I've been following it, as it happens.
The acting, writing, direction, and pretty much everything else has been superb stuff. Out of everything, I've derived a lot of enjoyment out of Cohle's grandiose spiels about Life, the Universe, and Everything (both because of the prose and for McConaughey's velvety delivery). Though the rest is great stuff, including the unfolding of the Rust-Marty partnership, the disturbing and forlorn visuals, the intrigue of the case, and the often pervasive atmosphere of dread.
It's all written by one guy (Nic Pizzolatto), and directed by another (Cary Joji Fukunaga), which accounts for the strong, unified vision at work here. It's kind of more impressive given that Pizzolatto's only credits prior to True Detective was one novel and two episodes on AMC's
The Killing. This therefore marks his debut as a showrunner, and he's been handling things deftly up to this point, IMO.
Another interesting facet concerns all the King in Yellow stuff:
[collapse=The King In Yellow]As it happens, the King in Yellow is a book of short stories written by
Robert W. Chambers, first published in 1895. The book is named after a fictional play from the same title - whosoever makes it to (or simply reads) Act II onward will be driven to madness from the authentic truths revealed therein about the universe and existence.
The King in Yellow short stories are notable for having had a great influence on HP Lovecraft and his "Cthulhu Mythos".
Carcosa, another oft-mentioned term in True Detective, originally hails from the work of Ambrose Pierce; Chambers borrowed and elaborated on the Carcosa themes from Pierce (among other things).
Here's an excerpt from the King in Yellow play, describing the strange, otherworldly city of Carcosa:
[collapse=Cassilda's Song]
Along the shore the cloud waves break,
The twin suns sink behind the lake,
The shadows lengthen
In Carcosa.
Strange is the night where
black stars rise,
And strange moons circle through the skies,
But stranger still is
Lost Carcosa.
Songs that the Hyades shall sing,
Where flap the tatters of the King,
Must die unheard in
Dim Carcosa.
Song of my soul, my voice is dead,
Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed
Shall dry and die in
Lost Carcosa.
—"Cassilda's Song" in
The King in Yellow Act 1, Scene 2
(Fun Fact: Reggie LeDoux mentioned that the "black stars are rising" when speaking to Rust, prior to being killed)[/collapse][/collapse]
What's smart about the show (and as I believe Pizzolatto has stated) is that you don't need to know about the background of the King in Yellow mythos to appreciate or understand True Detective. It remains to the viewer to research this stuff on their own, and thereby gain a new lens through which to examine the show.
Sadly, given that this is an anthology, only two episodes remain before Cohle and Hart's story concludes. I'm looking forward to seeing the case resolve once and for all (or not, in the event that Cohle's nihilistic views are rewarded
).
