True Detective - Season 3 - what are your thoughts - it seems REALLY slow!!!

Well I was hoping for something at least as good as season 2, which was no where near as good as season 1, but so far I have been sorely disappointing. I'll say that it isn't the actors fault as they seem to be good, but the story seems very tedious, slow, uneventful, meandering and uncaptivating - to say the least. The first episode was the "best" but they have gone down-hill since to the point that I'm not even looking forward to the coming episodes.

I recently saw a reddit post that talked about TV show writing/development and it was done by an illustration of a horse split into 3 sections the head / front legs & part of the body / & the hind legs & tail. The first part represented season 1 and it was a perfect life-like sketch of a horse - beautiful. The second part represented season 2 & 3 and it looked like a semi talented middle school kid drew it (no shading, strong lines, just not very good). The last section represented the last season(s) (season 9 in this case) and it was basically a stick figure of the legs, hind quarter and tail that looks like a disabled 6yr old drew it with their non dominate hand. What this is supposed to represent is the quality of the writing across the seasons. They hook you with the awesome writing (and usually acting/cast) in season 1, then they slowly replace writers and cast each season (saving money while profiting off the original success of season 1) until the last few seasons usually have no original writers or directors and possibly much of the cast has been replaced with no name actors (or b-list actors).

Well I feel this is exactly what is going on with True Detective. I've tried to watch the last 3 episodes a few times and haven't been able to get through a whole show w/o stopping and doing something else.

Does anyone else feel the same way about TD this season? I

This new season has less than 1/2 the viewers on opening night than season 2 opener which was riding high on the record breaking closer of season 1 (that was an AWESOME episode!!) Here are the viewer numbers

Take a look at how much difference there is in directors and writers from season 1 compared to the others. I wonder if the show would have been as good if they had stuck with the original crew.

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So, who is enjoying this season and do you expect it to get better? Am I missing something here that makes this a hidden gem?

Do studios' do this on purpose, capitalize on past success, hire lower budget talent, and try to sucker viewers in because of their previous success? This is frustrating!

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

It has the flavor of the first one, but it is slow and just isn't as good.

The three consecutively-running 10 yr. timelines is annoying.

The acting is amazing and is enough to keep my attention. Hopefully it builds to a great ending.

Personally, I don’t think they’ll ever match Season 1. Main reason is the lead actors from Season 1 and the chemistry between them. It could be done, but it seems they don’t want to spend the $$ to draw the level of talent to make it happen.

I stuck out Season 2, but it felt more like work than entertainment. This Season 3 is seeming to be even worse.

Season 1 was enjoyable enough, but largely over-hyped by the masses as something more than it was.

Couldn't even make it through the first episode of Season 2.

Have yet to even bother with Season 3.

I miss good TV -- and film for that matter. Like most people my age and younger I mostly watch millennials roleplay in computer games on Twitch for entertainment these days. That is how sad the entertainment industry has become.

My SENTIMENTS exactly! This season feels like a chore to watch but I'm hoping there is going to be a break-through event/episode that is going to make it a great series. Fingers crossed, not holding breath though...

I gotta say, I loved season 1. Season 2 wasn’t terrible but just had too many threads. Both those seasons though by episode 4 had an awesome suspenseful action sequence. That single continuous shot of mcconaughey taking the guy hostage when all hell was breaking loose in the house and surrounding neighborhood was pure gold.

I was kind of expecting something to kick off at least by the end of the episode that aired last Sunday since it was the 4th episode this season. But it literally ended with just a door being kicked in.

The tone and the feel is there. The acting is great. But it doesn’t carry the same weight and suspense the first season had.

Season 1 made me nervous what was around the corner, almost scared to see what would happen. I’m not getting that at all this time around. But hopefully it picks up...

Who knows, i think it’s gonna be hard to compare to woody and Matthews performances in season 1.

As a totally new person to the serious, season 1 sounds amazing. might have to check that out. I hung out with my father who loves the show, and I thought the 3rd season episode w/e was boring as hell.

Then again.. I'm younger and have ADHD brain as the old people say..