True Detective Season 2 Episode 8 Finale Recap

This is it, the final moments of season 2. The finale is one and a half hours and I'm expecting big action and big reveals. Will we finally learn who killed Casper? Will the land deal that is a big part of Casper's murder be revealed as fraudulent? Will Frank escape to Venezuela or will the Russians catch up to him? Is Paul's plot complete? Will Ray and Ani live happily ever after? Wait, if Frank's leaving, Ray is jobless! Oh yeah, and the diamonds, are they still important? What about the crow head?

Check out my previous recaps or keep reading to dive into this episode. Spoilers beware.

Ray and Ani share one last conversation.

I predicted few happy endings and boy did True Detective deliver. It seems the show set out to do the opposite of season one. Season one ended on a happy note, this didn't... at all.

We open the episode of course with a monologue, that is Ray and Ani sharing their secrets, secrets that have made them who they are. It's clear these stories are wrapping, and the sequence had nice editing.

That was a big diamond. -Frank

Frank is sending Jordan ahead of him for safety, but she's not having it. It's a nice move, if not a bit cliche.

The lost orphan Len has been found by cowboy Ray Velcoro.

The camera guy is back. I was wrong on the orphans. The orphans did it.

Mayor Chessani is gone, the son was the mastermind. This comes out of left field for me. The ground work wasn't there to have the son be the real mastermind. In the only scene we see him in, he seems like a spoiled kid.

The crow head. It was all misdirection. The entire thing explained away as a bad joke.

We know who killed Casper, it was a revenge killing by the kid of the family he disrupted. We finally get closure on the crow head and who shot Ray. His sister, the secretary, infiltrated the organization. It turns out the orphan kids were Casper's. Casper wasn't after diamonds, he was putting an end to a relationship with his mistress.

Frank gears up for one last score and recruits Ray to help him, for Paul.

I guess it was today. -Frank
Frank gets his revenge.

I'd call that a plot puddle.

How in the world is there a puddle only under Ray's car? What a helpful puddle. Why doesn't he remove the tracker? Why doesn't he go to a parking garage to ditch the car.? Why go to the woods, where you likely won't have cell service and WILL want it, and in essence making yourself an easy target for commandos? Go to a public place maybe?

The Mexicans apprehend Frank. This can only end wrong.

As soon as they found him, amazingly lucky as that is, it was only a matter of when not if Frank would die. Frank should have known these guys aren't businessman, because I already knew it. Frank's pride is what did him in, but if it wasn't that it would have been the Mexicans.

Frank taking the walk of destiny.

I like Frank's end, him confronting his past and the hurdles that made him successful.

Ray had to see his son one more time.

Ray's love for his son proved to be his undoing. That and picking a terrible location for a last stand.

Ray goes out as murdering, dirty cop, his final message to his son his never sent, he actually is the biological father to his son, and he has a son with Ani. It's insult to injury ten-fold. What was the reasoning for piling it on so thick?

How will the cops explain the bullets from high powered guns in Ray's body? It's not like those guys were cops. Then again, this is Vinci, the law doesn't matter much.

Ani and Jordan make it to Venezuela, apparently teaming up.
I hope this isn't the premise for season three.

It took much longer for us to care about the characters in this season. It started too slow and ended too quickly. We rooted for the characters, perhaps in spite of how terrible their outlooks were. The real criminals, the politicians, weren't stopped. Maybe the story will surface one day, maybe not.
I was kind of hoping for Ani to get in a jeep, buy gas, and then look in the passenger seat at a photo of Ray. Cue music from The Terminator.

I really wish this season had a cult or something supernatural. It was hinted at, but the lack of those elements is why there wasn't fervent fan speculation about what tiny details represented.

I still much prefer season one. The plot device of jumping back in forth in time created a lot of suspense. This season had a lot of characters and didn't add in episodes to really develop their stories. Season one had something supernatural to it, even if it really wasn't. This season felt more like a standard cop story. I wanted something more.

