It's official: Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn have been cast in HBO's “True Detective” Season 2.

Vince Vaughn will play Frank Semyon, a career criminal in danger of losing his empire when his move into legitimate enterprise is upended by the murder of a business partner.

Colin Farrell will play Ray Velcoro, a compromised detective whose allegiances are torn between his masters in a corrupt police department and the mobster who owns him.

The story will center around three police officers and a career criminal who must navigate a web of conspiracy in the aftermath of a murder.

The eight-episode hour-long drama is set to begin production later this fall in California, with "Fast and Furious 6" director Justin Lin directing the first two episodes. The series is created and written by Nic Pizzolatto.

HBO confirmed the news on Tuesday in a press release.

Who the third lead police officer will be is not yet known, but rumors have been swirling about actresses Rachel McAdams and "Mad Men" star Elisabeth Moss.

"True Detective" Season 1 starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, both of whom were nominated for Emmys for their roles.

SEE ALSO: 'True Detective' Season 2 Eyes Rachel McAdams For Female Lead

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HBO made its "True Detective" season 2 casting official Tuesday announcing that Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn would take over as the show's leads.

Most are familiar with Vaughn as a comedic actor for his roles in films like “Dodgeball” and "Wedding Crashers," so his casting may have some scratching their heads.

However, the move to TV makes sense for Vaughn. Not only have his four latest films failed to crack $100 million worldwide at the box office, but Vaughn is also no stranger to drama. Despite his comedic success, the actor has been in a series of serious films.

If you're not convinced Vaughn is the guy for "True Detective," here are a few of the actor's less-known roles that should have you convinced otherwise.

1. "The Cell" (2000)

"True Detective" wouldn't be Vaughn's first time as a cop. Before the torture porn movies "Saw" and "Hostel," we watched Vaughn get tortured as FBI Agent Peter Novak in "The Cell." 

The clip is slightly NSFW.

2. "Made" (2001)

This clip shows off one of Vaughn's strengths on-screen — his ability to argue and his mastery of enhancing those arguments with a barrage of curse words effortlessly, as this clip from 2001's "Made" displays. On HBO, Vaughn won't have to hold back.

3."Domestic Disturbance" (2001)

If you can’t imagine Vaughn as the tough guy digging into potential suspects, look no further than Vaughn’s role in "Domestic Disturbance," where he played a murderous stepfather only to be discovered by John Travolta. Roger Ebert said Vaughn "plays a creep better than just about anybody else."

Watch Vaughn in a creeptastic clip:

4. "Clay Pigeons" (1998)

If you want to see Vaughn in an even creepier role, look no further than 1998's comedy thriller "Clay Pigeons," in which he played a serial killer with a southern accent.

5. "Into the Wild" (2007)

If you're still worried about Vaughn perfecting an accent, he took on the owner of a harvesting company from South Dakota in Oscar-nominated picture "Into the Wild" in one of the film's best scenes.

SEE ALSO: What season 2 of "True Detective" will be about

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If you watched HBO's "True Detective," two things probably hold true.

You were going crazy trying to figure out who the "spaghetti monster" killer was, and, as with Woody Harrelson's character, you were probably left scratching your head trying to comprehend what Matthew McConaughey's character Rust Cohle was talking about half the time.

Cohle would often go on and on about dense philosophies and theories about life and the world as we know it.

For small talk with his partner Marty Hart (Harrelson) he says, "I think human consciousness is a tragic misstep in evolution."

One of Cohle's most popular quotes online comes from season 1, episode 5, when he reveals the "secret fate of all life."

In eternity, where there is no time nothing can grow nothing can become nothing changes. So death created time to grow the things that it would kill. And you are reborn but into the same life that you've always been born into. How many times have we had this conversation detectives? Well, who knows? You can't remember your lives. You can't change your lives, and that is the terrible and secret fate of all life. You’re trapped by that nightmare you keep waking up into.

In a new interview with GQ, McConaughey says he understood every word, theory, and rant Cohle uttered.

"I spent many, many, many, many, many, many hours, if not days, writing to Nic Pizzolatto and asking, 'What are you saying here? What does this mean? Why is he saying it now?'" McConaughey said. "And then I was able to take it and make it my own."

The Emmy-nominated actor won't be back for "True Detective" season 2, but he says many people have tried to get him to return to another cop role.

"I've seen a lot of detective scripts since then, but none of them could wear the jockstrap of Rusty Cohle," McConaughey said.

You can read the full GQ article here.

SEE ALSO: 5 Roles That Show Why Vince Vaughn Will Be Awesome In “True Detective” Season 2

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HBO has mostly locked down their leads for Season 2 of “True Detective,” and now they're moving onto casting supporting and recurring roles around Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn and Taylor Kitsch.

Michael Irby, Kelly Reilly, Abigail Spencer and Leven Rambin are all signing on for heavily recurring roles on the second season of HBO's hit drama, an individual with knowledge of the castings told TheWrap.

Also read: Taylor Kitsch Confirms He's on ‘True Detective’ Season 2

Season 2 of “True Detective” will focus on three police officers and a career criminal navigating a web of conspiracy in the aftermath of a murder.

Farrell will play Ray Velcoro, a compromised detective whose allegiances are torn between his masters in a corrupt police department and the mobster who owns him, while Kitsch is playing Paul Woodrough, a handsome, 28-year-old military veteran who has seen his own share of violence and destruction. Vaughn will play Frank Semyon, a career criminal in danger of losing his empire when his move into legitimate enterprise is upended by the murder of a business partner.

