Tonight’s Episode

Published January 27, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Evening y’all,

So was it just me or was this episode super super slow? I mean I had trouble staying awake. It was so fucking boring for most of it. Clearly, Pizzalotto is not a director. The tracking shots, the weird fade ins and outs… so slow. So pointless in parts. Again, just boring.

Now that that’s out of my system, I also want to say I’m getting a little worried about how the show is handling race. I thought it would be really interesting to attack race issues in the world of True Detective, but so far the racial problems (specifically the white privilege Roland possesses compared to Wayne’s total lack of privilege) is not being addressed. Instead, we get examples of racism that are left on the table unaddressed. Add to that the inclusion of multiple racial slurs (including tonight) with no real unpacking of what it means, what affect this has on Wayne, his career, his life, is not only a lost opportunity for some interesting social commentary, it’s edging on being offensive and is all around short sighted. I’d be curious to know what you all think of that (especially fellow social justice warrior, Gene) Is there any point to it? I really thought it would be an underlying theme explored deeply throughout the whole season. So far that’s just not the case.

Also, for what it’s worth, I think the relationship between Wayne and Amelia is the most interesting thing in the show. I saw on Twitter a lot of people think she’s a weird character and has too many quirks, but I disagree. I thought the interaction between she and Wayne at the start of the episode was a real relationship, a real marriage. The move from arguing to angry sex to dropping the argument, well anyone whose been with someone long enough can relate to that scene. And her fighting back finally gave me what I’ve wanted from Pizzalotto for three seasons, women who are multi-dimensional and react of their own accord, not what the men in their life expect or require.

Again, I just thought it was boring. I’ve been off with y’all all season, though. I wasn’t horribly impressed with the first two episodes you all liked, and I liked three better than you all seemed to… alas, I assume you’ll love this one then since I hated it. But I’ll wait for Tuesday to find out. If nothing else, I’m enjoying your coverage, as with all Shat productions. 🙂

Here’s hoping episode 5 is better and gives us a bad ass shoot out like the other seasons did in four.

-Ash Schlafly

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