Depends on what the show is really about. The present day interviews have referenced lots of things we haven't seen in flashbacks yet, but I expect that we will. The shootout, the kids in the woods, Cohle almost getting married to someone Maggie set him up with (I assume the date from ep 3), the breakup of Cohle and Marty in 2002, just to name a few. If the show is about the relationship between between the two men, then the mid-story killing/capture of Ledoux is an event that propels the story forward rather than a conclusion, and they don't necessarily need to resolve the present day murder, although that would leave a loose end that would cause most people's heads to explode.

I don't know that this is where it will go, nor do I have a strong opinion on it. But the narrative structure so far has been so unique I don't think we can assume too much. The only thing I know for sure is that it will be a great ride.

Does anyone know if Pizzolatto is going to be responsible for the second season as well, like Ryan Murphy on AHS? Or is it a completely different showrunner? This might help answer this question.

Ok, I'm not being clear. Once we get to the retelling of whatever the confrontation (shoot-out) with Leduc winds up being, how does the interview process continue? Under what pretense do the interviewers continue asking questions? Or perhaps more importantly why do Woody and/or MM continue with it? MM may well be willing to keep rambling on whatever, but I have a problem seeing Woody humoring them probing into his personal life for long. There have been at least a couple comments from him about the resolution of the case being the point of the process. I can't see Woody sitting still long enough to recount his biography for the seven years after the murder.

I can't really see Woody and MM being "deputized" but I'm not sure where else this goes.

dedmau5,

He's almost done with the first draft of the second season.

CMAR, they haven't only asked about the case, but about the two of them parting ways. Clearly they have interest in things beyond the case, and WH even calls them on this when he says something along the lines of, "You guys are trying to jam someone up?", yet he continues the interview. The case being closed wasn't the end of it, and since there is a new murder and LeDoux is dead, obviously they want the whole story, including the fallout and any possible hush-hushing from the chain of command.

So, yeah, with that being said, I highly doubt the 2012 time frame ever leaves the room it's been confined to up to this point.

I see your point. They still have the lure of the present day murder to keep Cohle around, and I'm guessing that something will happen in the wrap-up of Ledoux that will cause them to keep talking about events beyond that point. I think Cohle's nature is to want to solve mysteries, so I can see him continuing to be engaged.

Marty is a different story, I agree. I just realized that I don't think he has even been informed of the present day murder, has he? Have they discussed it with him? They certainly haven't shared the file in the same way they have with Cohle. I would guess that eventually they unveil something to him that keeps him engaged. What, I'm not sure.

If they don't do that then the storytelling structure has to change. They could do that effectively, I suppose, but it could also feel like a different show. The current rhythm is amazing and I'd hate to see that change.

Thanks. I realized after I posted that he's credited as the creator of the series, not just the writer of season one, so I figured he would be involved. Dude is proving to be seriously prolific.

Gonna try to run down his book this week-end:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show...om_search=true

(His novel, Galveston, is out of stock on Amazon which seems pretty terrible management. Other books small press and out of print.)

I don't think we know he's dead, but there is some dialog in the last episode that makes me think something went very wrong in regards to him that likely made him end up dead at their hands.

We don't know LeDoux is dead, but I think it's very likely with the imminent shootout. Would also make it easy to put all murders on him just by evidence.

Annother possibility is that they take him alive, he gets convicted and ultimately executed in 2002, which in some way causes Chole and Hart to "go bad".

The dialog certainly had a lot of foreshadowing when including the juxtaposition of the visual, so I don't think it's wrong to assume something went very wrong when they either went to question him or bring him in.

I kind of like the idea that he could have been wrongly executed (something that would definitely affect Cohle a lot, but probably not Hart at all, since he knows LeDoux was a bad man), but I just don't think any death penalty cases move anywhere close to that fast. It would be too easy and convenient, though the ramifications of something like that would be similar to what we're seeing.

As I stated on Sunday, my working theory is that they killed LeDoux before he was brought in, and because of the circumstantial evidence, pinned it all on him. When another body showed up, all hell broke loose in the partnership and the case (likely due to the same reasons I mentioned when referring to your execution angle).

