S02.E06: Church In Ruins

[represent]

Could it be that Ray ex-wife cheated on him and turn out to be pregnant where the rape occured? (and that's why Chad doesn't look like neither Ray or the alleged rapist).

 

Thank you, no way did that rapist father Chad. I'm sorry, I know you can look like different people on both your father and mother's side of the family, but come on. No way did Chad come from that mother and that rapist who was behind bars. 

 

I doubt that they would even try to enter anything they've gathered into evidence in court with those facts, plus Ani killed a guy.

Ani killed a guy, but she's the only official police officer, so she shouldn't be getting into legal trouble over that. That was self-defense wasn't it?  And to say she should not have been there, well, she's a cop, a cop can always walk into danger to save lives if they are suspicious. But they should call for back up before they do. She was suspicious of  a crime, she looked into it, she's only guilty of not having a warrant and not having official back up from fellow officers since Ray and Paul aren't on the force anymore. At any rate that lady from the state is heading up this show and she's official. But what do I know.

[Ottis]

Am I the only person old enough to think that Flashback Guy looked just like Bob from Twin Peaks?

 

 

Ha! You're not the only one old enough. I saw him and right away my brain said, "Laura Palmer!"

 

-Could it be that Ray ex-wife cheated on him and turn out to be pregnant where the rape occured? (and that's why Chad doesn't look like neither Ray or the alleged rapist).

 

 

I keep expecting an overweight, redheaded adult character in a unique position of power over Ray (or the opposite, just the mailman or something) to be introduced near the conclusion.

Edited July 27, 2015 by Ottis

[Desperately Random]

Ray agreed to be out of his kid's life to make sure that his son never knows that his biological father was actually a rapist.  Ray was trying to protect Chad from the knowledge because he knows it would be devastating for the kid.

That's exactly what I took from that scene. Ray was doing what he felt was best for his son. He was willing to give him up so the wife would not do the paternity test. If she had gone ahead with the court-ordered paternity test and it did come back that the rapist is the father then that becomes part of the legal proceedings in their custody battle. It will be in the court documents and there is chance that Chad could find out/be told someday about how he was conceived. Ray was actually doing a selfless thing by agreeing to give up custody of Chad so that he would never have to know the truth.

 

ETA: I do want to add that I am very confused by the show's casting of the actor playing Chad. None of the the three (mom, velcoro, rapist) look anything like this kid. What is the point of having a kid that doesn't resemble anyone? And I don't just mean the red hair. There is nothing about that kid that looks remotely like the three. Facial features, body type, shape of the face...nothing. If you want to make it unclear about who the Dad is then have the kid resemble Mom. Unless we find out there is a third choice in the "who's your Daddy?" sweepstake, I think the show made a real misstep with casting.

Edited July 27, 2015 by Desperately Random

[Hobo.PassingThru]

 

I think this ends much like S1: our three detectives will face down their inner demons and accept an imperfect world. As far as Frank - have no idea where this character ends up. Maybe he continues to mourn Stan.

You say that and you know that depressing bar singer will end the series with Frank in attendance-- and, nursing a drink-- while she sings a mournful remembrance of Stan.

[Constantinople]

Am I the only person old enough to think that Flashback Guy looked just like Bob from Twin Peaks?

 

Honestly, Flashback Guy didn't remind me of Bob at all.

 

Bob, as I recall, was a bit thinner, gaunt even, and his hair was more grey.  Also, I don't recall Bob with much of a beard and mustache, or if there was, it was just stubble.

[Crim]

Could it be that Ray ex-wife cheated on him and turn out to be pregnant where the rape occured? (and that's why Chad doesn't look like neither Ray or the alleged rapist).

