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I'm in the camp that thought the music was wrong for the scene. They set up to the scene perfectly with some gritty, ominous industrial-type music when showing the overheads of the bus. You could sense that something sinister and big was about to go down. Then it shifted to Henry Mancini.

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I mainly found it very distracting. It really took me out of the action.

One positive that I haven't seen mentioned is that I thought McAdams' acting during that party scene was very good. I thought she outshined Farrell this episode.

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"I'm going to blow some minds with this music, bruh!"

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Music was awesome. When watching it I immediately felt of sort of a Chinatown vibe. Nicholson investigating what's going on with the dead husband, running across John Huston and basically getting up into an echelon of social power that exists and he's clearly not ready for.

That's how last night felt with Ani.

Seriously, last night was amazing. Can't wait to watch it again this evening.

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My favorite scene was with Ray going on his bender. He went from 0-100mph in about one verse of a song. I haven't seen that much coke since Tony Montana. Then he sees the model jet and I'm thinking, ok he's going to cut it off and settle down and get back to fighting for his kid. Then he's talking on the phone to ex wife and he's all bloody and ripped up. Next thing you know they show the apt and its thrashed. The way that scene progressed was great.

• I'm in the camp that the missing kids are the Mayor's kids. I did notice that Ray's dad and the old police detective that Woodrough was talking to both mentioned the 92' riots...
• The only other redhead besides Ray's kid is Blake...
• Who was supposed to be killed in the cabin in the woods. It was female.
• I just wanted to use the new bullet point feature

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She's the father or Ray's kid??

CF has carried this season on his back. In fact, I was never a CF fan until now. He has had some absolutely incredible acting moments throughout this season and is the only TDS2 actor that comes close to being in the same league as WH and MM.

VV has been painfully awkward to watch (big VV fan here) -- I think the the idea of him in this role was great but his execution, along with poor writing, has been underwhelming at minimum.

I think, overall, RM & TK have done a decent job for what they have been asked to do.

However, the plot is confusing as hell. I'll admit I haven't been as attentive during episodes as last season, and have paid for it. So many characters, and the storyline is all over the place. I grasp the bigger picture, which is all that really matters, but overall disappointed with how they chose to unfold things. That opinion may very well change over the next two episodes.

With all of that said, this is still the best damn show on television. For me, nothing really even comes close. I am truly looking forward to these final two episodes.

Has anybody else noticed that the theme song lyrics are different every episode?

Sometimes they are just flipped around, but sometimes they are whole new sections. I found this link that has all the variations each week:

http://cohencentric.com/2015/07/21/the-nevermind-variations-versions-of-true-detectives-theme-song-by-leonard-cohen-episodes-1-5/

Not sure if it means anything, but it is at least interesting.

There seems to be an incredible amount of plot to resolve in 2 episodes....especially if the pacing stays the same. But I imagine the last 2 episodes will be more like episode 5 with regards to pacing.

It's not that I'm confused by the plot, it's that it's poorly written.

I mean, even ignoring that RM's character had to have known there was a high likelihood that she would run into one of the "higher ups" at that party -- did we suddenly choose to ignore that she was part of a horrifically deadly shootout 2 months prior? But put on a dress, do your hair and put up some makeup and some of the most important politicians and businessmen in the region don't recognize you?

I've been watching and observing rather than posting like I did through episode 2. But I've kept up with everyone's theories and thoughts here on the board and there are many good ones. Many on here were saying you can't or should not compare to season 1, which is a fair enough caveat. But after episode 8, I am ready to pass judgment on season 2 without comparing it to season 1.

First, I think the story teller set himself up for failure early on, he wanted to deliver a story that was full of depth and character development but he also wanted spectacular action. Those two together are hard to execute well together because one takes time and development and the other needs fast pacing. A good writer can do both but this writer is not that guy. For a character development format I expect a gritty realness to the story and will not easily suspend belief for those stories. For a good spectacular action story I am willing to suspend reality to an extent. Since this writer was unable to execute both, I think he should have gone for a good spectacular action story.

