Our True Detective recap breaks down the events of episode 4, which viewers had to wait two weeks for thanks to the Super Bowl.
The wait was worth it, if only for the final few minutes of this episode.
First a brief catch up: On True Detective episode 3, we watched as Hart and Cohle made a big break concerning their mysterious case in 1996, and a cliffhanger offered our first look at the scary looking villain Reggie, who the detectives have yet to encounter face to face.
Episode 4 began with Hart and Cohle interrogating Charlie, who tricked them about Reggie. Or did he? Charlie seems just as pissed about Reggie being a suspect, but Cohle’s not fooled. They learn that Reggie is “a cook, a chemist,” from Charlie.
They learn of a place people like Reggie go to “devil worship” where there’s “so much good killing,” and once again hear about the spiral symbol, and someone Reggie would hang out with named Tyron.
Off they go to find Tyron, with the help of the whole station. But first, Hart’s in court over a case and sees his friend with benefits Lisa who’s a court reporter. She raises hell about the way he treated her, but he isn’t bothered about it.
Before he continues with the case, Hart gets legitimately bothered by Lisa, because she’s told his wife Maggie that he cheated on her. Maggie has packed bags for him to leave the house. Later, Hart goes to the hospital Maggie works at and asks for forgiveness. It doesn’t do the trick and only causes a scene.
Hart follows a girl connected to Tyron, who he encounters at a club. Following her after work leads him to a rave, and he finds his guy in the back. He slams his head into a wall, puts a gun to his head and asks where Reggie is. Tyron says he’s cooking for a motorcycle club called Iron Crusaders. He relays the info to Cohle, who seems to recognize the name.
While Hart is busy talking to his wife, we see Cohle is opening a box with weapons, liquor, and boots. He gets a call from the hospital to help calm down Hart. They go to a bar, and Cohle tells Hart he knows Iron Crusaders. He needs to take some personal time to “drop some lines” at the club (using that array of weapons) to confirm Reggie is there because badges won’t get them in. He doesn’t want to do this, but knows he has to. Hart also moves into Cohle’s apartment now that his wife has kicked him out.
In present day we see Cohle won’t even tell the new detectives about his decision to infiltrate Iron Crusaders, and they are surprised that he took a leave of absence as soon as they got a suspect in ’96.
Cohle needs some cocaine to bring to the club, and takes some cocaine that was evidence at the station (but not before testing it up his own nose).
2012 detectives ask Hart about his partner’s strange decision to take a leave of absence, but he keeps quiet about the Iron Crusaders decision too.
Before heading out, Cohle meets with Maggie at a diner and passes along a message that Hart wants to see the girls. “Kids are the only thing that matter,” Cohle tells her. “People fuck up. We age. It’s not supposed to work except to make kids.” Later, Cohle tells Hart he thinks they’ll get back together in a few months.
The two detectives have a meeting before heading to the motorcycle club, and Cohle’s not feeling too confident about how it’s going to go. He gives Hart a quick lesson on how to use a cell phone (it is 1996, remember), and heads inside solo.
Apparently growing stressed about Cohle not coming out after a few minutes, Hart heads inside himself but doesn’t go into the back like Cohle did. Meanwhile, Cohle – known as Crash in this circle – is playing a solid story to a man named Ginger (who knows Reggie) despite being high and sets up a deal which brings him to Ginger’s place in the bayou.
Ginger asks Crash/Cohle to help him with getting some drugs at a nearby neighborhood where they’ll pose as cops. What happens over the next ten minutes is one of the most well-done sequences we’ve ever seen on TV: Cohle and the small group penetrates the house, but things start falling apart so he decides to grab Ginger just as a big fight is breaking out. He brings him to a nearby house. There, he calls Hart and asks him to meet him at a nearby house in ninety seconds. As he makes his way past numerous pissed off people (taking them all out as he goes along), he makes it to Hart just as he’s pulling up and throws Ginger in the car. Cohle wants Ginger to tell him where Reggie is, and it seems clear he’s going to give away the location.
Tonight’s episode brought the show’s action sequences to a whole new level, and we give all of the credit to Matthew McConaughey for his best episode yet.
True Detective episode 5 airs Sunday, February 16 at 9 p.m. eastern/pacific on HBO.
What did you think of tonight’s ‘True Detective’?
UPDATE: Watch the end sequence below….
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