to rewatch the first episode though in order to get a better understanding.

 

did like the brief moments of the different police divisions jocking for position and trying to be the lead.  I always find it fascinating that despite having the same goals, there always seems to be pettiness like this, when it comes divisions working together.

 

About those two aspects:

It also seemed as if those different divisions were each also either trying to whitewash some aspect of the investigation or just stick it to someone. They each had their own interests just as each of the three detectives were offered unique incentives for producing certain results in the investigation.  That is what intrigues me most.

 

At this point, I'm confused as to just how the corruption is working out. It makes sense if the whole town is some form of sham corporation. It makes sense if somehow laws were violated in numerous ways. But, I still don't quite know if it is just one main investigation or 3 or more different angles. If it is more than three angles, in a way, the Frank character is conducting his own investigation.

 

For now, that makes it seem like Frank's hands may be clean of the Caspar guy's murder, especially if he wants the money he gave the guy. If he had the guy killed, why didn't he get the money back, too? But, if he sent someone to threaten Ray then is Frank still somehow complicit in anything dealing with the murder? And, how would messing around that way help him?

 

I guess it will all unravel somehow soon. As complicated as those highways look in the overhead shots of,  those are all roads that lead somewhere, right?

Edited June 30, 2015 by Hobo.PassingThru

[SFoster21]

When the mayor is getting a cut of the rackets, the town is corrupt! What more do you need?

[Hobo.PassingThru]

 

When the mayor is getting a cut of the rackets, the town is corrupt! What more do you need?

I don't get the specifics of the land deal that I thought was the center of the corruption. Maybe I missed something in some of the exposition on the problem the state is looking into.

 

Sure, the "mayor" of a city of 95 residents filled with millions of dollars of business and 70,000 non-resident workers is already suspect. Obviously, it is all about developing the land and getting a piece of any business action. But, specifically?

[MrWhyt]

Plus, the little blue pill to help him have sex with his girlfriend.

Stress, PTSD for example, can cause impotence, Not being able to get it up with a woman can mean more than that he is gay.

[kieyra]

I am not buying Vince Vaughn as the gangster. Every time he says "ain't" or uses a double negative I giggle a little. Woeful miscast, I'm afraid. I'm digging the other 3 leads though. I hope Ray somehow survives the shooting.

 

I struggled hard with "And then the rats came."

[Fisher King]

Ray's not dead IMO. It's some sort of kinky sex game ring thing he's involved in, again IMO.

[Sarah D. Bunting]

 

so there are going to be prostitutes, angry girlfriends, mob wives, as well as mobsters, bad cops, weird sex, etc.

 

Yeah, thanks, I get that -- what I'd like is for it to be done in a way I haven't seen 100x before. The men as well as the women. I don't think this writing, delivered by this cast, is up to lifting it out of trope, and if that doesn't happen, it's boring and self-conscious. 

[Hobo.PassingThru]

 

Ray's not dead IMO. It's some sort of kinky sex game ring thing he's involved in, again IMO.

That's still not outside the realm of possibility.

 

Until the next episode, I'm going to consider that birdman with a gun to be the perverse equivalent of a cuckoo clock bird. It was just waiting to chime at the top of the hour.

[Lemons]

Stress, PTSD for example, can cause impotence, Not being able to get it up with a woman can mean more than that he is gay.

 

I had thought he needed Viagra because of his injuries that we don't know anything about yet.  His girlfriend asked if his injury was from the war and he said no but didn't elaborate.

Edited June 30, 2015 by Lemons

[Consternation]

This show keeps making me feel stupid.  It took me about a day to realize that weird thing on the car seat in E01 was the crow mask.   It was very mysterious at the time and I wanted to find out what it was, but it didn't even enter my mind while I was watching E02, it just popped into my head randomly at work today.

 

I don't really feel too well connected to the corruption plot either.  Something something central railway, Vince gets a bunch of money to put into it but then the dead guy had all the money for some reason.

[Alapaki]

I was thinking about how if McConaughey had given that interminable rat speech it would have been gripping, for example.  His character's spaced out, burned out, oddball-ness allowed for him to get away with stuff that the current season's actors just can't do.

 

 

I think that's the difference between acting and merely reading lines from a script.  None of the things that Matthew McConaughey did that made his character so distinctive were written down in the script.  He crafted that character in a way that made the byzantine dialogue work.

 

I like Vince Vaughn, but he's just in over his head.  He was completely at ease in the highway scene where he pretended to "rescue" that guy, while actually roping him into a protection-money scheme.  But that's about the ceiling of his dramatic acting ability.  The opening monologue was way beyond his reach.

 

As far as the land deal, I assume the plan is to buy land which will eventually have the high-speed-rail running through it, thus presumably exploding the value of the land.  Dead-Dickless-Guy may have some say in the actual route that the rail line takes through Vinci, so he can determine which land will increase in value.  Vince Vaughn is delivering the funds to buy the land, and presumably promising a kick-back to DDG when the line goes through and the values go up. 

 

However, I really don't know where the guy who Vince Vaughn was talking to (who drove off in the limo) fits in.