So specifically, episode 1 was a good start because no matter what story style you choose there has to be some character development even if it superficial. Episode 2 up until the last 10 minutes was more development and psychobabble and then we get our first exposure to action, with CF's Hollywood bungalow shot gunning. Great end to the episode and they had my attention. But they lost me a little with the effects of the shots, however as I said for a good action story I'll suspend some reality. But episode 3, 4 and everything up to the last 10 minutes of 5 come along. During episode 3 I kept waiting for some action to kick in but instead it was more character development and psychobabble, well maybe episode 4. But no, more of the same pacing and it stretched into most of episode 5 as well. At the end of episode 5 we finally got back to spectacular action with bullets, blood, brains and explosions in the air. Again we had to suspend some reality about how cops operate and the dumb things they did in the raid, which I would have accepted for a purely spectacular action story but with all the character development and true crime drama stuff before, it wasn't quite as acceptable. But I thought, okay we're about to jump on the roller coaster for a great end from that halfway point. But episodes 6 and 7 followed the model and pacing of 3 and 4 with character development and psychobabble.

This brings us to last night's episode, which would have been great as written, had the writer chosen to give us a spectacular action story from the beginning. I did get a good laugh out of VV's bucket list comment but then we end up at the GOP orgy and I have to suspend reality too much again. I'll just mention two things that bothered me about that. First was how the ruffies affected the two girls, so all you have to do is throw up and it clears the affects to your brain? Because RM seemed to fully recover after that. It also seems that hitting the outdoor air was clearing the effects for the hostage girl as RM dragged her to the front door but she was actually running with minor incapacity after that (note to self: next time you party with the Cos don't let the girls barf or go outside). The second thing that bothered me was the breaking and entering and stealing evidence, any good cop knows about the 4th amendment. So they have now crapped on their case, any competent defense lawyer in the land would get the defendants off now. So it appears the only way to get the bad guys is for CF to beat them to death, RM to stab them to death or Riggins to shoot them.

Yes, we have an interesting character in VV and good acting from CF but that is not enough to save this travesty, with its horrible dialogue. If season 2 had been the first season I would not have wanted or anticipated the next season. I'm pretty confident that the HBO executives are smart enough to have ended the franchise at that point too.

Sadly, I noticed the Mexican stand-off with actual Mexicans before VV's comment.

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It's not that I'm confused by the plot, it's that it's poorly written.

I mean, even ignoring that RM's character had to have known there was a high likelihood that she would run into one of the "higher ups" at that party -- did we suddenly choose to ignore that she was part of a horrifically deadly shootout 2 months prior? But put on a dress, do your hair and put up some makeup and some of the most important politicians and businessmen in the region don't recognize you?

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I felt like she got dressed up because she needed to be hot to get an invite to the bus/house.....not as a disguise. That's evidenced by the fact that when she sees people she recognizes at the house, there's a bit of panic and she quickly turns to go to a different room.

That's trying way too hard on a song that sucks

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It's not that I'm confused by the plot, it's that it's poorly written.

I mean, even ignoring that RM's character had to have known there was a high likelihood that she would run into one of the "higher ups" at that party -- did we suddenly choose to ignore that she was part of a horrifically deadly shootout 2 months prior? But put on a dress, do your hair and put up some makeup and some of the most important politicians and businessmen in the region don't recognize you?

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I felt like she got dressed up because she needed to be hot to get an invite to the bus/house.....not as a disguise. That's evidenced by the fact that when she sees people she recognizes at the house, there's a bit of panic and she quickly turns to go to a different room.

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Agree. She also didn't know what she was truly getting into with that party. She knew there'd be higher ups there, but who? It's also her only chance to get in there and figure out what's going on. The parties are so hidden and secretive that there's no other way.

IceCream14, I am so confused by you saying that its the "best damn show on television", but you are complaining about it in almost every post. I don't think its very good, but your thoughts are pretty confusing to me.

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IceCream14, I am so confused by you saying that its the "best damn show on television", but you are complaining about it in almost every post. I don't think its very good, but your thoughts are pretty confusing to me.

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well.....it's the ONLY show on currently.....pretty much anyway. cuz it's SUMMER.

i mean there is Ballers and The Brink also on HBO but those are light comedies (and average at best)....so it is the best thing on TV right now but that does not mean it's in the BrBa, GOT, Sopranos, etc. level.

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That's trying way too hard on a song that sucks

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And that is probably the best summation of the entire season with 2 episodes to go. The dialogue, the music, the convoluted plot, it all just reeks of effort. Like Pizzolatto really wants to prove to everyone that he was the reason Season 1 was so great. Not McConaughey, not Woody, not some book he supposedly ripped off.

