I enjoyed this episode, but wish that they would spend more time developing the characters of the bad guys too. I would have liked to get to know Harris beyond the couple of scenes he was on. Hoyt also seems like a creepy guy but we know next to nothing about him before going into the final episode.

Looking forward to next week's finale.

I'm at a point now where if you don't like this season, imho you're probably disregarding how masterfully it exposes the human experience.

The relationship between Hays and West is AMAZING. In this short amount of time it's unreal how much depth they've built there. Even brief moments like this past episode at the table outside when Hays thinks that's his daughter, and his buddy has to reassure him and simultaneously make him stop so it doesn't weird out the witness. That's masterful acting, there's no filler. It's really hard to act that well. And the husband and wife relationship is equally impressive at times. She's probably being vastly underrated for her performance in this given how flawless Ali and Dorff have been.

I'd love a really great plot reveal at the end obviously, but it only has to be slightly above average for me to call this season epic. This show is much closer to stuff like Halt and Catch Fire or 6 Feet Under, in that it's really all about these relationships. The plot comes second to me by a large margin.

This was a great episode! I agree the Roland / Hays relationship was very good this episode, but I still think it was rather disappointing in previous episodes.

I still can't figure out where the **** this goes. I think it still has the potential to become a great season if they nail the final episode, but at any rate the buildup was way too slow and the middle episodes were boring.

I can't ****ing figure out where this is going next episode, though.

How the **** did Hoyt know so fast that they killed Harris? It felt like the final scene was at like 9AM the morning after? Only thing that makes sense is that Hoyt had either a tracker on Harris his car or Roland/Hays their car?

Hoyt decides to blackmail Roland/Hays by threatening their families, figuring out that if he has to kill Roland & Hays the investigation might spin out of his control?

In the final timeline Hays has forgotten about the blackmail?
Roland eventually figured out his girlfriend was spying on him for Hoyt, and in the final timeline he lives alone and is ready for revenge but never had the balls to go for it, and he decides to go for it when Hays shows up? This doesn't really fit with Roland his character though, he seems to genuinely care about Hays.

The car outside Hays' his house also has to confirm that Hoyt is still watching? Though it doesn't make much sense why in the final timeline Hoyt or his organization would care about taking Hays & Roland out. They can easily do it without ringing any alarm bells, now.

I don't disagree with you wrt to the characters and their interactions. FWIW I think Dorff and the wife absolutely jump off the screen when they are on. Ali is good but his constant anger is kind of odd particularly with his wife. Maybe it is as simple as he has seen a lot of bad **** and her making money off it is distasteful to him. But that really hasn't been explored too much. And as others have said when he is old man the dialogue is mumbled and I just can't understand him.

But yeah the plot is just ok...certainly better than most of the dreck on TV atm. But the character interactions are really well done on balance. I never really knew too much about Stephen Dorff. Thought he was a punchline to acting jokes. But he is the CLEAR winner in this show to me and I'm not sure it is particularly close. His character is significantly more complex and well hashed out than the others IMO.

Scenes between old Hays and West are definitely my favorite. Dorff is doing such a great job reacting to his friend's dementia. He is able to convey sadness, concern, heartbreak, and forgiveness with just a look or a sigh. Pretty masterful job by him.

I do feel like there is a lot to wrap up plot-wise in one more episode. I am feeling like I was off track with the gay conversion church theory, although it still seems odd they would devote the time to mention it, show James making the comment about Hays' body, etc. I still get the feeling it is boys this pedo ring is more interested in, although not sure how that would tie in with Julie, the pink room, etc.

Here are a couple of things that have occurred to me now that I've watched this most recent one:

- Hayes taking part in the interview wasn't to provide them with info, it was to find out how much they knew about him and West killing Harris. He makes reference to this early on by reminding himself 'remember why you're here' and also noting that he has a gun in the nightstand in case it's needed. Presumably to kill himself if it all comes out. It also explains why he seems to be playing his cards so close to his vest throughout the interview.

- At this point the most likely killer of the boy is the wife's brother, who would likely be in on the kidnapping of the daughter and perhaps killed the boy by accident. He then left the dolls to lead the police to the body because he wanted him found. This makes sense to me because who else in the story would know the boy's communion pose? (though the notion that it's tied to the Hoyt church is also interesting)

- They Hoyt character is clearly going to be played by Michael Rooker, since i recognized his voice from the phone call. He's going to blackmail/threaten Hayes to drop the investigation and succeed, since we know Hayes quits the force around this time. We also know the modern Hayes is now estranged from his daughter, even though they were clearly close in 1990. Likely these two items are connected.

- If the above happened in 1990, then a large question remains about the time period between then and 2015 -- What happened to the girl? Is she still at large somewhere in the 2015 timeline??

Possible although West said they asked him to do the interview also and he told them no. If they just wanted to find out what they knew, why not have the guy without dementia do it? Certainly more likely that Hays would blurt out something incriminating.

I have a suspicion, which I sincerely hope is not true, that West may actually be helping Hoyt somehow. How else could Hoyt have known what happened to James by the very next morning? West and Hays were the only two people there.

That would suck if true because West is my fav character from the season and I have seen him as a good guy all along.

So many questions, I wonder how they are going to fit all of this into one episode. Should be good stuff though.

This vid has Hays spotted at the Hoyt compound as Tom pulls up.

https://youtu.be/GA2nWpqyGvs

IMDB has the cast of the final episode which could give some clues. It shows an actress playing a child version of Lucy. Some new characters I don’t recognize either.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt8215524/?ref_=m_ttep_ep_ep8

Re: West Hoyt connection,

West gave Tom his number right before Tom goes off on his death bender that ends at the Hoyt estate

One thing for sure, even if the denouement is a let down this season is better than season 2 lol. I’m sure going back ITT for some of those posts as season 2 was airing would be good for some lols

my prediction is something gut wrenching re: Rebecca.

https://youtu.be/oHQyTg1DkjM

Roland is gay based on how they emphasized that he never married.

Uh wut

He may be the WOAT at final episodes.

7 episodes of ominous music and mysterious build up for another blue balls anticlimactic finale like S1. Relationship scenes in particular were just complete filler.

lol, that should have been a 15 minute episode instead of an hour 15

That kind of felt like the ending to a TV movie more than the climax of True Detective, but it was wholesome though I guess? *shrugs*

Big meh

Unlike most I liked s1 finale but that was just boring

This guy is a ****ty writer. S1 wasn't that great, S2 was awful, and S3 was poop. Just having the actors talk in a raspy voice doesn't make a good show, it actually detracts from the content.

Am I missing something? Nothing in the finale with the documentary lady. Hayes is the head of security at University of Arkansas and his wife is a professor there, cool, then no resolution about where she is in the 2015 timeline. Wtf

Yea wtf was that? Talk about underwhelming. Seemed to be building nicely all season, and then just have a long boring finale where they sit down at a kitchen table and one guy explains all the missing details.

Worst finale that I've watched, since season 4 of Homeland, which caused me to quit that series.

And wtf at throwing in dramatic music and sounds in the finale like something was about to happen and then... Nothing.

One guy who had spent less than 5% of the season on the screen, or even talked about.