This post contains frank discussion of Season 3, Episode 1 of True Detective, titled “The Great War and Modern Memory.” Proceed with care.
In the years since True Detective first captivated prestige TV audiences and online conspiracy theorists alike, there has been a dramatic boom in the arena of true crime. A collective fascination with stories about real, high-profile murders has always been a part of our culture—hence the popularity of In Cold Blood, the O.J. Simpson trial, or anything to do with the Charles Manson case. But 2014 was different: the same year that series creator Nic Pizzolatto, director __Cary Fukunaga, and stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson spellbound, we also saw the debut of the Serial podcast, followed by 2015 TV phenomenons like The Jinx and Making a Murderer—then the 2016 explosion of the true-crime podcast genre with shows like My Favorite Murder.
The third season of Pizzolatto’s True Detective leans heavily on this particular zeitgeist,…