Also read: Rachel McAdams in Talks for ‘True Detective’ Season 2 Female Lead

The final lead role, police detective Ani Bezzerides, is likely to go to Rachel McAdams, though her deal has not yet closed.

Irby is taking on the role of Elvis Ilinca, McAdams’ character's partner at the police department. He is expected to appear in five or six episodes of the Season's eight episodes. No word yet on who the other actors are playing.

See video: Ellen Page, Kate Mara Prove Small Size Matters in ‘True Detective’ Spoof

The eight episode hour-long drama is set to begin production later this fall in California.

“True Detective” is created and written by Nic Pizzolatto.

HBO declined TheWrap's request for comment.

Greene & Associates Talent Agency and Coronel Group represent Irby. ICM and Troika represent Reilly. ICM and  Untitled Entertainment represent Spencer. Paradigm and Management 360 represent Rambin.

SEE ALSO: Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell cast in "True Detective" season 2

AND: 5 roles that show why Vince Vaughn will be awesome in "True Detective" season 2

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HBO has just confirmed that Rachel McAdams will join the cast of "True Detective" season 2. 

Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch & Kelly Reilly join Colin Farrell & Vince Vaughn in season 2 of @HBO's #TrueDetective: http://t.co/ZUSwJVFJIw

— HBO PR (@HBOPR) November 24, 2014

The actress will star alongside previously announced castmembers Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell. McAdams will play County Sheriff detective Ani Bezzerides.

Vaughn will play criminal Frank Semyon who is "in danger of losing his empire" after a business partner is murdered. Farrell will star as detective Ray Velcoro who works in a corrupt police department and has ties to a mobster.

HBO also confirmed the casting of Taylor Kitsch ("Battleship,""Friday Night Lights") and Kelly Reilly ("Sherlock Holmes").

Kitsch will Paul Woodrugh, "a war veteran and motorcycle officer for the California Highway Patrol." He's described as "running from a difficult past." Reilly will star as Semyon's wife, Jordan, "a former D-list actress."

Here's how HBO describes the eight-episode season:

"Three police officers and a career criminal must navigate a web of conspiracy in the aftermath of a murder."

 "Fast and Furious 6" director Justin Lin will direct the first two episodes. 

Here's the full press release from HBO.

SEE ALSO: Matthew McConaughey says he understood every word his "True Detective" character said

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With the amount of buzz and quasi-secrecy surrounding the casting process for the second season of HBO’s True Detective, you’d think that either J.J. Abrams or Christopher Nolan had something to do with it. HBO has finally announced its newest cast members – Taylor Kitsch, Rachel McAdams and Kelly Reilly – but it’s three people that we were already fully aware were involved with the dark anthology drama. Luckily, they're announcements come official character descriptions, which offer us a deeper look into this already complex tale of secrets and murder. 

Season 2 of True Detective will follow a trio of police officers (Colin Farrell, Kitsch and McAdams) who are caught up in a conspiracy-driven mess after a murder affects a city project involving a career criminal (Vince Vaughn). Let’s take a closer look at each of the newly confirmed characters. 

Rachel McAdams

Rachel McAdams (About Time), whose name has been circling this project for a while now, is set to play Ani Bezzerides, a detective for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Dept. According to Deadline, she has uncompromising ethics that complicate her relationships with others, as well as her work. I like that they’re not just making her the go-to good gal that Allison Tolman played in Fargo. McAdams is a delight when she’s being saucy. 

Taylor Kitsch

Taylor Kitsch’s (Savages) name has also been tied to True Detective for ages now, and he even confirmed it himself a while back. He’ll play Paul Woodrugh, a motorcycle officer for the California Highway Patrol. A war veteran, Woodrugh is constantly trying to avoid the mistakes of his past, as well as “the sudden glare of a scandal that never happened.” Now that’s a fruity phrase if I’ve ever read one. What could this unreal scandal be, and why are its glares so sudden? 

 Kelly Reilly

Kelly Reilly (Black Box) will star as Jordan Semyon, the wife of Vince Vaughn’s bad guy Frank. She’s a former D-list actress who keeps herself busy staying on top of Frank’s business and schemes. While the other two actors had been circling the cop roles, Reilly’s role was only previously described as self-possessed, with the name of Morgan. 

Other actors in line for roles in Season 2 are Michael Irby (Almost Human), Abigail Spencer (Suits), Riley Smith (True Blood), Leven Rambin (The Hunger Games), Adria Arjona (Person of Interest), James Frain (Intruders), Michael Hyatt (Franklin & Bash) and Lolita Davidovich (Good God). Are they official or just rumored at this point? Only time and the sluggish HBO can tell. 

Expect to find True Detective Season 2 causing Twitter meltdowns when it hits HBO at some point in 2015. 

SEE ALSO:  ENTERTAINMENT More: TV Rachel McAdams True Detective HBO Rachel McAdams Cast In 'True Detective' Season 2

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HBO has released the first teaser trailer for the next season of "True Detective."

Season 2 of the series, starring Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, and Rachel McAdams will premiere June 21. It will comprise of eight hour-long episodes. 

Farrell will play detective Ray Velcoro, while Vaughn takes on the role of a career criminal.

Here's the official synopsis from HBO: Three police officers and a career criminal must navigate a web of conspiracy in the aftermath of a murder. 

“Fast and Furious” franchise director Justin Lin is directing the first two episodes.

Watch the trailer below.

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HBO just dropped another minute-long trailer for "True Detective" season 2, and for anyone who was skeptical about Vince Vaughn in a serious role, that's about to change.