She also said that the paternity test was for her, because she wanted to know. Maybe that's why she waited this long to request a paternity test: maybe she can request the rapist's DNA and compare that with the kid's too, so if that's not a match either, she knows the father is the guy she was cheating with. If that guy is dead or out of touch, she couldn't have used a paternity test with him. If the choice was just between Ray and the rapist, she could have known from the beginning just by eliminating Ray. If she had some hope that the child was not the rapist's or Ray's, it would justify that she was willing to do the test despite Chad potentially finding out the result. But does the show really have enough time to explore such a storyline?

Bob, as I recall, was a bit thinner, gaunt even, and his hair was more grey.  Also, I don't recall Bob with much of a beard and mustache, or if there was, it was just stubble.

It's as you recall. His hair also fell differently around his face, less volume. He didn't have facial hair on the show, but he had some in the movie - still nowhere near this guy's beard. It's the angle in the first shot though, which mirrors a shot of BOB, and the guy's creepiness. That "unicorn in the forest" line though...

Edited July 27, 2015 by Crim

[teddysmom]

What do you call it when pulp turns to mush?

 

True Detective Season 2

[MrWhyt]

Ani killed a guy, but she's the only official police officer, so she shouldn't be getting into legal trouble over that. That was self-defense wasn't it?  And to say she should not have been there, well, she's a cop, a cop can always walk into danger to save lives if they are suspicious. But they should call for back up before they do. She was suspicious of  a crime, she looked into it, she's only guilty of not having a warrant and not having official back up from fellow officers since Ray and Paul aren't on the force anymore. At any rate that lady from the state is heading up this show and she's official. But what do I know.

She entered the house without a warrant and no one at the party would even admit to being there let alone that she was acting in self defense. I doubt that any one will report the death to the police but if it gets tied to her she's sunk, especially after already having been busted down for her role in the shoot out.

[TVHappy9463]

What was that? I don't think there was one original moment in last night's episode, it's all been done before, and Vince Vaughn ruins the pacing. Another poster made a list of all the unanswered questions that need (?) to be wrapped up before the finale. I don't think anything will be wrapped up, because I don't think any of it matters.

The only thing that caught my attention was the possibility that Ani has to go on the run or in hiding because she killed that guy. She was saying good bye to her dad in the preview. She and Ray should run away together

Unless HBO fires Nic P, I dont' there will be a season 3.

[Penman61]

Re Ani's childhood rapist:  Why does every fictional child rapist have to look like a leering monster?  Because, in real life, by vast majorities, they don't.  

 

With Twin Peaks' Bob, that at least makes some sense if you accept the show's metaphysics/metaphor (scary ugly Bob as "inhabiting spirit" in perfectly presentable Leland).  

 

But in this show, even if that's Ani's subjective memory coloring his appearance, it's still simplistic and lazy.  But then that's this show, right?

[Ellaria]

 

If she had some hope that the child was not the rapist's or Ray's, it would justify that she was willing to do the test despite Chad potentially finding out the result. But does the show really have enough time to explore such a storyline?

 

IMO, no - the show doesn't have the time to explore such a storyline. But we can throw that one on the pile of other storylines that will not be advanced: Paul's Black Ops (or whatever its called) experience, his $20,000, the blood in the cabin, resolution of the Seymon's fertility problems, the masked men behind the blue diamonds, why Stan was such a great guy, etc. (I'm sure there are more.) If this show was 13 episodes long, then maybe. If there was a S2 with these same characters, then definitely. It isn't easy to present a complex case of murder/corruption, introduce a multitude of major and minor characters and then expect it to be wrapped up in eight episodes.

 

I stopped caring about who killed Caspere after episode 3. I'm not sure if that's what NP was going for.

[shapeshifter]

Ray agreed to be out of his kid's life to make sure that his son never knows that his biological father was actually a rapist.  Ray was trying to protect Chad from the knowledge because he knows it would be devastating for the kid.

I doubt this is the end of it, but have no idea where it will end. Maybe someone will die before the papers are finalized. Or maybe this is the last time we will hear about it because there are too many other loose ends to deal with and the point is just that even though Ray is not someone you would want to babysit your kid doesn't mean he doesn't care about what is best for the kid.

