MovieChat Forums > True Detective (2014) Discussion > Come on...There shouldn't be ghosts in T...

Come on...There shouldn't be ghosts in True Detective!!!

posted 4 months ago by jcdugger (276)
28 replies | jump to latest

Just like there's no crying in baseball, there should be no ghosts in True Detective! Mannnn, what a disappointment. Because of my intense love for Season 1 True Detective, I even lied to myself and said Season 2 and 3 were good! But no way on Season 4. Wow, they completely ruined the franchise. It will never return to its former glory, as the franchise is now forever tainted. Ghosts?!?!?

First off, they switched writers...and the new writers didn't watch the first 3 seasons apparently. There's no spirits or ghosts in True Detective...it was made for adults. It was serious. It involved REALITY. Real police work. Real life as a detective. Cases that could easily be real. Not this colossal goat-fuck of supernatural nonsense that is Season 4. Spirits? Ghosts? Maybe even aliens?! Come on. This feels more like Scooby-Doo than True Detective.

Ghosts aside, it's even dumb on top of that. They went the Disney route...The "Put a chick in the lead...make someone gay" routine. At this point, they're casting these shows before they even write them. It's insulting. The characters are so...fake. I can't imagine these people existing in real life. And the situation/scenario/plot of this season certainly couldn't exist in real life. This should have been "Season 1 of the new X-Files on MAX!", not True Detective. The plot/scenario doesn't fit in True Detective whatsoever.

Season 1: 10/10
Season 2: 7/10
Season 3: 7/10
Season 4: 1/10

[–] rootvegetables (1366) 4 months ago

Yeah, but is Travis really a ghost or a figment of this woman’s imagination / psyche that is expressing something in her subconscious?
That is to say, she might have known or sensed (intuition / instinct) that something was going on in the area. She could have led herself there. Travis could have just been her own projection.

These people live in extreme isolation and harsh conditions, with no light for extended periods of time. Who knows what’s going on in their heads.

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[–] jcdugger (276) 4 months ago

I don't know. To me, it's more than that though. They even included the Native American burial ground trope. The way their bodies were found with frozen frightened faces, just nonsensical supernatural stuff. Nothing real.

Answer me this...if you didn't know what the show was named...but after watching episode 1 you were asked to guess "Is this a new season of X-Files or a new season of True Detective?", what would you have answered? Certainly feels more X-Files-ish to me. Even if you answer "True Detective", there's no way you could have answered that with extreme confidence. And it should be clear. Watch any episode of Season 1-3 and there's no way to even pose the question...it's not X-Files, that's for sure.

[–] rootvegetables (1366) 4 months ago

I don’t disagree that they are hinting at supernatural elements. But let’s wait and see if the causes are actually supernatural or if it just seems that way for now because of the inexplicable nature of the crime.
Don’t forget that in S1 (what a masterpiece), Rust had a condition that made him hallucinate, but was also part of his unique creative detective instincts.

Let’s wait and see what they’re up to here. I’m cautiously giving them a chance.

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[–] jcdugger (276) 4 months ago

Fair enough. I'll keep watching. Once there's a verified ghost though, I'm out! :)

[–] Tongue (446) 4 months ago

“Just nonsensical supernatural stuff”

Yeah it’s very hard to pull off a supernatural thriller - I find if they go too far in that direction it just becomes ridiculous and I lose interest. Sadly it seems this season will go in that direction

Indian folklore/monsters/spirits are just pure cringe

[–] 4Freedom (148) 4 months ago

Or, as I would say,

>Yeah, but is Travis really a ghost or a figment of this woman’s imagination / psyche that is expressing something in her subconscious?

Who gives a shit.

[–] Bloodworth79 (5581) 4 months ago

Oh man that sounds horrible.

[–] Tongue (446) 4 months ago

When I saw the ghost man out in the snow I was like ehh but when he started doing all of those strange motions with his hands I just shook my head at how dumb it looked . It’s not creepy or interesting

[–] Where (1295) 4 months ago

I think there are no ghosts but the people are suffering mental illness from the darkness, and perhaps side effects of water poisoning. Add in the indigenous lore and beliefs too.

[–] orangeflava (1736) 4 months ago

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[–] orangeflava (1736) 4 months ago

i think its a red herring and there are not actually ghosts

[–] Goody4 (16) 4 months ago

I'm getting a whole "Fortitude" vibe here. That was another Frozen Tundra mystical mumbo-jumbo detective series a few years back. i gave up on that show. I'm not sure how long I'm sticking around for this one.

[–] jcdugger (276) 4 months ago

Yeah I gave up near the end of Eps 2. Lost the entire vibe of seasons 1-3. The past detectives seemed so "real", showing the true stress of the job. These new detectives are caricatures. Jodie Foster's character seems so...unlikely to exist in real life. "Hey Detective Foster, remember when we had that case where a person's tongue was missing and they had this weird drawing on them. So now we found a tongue and the exact same drawing at a different scene!"... Foster: "Yeah, I'm ridiculously over the top stubborn, so I'm just not seeing the connection!" Come on. Nobody acts like this. This show is just weird and dumb and made for the masses. 1/10.

[–] TheReccher (343) 4 months ago

There were paranormal elements in S1 though.

[–] jcdugger (276) 4 months ago

To say S1 had "paranormal elements" is quite a stretch. There was a sadistic killer who left odd clues that perhaps could have been conceived as paranormal, but it was all reality-based, nobody seen a ghost or anything, and the detectives knew there weren't spirits running around town. The killer was a human being. There were no ghosts. It didn't feel like the X-Files, like S4 does. Comparing these two seasons in regards to the paranormal is like comparing apples and pumpkins!

[–] Hitman (8) 3 months ago

Erm, Cohle stared at a fucking portal into Carcosa.

It's likely his imagination, but saying this isn't a supernatural element in the story seems weird.

Or maybe it's time for a rewatch 😁

[–] Where (1295) 4 months ago

No, I am convinced that the “supernatural” elements are just hallucinations caused by some toxic substance in the local water supply. Look at the clues. The water is black, black! The locals are protesting a dirty mine. The scientists were said to be digging deep into the permafrost. All those clues point to some environmental root cause. Ergot fungus is one culprit known to cause mass hallucinations.