The dialogue heavy trailer gives us a good look at our four leads — Vaughn, Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, and Taylor Kitsch — and the first look at Vaughn looks pretty menacing.

The new season will follow three cops (McAdams, Farrell, and Kitsch) along with Vaughn as a career criminal who "navigate a web of conspiracy" after a murder.

"True Detective" season 2 premieres on HBO June 21.

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In a revealing interview with British GQ for their July issue, Vince Vaughn opened up about many topics, including his thoughts on gun laws in America.

The magazine has posted a preview of the interview on their site. 

On the topic of Americans’ rights to own guns, Vaughn said:

"I support people having a gun in public full stop, not just in your home. We don't have the right to bear arms because of burglars; we have the right to bear arms to resist the supreme power of a corrupt and abusive government. It's not about duck hunting; it's about the ability of the individual. It's the same reason we have freedom of speech. It's well known that the greatest defence against an intruder is the sound of a gun hammer being pulled back.”

Vaughn, who has made public in the past that he owns a gun and believes citizens should have the right to use weapons to project themselves, went on to say that “banning guns is like banning forks in an attempt to stop making people fat.”

Vaughn also believes that guns should be allowed in schools:

“In all of our schools it is illegal to have guns on campus, so again and again these guys go and shoot up these f------ schools because they know there are no guns there. They are monsters killing six-year-olds… You think the politicians that run my country and your country don't have guns in the schools their kids go to? They do. And we should be allowed the same rights.”

Vaughn will be seen next in season two of “True Detective,” which premieres June 21 on HBO.

SEE ALSO: 6 disappointing Vince Vaughn movies that had better opening weekends than "Unfinished Business"

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NOW WATCH: HBO just released a new trailer for 'True Detective' season 2 and it looks phenomenal

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

If you were a fan of "True Detective" last season, get ready to be addicted to the upcoming season two.

But if you’re late to the game and never watched season one, don’t worry, it’s a whole new cast and whole new story. Though show creator Nic Pizzolatto has kept a few things the same.

We got a chance to see the first few episode of the second season of the hit HBO drama and put together a few reasons you should be excited for June 21st.

1. The new cast is looking good

Many were skeptical that the cast for season two could top the performances by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in the first season. But it’s certainly looking from the first few episodes that Pizzolatto has found the right group to play this season’s twisted souls.

Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell), Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams), and Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch) are cops from different departments who are forced to work together to solve a murder. But like the first season, all these officers have dark personal lives and ulterior motives that will be fun to see play out through the talents of Farrell, McAdams, and Kitsch.

And then there’s Vince Vaughn playing shady businessman Frank Semyon, who might be trying to go legit thanks to a new venture he’s getting off the ground. But with his business partner recently coming up dead, it’s looking like Semyon's dark side will soon show itself. Trust us, Vaughn playing evil is going to be good.  

2. Who killed Casper?
Like the murder of Dora Lange in season one, the murder of city manager Ben Casper, who was also Semyon’s business partner, is the incident that has brought all our main characters together. Casper is a no show for Semyon’s unveiling party for his proposed high-speed train line through the middle of the state. Later that evening, Woodrugh finds Casper up the coast dead with his eyes burn out with acid. The whodunit is now in place for season two as not just the police want to know who did this to Casper, but Semyon too.

3. From Bayou to industrial 

As season one was filled with the woods and swamps of Louisiana, we’ve now been drastically moved to concrete and smog in California. The main area of Los Angeles County we find ourselves in is Vinci, an industrial city that’s known best for its crooked politicians and having the worst air pollution in the state. As our main characters try to figure out who killed Capser, Vinci’s decrepit landscape looks to be our main setting.

4. Flat circles to wavy lines
The super fans of season one couldn’t get enough of searching for secrets buried in the shots and production design of every episode. Especially its theme of circles. With Los Angeles’ endless freeways and roads along the pacific coast (and the proposed train line), it looks like this season’s theme will be lines that go as far as the horizon. An appropriate feel as the director of numerous episodes this season is “Fast and Furious” franchise alum Justin Lin. 

5. There will be blood
It’s become apparent that Nic Pizzolatto loves two things, dialogue and violence. And season two has a lot of each. So far Farrell and Vaughn’s characters have delivered the most powerful dialogue-driven performances, but we’ll certainly see all the leads get their moment in the spotlight. And when it comes to brutality, be sure not to miss the first episode as Farrell’s Velcoro character has a laps in judgment that’s as twisted as anything from the first season.

SEE ALSO: The Rock's new HBO series "Ballers" uses NFL logos without the league's consent

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NOW WATCH: HBO just released a new trailer for 'True Detective' season 2 and it looks phenomenal

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

For most of his career Vince Vaughn has made us laugh. But in season two of HBO's “True Detective,” we see a different side of the actor and the change up comes at a perfect time in his career.

In “True Detective,” Vaughn plays Frank Semyon, a shady businessman who intends to go on the straight-and-narrow (or so we think) with his plan to create a high-speed rail system through California. However, when his legitimate business partner is viciously murdered, Semyon has to return to his dark past to find out who killed him.

The move to TV comes when Vaughn has hit a speed bump in his movie career.

Vaughn hasn’t had a hit in years. His latest movie, “Unfinished Business,” had a worldwide gross of only $13.6 million. Prior to that, he starred in a string of flops including "Delivery Man" and "The Internship."

