True Detective - 1x05 "The Secret Fate of All Life" - Post-Episode Discussion

[u/NicholasCajun]

3 more episodes to go before it's all over, good or bad.

If you feel you had any really interesting thoughts that got buried in the main discussion thread, now's your chance.

[u/bcra00]

Somethings I noticed rewatching the first episode and I think all but confirm that Rust has been investigating on his own and undercover:

The first thing Marty orders the cops at the Dora Lange 1995 murder scene to do is to set up a cordon at three county roads around the crime scene and take down license plate numbers of every car that passes by.

The 2012 cops found Rust through his license plate numbers at the new crime scene, a license that wasn't registered until 2010. Rust wanted to and knew he would be found in 2012 because the first thing you do at a crime scene like that is take down everyone's license plate.

There is a random quote from Marty when he says that he is a PI now. He says, "a lot of guys leave the job, the cemetery in ten years. No family, idle hands. Some advice, you make it out, you stay busy."

Then, the new cops ask if Marty hadn't talked to Rust in ten years, since their falling out. Marty looks at the table and confirms that he hadn't talked to Rust in ten years.

During the ep. 5 scene when Marty is describing the shoot out, he looks at the table when he lies. I buy the theory that Rust and Marty discover the cult and work together outside of the force. I'm positive that Rust has been working behind the scenes, but I'm not 100% convinced on Woody Harrelson's role.

[u/Mikulak25]

One of my favorite things is that Marty, in the first episode, tells Rust not to attach a narrative to a case and bend evidence to fit facts and that's exactly what Gilbough and Papania are doing with Rust.

[u/carterburke]

When it comes to framing Cohle, which was prefigured fairly early on -- from the first episode, really -- I can't help but return to the fact that Gilbough and Papania are both black.

What this means, in the context of the Louisiana PD, is that these guys are by no means part of an "inner circle" of rich white men out to get Cohle. They may have been tipped off or pressured by that circle, but I'm holding out some hope for a level of independence from G&P. These guys are outsiders in their own right, to some extent, and they're obviously smart and collected even if their file on the Lake Charles case is weak by Cohle's standards.

I don't know. I think there's a chance that they'll turn around, or at the very least not get in Cohle's way at a critical moment.

[u/The_Wash]

My theory is that the man on the lawnmower in episode 3 is involved, if not the killer. It can't be a coincidence that a large man with facial scars is mowing the grass at the location where all of that evidence is found. The scene was cut quickly and the attention was immediately put onto Reggie, which was clearly a red herring. My theory extends into the Tuttle family too. I believe that the lawnmower man is related to them, perhaps another cousin of the Governor or the Reverend. The lawnmower man leads a cult and is protected by his family because bringing him to justice would look very bad for their respective careers. Dora Lange was involved with this cult for a while but decided to leave and attend a normal church, which upset the killer, which then led to him putting her on display. Could be a good thematic foreshadowing for when Hart got mad at Cohle for mowing his lawn and saws something along the lines of "you don't mow another man's lawn" which foreshadows the man mowing the lawn of the place where he kills these girls.

[u/vigridarena]

This episode got me really excited for Cohle and Hart to team up in the "present" timeline and go hunting for the real killer. These next episodes are going to be great.

And I can definitely see why 05 was Pizzolatto's favourite episode.

[u/TyroneBiggums93]

Nic Pizzolatto on Rust's flat circle monologue: "Now, think about all the things Cohle is talking about," he said as he finished chewing. "Is he a man railing against an uncaring god? Or is he a character in a TV show railing against his audience? Aren't we the creatures of that higher dimension? The creatures who can see the totality of his world? After all, we get to see all eight episodes of his life. On a flat screen. And we can watch him live that same life over and over again, the exact same way."

[u/oodelay]

This is a show that creeps me out and I'm 40. After watching Ep.05, I could not go to bed.

[u/Tisman]

Right before we're in the room with Cohle and the double murder suspect - we are shown that you can hear outside the room via speakers. At this point a uniformed cop walks buy the room and waits around the corner, still in earshot.

This same uniformed cop also comes in and pulls Cohle off the suspect / restrains the suspect while he is yelling about 'the yellow king' to Cohle and wanting to make a deal.

Finally, the same cop is in the surveillance video watched by Cohle, and the last person to talk to the suspect before he commits suicide.

My take is this is the cop who rats him out to the conspirators. Also bet his name is Childress - same as the former sheriff who handled the 'spaghetti monster' report.

Thoughts anyone?

Watched ep 5 at least a half dozen times and I STILL catch something new everytime. Often it's right under your nose, but you're busy watching something else, like a magic trick.

[u/SweetJewsForJesus]

Probably not important to the overall plot, but I was wondering what happened to Ginger. Last we saw he was duct-taped in the car during the "shootout"...are we to assume Cohle just let him walk afterwards?

[u/RatCook_]

Just to make this clear immediately , I don't think the following was intentional by the creators, it is merely an account of my feelings watching the show.

The first four episodes were absolutely phenomenal and I was hooked. However, after the fifth episode my feelings for the show have taken a much more obsessive character. I almost find it hard to think about something else. Even though some cosmic fear has been hinted at earlier, the scene with Ledoux and the ending frightened me to a degree comparable to reading "At the Mountains of Madness" for the first time. This morning I realised that like the play in "The King in Yellow", the second "act" of True Detective has me completely spellbound.