“True Detective” started off very strongly, and the show quickly gained followers who were watching it actively. And while the first season was quite good by most accounts, season 2 came with disastrous ratings, leading many to believe that the show is going to be canned. Many fans seem pessimistic about a third season right now – and for a good reason – but some are convinced that there is still a chance of seeing the show continued. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, but one thing is certain – the producers will need to implement some serious changes if they want this series to survive in the future.
The possibility of continuing “True Detective” hinges on a few important details, most notably the need for a new writing team. It’s clear that the current staff – perhaps including Pizzolatto himself – aren’t delivering what the fans want to see, and there is no reason not to try exploring a new direction for the overall style of the show.
Some fans claim that “True Detective” got a bit too serious for their tastes, and on the other hand the show’s dramatic nature makes it a direct competitor to several other prominent productions that are running at the moment. Because of this, many seem convinced that a shift towards a more lighthearted tone, with more humorous episodes, is going to be a positive change for this production.
It’s hard to imagine “True Detective” as a half-comedy show, but it could be exactly what it needs to stand out from the rest of the productions on TV right now. Plus, the new season could drastically change the general style of storytelling and other details which would make it much more plausible to tell the story in a more humorous fashion.
It’s also possible that the third season could see more than just new writers being brought on board, as many people on the production team could potentially be replaced. For some fans, this leads to an interesting question about the identity of the show – can we really still call it “True Detective” if it goes through so many changes in such a short timespan?
Of course, the charm of the show lies in much more than the people running it, and as long as the general tone is preserved, we don’t really see this as a bad idea. It’s also worth noting that any questions of identity were more or less thrown out the window when the multi-director team was brought on for the second season, after season 1 was directed by just one person. Rumors indicate that the move was intended to help the production crew meet some tight deadlines, but it’s obvious that it affected the integrity of the show in a negative way in the end.
Perhaps the solution could be as simple as reverting to the single-director mode of running the show, and making some light changes to the tone as described above. Maybe “True Detective” doesn’t need to reinvent itself to survive. But the one thing that’s clear right now is that the show cannot continue to exist in its current form. Considering how successful and well-received it was at first, it would be a shame to see the production abandoned now. But if the third season is greenlit and it doesn’t manage to bring those ratings up, there is practically no way “True Detective” is ever going to come back on the screen.