But Vaughn in “True Detective” is dark, twisted, and has the perfect delivery to play a tough-guy villain. This shouldn’t be much of a surprise for Vaughn fans who love watching him play the dickish, short-tempered friend in films like in “Swingers” and “Made.” He's also played the “bad guy” in “Anchorman” (and its sequel) and “Starsky & Hutch.” 

If you dig deeper into his filmography, you may recall Vaughn's forgettable evil performances as Norman Bates in the Gus Van Sant 1998 shot-for-shot remake of “Psycho” and a step father in 2001’s “Domestic Disturbance.”

But the difference with “True Detective” is that he’s coming into a popular show known for having incredible performances. Both Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson were nominated for Emmys for their starring roles in season one.

Vaughn has big shoes to fill. For season two, show creator Nic Pizzolatto needed an actor who could pull off playing a character full of complexities in his personal life and profession, but also be able to hold his own opposite co-stars Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, and Taylor Kitsch (all playing police officers).

It turns out, Vaughn was the perfect choice.

The actor uses his dry whit to deliver on-the-mark sarcastic replies when talking to his underlings (not to mention great stare-downs with Farrell), and wows in one of the most chilling moments so far at the beginning of the second episode.

While laying in bed looking up at a water stain on his ceiling, his Semyon character gives a two-minute plus monologue on how the stain reminds him about his childhood abuse from his father.

The chocked-up whisper and tearing up as he recounts the horrific episode from his youth as the camera looks down on him from the ceiling is up there as one of the best performances Vaughn has ever given.

The scene leaves the viewer with the notion that Semyon is completely twisted and as the episodes progress his actions only confirm that.

It’s hard to say if we have a “McConaissance” building for Vaughn (the term used for season one star Matthew McConaughey’s recent evolution from relationship comedy stud to Oscar winner). But to see Vaughn shine in a role like this should make his fans optimistic that the actor is turning a corner in his career.

Season two of “True Detective” begins June 21 on HBO.

SEE ALSO: 5 reasons to get excited about "True Detective" season 2

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NOW WATCH: HBO just released a new trailer for 'True Detective' season 2 and it looks phenomenal

Sunday night is the night many have been waiting for.

"True Detective" is back with a whole new cast and a trailer that makes us all impatient for it to start.

The new season will follow three cops (Rachel McAdams, Colin Farrell, and Taylor Kitsch) along with Vince Vaughn as a career criminal who "navigate a web of conspiracy" after a murder.

"True Detective" season 2 premieres on HBO Sunday. June 21.

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After over a year of anticipation, the second season of "True Detective" premiered Sunday night on HBO.

Unlike most shows, "True Detective" is an anthology series, meaning that each season will contain a completely different setting and cast of characters.

This season trades the swamps of Louisiana for the freeways of Los Angeles and stars Rachel McAdams, Colin Farrell, Taylor Kitsch, and Vince Vaughn in a mosaic of characters who blur the line between cop and criminal.

Season one of "True Detective" received nearly universal praise, especially for director Cary Fukunaga and stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. With all of them not returning for the new season (Fukunaga is listed as an executive producer, but he made no creative decisions), the new season had a lot to live up to.

After just one episode, it unfortunately looks like fan expectations won't be met. 

Viewers have been taking to Twitter to express their dissatisfaction with the first episode of season two.

Nobody could follow the story

It was painfully slow

 It's a little too predictable

Then again, season two of "True Detective" might have been doomed from the start.

A lot of shows get off to a bad start in their first episode, and then improve as they figure out their voice. So all is not yet lost for 'True Detective.' It still has a stellar cast and plenty of chances to find its voice.

The season two premiere of "True Detective" was basically a pilot that also happened to be the second season of a tremendously popular show. Most pilots don't have this many expectations tied to them.

While there were some people who acknowledged that this episode was a let down, they are trying to wade past expectations and give it a fair chance. 

 "True Detective" airs on Sunday nights on HBO at 9:00 p.m.

SEE ALSO: 5 reasons to get excited about ‘True Detective’ season 2

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NOW WATCH: HBO just released a new trailer for 'True Detective' season 2 and it looks phenomenal

Going into the premiere episode of True Detective season two, we knew the answers to almost all of the show’s most basic, production-based mysteries: who’d star, who’d direct, and where the season would be set.

But there was still one crucial piece of the puzzle missing: Who would sing the theme song? As we learned tonight, the answer to that question turned out to be pretty awesome: none other than Leonard Cohen.

Yep, that sparse, gravelly, and altogether badass song you heard over the opening credits was “Nevermind,” a track off Cohen’s most recent studio album, 2014’s Popular Problems. As we know from last season, when music supervisor T Bone Burnett chose the Handsome Family’s dark, slinky “Far From Any Road” as the theme song, True Detective is the kind of show that puts a lot of stock in its opening credits — they set the show’s all-important tone.

Judging from last night’s episode, the mood of season two is even bleaker than its nihilistic-but-campy predecessor, and “Nevermind” — a laconic, husky-throated dirge that hangs over the opening credits like a heavy fog — was our first indication of that fact. Cohen’s low, weathered voice booms like an Old Testament God played by John Wayne.

Cohen began his career as a poet before he ever took a stab at writing songs, and “Nevermind” began its life as a poem. He first published it in 2005 on the Leonard Cohen Files, a fan site on which he sometimes posts works in progress or previously unreleased material.

A year later, “Never Mind” (the poem title is two words, the song title is one, and Cohen is the sort of writer who is so jazzed about the tiny nuances of language that this does make a difference) was published in his long-awaited poetry collection, Book of Longing, his first in more than 30 years. 