One last highway shot for the road.

True Detective Season 2 Episode 7 Recap

I don't know how they are going to wrap this season up in two episodes based on the pace we've seen thus far. I guess the it could be a rush job, which seems likely. Last episode Ray, Ani, and Paul escaped for the crazy party mansion amidst gun fire, ostensibly having broken the case wide open with a missing person now found and documents linking all of the political leaders in scandal.
Check out this weeks recap, of course beware of spoilers as there are some big ones.

Check out my previous recaps or keep reading to dive into this episode. Spoilers beware.

It's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

This episode is the best of the season. Since episode four, each new episode just gets better. I wish the tenacity of the last half had been shared with the first.

Fresh off their daring escape, Ani comes on to Ray, which seems a bit silly considering what's happened, but apparently it's foreshadowing.

Paul has a fan

Someone wants to blackmail Paul. It seems a bit late in the season, but as it turns out it's convenient for the plot.

If the club thing falls through, Frank's wife thinks he'd make a killer Applebees manager.

 Frank's back up plan might be working at Applebees. Hey, he knows how to manage a club.

Frank - Show yourself out. I need a chance to process the ins and outs of all this.

Vince Vaughn's Frank and Colin Farrell's Ray have another sit down. Though it could be their last, it's revealed Frank's second in command Blake wasn't just working behind Frank's back, he screwed him over.
As it turns out, Ben Casper's girl Tosha was killed in the party cabin for trying to blackmail Casper. That's one looming mystery resolved.

This episode is chock full of death, destruction, and mayhem.

Blake was the one who killed Stan. Turns out Frank had Stan following Blake, though why did Stan's death not raise Frank's suspicions previously? Blake is also the one who gave up the guy Velcoro killed. Blake just wanted Frank to notice him. Blake claims no one knows who killed Casper. Frank sees no more potential in Blake and pre-emptively punishes him. I doubt Frank liked Blake comparing himself to the king. There's only one Frank Semyon, everyone knows that.

Game over man, game over.

The show is wide open now that Davis the district attorney is dead. She may have been the only one who knew Velcoro was part of a special investigative team (in the show, in real life there is more of a paper trail), which means Ray, Paul, and Ani are on their own.

Frank is planning a vacation.

Franks going to Venezuela. He's got a plan brewing, though we don't know what. As he said, his train is coming in.

Casper's death ties back to the '92 robbery. The rogue cops, Casper, and Chessani have a connection.
Though the detectives still haven't figured out the orphaned kids are Chessani's. Instead they try to link Casper's secretary to the orphaned girl to no avail.

Frank's turning up the heat, literally.

The Russians are pushing Frank out. They bought up Casper's shares, and they bought Frank's clubs and want him to manage. Little do they know what Frank will do next. Frank's going to burn it all down.

Paul's gone and done it now. You never hold a superior at gun point.

The Vinci police chief has a few questions for Paul, like where are the stolen party documents. Dixon took the pics of Paul. Another question answered.

Paul is beginning to realize just how deep this conspiracy is, unfortunately he won't get to share this information with the team. Ani has an A.P.B. out on her for killing the security guard at the party. Ray isn't even in the police, and his contact DA Davis is dead. Paul is out of the picture.

Goodbye Paul, we hardly knew you.

I did not see that coming for Paul. How would the cop guy know what exit Paul would take? Why didn't Paul exit the way he came in since he killed everyone? I wonder if Paul was in the show just to die, he was less developed than Ray or Ani.

In the next and final episode, Chessani should feature prominently. The detectives have to figure out who Chessani's kids are. I've known since the picture was introduced. Will we found out who killed Casper? I'm guessing so, but with this kind of show and with the top political leaders involved, I doubt the culprits will see jail time. Or we'll get a coverup. I predict few happy endings. We better get some answers on the crow head.

And highway!

