http://youtu.be/roiKrE5KLbk

Two mismatched partners. A serial killing with occult overtones. We've seen this done to death on the big and small screens by now, but HBO's eight-part anthology True Detective, which debuts Sunday night, is unlike any other police procedural or serial killer show on TV right now (or at any other time for that matter).
Intercutting between 1995 and 2012, the show follows two Louisiana detectives -- the solid, suburban Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) and the brooding loner Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) -- as they seek the culprit behind the ritualistic slaying of a young woman named Dora Lange. The '90s scenes document these two night-and-day partners' investigation, while the 2012 scenes see the older versions of these men interviewed separately by another pair of detectives (Michael Potts and Tory Kittles) whose investigation suggests maybe Hart and Cohle didn't solve the case way back when after all.
The Hart of 2012 is bald and divorced but overall not too different from the man we see in '95 (great toupee on Woody in those scenes, by the way); Rust, however, seems more like a burnt-out derelict now with his long, bedraggled hair and droopy mustache and penchant for afternoon boozing. The two men, we learn, had a bitter falling out in the years prior to 2012. What drove them apart and why they are the way they are now is as much a mystery to unravel here as is the identity of Dora's killer. In some ways, it's the more intriguing riddle to solve (sorry Dora!).
By focusing more on who these detectives are as men, their foibles and character, and on their relationship (and the mystery behind why they're no longer friends), True Detective manages
JIM VEJVODA SAYS
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Pizzolatto has created a fascinating pair of cops here who on the surface seem to be the classic pairing of affable, shoe leather detective and intense, intellectual profiler we've come to expect from shows and movies. But the more you watch True Detective, the more the layers are peeled back on these two men and we come to know why they are the way they are, and the less cliche it gets. Even if the writing weren't so good the performances of the two leads would likely still keep the viewer invested in these protagonists.

The choice of Harrelson to play the more "normal" Hart and McConaughey as the quirkier Cohle is great against type casting, although it's nice to ponder the actors switching roles (a la Danny Boyle's Frankenstein play) as they both could play the other's part albeit in different ways. McConaughey definitely has the showier role, although he wisely underplays the possible nuttiness of his character. Rust is the man who knows too much about life (and death) and has plummeted down a philosophical rabbit hole. Marty is the man who doesn't want to know, as evidenced by his many "stop talking about that!" comments to his partner during their long drives to crime scenes.
Each man is dancing on a precipice, and knowing that they had a falling out thanks to the show's framing device makes us wonder if the acrimony is as much about how one affected the other's soul as it is about the case they are believed to have solved. The earthy Harrelson and the haunted McConaughey are fantastic individually and together here. Expect them to get a lot of awards love for this down the line.
The fact that True Detective is less about the serial killer stuff -- despite it being the reason for their ongoing investigation and the eerily staged tableaux crime scene at the tree -- is what makes it refreshing. And because it focuses more on the investigators than the gruesome acts of the killer, it's in some ways more effective than all those grisly scenes on other serial killer shows since it illustrates the psychological after effect the crimes have on our heroes.
The show's biggest weakness, judging from the first few episodes I've seen, is the stock character that Michelle Monaghan plays. Maggie, Hart's wife, hits the checklist of "cop wife" tropes viewers have come to expect, such as grousing about his long days or her hubby's emotional availability. Future episodes will reveal Marty isn't quite the awesome family man we expect he is, while Rust certainly has very good reasons for why he's as socially inept and morose as he is.
While it might be too early in the year or the series to call True Detective the best new show of 2014, it certainly so far has every advantage going for it in that regard. It's an edgy, fascinating, moody, and thought-provoking crime drama where identity and philosophy play as large a role as the collection of evidence and the hunt for suspects.

Thanks, good read. Just watched the pilot episode. Little slow, but looks promising.

Thanks for the review.
I watched the pilot last night-thoroughly enjoyed it.
I am fairly certain , that with two such strong lead actors and HBO behind it ,it will be fantastic.

Thanks again