No matter the form of what he’s working on, Cohen is a notoriously slow writer, sometimes laboring over a piece for as long as a decade. He once told an interviewer that his writing process is “like a bear stumbling into a beehive or a honey cache: I’m stumbling right into it and getting stuck, and it’s delicious and horrible and I’m in it and it’s not very graceful and it’s very awkward and it’s very painful and yet there’s something inevitable about it.” Put another way, see Popular Problems’ great manifesto of an opening track, “Slow”: “I’m slowing down the tune/ I’ve never liked it fast/ You wanna get there soon/ I wanna get there last.”

On the surface, “Nevermind” sounds terribly bleak, echoing the show’s flirtations with nihilism and theories about the meaningless of existence: “There’s truth that lives/ And truth that dies/ I don’t know which/ So nevermind.” (It is the sort of song I can imagine Matthew McConaughey listening to on repeat in his Lincoln.) The song has been condensed for the credits, but on the album it’s more apparent that it is about the aftermath of a war, most likely in the Middle East. (In the longer version, kirtan singer Donna DeLory repeatedly sings the word salaam in the background.) Their contrasting vocal stylings, and languages, echo the duality that Cohen contemplates in the lyrics.

But taken in the context of Cohen’s life and career, the song is more complex than a brooding, noir-ish downer. Book of Longing was, notably, the first work that Cohen published after becoming an ordained Rinzai Zen Buddhist monk; he spent five years in the mid to late ’90s living in seclusion in a monastery outside of L.A.

Considered with Cohen’s Zen practice in mind, the refrain of nevermind starts to feel less like a declaration of Rust Cohle–esque nihilism and more like an embrace of Buddhist non-attachment and the surrender of the self: “I had to leave/ My life behind/ I had a name/ But nevermind.” In the monastery, Cohen took the name “Jikan,” which roughly translates to “silent one” — a particularly ironic moniker for someone who, in the outside world, had made his name as a famous singer.

This is, of course, not the first time one of Cohen’s songs has played a prominent role on a soundtrack.

In 1971, Robert Altman used three of the songs off Songs of Leonard Cohen to unforgettably haunting effect in McCabe & Mrs. Miller, layering them almost like ambient sounds that floated in and out of the film’s atmosphere. Then — following the success of his masterful synth-driven comeback album, 1988’s I’m Your Man — the ’90s saw a whole new generation embrace Cohen through his placement on soundtracks: A few I’m Your Man songs appeared in the Christian Slater flick Pump Up the Volume, and more famously, songs from his 1992 album The Future were used in Natural Born Killers. Cohen’s no stranger to TV either: You can go to Hulu right now and watch Cohen’s 1984 guest appearance on (yep, really) Miami Vice.

In a way, “slow” has been the default speed for Cohen’s entire career. It took decades (and countless covers) for his song “Hallelujah” to become the beloved anthem it is today, and his hugely successful 2008 world tour was something of a long-delayed victory lap. (His 2012 album, the cheekily titled Old Ideas, was also his highest-charting album to date.) Hopefully, the True Detective bump will expose a whole new generation to Cohen’s music and continue his late-career renaissance. And hey, maybe the show’s producers can even hook him up with the designers who do those evocative credit-sequence visuals. As the cover of his most recent live album demonstrates, he’s in pretty dire need of a new Photoshop guy.

SEE ALSO: Vince Vaughn plays a convincing villain in 'True Detective' season 2

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NOW WATCH: Forget 'True Detective' — HBO's new show 'Ballers' featuring The Rock looks like the hit of the summer

WARNING: Mild spoilers below

On Sunday night, the much anticipated new season of "True Detective" finally dropped on everyone's TV sets and the reaction was ... not so good.

As colleague Ian Phillips notes in his round-up of reaction, a lot of the hate from fans revolves around a storyline that's too difficult to follow and the slow-moving nature of the show.

Everyone is getting it wrong.

In reality, the new "True Detective" is reverse-engineering your normal, run-of-the-mill character development. As a result, we're being introduced to this whole new world in a very different way, which I think is going to lead to big payoffs very quickly.

This season of the show takes place in Los Angeles and stars Rachel McAdams, Colin Farrell, Taylor Kitsch, and Vince Vaughn. The first three are all law enforcement of some type and Vince Vaughn plays a crime boss.

Episode 1 is incredibly fractured. It's told in a series of bite-size slices of life that give us individual insight into the characters. And it's true, many of these scenes are not specifically plot driven. Many of the things we see or that happen are likely not going to be part of any larger plot that this season of the show offers.

But they are crucial to character development and information, and that is what's so genius about episode 1.

Television shows of this type often follow somewhat of a formula. One that "True Detective" rejects. Let's take the example of the TV show "Lost," for example.

In "Lost," the inciting incident happens right at the beginning (plane crash on deserted island). The action starts right from the start. As the show progresses, it pushes forward with the plot but also has to spend a lot of time in flashbacks. The idea being, the more we know about these characters, the more we care about them. And of course, the events of their past can inform plot twists and turns of the present.

This takes a lot of time, and it takes us away from the forward motion of the plot. This is the same formula many shows follow to help tie everything together for the viewer. But sometimes, as someone watching the show, it can be distracting.

"True Detective" is flipping the script this season.

Every character gets a few scenes of them living their lives outside of whatever the big plot of the show is (or will be). That lets us get to know them right off the bat. Sure, we're going to find out more, other things will be revealed, and our interpretations of these characters will change as we learn more.