Edited July 27, 2015 by shapeshifter

[dirtydi]

Could the kids' dad be Frank's buddy who has the girls business on the side (can't remember his name or most of the names on this show)? Doesn't he have red hair?  I am grasping at straws, but maybe he gave the name of the fake rapist to Frank.

Edited July 27, 2015 by dirtydi

[sharongogo]

Could the kids' dad be Frank's buddy who has the girls business on the side (can't remember his name or most of the names on this show)? Doesn't he have red hair?  I am grasping at straws, but maybe he gave the name of the fake rapist to Frank.

 

Blake Churchman

[LilaFowler]

He wrote every episode last season; this season he has had at least one co-writer credited. Suspicion is that the one director who directed every episode of S1, Cary Joji Fukunaga, was a major contributor to S1's success. (He and Pizzolatto had a falling out and he's absent this season.) I thought S1 was horribly written and carried only by the perfect casting and the direction. S2 shows what happens when those elements are lacking.

I've heard that also.  I've also heard that Woody Harrelson ad libbed most of his humorous lines.  Maybe NP didn't care for that? 

 

Oh, and the director character from E03 pretty much confirmed for me personally that NP doesn't like CF.  I mean, the guy was tall, Asian, cavalier, and had a man-bun.  Was the guy's name Gary Pookoowaga?

 

I keep forgetting poor Athena.  The party organizers are going to be after her.  Dead man walking!

Edited July 27, 2015 by LilaFowler

[sjohnson]

Nic Pizzolato and HBO will never learn anything about making their shows "better" because a great many people like the most problematic elements, the ones that make for sensation scenes but wreck the story for anyone who remembers what happened. The hero detective spouted BS by the ten pounds (in five pound sacks because that was the way he rolled,) but people ate it up because, hey, Matt McConaughey. But casting is not an artistic decision. In this episode the story killer, Ani killing a man, pretty much guarantee that there will be no successful resolution of the case in the sense of justice being done by arrest, trial and conviction. No police, including Ani and accomplice, have an interest in a trial!

 

Nonetheless if there was anything that people actually liked about this episode, the murder was it, despite the militant absurdity of the whole thing. Nobody reacts to the guy seemingly strangling a girl for fun, which is insane. Even if you really thought all rich men are equally excited by the strangulation of women, do you really think this wouldn't be a problem for the other hookers? Why does the guy try to stop them in the middle of the room, instead of doing the ugly stuff away from the paying customers, in the hall? It looked exactly like one hooker was leading away another totally wasted hooker for cleanup. What's his problem? He doesn't know Ani has a vehicle coming for her, where could he have thought they were going? He attacked Ani because the big payoff for the entire scene is Ani killing a man and we are allowed to enjoy it because she's suffering and she had to...the dude literally attacked her for no reason!

[Quilt Fairy]

The best thing about this episode was the absence of the lounge singer. Which is about as depressing as she is.

I wouldn't say that grimy smoke-filled dive bar is a lounge. That makes it sound way classier than it is. (And I don't mean to imply that a 'lounge' is inherently classy.)

 

I'm also trying to decide if the kid playing Chad is a terrible actor or a really great one.

Edited July 27, 2015 by Quilt Fairy

[Leslie1976]

Colin Ferrell is doing amazing work in this series. Rachel and even Kitsch have their moments as well. Vince Vaughn is just terrible, though. A lot of it has to be the writing and directing though, but then how is Ferrell able to overcome those same hindrances? Having said that, I am enjoying the hell out of this cluster-XXXX. Just when I think it can't get worse, it does. And instead of being outraged, I feel like I am watching a "Spoils Before Dying" spoof. My theory is that the blue diamonds are a metaphor for Viagra, and everyone seems to have some kind of sexual dysfunction or fetish. And that "hard drive" is another metaphor. And when NP does a director's cut of this season, it will show the four hours about Stan that was left on the cutting room floor.