It sure sounds from the 2012 interviews like this is the first time since '95 a new body has shown up that fits the pattern.

Yep. They split as partners in 2002, but there is nothing that tells us it was the result of another Dora Lange like body showing up in that time frame.

Yeah, I think combined with the dialogue that seems to hint heavily at the shootout going bad (yet both cops are alive) and speculation ITT, I got tunnel vision on him being dead. I think it's probably close to a lock, as this show isn't really about these sort of base level reveals, so I don't think we're being jerked around on this. But, still, you're right, I jumped the gun a bit there.

Did you get that off the flyer they were reading in the car. I had trouble making it out on my 1/4 century-old TV.

With connections in Iberia, Vermilion, Acadia and St.Landry, anything showing up in St. Martin is going to point a finger pretty squarely at somebody living in Lafayette.

Anybody noticed that Cohle tends to have a vision of some form before acquiring important evidence? E.g. birds in spiral before church, ghost of girl before Fontenot, pyramid shape of playstructure before finding devil net in shed...

God dam love this show. How many episodes they doing?

Noticed all of those, but didn't put the connection together that they were special. That could be part of the potentially unreliable narrator theory that CMAR has. We know Cohle finds evidence (backed up by Hart), but Cohle could be embellishing how easily he came to find it.

Yes.

8 this season.

Each new season will be an all new storyline complete with a new cast.

This show is awesome, couldn't stay away any longer. Through 2 episodes I was also sure MM's nihilistic diatribes was the writer soapboxing. However, after ep.3 I'm not so sure. WH gives him some quality pushback as they are outside the tent w/ stuff like "for someone so sure of the meaninglessness of existence,you sure fret about it a lot." Seems like WH is seeing some cracks in MM's nihilistic armor. Starting to think MM is just as guilty as the religion Nazis of seeking comfort in philosophy/ideas. Meaninglessness of the universe and being in general makes it easier to swallow his tragic past. Hey, ya know, better to die a "happy child" than have to endure this tragic human existence.

It also seems to me that MM is showing his "weakness" w/ his comfort/enjoyment? of being around Maggie and the little girls. I think it could be interpreted as MM pining for the past that he lost. Of course, that's not really a weakness - lots of people want that. But it does show as a weakness when viewed through the lens of his existential nihilism.

Maybe he so terribly grief stricken that his belief system is the only thing that gets him through the day. You know, sort of like the fat, poor, low IQ fish giving away their money to the preacher/church. MM is looking more and more like them to me - searching, looking to grab ahold of anything to endure this "thresher."

Disclaimer: The following could be total nonsense or it could be very important. If it turns out valuable, I would love to take credit for it; but I can't. Thoughts courtesy of Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly (paraphrasing):

Do we have reliable or unreliable narrators? MM was given a coffee mug to use as an ashtray by the new detectives. The words on the mug say "Big Mug Hug," an anagram for "humbug gig." Through most/all? of the first 3 episodes the visible letters are "Big Hu Mu," an anagram for "I humbug."

COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA: In English the word "humbug" refers to a person or item that tricks, deceives, talks, or behaves in a way that is deceptive, dishonest, false, or insincere, often a hoax or in jest...When referring to a person, a humbug means a fraud or impostor, implying an element of unjustified publicity and spectacle.

Finally, one of the most "unreliable narrators" in movie history was Verbal Kint(Kevin Spacey) in the The Usual Suspects. He was given a mug to use as an ashtray. Crazy? Maybe, but I thought it was intriguing enough to pass it on. Thanks for the fun theories and ideas...fantastic show.

Ordell Robbies' character in the film Jackie Brown also uses a coffee cup as an ash tray while sitting in an office lying about murder...

Ordel Robbie is an anagram of Rebel Bio Lord...



Is that MM in the gas mask?

All I could think while Marty was going berserk in the apartment was how Rust told the pro that he could do bad things with impunity because he was police.

Another fantastic episode just po'd we have to wait two weeks for another episode.

What am I supposed to see?