TCTTS said:
Personally, I really enjoyed this season, and thought it was incredibly solid. Was it as explosive or as dark as last season? No. Maybe a little too tidy? Sure. I thought that last season ultimately got a little out of hand, though - IMO, they went a bit overboard in trying to be "gritty Perry Mason" - and I appreciated the more steady, subdued hand this go around, even if it wasn't quite as sensational.
I thought the case was compelling enough, full of some great twists and turns. More than anything it was a vessel for our main characters' respective arcs, each of which I really loved. Perry sacrificing himself in the end, by taking jail time himself, was such a nice touch.
Granted, I've never seen the old iteration, or read the books, but this season was everything I wanted from this show, and didn't need it to be anything more than what we got.
Really hoping there's a third season as well (and a fourth and a fifth...). Matthew Rhys says he game to play this character forever, basically, and I'll be there as long as HBO wants to let him.
This show demonstrates that not everything we watch needs a holy **** moment, it just needs to be well made by people that care. It didn't need to be True Detective set in the 1930s, it was the show it needed to be, which is all I wanted at the end of the day. It's reserved and subtle, it doesn't have to hit you over the head with anything.
I think that what you're talking about with season 1 vs 2 probably had to do with some outside influence, they probably felt a need to go darker given a lot of HBOs programming. I preferred this season as well, this to me is what the show was supposed to be. They could lean more on the actors in this show, who are phenomenal by the way, to tell the story. I can't think of an actor that has been out of place or that I'd want to replace with anyone else, it's perfectly cast IMO.
I also appreciated that in the end he had to pay the piper. He knew he shouldn't have held onto the murder weapon, but he did, and also had to handle the consequences. He was mad at Pete, but in the end it was his own choice that was the problem, Pete is just Pete. He can't speak about truth and justice in the context of the law and also consider himself to be above what he holds most important.
Give me more of that show and I'll gladly watch. I think Matthew Rhys is a must-watch actor. I can remember seeing him on Brothers and Sisters which my wife was a fan of, then showing up on The Americans, and now Perry Mason. He just keeps getting better.