[Hobo.PassingThru]

 

I'm also trying to decide if the kid playing Chad is a terrible actor or a really great one.

I just think he gave up on the stories long before the[…] other actors [and he's just really bored]. We could all learn from that kid.

Edited July 27, 2015 by Hobo.PassingThru

[paigow]

Old cop told Paul that the Blue Diamond Store owners were "executed". Caspere & Stan don't seem like they have that "skillset".

[Etta Place]

I am pleased a place exists where I won't be the only one who was laughing and saying "Stay gold, Ponyboy!" while Frank was comforting Stan's son. I also wondered if maybe they would suggest taking him off Mrs. Stan's hands since he needs a dad and they need a kid and Frank is open to adoption now.

 

Frank's wife was so weird when she came into the kitchen after the face-off between Frank and Ray. Her posture was just bizarre, and her facial expression was completely unreadable. My husband said he wasn't sure if she was trying to be sexy or if she was mad, or if she was trying to be comforting.

 

I felt like the whole part from when the music kicked in loudly to the end with the car speeding away down a dark road toward a completely fake-looking moon was just too 80s-tastic for words. The husband said it had to be intentional, and he was hoping it was some sort of homage - at least then he could appreciate it on some level.

 

There were some real clunkers in the dialogue, but I think my vote goes to Ray telling the rapist: "You know me, you just didn't know you did."

[MrWhyt]

Old cop told Paul that the Blue Diamond Store owners were "executed". Caspere & Stan don't seem like they have that "skillset".

I think the initial diamond robbery and murders were committed by LAPD, i wonder what James Frain was doing before joining Vinci PD.

[scrb]

So wait, Chad's parents have to be gingers like him?

 

Hmm, there are a couple of other gingers in the cast ...

[susannot]

Both parents have to carry the gene, but need not be redheads themselves. There's more drama, though,in speculating about Chad's possible redhead parent.

Edited July 27, 2015 by susannot

[ElectricBoogaloo]

So wait, Chad's parents have to be gingers like him?

Actually, they don't. Red hair is recessive so it's reasonable and realistic for him to have two dark haired parents. Of course, in tv/movies, that is usually ignored so blond kids have to have blond parents, gingers have to have ginger parents, etc. My mother in law's family is all dark haired but her brother has three redheaded daughters so they obviously have the recessive ginger gene (which means my husband most likely carries it as well).

 

 

 

I'm also trying to decide if the kid playing Chad is a terrible actor or a really great one.

He was fine on Fresh Off the Boat so I can't tell if he is deliberately being a terrible kid or if he is just as bored as I am.

 

 

 

There were some real clunkers in the dialogue, but I think my vote goes to Ray telling the rapist: "You know me, you just didn't know you did."

Yeah, I cringed that that one. I can't imagine being an actor and seeing a line like that in the script and trying to figure out a way to make it sound less terrible.

Edited July 27, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[paigow]

I think the initial diamond robbery and murders were committed by LAPD, i wonder what James Frain was doing before joining Vinci PD.

Frain and the Vinci Chief are former LAPD. Velcoro's father worked with both of them.

[MrWhyt]

Frain and the Vinci Chief are former LAPD. Velcoro's father worked with both of them.

what a coincidence

[scrb]

Ray was looking at Chad chomping on that pizza, adding chins, while watching TV.

 

Shortly thereafter, he renounced all claims on him.

 

Coincidence?

[represent]

Ray was looking at Chad chomping on that pizza, adding chins, while watching TV.

Shortly thereafter, he renounced all claims on him.

Coincidence?

 

That's kinda of how I saw it too, LOL. It almost looked like he was questioning any real connection he had with him.  It's sad though, I think Ray with the social worker there also realized that his kid just wasn't enjoying the visit. He just doesn't seem happy when he's around Ray, so he let him go. 