Highways, always highways.

True Detective Season 2 Episode 6 Recap

Episode 5 left us chasing blue diamonds, a crazy shack, and confrontation between Colin Farrell's Ray Velcoro and Vince Vaughn's Frank Semyon.
After watching this episode, and the reality that only two episodes are left, we had too much introduction and filler. The setup stories could have been truncated. The episodes are getting better, but it feels like two episodes isn't enough time.

Check out my previous recaps or keep reading to dive into this episode. Spoilers beware.

I'm going to give you something. Put it in your shoe.

Frank didn't force Ray to do anything that wasn't already in him.

This was a good start to the episode. There was no fight between Frank and Ray with Frank blaming Ray and washing his hands of any wrong doing.

He looks nothing like you, which is true for both of them.

Ray determines his earlier retribution targeted the wrong guy. While he threatens to go after the guy, it seems at odds after his Frank conversation. Ray can tell this guy is the real culprit, though he looks nothing like Ray's son.

Dollars to donuts we've already seen these kids all grown up.

Are those Mayor Chessani's 'kids'? How deep do Chessani's crimes go? The picture is a boy and girl, similar to Chessani's kids. With what little we've seen we know his adult kids are nothing short of messed up. I think we know why.

Have a chat with Uncle Frank.

Now we see why Stan's death was given such prominence, they were going to come back to it. They could have given him a scene before his death. Frank proves he is down with kids. Could this lead to adopting Stan's kid? Anything could happen in the last two episodes!

Is Ray an interior decorator? No. He's just on a bender.

Why would Ray DVR the Cardinals? Why not the Dodgers or even the Angels and Athletics? Is DVR'ing the wrong game and his son not picking up on it what really upset him? His wife tells him she doesn't want to win but that seems hard to believe since he's handing her the win and she isn't objecting. My next question was why do a paternity if she doesn't want to win, but the show addressed that question. She needs that for her, which seems to ignore Ray's feelings on the matter.

Hey, why do they call you hammer time... wait, nooooo!!

Frank once again proves he's tough as nails. He wants the girl more than the cops and he's willing to screw whoever gets in his way.

Ani has got something, at least that's what all the pimps tell her.

Ani is all dressed up and ready to party without the dozens of knives she usually carries. Ray and Frank are on surveillance. Just how badly will this go?

Paul's been watching WWE again.

Ray and Paul tag teaming the competition. Paul neutralizes the threat, Ray stands around pointing a gun.

Tacky sweater party this isn't.

The parties are crazier than Eyes Wide Shut. We got nothing on the crazy murder shack, but this party is wall to wall old guys looking for something easy. Ani has some repressed memories. It looks like her dad was aiding  aspiring political types before the parties became a touch too classy for the woods and vans.

No party like a full moon party because  full moon party don't stop.

No party like a full moon party because a full moon party don't stop... until... no, they don't. Ray and Paul save the day and Ani who finds her missing person and a potential murder charge. I doubt they'll press charges, wouldn't want to bring attention to your crazy sex party.

 And of course, no recap is complete without a highway shot.

True Detective Season 2 Episode 5 Recap

In the two months since the firefight that wrecked the city, the true detectives have not fared well
Colin Farrell's Ray Velcoro is now security for Vince Vaughn's Frank Semyon, Rachel McAdams's Ani Bezzerides works evidence, and Taylor Kitsch's Paul Woodrugh is an insurance fraud detective.
While their situations have worsened, Farrell shaved his mustache which is an improvement. It turns out the three cops have kept in touch and now want to solve the case they left behind. Check out my recaps of each episode.

Detective team assemble!

This episode provided more info and was a solid contribution.

Let her share.

Ani is in counseling due to Mayor Chessani, though she doesn't know this. She does find out his son has lofty aspirations of being a pimp.

Paint me like one of your...

But Ani hasn't left the case of Casper alone. These blue diamonds are a big deal.

