'True Detective' Retro Recap: 'The Secret Fate of All Life'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There are certain expectations we as the audience have when it comes to fictional detectives and their often times grandiose hunt for scumbag criminals. We expect them to be flawed men, ones that understand the world is not always what it seems. But more importantly, we expect them to be heroes on some level and do wonderful things as they bring those who do wrong to justice. 

The first four episodes of True Detective have done a fantastic job of giving us the first part of that goal. Hart and Cohle are indeed flawed men and Rust for certain has seen a darker underbelly to the world. But "The Secret Fate of All Life" decided to throw us for one incredible loop and ignore the second half of our expectations for TV Detectives completely. Rust and Cohle were already walking a thin line in the last episode to say the least, but this episode, holy cow...they crossed every line imaginable and I am still shocked over the incredible events that played out before our eyes. 

This should have been a proud episode. One filled with wonderful moments as these two men finally brought Reggie Ledoux to justice. A clean collar would have in many ways allowed everyone to forget about the ugliness from the last episode, and at first it seemed like that was what we were going to get. They found Ledoux, they had him in cuffs...and then everything went off the rails as something we discussed a few episodes back, Hart's temper and conviction to righteous concepts, came right back into play as he discovered the two young children Ledoux and DeWall had locked up for horrific purposes; and promptly let fury take over...before blasting Reggie's face right off. 

It led to a disappointing sequence where Rust helps Hart cover it up so everything looked like an incredible gunfight where both men had to be put down to save the day and the children and well, when all was said and done, truthfully I felt dirty watching Hart and Cohle be celebrated as heroes. They're better than this, but they simply chose not to be and nothing about watching them shake hands and get pats on the back felt right in the slightest. Hart killed a man in cold blood and didn't think twice about it, which is a little scary considering he wears a shield and it's equally disturbing that Cohle was quick to cover up the mess as well.

Which is what made the back half of the episode a welcome addition to the story as we watched Hart and Cohle move on in their lives and their careers only to discover they did not get the right man. That's the kind of poetic justice, or karma if you prefer that needs to come about from such an irresponsible set of decisions and it means that there is now a chance for these two men to set everything right again. How long that will take, who knows, but on a final note, I am fairly certain the allegations being brought against Rust in "present day", specifically that he may be the killer are a load of crap. He may be dark, but that's not his style...and he and Hart need to redeem themselves after what happened this go round. Until next time. 

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