By Cassie Dresch
TV Media
I
t was widely considered one
of the best TV shows to grace
screens in 2014, lauded for ev-
erything from its direction to
its writing to its ensemble cast.
Now, “True Detective” is back
for a second season — pre-
miering Sunday, June 21, on
HBO — and the looming ques-
tion is: can it live up to season
1?
A BAFTA Award, a Critics’
Choice Television Award, five
Emmys, two Television Critics
Association Awards, two Writ-
ers Guild of America Awards
and a handful of other wins.
Four Golden Globe nomina-
tions, six other Emmy nomina-
tions, three Satellite Award
nominations and the list goes
on. “True Detective’s” first sea-
son was a phenomenal success
for HBO and series writer-cre-
ator Nic Pizzolatto, so expecta-
tions remain high for the new-
est iteration of the show
(“Bustle’s” entertainment re-
porter Nick Romano called it
“unthinkable ... that round two
will fall flat”).
The challenge, however, for
Pizzolatto is to keep it fresh,
exciting and just as captivating
as season 1. It seems like it
shouldn’t be all that hard to
accomplish — it is an antholo-
gy series, after all, with new
characters and a new story
each season — but it was the
performance of stars Matthew
McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers
Club,” 2013) and Woody Har-
relson (“No Country for Old
Men,” 2007) that, arguably
and almost undoubtedly, really
vaulted the series into elite TV
territory. (It’s hard to argue
with the 10 total “Best Actor”-
type nominations between the
two for various prestigious
awards, including the Emmys
and Golden Globes.)
Removing those two lends
to the idea that maybe the
show will deflate a little, but in
true HBO fashion, season 2’s
cast is just as high profile and
quickly quashes the thought
that, at the very least, the act-
ing won’t be up to snuff.
Golden Globe winner Colin
Farrell (“In Bruges,” 2008), Tay-
lor Kitsch (“The Normal
Heart”), Rachel McAdams
(“Midnight in Paris,” 2011) and
Vince Vaughn (“Wedding
Crashers,” 2005) all headline
season 2 of “True Detective,”
and they’re the kinds of names
you’d expect to see in movies,
not TV.
“That’s the power of HBO,”
Farrell, who plays compromised
detective Ray Velcoro, said in
an interview with “Glamour”
magazine. “They only source
the sharpest, savviest writers.
They get the best, and then ac-
tors gravitate to that. ... They
used to say that film is the way
forward and television is a step
back, but it’s not that way any
more.”
Of course, the acting can
only take you so far, and as
Farrell alluded to, a show’s
writing is key to creating a
stellar work of TV art. Pizzolat-
to has two Emmy nominations
to his name for season 1 of
“True Detective,” as well as
two Writers Guild of America
wins, and he’s got the praise
and admiration from season 2’s
cast as well.
“I sat down with the writer-
creator, Nic Pizzolatto, and we
spoke for, like, five hours,” Far-
rell said. “He’s an extraordinary
writer, he’s incredible at what
he does.”
“The writer and creator of
[“True Detective”] is just tre-
mendous ... and it’s been a lot
of fun,” Vaughn told Ellen De-
Generes when he visited her
show in May. “The characters
are very interesting, very com-
plicated. It’s a really interesting
story; the twists and stuff are
terrific.”
It’s not only the story and
cast that’ll be different in sea-
son 2; a few of the elements
that made season 1 so dark
and intriguing have also been
dropped for this version. The
occult themes and gothic hor-
ror feel of the show (that you
get from being set in Louisi-
ana) are completely gone, as
California serves as the setting
for season 2.
“These new landscapes have
their own unique voice and
their own unsettling qualities,”
Pizzolatto told HBO. “While
there’s nothing occult in this
season, I think there’s a discon-
certing psychology to this
world, and its characters have
other kinds of uncanny reality
with which to contend.”
Also gone is some of the
structure that provided the ba-
sis for season 1, such as the
split timeline, where part of the
story took place in the ‘90s and
the other part played out in the
present day, and the partner
relationship between the main
characters. It’s something Piz-
zolatto said grew organically
as he fleshed out the new story
while also trying to consciously
make sure it wouldn’t be a
copy of season 1.
