True Detective Season Three Should Cut Down its Main Cast

By Reuben Levine | Sep 21, 2015

We don’t know all that much about True Detective season three, but we do have some strong opinions on which direction it needs to go in. The first season kept things simple by sticking to two leads and was, for the most part, able to adequately develop those characters over the course of eight episodes. Season two, on the other hand, included four leads and had serious issues juggling all of their storylines. All in all, only one or two characters were sufficiently fleshed out.

One of the best things that True Detective season three could do would be to keep it simple.

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There is an easy fix to this problem, and that’s to scale it all back for True Detective season three. Keep things simple. If the show is going to move on to a foreign city, that would be a perfect opportunity to revamp the storytelling structure. Four leads caused True Detective season two to feel unfocused and bloated. True Detective season three could probably get away with three leads, but two has been proven to be the perfect number.

Going back to two leads, however, has its own set of issues. There is the possibility that the media wold accuse Nic Pizzolatto of retreating to the golden days of the first season, and that could negatively impact the perception of the show. Although, to be honest, it would be surprising if public perception could sink any lower than where it is right now.

There’s no denying that season two had problems keeping track of so many characters, and that fed into the general issue of the season being too difficult to follow for some. One of the best things that True Detective season three could do would be to keep it simple. If Pizzolatto was so ready to shake things up after season two, there is reason to expect that there will be major changes in season three.

Let’s just hope that means a focus on serious character development.

Next: True Detective got burned badly at the Emmy's.

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