[33kaitykaity]

I doubt that they would even try to enter anything they've gathered into evidence in court with those facts, plus Ani killed a guy.

 

These are supposed to be high priced hookers at an exclusive party for high rollers, I find it hard to believe any of them would resemble average housewives. It's sexist by nature.

 

edited:

If you had a line up of what you claimed are "Average" women and showed me a bunch of supermodels there'd be a problem. But if they're supposed to be high end escorts and they look like a suburban 3-kid housewife there'd be a problem too.

 

I've walked down the streets of the red light district in Amsterdam and seen the amazing variety of the services provided there.  The working girls weren't all stick women barely out of their teens with fake everything.  That was my point.  If I'm paying top dollar to be turned on, aroused, and ultimately satisfied, I would demand that the provider of those services be discerning enough to understand my specific needs and provide for them.  And because -- broken record -- not every man is into stick women barely out of their teens with fake everything, but, in fact, find real women compelling, interesting, and sexy, then those sorts of women would have been provided as well in total "top gear" form.  

Edited July 27, 2015 by 33kaitykaity

[Kbilly]

I couldn't believe we had the scene at the house with the WidowStan and child. Pointless. I laughed when the kid was throwing the ball against the house and Frank asks: "Did your dad teach you that?" What throwing a ball against a wall? I don't think that requires any "skillset".

 

I hated the music during the MansionOrgy (the mansion also reminded me of Magic Mike 2 if anyone else will cop to seeing that). I kind of get what they were going for but it was so annoying. I would've preferred better that tense, pounding beat they use sometimes.

 

I think why the hallucination memory reminds people of Bob is just that leery face, coming at the camera and the long stringy hair.  Picturing Bob coming over the couch....ahhh!!!

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When I remarked that the Mansion Orgy music was a weird choice, Mr. EB said that the show probably thought they were classing it up.

[paigow]

Paul's boyfriend  = kid from diamond store?

The Mayor seems to be the least likely candidate for adopting any kids.

Edited July 27, 2015 by paigow

[Constantinople]

I just realized something.

 

I think Son of Stan received more air time than Stan himself.

 

Might have had as many or more lines of dialogue.

[Muffyn]

I really enjoyed this episode.  I laughed hysterically all through the scene with Ray partying alone in his apartment.  Then twice as hard when he began to cry.

 

My husband said, "You are probably the only one across the country laughing your ass off right now.  It is pretty funny though."

I was laughing right along.  In fact, I laughed more during this episode than during many comedies.  I particularly enjoyed the lines so long an anteater would have trouble snorting it in one pass and the boxing/dancing moves.  So much cheese in one short segment.  Perhaps this combined with earlier knife training scene was preparing us for the later gutting with a cheese knife?

 

Ray gave in to his ex-wife, agreeing never to see his son again, after the son made him watch Friends.

Friends has broken men much stronger than Ray.  Just sayin'.

 

Stan... my dear Stan! This episode, we found out that Stan not only was THE GUY, but he also was a very much beloved husband, father and friend. Apparently, gold was inside him. And now he's dead.

 

As soon as I realized VV and his wife were at Stan's house, I started to laugh.

I was hoping she would have a huge poster of Stan handy so I could remember what he looked like.  Every time someone who say "Stan" I would laugh.  Oh Stan, we hardly knew ye!

 

I couldn't believe we had the scene at the house with the WidowStan and child. Pointless. I laughed when the kid was throwing the ball against the house and Frank asks: "Did your dad teach you that?" What throwing a ball against a wall? I don't think that requires any "skillset".

Stan was all state at throwing a ball against a wall and catching it.  Did you miss the glimpse of Stan's trophy case featuring statues of a man wearing a glove and a wall.  Sure, it's not a big spectator sport, but Stan wasn't in it for glory.  He did it for the love of sport and the feel of a hard ball in his gloved hand.  Stan, he was truly golden.  