“We were conscious of not
wanting to repeat ourselves or
remake the same album in a
different setting, but I try to be
open to whatever structure the
story and characters suggest,”
he said in the HBO interview.
“As the characters multiplied
and their individual and group
complications grew, a more in-
tegrated and linear structure
[for the season] worked best.
And there was the conviction
that if we were to do some-
thing entirely new, then we
shouldn’t lean on past conceits
but really build from scratch.”
Build from scratch, they did.
After a first season that saw
the acclaim and accolades roll
in in droves, “True Detective”
has a big challenge ahead of it
for season 2: can it repeat the
successes of season 1? With a
whole new cast and a whole
new story, season 2 of the hit
crime drama “True Detective”
premieres Sunday, June 21, on
HBO.
Second the best?
‘True Detective’ looks to replicate its first season successes
Rachel McAdams in “True Detective”
Cover
story
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Denise S. Nakanishi
R, ABR, CRS, GRI, SRES
“Major Mom
is a Major
Difference”
A Peek at
West Hawaii Activity
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T
oday begins my first foray into reporting the goings on in
West Hawaii. With the TV Guide distribution now island-
wide, it seems only fair to provide an overview of what’s
happening on the West side of Hawai’i Island. Over time, this
format will change slightly. Without previously reported active
and under contract statistics, it’s not possible to provide
information that allows a direct comparison regarding how
inventory numbers have changed. As presented, however,
the numbers can be very telling. You’ll notice that not
all segments improved this year over last when directly
comparing 1st qtr of both years. And while Under Contract/
Contingent properties are still considered active, looking at
those numbers demonstrates market direction. For instance,
the median price of a home in Waikoloa Village should rise
during the second quarter because, as you can see the
median price of a home under contract is much higher than
the median closed price during the first 3 months of the year.
Sellers currently on the market will want to compare their
listed price not only with the median sold price but the median
under contract price as well. If you are priced significantly
above median pricing , there a good chance your property might be
over-priced. Multiplying the number of 1st quarter sold properties by
4 (the number of quarters in a year) will produce a theoretical number
of demand for the year. Combining the number active to the number
under contract will give you some idea of supply relative to demand. A
significantly higher number of active listings indicates a buyer’s market;
the opposite occurs if there are not enough listings to meet demand.
Don’t see your neighborhood? Let me know and I’ll get the data to you.
Our popular “market snapshot” will keep you abreast of listings and
sales activity near you. Just send a request and we’ll get you started
right away! Whether North, South, East or West, things are definitely
improving in all the neighborhoods of our beautiful Hawaii Island!!
Thanks to Maverick Malech of Hawaii Life Kona office for
his outstanding assistance in preparing this data!
Statistics obtained from Hawaii Information Service, the best MLS around!
Area
Waikoloa Village
10/11
408,000/400,000
49/433,000 19 487,500
12
512,500
Kona Palisades
9/8
387,000/408,950
26/446,500
8
585,000
8
422,000
3/7-4 thru 3/7-7
58/50
497,110/574,000
24/545,100 129 798,000
52
537,000
Keauhou
8/9
1,031,125/539,500 30/638,000 22 1,060,000
5
557,000
S. Kona
1/7
435,000/375,000
13/492,000 12 603,250
3
369,000
Condo
Waikoloa Village
15/8
150,500/188,750
62/179,450 31 269,000
8
167,500
3/7-4 thru 3/7-7 (Kona)
62/73
230,250/220,000 257/230,000 122 309,000
48
263,500
Keauhou
2/2
258,000/502,500
8/312,500
10 637,500
0
0
Sold: 1st Qtr 2014/
1st Qtr 2015
Sold: Med $ 1st Qtr 2014/
1st Qtr 2015
Sold 2013
# and $
Current
Active
Med $
Active
Med $
Under Contract
$ Under
Contract
2
μ
TVWeek
μ
June 21, 2015
