One of those voodoo stick structures.

He has one of those tattooed on his tight too, although it's not too clear in the picture.

Did anyone else find it hilarious when they went to question Charlie Lange in ep 1 and Cohle asks Lange, "what you mean, she didn't make sense?" Lange, "Like she could duck-hunt with a rake. High, yeah."

I've never heard that said before and found it pretty damn funny. It would make for a good meme, imo. Seems like the writers have done a really good job with well timed comedic relief in such a dark show.

This is the good type of "out there theory". Maybe it reaches a bit, but it also ties in enough and reference cool enough stuff to make it worth the read and get the hamster wheel churning.

Ha, awesome.

god that episode was phenomenal.
was pretty funny cuz right in the beginning of the revival scene my fiance says "what could possibly make people actually go to those/believe in that"? and i was just like "they're stupid"
then immediately after that MM is like "what do you think the avg IQ in this crowd is" was such perfect timing.
then the whole "i doubt any of these people are splitting the atom" and the whole monkey looking at the sun line was just so perfect.

this show has literally been flawless so far.

really impressive.

Show is confirmed elite. Can't wait to watch the rest of the season.

Slightly off topic but I imagine most critics are loving this show right? I only ask bc I stumbled on a couple grantland podcasts where Andy Greenwald (sp?) really dislikes the show. Maybe he's always that way though, but sure seems like pizzolatto must have murdered his cat or something listening to him compare the awesome writing and dialogue to something from film school.

http://grantland.com/features/matthe...rue-detective/

Confirmed mad.

Nit with literary pretentiousness

I felt the quality of the conversation at the tent church service between mm and woody was weaker than usual. About why believing etc.

The dialogue before was McCarthy esque, that was more Woodrell ish. Though I think mm redeemed himself some in the questioning room.

greatest show on television hands down loving every minute MM makes cigarettes look like the most delicious candy in the world

re the tent, MM bashing the religious people there for being fat and stupid was a little jarring for me. Seemed a little shallow.

Alan Sepinwall gave it an A.

yeah, I felt MM in that scene, as you said, was a bit shallow compared to his usual awesomeness. It felt forced.

Just caught up on this and it is fantastic.

At some point you have to start thinking that Cohle does not believe everything he says. What point is that for you? Put it in perspective with the idea that I think he is a lapsed Catholic (maybe abused, maybe parent was a Priest--can't remember if he actually said anything about them). It's quite common for kids who grew up in strict or somewhat religious backgrounds to lash out at the teachings and end up the way he is (though not to the extreme he is). The more he talks about what he doesn't believe makes it sound like he believes in a whole lot.

We've seen a few things regarding religion for him. He clearly hates religion. He might be an atheist, or he might be an agnostic, it's kind of ambiguous. He hates people who practice religion. He thinks they're stupid, which is an incredibly generalized and dumb statement in its own right. All are not. He has a crucifix over his bed, but doesn't believe in anything supposedly. He had this huge diatribe outside the church tent (like he gets super angry about it, and appears to almost be going much further than usual because he jokingly (?) thinks God might be listening to him). We also can't forget the cross/man illusion. He's hung up on something big time. The final thing I noticed was when he tells his blind date he went to Paris for a year. He said most of the time he got drunk outside (seriously forgetting the exact line if someone wants to find it, it's during the slow dance) of Notre Dame (might have been he got drunk AND stood outside or inside of Notre Dame, but I can't remember, and don't think the context matters as much as the action of being outside or inside a famous church most of the time). So, at some point, we have to begin to question what he really believes, and whether a lot of it is based on some trauma he suffered as a youth, something that would explain a lot of his self-destructive behavior. I think he says a lot of the stuff he does out loud, because he is afraid he might actually believe in something without realizing it.

A question I'd like answered is why he became a cop?

/end crazy religious theory for Cohle

because it's worthwhile

Your top pic is filled with philosophy that again makes him an extremely confusing character in regard to what he really believes.

There's usually a backstory to most cops (something bad that happened to them, or a parent they don't want to emulate or something). Then again, that could just be TV and book fiction cops.

That was the goal of the writer and MM here... I think. I don't claim to be sure of anything in this show. But I don't think it was a coincidence that the first time it did feel forced was also the first time MM really got some pushback from WH. Previously, WH had just been disturbed by MM's rants, not really wanting to engage MM. But this time, WH told MM that he sounded "panicked" and that he "...sure was fretting about it an awful lot."

This brings up my earlier post about MM and his philosophy. While I initially thought MM's monologues were the soapboxing of the writer, now, I'm not so sure. MM is beginning to appear as lost as the "low IQ" true believers he detests. MM's nihilism has become his defense mechanism against his tragic past. He has convinced himself his daughter was better off dying a "happy child." This is a rationalization the same as a true believer might posit, "Well, it was all a part of God's plan."

MM is lost and searching for a way through, just like the people in the tent.

JudgeHoldem, I think Marty Hart would agree w/ you; it did feel forced. Marty is starting to get a read on his partner.

He sounds like he's not good at parties.

nunnehi,

Cohle has explicitly experienced trauma. I kind of doubt he thought of himself as a pessimist when you know he decided to make a family.

You sure? Do you think he was a Catholic before his daughter was killed? Do you think he didn't have any religion at all? I think we're looking at a multiply scarred person. Knowing the timeline of Paris would be pretty important. He might have been ready to become a priest, but...something...changed...him...

I believe he was likely raised Catholic. Don't know if there is much evidence for this but seems like a reasonableish assumption. He could certainly have been irreligious before he lost his daughter but he was sure as hell was not a pessimist.

My theory is that he grew up Catholic, maybe even went to strict Catholic schools. At some point, he rejected the teaching when he was old enough to form his own opinion (or he could have had an authority figure in the church do something that made him question what he believed). He may still have had to go to school for it at that point, but tuned it out. Then something probably happened that re-strengthened his faith. Then he probably had something really bad happen again (causing him to do the year in Paris), that caused him to question, but not completely lose whatever regained faith he had. Then his child was killed, and that made him just not give a eff (the rubber match as it were), and took him to the whole point where he is now.

I don't think we can take everything he says as gospel (lol). I think he's lying about who he is to everyone he talks to. He always has a quip ready for his walking paradox, which generally shuts people up. Amazingly, most of the things he says would make you question what he really believes. because too much thought has gone into some of the stuff he says. I don't think Hart's right that he's panicking, but Cohle is clearly confused about what he believes, and stomps his viewpoints harder the closer the opposite gets to the perceived truth for him.

Well, I don't think Cohle believes what he says in the flashbacks, but it is entirely possible he does in the present. I think he's still fleshing out his ideas in the flashbacks - his behavior doesn't really match his beliefs. Whereas, in the present, where presumably only rolls out of bed to drink himself into oblivion matches perfectly well.