In this fourth episode of True Detective, we learn just how far crazy Rust Cohle will go to find a suspect. We also learn what the gunfight is that Marty Hart mentioned in the last episode, but we are no closer to who actually killed Dora Lange. I mean, we assume it’s Reginald Ledoux, but the reality is, we just don’t know.
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Tracking Down Ledoux
The episode begins with Hart and Cohle interrogating Dora’s ex Charlie in prison to try and find Ledoux. He doesn’t know where he is, but he suggests finding a man named Tyrone who might know. Marty tracks down an ex of Tryone and follows her from a strip club to a rave in the middle of nowhere. He confronts Tryone and finds out that Ledoux only cooks meth for one group, a biker gang by the name of the Iron Crusaders in Texas. It turns out Cohle actually had ties to the gang when he went undercover years back.
Cohle devises an undercover plan to infiltrate the group again to get closer to Ledoux. He lies at work and says he’s taking some personal time off to be with his sick father. And he takes some coke from the evidence room to trade with the gang.
He finally meets with Ginger, one of the leaders, who confirms they only have one cook. However, he asks Cohle to take down a stash house first before they can make any deals. Cohle does a lot of coke before becoming a complete badass to steal money from the stash house. However, things go south pretty quickly, which leads to the gunfight. Cohle is quick-thinking, though. He grabs Ginger and calls Hart for a pick-up. Even though his cover is blown with Ginger, he questions him about Ledoux so they can finally get their suspect.
Personal Problems Cause Distractions
Even though Hart has to help Cohle with his crazy plan, his personal life is falling apart. After his little episode with Lisa, his mistress, she’s pretty pissed, especially since he wants to end things with her. So she heads over to his home and tells Maggie everything. Hart comes home from work one day and finds that his bags are packed with a note saying she knows everything. He creates a huge scene at her hospital job, and Cohle has to get him.
Hart tries to pour his heart out to Cohle, but Cohle is just focused on the case. It frustrates Hart, but he realizes that’s just how Cohle is.
There’s not much of the present day interrogation in this episode. When they do flash to the present, the detectives question Hart about Cohle’s leave of absence. They also question Cohle about it too, in which he reveals information about his parents. But, quite frankly, I really don’t know if I believe a lot of what he spouts off to them about his personal life. It’s clear he has a very hairy past and did a lot of unconventional things that he needs to cover up.
While I’m pleased we finally learn what the gunfight is about and it gets us slightly closer to finding Ledoux, my fear is that Ledoux might not even be the killer. All signs point to him, but that’s what they want us to believe. I find it fascinating how detailed Cohle is and how quickly he goes undercover. I’m beginning to see why the present day detectives have reopened the case, as there are a lot of things that Hart and Cohle did that were questionable. It also shows how truly dedicated Cohle is to his job, how obsessed he is to solve cases.
With only four episodes of True Detective left, I’m really hoping the story starts to pull together. I have confidence it will. And I’m curious to see how the rest of the series plays out.
True Detective airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO.
(Image courtesy of HBO)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
