True Detective

Those who know me well also know that I'm not a big fan of police procedurals, as TV series have sprayed us along the last decade with all kind of these fancy new stories about the police work 'catching the bad guys'.

And if we have to start talking about the most watched TV series procedurals, like CSI in their various incarnations, and so on.... well. Then my rebellious character and the professional knowledge about the forensic details (at least, those referred to Analytical Chemistry, I'm a chemist!) force me to run away....

CSI is not a procedural, it's funny science-fiction set on an American city, instead of the outer space!

Well, having said that, some procedurals shed a light on the genre, because its oddly strange approach to it (like that ill-fated pilot from Ron. D. Moore, '17th Precint'), or because they are a re-vamped writing of something well known, but now it's been furiously updated to the 21th century (BBC Sherlock comes up to my mind), or simply because it distillates quality from every corner.

And that's the case with 'True Detective'. superbly acted (Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey in their best performances ever, and that's a nice surprise after their last works), even better set (photography, light treatment, rhythm, and how sound all characters, surprisingly real, English accents included).

But I might get it wrong..... let's get a sneak peek elsewhere....
http://www.metacritic.com/tv/true-detective:

http://www.vulture.com/2014/01/tv-review-hbos-true-detective.html:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/hbos-true-detective-starring-matthew-668182:

Well, it seems that I didn't get so wrong, after all.

Now, a piece of advice, for us, English students. This is not a drill! Unlike 'Sherlock', which sports a decent set of British accents in their several forms, from the more difficult to grasp to a pure 'BBC-south-Londoner' a.k.a. 'I_work_on_BBC_Radio_What's_Up?', so it's worth a try without subtitles, even if Cumberbatch goes 'all ahead flank' (for that, precisely, is the rewind button in your video player, my children!), 'True Detective' has a wide range of US southern accents hitting us from the very beginning, all mixed with some slang and police chatting, and acronyms. What's more, some characters do not refrain to talk 'as true as it seems' and even them have to rehearse twice in front of a mirror to understand themselves!

So a good set of subtitles is more than advisable, even if you dare to hide them at first. In my case I usually follow British and US series without them, forcing their appearance now and then when things get nasty, or better, rewinding just ten seconds, or for grasping the exact spelling of a new word.

But with 'True Detective', even when they talk slowly, you know, that utterly peaceful rhythm, almost tiresome, definitively 'do not dare to rush me' of some southerners , without subtitles each minute can go five, so hard I would have re-winded in some parts.....

You've been warned! Do not miss it, .... but dress appropriately!