Writing is tough. Replicating success is harder. What happened with season two? I was ready to swear it off after episode two, but stayed through episode five. Now, I’ll continue to watch only to satisfy the compulsion to finish.

Season two seemed like an overwrought first pass at the story. There needed to be some nip/tuck. Get rid of two of the main characters. Maybe Pizzolatto felt like it was too similar to season one? But the season’s structure replicated its predecessor. Big shootout in the middle; fast forward an amount of time; show characters have changed; “we think we got the killer but we really didn’t.”

The main failing with season two is that the writer lacked the intimacy with California like he was with Southern Louisiana. It shows. There could have been more allusions to Charles Mansion, Helter Skelter, and hippies run amok. California has a pretty fucked-up history of its own. We don’t get the flavor. We get a tourist’s perception of Los Angeles and California. We’re given a perspective from a person who has experienced Los Angeles through film and TV. They haven’t spent the time to understand what the city is about; what the county is about; what the region is about. What is Los Angeles and California about? It’s the west coast; where people seek fame and fortune. The Gold Rush. Free love. Progressivism. Southern California influences American fashion and culture that permeates throughout the country. There’s something to be said about that.

Nothing seems to be at stake. We don’t care about Frank’s journey to retrieve his money. We don’t care about Ray’s journey to win back his ginger kid. Ani? She’s basically a dude. And Woodrugh looks like he’s filled with so much angst that he wishes the cameras would stop following him around. Why do I care?

Another important point: the dialogue. I don’t buy it. The words don’t seem to be coming out of real people. I feel like these characters were driving on the way to their scenes, coming up with clever, ethereal abstractions to say to one another once they arrived. Enough!

We also miss the camera movement from season one. I feel like I’m watching a TV show. Big heads. Blurred out background. Standard coverage.

Look. It’s easy to play the blame game and overlook the internal politics that went into making this season. Did HBO want to push it out quickly? Knowing HBO, doesn’t seem like it. Did Pizzolatto really write the best stuff he could? Knowing season one, doesn’t seem like it. Were the new directors a problem? Maybe. I can’t imagine a group of talented people making these decisions.

In times of need, I’ve turned to season one as my relief. Truly amazing. I just watched episode one from the first season and said out loud, “Fuck! That’s amazing.”

To me, I can’t find a reason to justify anything with what happens in season two anymore.