History YMMV / TrueDetective

** Some of Cohle's dialogue is admittedly over the top, but [=McConaughey's=] delivery is so compelling that you completely buy him as a verbose misanthrope. McConaughey brings enough depth and vulnerability to the role that Rust's existential despair never once seems melodramatic. It's perfectly natural for Rust to be saying these things because he really is ''that'' tortured. It helps that Hart regularly lampshades Rust's tangents, acting as a nice, grounded counterweight to the cloud that hangs around Rust. Creator Nic Pizzolatto [[http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/dark-character-draws-mcconaughey-to-hbos-noir-miniseries-1201105443/ has stated]] that many of the lines would sound terrible in the hands of a lesser actor.

** Some of Cohle's dialogue is admittedly over the top, but [=McConaughey's=] delivery is so compelling that you completely buy him as a verbose misanthrope. It helps that Hart regularly lampshades it. Creator Nic Pizzolatto [[http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/dark-character-draws-mcconaughey-to-hbos-noir-miniseries-1201105443/ has stated]] that many of the lines would sound ridiculous in the hands of a lesser actor.

* CaptainObviousReveal: At the end of season 2, it's revealed that Ray Velcoro's son is [[spoiler:Velcoro's biological offspring rather than the rapist's]]. But this should have been obvious once it's revealed that [[spoiler:the real rapist is a dark-skinned Latin or Native American, so he couldn't be the father of a red-headed white kid]].

** Rust's recommendation to the Marshland Medea that, should she end up in prison, the smart thing would be to commit suicide given the horrible things she did to her children.

** The casting of Colin Farrell and Creator/VinceVaughn for the second season has received major backlash for the most part. After the show premiered, opinions about Farrell's performance have been quite positive - about Vaughn's, not so much, mostly due to struggling with his dialogue.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Rust's recommendation to the Marshland Medea that, should she end up in prison, the smart thing would be to commit suicide given the horrible things she did to her children.

** The "Marshland Medea" is a reference to Medea of the Jason myth, who killed her children to get vengeance on Jason.

* TheWoobie: Tom from season 3 has it really bad. He is a legitimately kind man who loves his kids and even feels bad when in a drunken haze he considers calling Hayes racial slurs (he didn't even say them, he felt bad for considering it). Stuck in a loveless relationship with his wife who sleeps around and [[spoiler:a repressed homosexual]], his kids get kidnapped and murdered (his son is definitely murdered at least), his life falls to pieces. Though Roland helps him get back on his feet (to a degree) between '80 and '90, things only get worse when [[spoiler:a phone call comes in to the police from his daughter that apparently accuses him of being the kidnapper/murderer. Roland, his only real friend at this point, accuses him of the crime destroying his trust in Roland, and when he gets set free 24 hours later, he is able to figure out who the responsible party was only to get murdered. To top it all off, the killer sets his body up to make it look like a suicide with a note confessing to the crime.]] Life was not kind to Tom at all.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: For some (emphasis on some) viewers, Creator/AlexandraDaddario's nudity is the main selling point.

* TheWoobie: Tom from season 3 has it really bad. He is a legitimately kind man who loves his kids and even feels bad when in a drunken haze he considers calling Hayes racial slurs (he didn't even say them, he felt bad for considering it). Stuck in a loveless relationship with his wife, [[spoiler:a repressed homosexual]], his kids get kidnapped and murdered (his son is definitely murdered at least), his life falls to pieces. Though Roland helps him get back on his feet (to a degree) between '80 and '90, things only get worse when [[spoiler:a phone call comes in to the police from his daughter that apparently accuses him of being the kidnapper/murderer. Roland, his only real friend at this point, accuses him of the crime destroying his trust in Roland, and when he gets set free 24 hours later, he is able to figure out who the responsible party was only to get murdered. To top it all off, the killer sets his body up to make it look like a suicide with a note confessing to the crime.]] Life was not kind to Tom at all.

* MisaimedFandom: There are some fans of the show that think Rust is a cool guy because of his nihilistic views and how he doesn't concern himself with how other people feel about him or what he says. However, the latter aspect means that nobody can stand to be around him, with Marty telling him he needs to stop with the nihilistic rants. And and Rust's nihilism leaves him genuinely deeply depressed and stops him from achieving any real happiness at all. It's only after a NearDeathExperience that causes him to reconsider his world view that he receives any closure and begins to repair his life.

** Rick Springfield as the spacey, lecherous psychiatrist in Season 2.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome:
** The opening music for Season One is "Far From Any Road" by the Handsome Family.
** The closing music for the season one opener. Rust says, "Start asking the right fucking questions," and takes an enigmatic drag as the darkly melodic first riffs of "Young Man Dead" by The Black Angels swell.
** The song for the closing credits of the season one finale, "The Angry River," by The Hat ft. Father John Misty & S.I. Istwa.
** Lera Lynn's original songs for season 2, especially "The Only Thing Worth Fighting For" and "This is My Least Favorite Life", have received considerable acclaim.
** The Black Angels pop up again at the end of "Church in Ruins." As the detectives escape [[spoiler:Tony Chessani's sex party in Monterery]] they dodge their pursuers, get on an open road, and the camera pans up to a full moon just as "Black Grease" kicks in.

* HeReallyCanAct:

** Some of Cohle's monologues are admittedly over the top, but [=McConaughey's=] delivery of them more than compensates for it and makes them fit in with his character. It helps that Hart regularly lampshades it. Creator Nic Pizzolatto [[http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/dark-character-draws-mcconaughey-to-hbos-noir-miniseries-1201105443/ has stated]] that many of the lines would sound ridiculous in the hands of a lesser actor.

** 4chan has become fond of [[http://boards.4chan.org/tv/thread/58829068/vinceposting "Vinceposting"]], where they emulate and mock Frank Semyon's pseudo-philosophy, lectures, propensity for nostalgia, and bizarre metaphors.

** Dr Pitlor's similarity to BenedictCumberbatch has definitely been noticed by fandom.

* ShippingBedDeath: [[spoiler: Invoked in a particularly brutal fashion in episode 6.]]

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Rust's recommendation to the Marshland Madea that, should she end up in prison, the smart thing would be to commit suicide given the horrible things she did to her children.

* NeverLiveItDown: Pizzolatto has only written ''one'' character prone to long, flowery monologues regarding his nihilistic philosophy. You would be forgiven for thinking that is the only thing he knows how to write, if word of mouth was all you had to go buy.

** Reggie Ledoux appears in two scenes, a WhamShot at the end of Episode 3 and [[spoiler: his arrest and murder in Episode 5]]), but he makes a definite impact.