[Megan]

That score at the end reminded me of something out of an 80s fantasy film.

Yes! It was so Murder She Wrote.

[elzin]

The music reminded me of a bad Hitchcock rip off. 

 

I never notice music in stuff unless it's really good or really, really, really distractingly bad. And oh boy it sucked last night and it was a very bad season musically to begin with.

 

I don't know anyone's name in this show. I call them the actors' names or better-written characters they've played before, like Riggins and Regina are teaming up with Colin. Or they're "That guy that did that thing."  I have no idea what's going on, but unlike last season where I also had no idea what was going on, this time I DON'T CARE.

[catrox14]

I thought the music was very 70's. I rather enjoyed it.

[editorgrrl]

I laughed hysterically all through the scene with Ray partying alone in his apartment. Then twice as hard when he began to cry.

My husband said, "You are probably the only one across the country laughing your ass off right now. It is pretty funny though."

I was laughing because Velcoro was listening to the New York Dolls' "Human Being"—on a boombox.

Well, if you don't like it

Go ahead, find yourself a saint

Go ahead, now try to find a boy

Who's gonna be what I ain't

[paigow]

Friends has broken men much stronger than Ray.  Just sayin'.

The One with Brad Pitt...

[Accidental Martyr]

Honestly, Flashback Guy didn't remind me of Bob at all.

 

Bob, as I recall, was a bit thinner, gaunt even, and his hair was more grey.  Also, I don't recall Bob with much of a beard and mustache, or if there was, it was just stubble.

Ani's flashback:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/07/27/07/2ADEBA0400000578-0-image-m-121_1437977699390.jpg

Bob:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1y5cbpL4XrQ/Tl6mgM7ddBI/AAAAAAAADb4/ok5qs86BKdM/s1600/FWWM+Bob+emerges.jpg

[cpcathy]

I was laughing right along.  In fact, I laughed more during this episode than during many comedies.  I particularly enjoyed the lines so long an anteater would have trouble snorting it in one pass and the boxing/dancing moves.  So much cheese in one short segment.  Perhaps this combined with earlier knife training scene was preparing us for the later gutting with a cheese knife?

 

Friends has broken men much stronger than Ray.  Just sayin'.

 

I was hoping she would have a huge poster of Stan handy so I could remember what he looked like.  Every time someone who say "Stan" I would laugh.  Oh Stan, we hardly knew ye!

 

Stan was all state at throwing a ball against a wall and catching it.  Did you miss the glimpse of Stan's trophy case featuring statues of a man wearing a glove and a wall.  Sure, it's not a big spectator sport, but Stan wasn't in it for glory.  He did it for the love of sport and the feel of a hard ball in his gloved hand.  Stan, he was truly golden.  

 

 

I miss dead, great Stan!

[Malaprop cocktail]

Frank's wife was so weird when she came into the kitchen after the face-off between Frank and Ray. Her posture was just bizarre, and her facial expression was completely unreadable. My husband said he wasn't sure if she was trying to be sexy or if she was mad, or if she was trying to be comforting.

I just can't with Mrs. Frank (or, as someone upthread said she was captioned, "Woman"). She appears in the doorway in a silk robe and a ton of eye makeup, saunters over to Frank in slow motion and then starts caressing him like he's the Messiah. It's like the director has given her no other guidance on how to play this part besides "just pretend you are perpetually on muscle relaxers."

Ani getting Vera (is that her name?) out of the orgy house defied belief. Vera couldn't so much as keep her eyes open, but then it was no problem for her to trot down the stairs, and then full-on run once they got outside.

[FemmyV]

walked down the streets of the red light district in Amsterdam and seen the amazing variety of the services provided there. The working girls weren't all stick women barely out of their teens with fake everything. That was my point. If I'm paying top dollar to be turned on, aroused, and ultimately satisfied, I would demand that the provider of those services be discerning enough to understand my specific needs and provide for them.

