**SPOILER ALERT**
There’s really no way to discuss “Night Finds You,” the second episode of “True Detective’s” second season, without spoiling the season’s first major twist, a twist that throws a wrench (or maybe everything in the toolbox) into our carefully crafted analysis of how we assumed things would unfold.
**If you haven’t watched, PLEASE stop reading.**
“Night Finds You” literally ends with a bang, well … bangs. Those bangs being two shotgun blasts directly to the gut/chest of detective Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell). To raise the crazy meter of the sequence, Ray was gunned down by a mysterious crow mask-wearing individual, the same mask possessed by the person driving around Ben Caspere’s corpse in episode one.
Wait, what?
Did they really just do that?
Is he really dead?
Farrell is credited for eight episodes on IMDB, and photos from what we assumed to be future episodes would have us believe he makes it out alive.
But logic tells us he will bleed out on the floor.
We might have just been “Game of Thrones”ed by “True Detective.”
Before we arrived at Sunday night’s dramatic conclusion, Ray, Ani (Rachel McAdams) and Paul (Taylor Kitsch) were following potential leads in Caspere’s murder investigation as they attempted to find out who burned Caspere’s eyes out with acid and shot him from point-blank range in the groin with a shotgun.
Meanwhile, the Vaughnaissance is continuing as Frank (Vince Vaughn) is on a tear to get back the millions of dollars he lost. Caspere had Frank’s money when he died, which means, as the man representing the Catalyst Group (a group affiliated with Frank’s land deal) says, he’s in the “unenviable position of being owed money by a dead man.”
Through some desperate digging, Frank finds an address for Caspere’s second residence in Hollywood. Frank pushes Ray to pursue the lead, and for the first time, Ray pushes back. But ultimately Ray submits and travels to the home (and perhaps to his early death).
“Night Finds You” serves up more of the characters’ personal lives. Ray’s ex-wife (Abigail Spencer) makes her first appearance to tell him she’s pushing to take away his son because, as she puts it, “he deserves better.”
More is revealed about Ani’s cult upbringing when she and Ray visit Caspere’s therapist, who recognizes her name. She’s one five kids who grew up in the cult around the same time, and she’s the only one who isn’t dead or in jail.
We get glimpses of Paul and Frank’s grim backgrounds. We learn why Frank can manipulate Ray like a puppet. We see who is on whose payroll and how the different characters interact.
All of the revelations paired with the dramatic twist at the end leaves the audience clamoring for episode three immediately.
You can reach Jack Woods on Twitter @Jack_TDR.