No! No! No!

Paul has lost twenty thousand dollars. His mom took it,emasculates him, and then regrets his existence. I'm sure she's more loving than actually portrayed.

We know that guy!

The psychiatrist is back, but who didn't see that coming. Ray discovers the psychiatrist knows more than he let one while following Frank's subordinate. Frank would be interested in this info if only he knew about it.

It's good to be a gangster

Frank has problems on the home front. His marriage is falling apart and did I mention the word gangster really bothers him.

Ray and Ani are on the case.

The blue diamonds are missing from evidence. It's time to assemble. Ani convinces Paul, and then she calls Rayand with the promise of keeping his kid, Ray signs up.

Ray finds out that Frank set him up. The guy he ostensibly killed for raping his wife wasn't the real culprit. Who did Ray track down?


Ray and Frank need to talk this one out.

Colin 'Punchy' Farrell is back with a vengeance.

Ray extracts information about parties and political figures from the psychiatrist.

Wait, there's another ticket that came by here?

Looks like Ray's old partner was interested in the diamonds. Too bad he died last episode.

This is crow house!

We see the crow house. Long live the crow. Let them eat crow.

Next episode I expect Frank and Ray to have a terse confrontation, but I'll bet they'll resolve it over a cup of tea and scones.

True Detective Season 2 Episode 4 Recap

This episode I was expecting to see Vince Vaughn's character go even further into the violence that got him to the top, another masked individual further the conspiracy, and character development for Rachel McAdams character Ani Bezzerides. Did my predictions occur?

Check out my previous recaps or keep reading to dive into this episode. Spoilers beware.

And then there were three.

 In the present Vince Vaughn's Frank Semyon is reacquainting himself with his old lifestyle. He wants Colin Farrell's Ray Velcoro to quit the police and join him in the venture.

Join me Ray as I try to take over the world.

Taylor Kitsch's Paul Woodrugh and Rachel McAdams's Ani Bezzerides past comes back to bite them. He after spending the night with a former flame,  her for burning bridges in the department, and the fire bombed Cadillac provides no leads.


 Also, Paul Woodrugh's girlfriend is pregnant and he instantly falls in love with her and women.

I love women now that I see you as my way out.

We saw no masked individuals, but the psychiatrist seen earlier in the season and the Vinci Mayor Chessani have a connection through Ani Bezzerides father. The deceased Casper also visited Bezzerides's father's commune.
We get a glimpse of the past for Vince Vaughn's wife who had an operation in the past linked to her difficulty in conception. Of course no specifics are provided. Are Frank Semyon's perfect teeth involved?

Frank Semyon: "I've never had a cavity."

 

Woodrugh opens up to Ray Velcoro who wishes he was anywhere but in that car.

Ray Velcoro: Noooooo!

Bezzerides is suspended, most likely due to retribution from Vinci Mayor Chessani, though she has managed to irritate many people in her department.

Ani Bezzerides: "This would not be happening to a man:

An interesting twist, but Taylor Kitsch may be the most valuable person on the special investigation unit, gaining a lead to a pimp who pawned Casper's watch.

Of course this led to Punchy Farrell's deadweight partner, along with many other cops, innocents and three individuals potentially linked, but most likely not related, to Casper's death meeting their end in a massive shootout.

Shoot it and it will explode.

Of course the three heroes not only lived, but weren't even harmed. Nearly everyone in a twenty foot vicinity of the stars died with pinpoint accurate gun shots to the head.

AND THEN THERE WAS A FIREFIGHT!

No review is complete without an image of the highway system. This season is about a murder mystery as much as it is a salute to the California department of transportation.

The next episode needs to provide more information on Casper's death and the land deals he was into. Between Paulie 'The Kid' Woodrugh, Colin 'Punchy' Farrell, and 'Perfect Smile' Frank Semyon I think they can crack this case, unmask the real criminal, and determine just how deep is the rabbit hole.