I didn't say that non-believers were the ONLY religiously intolerant folks out there. There are still a lot more believers than non-believers.

I just think that insulting people's intelligence is counter-productive. Especially when they outnumber you.

I don't get this reaction at all (or from DoTheMath). The average atheist probably has a lower IQ than the average religious person reading this thread. I was just trying to make a germane comment as people might not be aware of this research and Cohle very well could be. I didn't mean to derail.

LOL.

In my opinion, Rust dislikes the tent preacher because he is saying there is more to reality than “matter and light”.
“That this, all this, is not real. It is merely the limitation of our senses, which are meager devices. Your angers and your griefs and your separations are a fevered hallucination once suffered by us all, we prisoners of light and matter. “ preacher

Rust hasn’t been able to overcome his grief so it doesn’t feel like an hallucination to him. It haunts him 24/7. Just about every nihilistic thing Rust Cohle says and does in 1995 is to assuage his strong feelings of guilt and responsibility over the death of his little daughter.

Great writing on this show. Every line is meaningful.

Here's some detective jargon I found for people like me who need help:

DB - Dead Body
CIs - Confidential (or Criminal) Informants
KAs - Known Associates
R&I - Records and Identification
Gaming - slang for prostitution used by the prostitutes Hart and Cohle interview

I am loving this show. MM is phenomenal. The ending of last episode - "Like a lot of dreams... there's a monster at the end of it" - gave me chills.

A couple of my speculations on what may happen (probably way off base)...

I think WH is actually the "bad" one. Not necessarily the killer, but he did something very bad I think. It seemed like foreshadowing when he almost beat the guy who had sex with his mistress and then said, "I'm not a psycho". My unfounded guess is that he finds out his wife and MM have sex, and does something very violent perhaps even kills her. He just talks so much about being a family man, how Cohle needed a family... something seems off with him. There has been no mention of his wife in the present-day scenes that I can remember. Seems strange that the detectives keep asking Hart about Cohle, obv. trying to make us think he is a suspect, but I think the opposite may be true.

I also think the big creepy pastor (Tuttle I think?) could potentially be the killer. Just a feeling based on Cohle's clear disgust for him at first meeting, and Cohle's intuition for evil. Although of course could just be his contempt for the religious pomposity in general.

I agree the whodunit aspect of the case is secondary to the characters... the real mystery is why don't Cohle and Hart still speak? What happened? Why is Cohle such a drunken mess in the present? Why are they both no longer cops? Is Hart actually the "normal" family man he appears to be? Etc.

Edit: ok just got to read the whole thread and evidently people don't like the speculation, sorry about that. However I think it is natural to try and guess how these guys got to where they are in the present (and where exactly that is). Seems obvious that Hart as the more stable family man is BS, and that fits in with one main theme of the show, which is that humans fool themselves into thinking they are better/more important than they are based on rituals such as religion, family, etc. Anyway apologies for the random speculation.

Bought Nic Pizzolatto's book Galveston last night on Nook (only $2.99) and read the first few chapters. Seems awesome! Highly recommend.

Ok, I'll bite. What the hell would make you say this?

I think the "reading this thread" part is the key to what he's saying.

I'll still vehemently disagree and am curious what he's basing that on.

He's saying the anti-religious posts were turning this thread back to AIDS.

so does anybody think MM or his ex wife ran over their daughter? whats up with WH's daughter being exposed to some kind of sexual abuse, does this tie into the case? Is there some connection between 1994 WH's interaction with his wife, daughter, the younger GF and the underage pro that is foreshadowing something about WHs daughter in the present day? Is WH a Pedophile? Something about the cryptic conversation he has with his wife makes me think this...

If you haven't scene the trailer for ep 4 prepare to have your mind blown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpfMjxlSuus

What has been scene cannot be unscene.

It's funny, Rust actually says almost this exact same thing. I want to say it was in the cruiser with Woody, but it could have been in the interview in 2012. If someone could help point out the scene where he's going on about how our individual consciousness is a fluke of evolution and that our experiences are essentially all an illusion, I think it would be interesting to watch the two scenes back to back.

Yes. There definitely a lot if parallels between the preachers sermon and Rust's speeches. Good call.

****ing phone.

Pretty much this, and this post will also be another bad one, but I will do the selfish thing and explain myself.

For a believer who cares an average amount about religion, which is to say really not that much, the IQ correlation isn't that strong. I think people who enjoy True Detective enough to read an internet thread about it are probably smarter than average, and people on twoplustwo are smarter than average (despite appearances), and these two signals combined outweigh the atheist signal. It's a total guess though and not worth debating.

My point was that large group affiliation is a crude way to signal intelligence and there are plenty of smart religious people. In hindsight not the best way to try to make that point.

On a more relevant note, I disagree with the reading of him as religiously conflicted. "I contemplate the moment in the Garden" could reflect a strong humanist code of ethics. Religion doesn't have a monopoly on sacrifice for the greater good.

I think there is plenty to suggest Cohle is quite ethical and cares a lot about humanity as a whole. The fact that he is a cop because "it's worthwhile", the fact that he cares so much about philosophical issues, the fact that he is trying to get his partner to realize what he has, etc.

My read of his emotional reaction in the religious tent was that he thinks strong religious views are quite harmful to humanity as a whole and seeing them enacted so viscerally pisses him off for that reason.

So do you see him as entirely unconflicted, or just conflicted about something that is non-religious?

Why do you think he talks about the bizarre subjects of his ramblings? Is it because he is certain of things, well-settled and is trying to convert Marty to his viewpoint?

DTM are you a Professor?

I do think he is conflicted. He is depressed, and its not hard to tell why given his previous job and personal tragedy. Whether some of his more dark philosophical ramblings are the result of or a cause of his depression is hard to disentangle (probably a mixture of both).

I think there is conflict within his philosophy but more importantly there is conflict between his moral and philosophical beliefs. For example the line he had about everyone on earth committing suicide is contrary to other stuff he has said and done. But I wouldn't classify this conflict as religious.

I don't think he's trying to convert Marty at all. To me he seems resigned to the relative weirdness of his beliefs and makes no attempt to soften things up or present things in a light that would be easier for Marty to relate to. If he was less depressed maybe this wouldn't be the case.

I could be wrong but did anyone else think MM's account of his daughter's death didn't quite add up?

The second he mentioned it I thought he said she was two years old (and he'd been married for three years), but the next time he mentions something about a tricycle. Surely a 2 year old wouldn't be on a tricycle?

of course she would

I didn't know kids that young would be. Certainly not without supervision.