'True Detective' Retro Recap: 'Who Goes There'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Every single one of us have wondered at some point or another, just how far we would be willing to go to accomplish a goal or to get exactly what we want. It's only natural to ponder on something like that, after all, it's a good thing to know your limits. But in reality, it's rare that we have to go to the ends of the earth to get what we want, and that's not necessarily a bad thing when you think about it.

After all, if you are truly committed to the concept of 'doing whatever it takes', you will absolutely go to any lengths necessary to achieve your goal and that could turn out to be dangerous on so many levels. Suddenly your morals will be thrown out the window. People could get hurt physically, emotionally or both as you barrel forward in your goal and while you may achieve everything you hoped and dreamed of, the damage is already done; and that particular concept and the consequences that come with it were explored in depth in the True Detective episode, "Who Goes There".

This particular episode picked up right where we left off, with Hart and Cohle working to find Reggie Ledoux and at first it seemed like this manhunt was going to stay in line with the show's precedent of staying true to police work and how it is really done, before taking one hell of a left turn. I really was not expecting to see Cohle go back undercover to get to Ledoux, and the fact that he did this off the books, as did Hart; committing some pretty messed up crimes along the way was absolutely stunning. This went right along with what I mentioned a moment ago, digging into the idea of how far one would go to get what they want. As it turns out, Cohle and Hart are a pair of men that have no problem indulging their darker side to get what they want in life and goodness, the carnage that came from this was simply epic.

But being the character study that this show always turns out to be, it wouldn't be enough to simply give us action and adventure, we need to explore these men further and well...Cohle once again became the focus this go round and what we learned in this particular chapter of the tale, is that despite his best efforts to be a great guy and do the right thing in a world he deems ugly; the man embraces the darkness like no other and can tap into it on a moment's notice. He was truly transformed this episode, slipping right back into undercover mode seamlessly and with as much coke and booze as that man put down, it's a freaking miracle that any part of this plan worked.  

Either way, this truly was in many ways a filler episode for the series, but I have to admit that this was one of the best fillers that I have ever seen. Often times these type of stories tend to drag on and on, but this one managed to hold my attention, especially during the finale when everything absolutely fell to pieces. Oddly enough, this one didn't exactly move the case along either for that matter, but that's okay. Something tells me seeing Hart and Cohle indulge their darker sides is foreshadowing for certain, the only question now is when will their dark sides catch up with them?  Until next time.

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