But in this episode, the plot doesn't really start until minute 60. At the very end, all the characters we've been following the whole time (except Vince Vaughn) converge around one plot point — one incident. From there, you know they will start embarking on some detective journey and we'll start getting into the real meat of the show.

But by the time we get there, to that moment of convergence, we already know so much about these characters.

We know Ani Bezzerides (McAdams) likes weird sex, has an estranged father and sister, is high strung, and likes to blow off steam drinking and gambling late at night.

We know Ray Velcoro (Farrell) is trying to get custody of his alleged son (the paternity is a bit fuzzy), and has a drinking problem.

We know Paul Woodrugh (Kitsch) has scars all over his body from earlier in life, has trouble with intimacy, and possesses a self-destructive tendency.

And we know Frank Semyon (Vaughn) is a crime boss with a good family life and what seems like a good heart. He is as ambitious as he seems compassionate, and he has a storied relationship with Ray.

We find out a whole lot more as well about these characters. But most importantly, as we head into the big case which will drive the story forward, we get who these people are. And we already know a lot about them beyond a mere first impression.

That's going to infuse the story with a ton more life as we move forward, and make each twist and turn all the more juicy.

Slow? No story? No way, we're just getting started and this is going to be fun ... and probably a little disturbing.

SEE ALSO: Everyone is drowning in disappointment after the first episode of the new 'True Detective'

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NOW WATCH: HBO just released a new trailer for 'True Detective' season 2 and it looks phenomenal

The opening titles for the first season of True Detective were mesmerizing — and instantly iconic. Like everything else about last season, they loom large, almost begging us to compare the freshman and sophomore outings. Are Farrell, Vaughn, McAdams, and Kitsch as obsession-worthy as McConaughey and Harrelson? Unclear! Are these new titles as hypnotic and mysterious as season one's? Oh, absolutely.

 Both sequences are from creative director Patrick Clair and production house Elastic, so, perhaps unsurprisingly, the vibe is very much intact: the double-exposure visual style, the sense of turmoil and doom, and a combining of organic and inorganic imagery. Roadways in particular make strong appearances in both, which seems appropriate given how much of the show takes place in a car. But a couple of key moments in the new opener seem to point to what we should and shouldn't expect from the rest of this season.

Season one's titles included several images of anonymous female bodies: a bare ass pressed against spiky high heels, a topless woman floating in water, a heavily mascaraed blinking eye, a dancer in an American-flag bathing suit. That season had plenty of action happening to or on or at women, but not much happening in terms of women doing much of anything themselves. The absence of those images here seems to nod at this season's apparent reaction to those criticisms, what with a disfigured male victim as our central crime and female characters with interior lives.

There's also a lack of spiritual imagery in this second batch. Season one's titles included several crosses, preachers, churches, plus Matthew McConaughey's Jesus-y visage. In the end, religion didn't have much to do with the actual crimes at hand, but there was plenty of talk of religiosity, of faith, of wisdom. There's also far less nature in this second set of credits: no antlers or jellyfish. It's more mechanical, more scorched. The color palette this time is heavily red (instead of yellows and greens), and the fire imagery isn't lapping tongues of flame (like before) but volcanic fire, utter immersion. While both sequences use images of machinery, season two uses more, plus there are more zoomed-out images — a whole city skyline, a glowing river cutting through farmland, erosion maps of a fading coastline.

Season one's titles were designed to "reveal character through location"— through the conflict between the choking pollution and the languid water, the grimy prostitution and the enraged, shouting evangelists. It's easy now to say, yes, that does reflect season one of True Detective. These new titles are of course very evocative of California, but there seems to be less an emphasis on inner turmoil and more an emphasis on large-scale placement, less who am I? and more which part of the puzzle am I?

This all comes together in a brief shot of Rachel McAdams, somehow looking like both a cyborg and a skull, with her eye obscured by what appears to be a surveyor's level. That plays into that zooming-out/zooming-in tension, the idea of being both close up and far away, a conflict of scale: What is big, and what is small? Even in just the first episode, we've seen the idea emerge that minor players have major effects. The closing shot is of Venus passing in front of the sun, at once huge and dwarfed, an image of the solar system that looks briefly biological rather than astronomical. The large-scale operations (say, transit in the entire state of California) mimic the small-scale agonies (say, a fractured relationship with a sibling). This season, the big is small, the small is big, and everything that seems far away can draw close in a hurry.

Oh, plus that Leonard Cohen song.

SEE ALSO: Everyone is drowning in disappointment after the first episode of the new 'True Detective'

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NOW WATCH: HBO just released a new trailer for 'True Detective' season 2 and it looks phenomenal

Back in 2014, Nic Pizzolatto teased the second season of "True Detective" by saying he was trying to capture the "psychosphere ambiance" of Southern California, telling the TCA he was hoping to set the season in "the places that don’t get much press and where you wouldn’t normally set a television show."

Well, he found it — "True D"'s second season is set in and around the fictional town of Vinci, a business community on the fringes of Los Angeles that, judging from Sunday night's season premiere, appears to be corrupt to its very core.

Pizzolatto didn't have to delve deep into Lovecraftian mythos for his inspiration this year; as he told Vanity Fair, he only had to look a few miles south of Downtown L.A. to find the city of Vernon, an industrial wasteland where the corruption charges outnumber people.

As the L.A. Times' history of the city puts it, criminality has been baked into Vernon's DNA since the very beginning.

