Tonight airs the 8th episode and season finale of HBO's True Detective. An addictive new series that premiered January 12, 2014 starring Matthew McConaughey (as Rustin Cohle) and Woody Harrelson (as Marty Hart) that has caught on like wildfire and spurred numerous online discussions, fan sites, theories and of course, satire.
Great acting coupled with intense writing that contains enigmatic acronyms, intellectual theories, philosophical monologues and cryptic references make the show simultaneously compelling and yes, totally friggen' confusing. So I've gathered facts, glossaries, photos, artwork, sites and videos, both hopeful and humorous, for you True Detective fans to enjoy as the season comes to an end.
First off, if you know nothing about the show, here is it as described by HBO:
Opening Titles and Music
The True Detective opening title sequence (shown below) is accompanied by The Handsome Family's "Far From Any Road".
LYRICS:
From the dusty May sun
Her looming shadow grows
Hidden in the branches of the poison creosote
She twines her spines up slowly
Towards the boiling sun
And when i touched her skin
My fingers ran with blood
In the hushing dusk under a swollen silver moon
I came walking with the wind to watch the cactus bloom
And strange hands halted me, the looming shadows danced
I fell down to the thorny brush and felt the trembling hands
When the last light warms the rocks
And the rattlesnakes unfold
Mountain cats will come to drag away your bones
And rise with me forever
Across the silent sand
And the stars will be your eyes
And the wind will be my hands
Memorable quotes from season one:
Rust's storage locker:
Evidence/Clues?:
Truly Helpful Links:
DB? CI? KA? Prost? Braced? Juiced? Spaghetti Monster? Carcosa? What do all those acronyms and words mean?
• Anna Silman's A Handy Glossary of True Detective Names, Places, and Things for Vulture Magazine is list of terms that will answer some serious - and not so serious- questions for you.
• The Huffington Posts' Definitive Guide to Understanding True Detective defines law enforcement abbreviations and some Louisiana slang for you.
Artwork
Official True Detective Mondo Posters commissioned by HBO (not for sale):
By artist Jay Shaw:
By Phantom City Creative:
By Vania Zouravliov:
Best Artistic Fan Site:
Artist Nigel Evan Dennis has created a graphic designer's dream version of the True Detective characters, theories, geography and more which he also sells as posters here.
Check it out here
Another nice piece of Fan Art by Cameron Stewart:
Some Funny Parodies:
"Can Anyone Understand "True Detective?"
Published on Mar 5, 2014 - Joel McHale and "The Soup" present their take on the hit HBO show starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson:
True Detective: The Oscars Parody
Published on Mar 6, 2014 - Matthew McConaughey is interrogated by The Academy about the 2014 Oscars and his past of less-notable films. Written by and Starring Jon Rudnitsky:
True Detective - Next Season
Published on Mar 6, 2014 - A sketch by UCB Maude team Royal Bermuda Whiskey Club . Directed by Will Reese Written by Matt Chester:
Marty Hart Watches The Red Wedding. Great for any Game of Thrones and True Detective fans. (don't watch unless you are caught up on both). By DecentFilmz
Where's the show going?
Even lead actor Matthew McConaughy's not certain. Here he is discussing it at the Film Society of Lincoln Center:
Other Relevant Links:
•HBO's True Detective
•Darkness Becomes You is a special micro site for the show by HBO which has all seven episodes, great photos, music and more
•HBO's Official True Detective's Instagram
• True Detective's Official Facebook Page
•HBO's Official True Detective swag ( T-shirts, pens, hats and posters)
I hope you enjoyed my round-up of True detective related info. Of course more will be revealed after tonight's episode airs. I hope it's as intriguing as the rest of the season because I, for one, am really looking forward to Season Two.