Ep. 073: True Detective

MAHQ's general podcast for nerdy things, which ran from 2011-2017.
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Chris
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Ep. 073: True Detective

Chaos Theater Ep. 073 - "True Detective"
- Download Now: 64 kbps - 129 mins, 27 sec. (2:09:27) 59.26 MB

Segment Breakdown for this Episode:

01. Intro: "What We've Been Up To" and "Slaying the Sacred Cow"
Runtime: 0:00:01 - 0:38:29

02. Discussion: "True Detective"
Runtime: 0:39:02 - 1:21:52

03. Outro: "Audible recommendations", "Chaos Theater Mailbag" and "Internet whoring"
Runtime: 1:22:29 - 2:09:09

Chaos Theater heads into the swamps of Louisiana in this latest episode. First, we catch up on what we've been doing, followed by a sacred cow discussion of Ubisoft and E3. After that it's our main segment, an in-depth discussion of the HBO series True Detective. We close out with Audible recommendations and your Mailbag questions. Next time, we get mutated (but not teenage or ninja) to discuss the X-Men movies.

Music Featured in this Episode:
"Boing Zoom DAKOTA!" from Rock Candy 1 by Shadow
"One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" by John Lee Hooker
"Clear Spot" by Captain Beefheart

Sponsors & Special Offers:
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phillosmaster
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Re: Ep. 073: True Detective

True Detective is an excellent series. I highly recommend it as well. I agree that the Southern setting for a detective serial was very refreshing.

I wish they would have dipped further down into Weird Fiction though that's just a personnal preference. It's possible as the show goes on they might delve deeper into "Weird", but I'm not going to hold my breath since everything is presented with more or less a lucid explaination (except for Rust's hallucinations, but it's probable that they are hallucinations and nothing more). I don't mind that things were not neatly tied up at the end. That's a hallmark of old pulp fiction so it felt right. It should feel like you got a small look at something much larger.

I agree that Huntress is a problem in Green Arrow. I don't think it's entirely her fault. They write and direct her a bit weird. I don't think the series can decide whether she is a sympathetic character or a remorseless killer. They seem to switch her depiction with the flip of a coin.

Also I'm not big on the actress that played Dinah "Laurel" Lance. Something about her always falls flat for me. I agree that they are both beautiful, but come on there are beautiful actresses that can also act. Maybe they get better as the show goes on. I only watched what was available on Netflix.

Everyone else is ace on the show though. Diggle and Ollie's bromance is fun, and Barrowman steals the show whenever he appears.
Even as we speak, the stealth bombers of the Brotherhood of Dada are swooping silently overhead. They’re using stealth bombs which level whole cities without even the slightest trace of noise or damage. Nothing remains of the world you knew and still you stand in the ruins, acting as if nothing has changed.
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The Fowl Sorcerous
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Re: Ep. 073: True Detective

Not gonna lie: most of Lovecraft knowledge comes second hand from the various c'thulu mythos flavoured rpgs. These products tend to incorporate Clark Ashton Smith's and August Derleth's material into the canon, these guys also throw in a lot of shout-outs to Dunsany and Chambers. net result I spent about 3 weeks thinking that the villains of True Detective were a Hastur Cult until a bigger horror geek schooled me.
And now I am torn between this excellent neo-noir story I got and the Trail of C'thulu TV show I wanted it to be and I can't tell which is better.
[[lorem ipsum]]
phillosmaster
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Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 2:44 pm

Re: Ep. 073: True Detective

Call Of Cthulhu is a fun setting. That's the RPG with which I'm most familiar. Yeah it tends to be more pulp adventure themed, and incorporates many post Lovecraft author's works.

The original Lovecraft stories usually all had the same narrative flow:
- Guy notices something strange.
- Guy investigates something strange.
- Guy sees something that is beyond human comprehension.
- Guy goes insane or dies.

Those later writers tended to add lots of answer to the ambiguity that Lovecraft weaved, which an RPG setting book needs so I think it's appropriate that all that was included. Otherwise a keeper would only have entries like "an indescribable horror appears" to work with.

I like that they used a Robert W. Chambers story. Lovecraft gets lots of attention (and rightfully so since his mythos is so much fun) but weird fiction has had many fathers and people often forget greats like Chamber, Ambrose Bierce, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert E. Howard ... when talking about weird fiction (Most Poe stories were conventional horror rather than overtly weird like "The Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym"). Perhaps that's because the other authors I just mentioned also wrote other genres whereas Lovecraft seemingly dedicated his entire writing career to weird fiction.

I'm still not certain True Detective is weird fiction though. I might explode if I find out years down the line that they were playing a long game with the series and Carcosa actually exists. Right now I think we are led to believe that the Yellow King and Carcosa are just what Childress called himself and the place where he took his murder victims because he was obsessed with the Chambers story.
Even as we speak, the stealth bombers of the Brotherhood of Dada are swooping silently overhead. They’re using stealth bombs which level whole cities without even the slightest trace of noise or damage. Nothing remains of the world you knew and still you stand in the ruins, acting as if nothing has changed.
Cultclassic
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Re: Ep. 073: True Detective

Hey Chris and Pedro,
So I was the one who left the un-credited voicemail, yes I also realize that I left two and the first was just awful. I wrote down what I was going to say but reading it and saying it broke me down. Sorry!!!!
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Destiny_Gundam
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Re: Ep. 073: True Detective

So behind~

While I'm far from being a diehard fan of the movie, I don't think you're giving Frozen enough credit. The cliche isn't really reinforced at the end.
Spoiler
All Anna and Kristoff did was kiss, not get engaged. Sure they didn't know each other that long, but I thought they had great chemistry and the adventure they had together certainly made their relationship more credible than Anna and Hans's.
It's also worth noting that
Spoiler
Anna saved herself through her own actions. She didn't need to rely on a man to break the curse with a kiss. And it was certainly the first time I've ever seen a movie admit that 'true love' isn't just romantic feelings.
The problem with Brave is that it tried too hard to convince everyone that Merida was a STRONG INDEPENDANT WOMAN and she came off as a brat because of it. It felt a lot more natural with Anna as she made her own decisions and took action without feeling the need to rub her superiority in men's faces.
"In the end, the world doesn't really need a Superman... Just a brave one."
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