As the first season of True Detective continues to unravel, it appears detectives Martin Hart (Harrelson) and Rust Cohle (McConaughey) are nearing the conclusion to cracking the case of Dora Kelly Lange. Through the present tense, both have provided an in-depth recap of the occurrences that lead them to the all-important victim, while Cohle makes sure his strange tendencies don’t go unnoticed through making shapes out of beer cans. Not only this, but Hart’s reactions give the sense of unease with particular matters in his personal life.
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The episode kicks off with an investigation undergoing at the abandoned church found at the back-end of the prior airing, where additional officers look for clues as to where to go next. The two move onto the location of a tent revival, as Boardwalk Empire star Shea Whigham leads the religious ceremony, or what Cohle considers a bunch of fairytales; much to Hart’s opposite view of community and common good. The path leads them to a number of people who recognise the girl from past events, who mention that she was seen with a tall man with burnt areas around his jaw. Although they speak to a sex offender who decides to confess, Cohle decided that he isn’t the man they’re looking for. Much later, the two manage to speak to the grandfather of Reanne Oliver (found with similar wounds as Lange), who gives information on the partner of her granddaughter, along with a box full of Reanne’s belongings through her younger years.
Research then shows that Reanne’s partner, Reggie Ledoux, had once been been busted in connection to a narcotics lab used to make meth and LSD, which is associated to the drugs of which the apparent victims were traced with. Within his two years in a cell, he happened to share a room with Dora’s husband, Charlie Lange. Both Hart and Cohle call highway patrol, as they look to discover the case as quick as possible. The final part of the episode shows a man wearing nothing but underpants and a gas mask, along with a machete at hand, staggering through the wilderness.
Throughout the airing, Cohle is shown bringing back a mower to Hart’s wife, and returning the favor by cutting their lawn. However, Hart isn’t present until after this point, who quickly forces him to leave with anger as to why he decided to do this, and essentially suggesting he was playing mind games. Hart and his wife then question his daughter’s sexual drawings created in school, which leads to more tension between the couples’ troubled relationship. Both detectives are later shown on a double-date with Maggie and her friend, in which they drink and take time to dance. Much to the disruption and jealousy of Hart, he sees booty call Lisa at the same place with another man, leading him to visit her later that evening and sending threats to her new lover.