"True Detective" Recap: "Church in Ruins"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Oh True Detective, you are so loved by some, reviled by others. This show has truly managed to divide its audience through and through, yet I find myself fully entranced by this show. There's a wonderful story quietly coming to a head here and I like the fact that this is a slow cooking mystery that feeds us just enough. It harkens back to classic noir, where the clues arrived exactly when they needed to. 

Granted last night continued to grow the grand conspiracy revolving around Ben Caspere's death...but something quite special did happen...we finally got to know most of our characters. After weeks of dealing with this interesting band of anti heroes, we finally saw most of their true colors and what they are made of and I'll be damned if I wasn't impressed with that, and all the goodies that came about in last night's episode, "Church in Ruins". 

We actually picked up right where last week left off, with Ray furious at Frank for feeding him misinformation and playing him like a fiddle and well...I was completely and utterly wrong about Frank. There was no malice, or grand scheme to get Ray working for him, it was simply information that happened to horribly wrong. The tension between these two seemed to be buried for the time being, but it was the beginning of a fascinating dichotomy in this episode, the fact that our characters live in two different worlds. The people they truly are, and the ones that they choose to be. It was the little things that demonstrated this tonight, and it was quite nice to finally understand what makes Frank, Ray and Ani who they are today. 

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The fact that Frank and Ray are even friends is a miracle unto itself but last night, watching Ray try desperately to save his relationship with his son and the genuine care he demonstrates for him was a big deal. Not to mention Frank's amazing job of comforting Stan's boy. These are two men who are haunted by their garbage relationships with their terrible fathers and while Ray has an outlet to do a better job and set things right, Frank doesn't...but the desire is there and his virtuous side speaks volumes to that. 

Ani has her issues as well, as we learned last night there were some horrible things that went on at that combine and they haunt her daily and no doubt explain her awful relationship with her dad. It's clear now why she blames him, but it's a shame all of this had to come flooding back in the middle of the case since she chose to attend one of the special parties by the California elite and well...that's when all kinds of goodies came to fruition. We found our missing girl and Paul was able to snag some important documents from the party before everyone made their escape. 

But alas, no answers tonight on what exactly is going on behind the scenes, we just know those answers are in Paul's hands and I have a bad feeling there will be big trouble for our intrepid detectives because of it. These wealthy men are no doubt connected and it won't take long to put two and two together. Not to mention, its obvious Frank's empire is still on shaky ground with the unfortunate deal he made with Santos' former drug associates and the fact they were willing to kill the girl who pawned the diamonds because she worked for the cops. That may not seem like a big deal but this is the most progress Frank has made on who is trying to bring him down and the fact that someone died before he could get some answers...is troublesome for sure. Either way, there's only two episodes left...and the end of this fascinating mystery draws near. 

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