The community was co-founded by a Basque immigrant named John Baptiste Leonis, who around the turn of the previous century incorporated a patch of sparsely populated farmland near the rail lines in the hopes of turning it into a mecca for manufacturing. The city lured business interest with low utility rates and sparse regulations, and Leonis promoted the town as a haven for boxing, gambling, and drinking. Vernon, in essence, became the exact type of place L.A. noir was made of — and Leonis ruled over it like a petty dictator.

As one political rival told the Times in 1925, "In that town, you do not file papers at the City Hall. You simply hand them to John and he puts them in his pocket. If he is in favor of the proposition, it goes through; if he is opposed, that's the last you hear of it."

Vernon only includes a small handful of residences — its population has hovered around 100 — most of which are owned by the city, allowing the local bosses to create a powerful network of political patronage. With taxes from businesses flowing in, they were also able to redirect the city's funds into their own pockets.

After surviving corruption charges that brought down four high-ranking members of Vernon's oligarchy, Leonis died in 1953 a very rich man, and his grandson Leonis Malburg inherited both his fortune and his political influence; he was elected mayor in 1978 and didn't leave office for another three decades. (Vernon had no competitive elections from 1980 to 2006.)

Malburg pops up in "True Detective" as the obvious inspiration for Vinci's seedy mayor, who lives in posh digs in Beverly Hills. In real life, Malburg was convicted of voter fraud in 2009 after it came out that he had been falsifying his Vernon address and really lived in a Hancock Park mansion he'd inherited from his grandfather.

Malburg's conviction came amid a flood of corruption charges for Vernon's elite — city administrators were found to have spent public funds on lavish trips for themselves, on top of the million-dollar salaries they were already receiving — and in 2011, State Senator John Perez launched a bill to de-incorporate the city and absorb it back into the city of Los Angeles.

The effort failed after Vernon politicians promised a spate of reforms, including pay limits for government employees and public investment in neighboring communities. A year later, with the state auditing Vernon's finances, former administrator Eric Fresch was found dead on AngelIsland in San Francisco Bay, an incident that may have inspired the death of Vinci city manager Ben Caspere in"True Detective." (The Marin County coroner's office later determined Fresch's death was the result of an accidental fall, which seems unlikely to be the case on "True D.")

Today, Vernon is home to companies like Tapatío hot sauce and True Religion jeans. Its Wikipedia summary is unintentionally poetic: 

Meatpacking plants and warehouses are common. As of 2006, there were no parks.

Despite city officials' claim to have cleaned up the city in the wake of the failed de-incorporation campaign, Vernon's lack of environmental regulations is still wreaking havoc on its neighbors: For years, residents in East L.A. fought to close an Exide battery plant in Vernon that was emitting lead and arsenic into the surrounding area; after more than a decade of fines, the plant was finally shut down for good in March.

But if Vernon officials are upset about the city's reputation, they don't seem to mind "True Detective" bringing the city's sordid history back into the spotlight. In fact, they even let HBO shoot scenes in the city limits."

'True Detective' will have some settings that look like the city, sound like the city and feel like the city," Vernon spokesman Frederic MacFarlane told the Times. "But it's not going to be the city of Vernon."

SEE ALSO: Everyone is drowning in disappointment after the first episode of the new 'True Detective'

AND: The haters are wrong — the new season of 'True Detective' is actually doing something genius

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NOW WATCH: HBO just released a new trailer for 'True Detective' season 2 and it looks phenomenal

Warning: MAJOR spoilers.

Following last week’s season premiere of “True Detective,” in which many thought it was slow and boring, episode two contains an important moment for the season.

A lot happens in Sunday's episode, from Vince Vaughn’s incredible bedroom monologue at the open to the classic police procedural traits taking form.

But the moment that should have confirmed your allegiance to the latest season (or made you kick in your TV) is the final scene when following a tip provided by Frank Semyon (Vaughn), Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell) enters Ben Casper’s mysterious second residence and is shot-gunned in the chest and left for dead.

Needless to say, people were shocked on Twitter.

But let’s pause for a second for those who need a refresher.

This season is set in the fictitious city of Vinci in Los Angeles County. From episode one we know that city manager Ben Casper has been brutally murdered and now police officers Velcoro, Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams), and Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch) — all from different departments; all with ulterior motives — are investigating what happened to Casper.

But Casper also means a lot to one shady businessman, Semyon. The two have been working closely on developing a lucrative high-speed rail line through the middle of California that will thrust Semyon out of the underworld and make him fully legitimate.

Episode two follows all parties as they try to figure out who is behind Casper’s murder.

However, the lead-up to the episode’s shocking ending gives us a whole lot to chew on.

For starters, how Semyon got the intel about Casper’s second place.

Semyon is on the warpath to make sure the creation of his rail line doesn’t get sabotaged due to Casper’s untimely death. That includes finding out who killed Casper (and where’s all that money Semyon gave him).

But when it comes to investigating where Casper spent his final moments, Semyon passes Velcoro the address., telling him, “my people ain’t that proficient in evidence handling.”

Velcoro enters Casper’s Hollywood residence to find a pool of blood on the floor, the walls sound-proofed and bizarre masks hanging on them.

He also discovers a camcorder in a small room that has a two-way mirror that looks into the living room.

Then suddenly a person wearing all black and a crow mask walks in and shoots Velcoro.

If you were watching episode one carefully you’ll remember this is the second time the crow mask has made an appearance. It was sitting next to whoever was driving around Casper in last week’s episode.

Now Velcoro is lying on the ground with two shotgun blasts to the chest from some costumed madman.

So is Semyon or one of his goons in that crow mask? Maybe it’s the father Velcoro beat up in the first episode?