This isn't so Democratic as Amsterdam; this is a gathering of alpha males, often obsessed with outdoing each other, and they're all going to want to be seen with the hottest babe in the room. As for "ultimate satisfaction," I get the idea that's done in more private rooms.

[paigow]

Based on my Law & Order expertise, all conversations between visitors and prisoners are recorded. Therefore, Velcoro has confessed to a murder and threatened an inmate with dermabrasion on tape. Also, since Ray wants to give up custody, why is he still showing up for Task Force 2.0 black ops?

[catrox14]

 

Ani getting Vera (is that her name?) out of the orgy house defied belief. Vera couldn't so much as keep her eyes open, but then it was no problem for her to trot down the stairs, and then full-on run once they got outside.

 

Oh sorry I misread your comment.

 

I think she could have been operating on adrenaline at that point.

Edited July 28, 2015 by catrox14

[Hobo.PassingThru]

 

I don't know anyone's name in this show.

It's not just you. I wondered if Ani saw familiar faces at that "orgy"--if that's the right word. But, if she did, I didn't. It's bad enough there are so many extra characters, ones who may be one-offs or vital to the story, but, to quickly show them again is a bad choice.

 

That is why Stan is the man. We got his name more than we ever got to see or hear from Stan.

 

I think it was enough to clear her head enough to get them out of there.

You'd think once she arrived, she planned a quick escape. Too bad that didn't make that obvious.

[Consternation]

Stan is the coolest person who ever lived.  He is basically Tino from My So Called Life.  Where would we all be today, were it not for Stan's contributions?

 

I think we can write a bot to generate Frank's lines.  I feel kind of bad for Vince Vaugn, somehow I just really don't feel like he is all to blame for this.  At the same time, if he said that "time is a flat circle" everyone would just wonder what the hell he is talking about.  I was proud of him for "Don't you fucking shoot me, Ray."  That line was relevant to the scene that was actually unfolding before him.

[Maysie]

Well, my viewing has taken a dive over the past several weeks. I read the thread before I watch so I have some idea of what's going on because it's mostly boring me to pieces and I've lost track of the plot and where it's going -- the thread gets me back on track.

 

I've racked my brain to figure out why this season sucks so much compared to last year. Yeah, last season was hard to follow and I had to watch the episodes twice to make sure I caught everything, but it wasn't a chore to do so. I realized that this season each of the detectives and Frank is traumatized over something and it's not making them more interesting; it's only muddying the water even more and this story has spun so far out of control for me it doesn't need anything else to muddy it up.

 

I kind of wonder if NP thought that Rust was so well-received that instead of giving us one tortured, conflicted character he gave us four -- I mean if one gets that kind of response imagine what four tortured souls can do!!! For me, part of the beauty of Rust and Marty is that one was traumatized and the other was just a normal guy, but but both were pretty fucked up. And I felt like if Rust's kid hadn't died, chances are he'd have been the guy that Marty thought he was/pretended to be. They made good counterpoints for each other -- it provided some balance, humor and good dialogue. It feels like this season is one huge clusterfuck of dysfunction and for me, the actual story is buried in it.

 

This last episode about put me to sleep and that includes the scenes beyond Frank and Woman, which does not bode well for the final two episodes.

[33kaitykaity]

This isn't so Democratic as Amsterdam; this is a gathering of alpha males, often obsessed with outdoing each other, and they're all going to want to be seen with the hottest babe in the room. As for "ultimate satisfaction," I get the idea that's done in more private rooms.

Thank you!  For acknowledging that what I am talking about even exists.  And from what I understand, places like the Bunny Ranch in Vegas have that public herding scene of all of the girls in front of all of the men with many, many, many types and sizes and shapes of girls for the men to choose from, so damn, it's not just me.  

 

But as far as being an alpha male goes, I don't think they even give a shit.  They want what they want and the expect it to be delivered to them, including women other than stick women barely out of their teens with fake everything.