Incidentally, I do think the actors have done well, and it's an entertaining show to watch. It's just really hard and unfair to compare it to Season 1, but I don't really feel like I have a choice in the matter.

That's compared to what else is on TV. With no GoT, this is what we have to watch. Pretty much everything else out there is garbage.

Gotcha, that makes more sense. I thought you meant it was better than all shows in production (The Americans, Better Call Saul, RWRR Challenge, etc) and that would have been crazy talk. I would say that I enjoy watching Ballers more than TD, even if its not a "better" show.

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It's not that I'm confused by the plot, it's that it's poorly written.

I mean, even ignoring that RM's character had to have known there was a high likelihood that she would run into one of the "higher ups" at that party -- did we suddenly choose to ignore that she was part of a horrifically deadly shootout 2 months prior? But put on a dress, do your hair and put up some makeup and some of the most important politicians and businessmen in the region don't recognize you?

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I felt like she got dressed up because she needed to be hot to get an invite to the bus/house.....not as a disguise. That's evidenced by the fact that when she sees people she recognizes at the house, there's a bit of panic and she quickly turns to go to a different room.

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Again, what had to have been one of the most notable public shootouts in city (or country) modern history, but security, other girls, politcians, etc... no one notices "hey, it's that girl!".

I've yet to tune into Ballers, but TV opinions that I trust have said the same thing. I was a fan of Entourage and from what I've been told it's kinda similar, so I'll eventually check it out.

Also looking forward to the continuation of The Americans, Better Call Saul, and Fargo. IMO, all of those series will do a better job than TD has thus far.

However, I'm still holding out for some miracle turnaround with this season of TD, but I don't think it's likely. This writer's ego is to blame.

I'll have to re-watch it this evening, but I don't necessarily think they came in with a plan to find henchmen in the office and have documents. I think they more or less stumbled on to it. They came there to provide cover for Ani and to also infiltrate the party and figure out more about who goes to them, who organizes them, and what ties it all together.

I agree about how cliche that is having them see the guys in the office discussing what they do, etc....but is it any worse than them just breaking into the empty dark rooms of the house and having a "WAH LA!" moment pulling out a file randomly? At least in this scenario, they hear/see some of the players, and see the files so they go in and take them.

It was like a mix of James Bond and the Shield. Didn't really bother me at all.

For y'all that think CF is doing a good job here, go watch In Bruges. That movie changed my perspective on him. Same self destructive attitude, drug use, comedy, Irish accent, wonderland city of Bruges, and they "film effing midgets"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780536/

So does this mean that the party was at the Catalyst CEO's house? Why else would he lock the super-important incriminating papers in a desk there? If he was just a guest, he would lock them in a briefcase, and either secure it with his security detail or have them walk him out.

If you are a big-wig CEO involved in a super-shady land deal, and involved in super-secret sex parties with the major players of the deal, would you hold a party at your house?

The writing gets lazier and lazier to push the plot forward.

"Well hell, I don't have a pen... is there anything else I can sign this contract with?"

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What is amazing is that the CEOs of Halliburton and ExxonMobil sign multi-million dollar deals with me here.

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Nice humble brag there, pal!

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Don't know why we needed so much time in Ep8 devoted to making sure a secondary character's kid is given some closure about his dad's death.

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I think it was to drive home one of the central themes of the show this season - I.e. a moment/event in your life when there is a "before" and "after."

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Don't know why we needed so much time in Ep8 devoted to making sure a secondary character's kid is given some closure about his dad's death.

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I think it was to drive home one of the central themes of the show this season - I.e. a moment/event in your life when there is a "before" and "after."

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Also to show that the kid's dad taught him how to throw a baseball against a wall.

At this point, I have to think Cary ***unaga was given more directorial control in S1 than the multiple directors in S2. S1 had a better script and better cinematography. The script in S2 seems really forced...like Pizzolatto wrote it and wont let the directors deviate even when it just doesn't come out right.

***unaga got tons of love for S1. It wouldn't surprise me if Pizzolatto chose to go with various directors and micro-manage the S2 in an effort to garner more acclaim for himself. Kind of like a Jimmy Johnson/Jerry Jones deal.

*over filtration on F-u-k-u-naga.