Regardless, folks on Twitter are trying to figure out if they have a “Game of Thrones” Ned Stark death on their hands.

What should be certain is your thoughts about the show.

If a moment like this doesn’t make you want to keep watching, then this season isn’t for you.

SEE ALSO: The haters are wrong - the new season of 'True Detective' is actually doing something ingenious

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NOW WATCH: Gaming's 'True Detective' is here, and you can play it on your phone right now

Netflix has just announced the release dates for its upcoming slate of original films, and it's a pretty eclectic set of movies. 

We finally know the release date of Adam Sandler's comedy "The Ridiculous Six," which will be the first of four original films the actor will release on the streaming platform.

"The Ridiculous Six" will be available to stream December 11, 2015. You may remember it made headlines for being so racially offensive that Native American actors walked off the set.

Among the other Netflix releases:

October 16, 2015 you'll be able to see "Beasts of No Nation," the long-awaited film about a child soldier in the middle of an African country's civil war from "True Detective" season one's virtuoso director Cary Fukunaga.

Then in March 2016 "Pee-Wee's Big Holiday" premieres, thanks to Judd Apatow and Paul Ruebens.

The fourth film, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend" wasn't given a date more specific than First Quarter 2016, but the standalone sequel to Ang Lee's 2000 classic will also debut theatrically in China.

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Warning: There are spoilers ahead if you're not caught up with "True Detective."

Are things finally picking up on "True Detective"?

The fourth episode of the turgid HBO drama ended with a stunning shootout that seemed to signal a sea change for the series. And yes, while last night's episode, "Other Lives,"kind of got things moving with a time jump and a vague sense of purpose, there still really isn't much to recommend in the way of quality.

"True Detective" is simply not a good show.

Of course that's a subjective statement, but it's one made after five weeks of earnestly hoping that "True Detective" would come together, coming from someone who really liked the first season.

After five weeks of following developments in the nonsensically elaborate story about the corrupt municipality of Vinci, California, it's probably time to close the book on season two.

Even if the final three episodes (and we have only three left in this story, which is over for good when this season's up) do end up being incredible, "True Detective" is still a TV show, and TV shows are judged by how much their individual episodes are worth watching, not how much their finales are worth the slog.

I'm not even sure what "True Detective" as a series is definitively about, other than just how hard it is to be a man, specifically a white one. It's so hard, says "True Detective." Don't believe it? Look at all the scowling! In the world of "True Detective," everyone is always trying to undermine your manliness. Observe:

Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn) is in danger of losing his money and his imagined dynasty — literally the only significant plot beat his wife, Jordan (Kelly Reilly), is given involves a bit of jealousy over an associate's advances and her infertility, and they're both played for how much this hurts Frank.

War hero Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch) is a man of action — he got hooked on adrenaline at war, and now resorts to high-speed motorcycling at night with the lights off to get his kicks in civilian life. This is all super-manly stuff — the speed, the danger, the action, that he's played by Taylor freaking Kitsch — but there's a problem. Woodrugh is gay. He hates this about himself, because he wants to "be a man"— and even gets a woman pregnant and asks her to marry him to cover it up, even though he clearly is not into being intimate with her. But he has this clear picture of what he's supposed to be, and he's sticking to it.

Burnout cop Ray Velcoro probably has the most tangible threat to his masculinity — his ex-wife was raped, and the paternity of his son isn't certain. Velcoro hates this, but doesn't want to find out that he's not his son's father. This is probably the clearest plot thread, giving us one of the few big moment's of the fifth, most recent episode — Velcoro finds out that his wife's rapist has been apprehended, and that his wife might now know the truth about their son's paternity. (This is also a big moment because it reveals that Frank tipped Ray off to — and had him murder — an innocent man when they first crossed paths years ago.)

Existing as a counterpoint to all this is Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams), who exhibits a litany of traditionally masculine traits: She drinks and gambles hard, doesn't do commitment, is into porn and weird sex, and even balks at smoking her trademark e-cigarette once Ray compares it to oral sex with a robot.

"True Detective" seems like it wants to make some kind of point about sexism with her character — she's punished for fraternizing with a male coworker who doesn't even get a slap on the wrist — but also seems blind to its own sexist attitudes, like the way it seems incapable of developing Bezzerides' character in ways that don't relate to her sexuality.

(That I could barely remember the characters' names when writing this speaks to how unbearably dull this all is.)

What makes it worse is that this is all a retread. Putting aside its Southern Gothic aesthetic, season one of "True Detective" was also preoccupied with similar ideas about masculinity, and they were about as tired then as they are now. The only notable difference in its attitudes was the way it tended to veer to more outward extensions of masculinity — particularly with Marty Hart's (Woody Harrelson) overreaching paternal attitude toward every younger woman he came across.

In fact, just about everything wrong with season two is there in season one: the overwrought, pretentious dialogue, the self-serious tone, and the slow pace. Presumably, this is due to the show's only constant: creator Nic Pizzolatto, who writes every episode.

As season two plods along, it seems more and more like the things that made the first season better were the work of the talented people Pizzolatto collaborated with — virtuoso directing from Cary Fukunaga, stellar performances from the cast, the novelty of its setting, and creepy texture added by referencing a fascinating work of weird fiction.

At its core, though, "True Detective" is as lumbering and dull as it has always been, and we should've known all along. I mean, it's called "True Detective." What a silly title.

SEE ALSO: The haters are wrong, 'True Detective' season 2 is great

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NOW WATCH: Gaming's 'True Detective' is here, and you can play it on your phone right now