HBO is preparing to touch darkness once again with the second season of True Detective. A while ago a trailer was released, promising to deliver all the usual hallmarks of existential despair, including pornstaches, knuckledusters, and a grumpy Vince Vaughn. Today HBO unveiled the season poster and the tagline “We Get The World We Deserve.” The World We Deserve looks damn ugly: the poster features a photo of the underside of a Los Angeles freeway, with a flickering orange light in the background.
Because True Detective excels at driving its obsessive fans into detailed deconstructionist analysis of every frame and every line of dialogue, HBO can sit back and enjoy the inevitable online discussion and debate as to what this poster signifies. There is a wire fence in the foreground of the photo. Does that mean the series will feature wire-tapping? Or is it about keeping evil separate from civilized society? Or is it just, you know, a fence? And why do we see the underside of a freeway? Because of the dark underbelly of civilization? Because they tend to be tagged by graffiti artists–much to the chagrin of David Lynch? Is that why the world is so ugly, and is that the world we deserve? Will the series feature cryptic graffiti? Freeways take us on journeys, but they’re often congested, making you feel like you’re going nowhere. Or going around in a flat circle, perhaps. And what is the meaning of the flickering orange light. Is it the Yellow King? Or is it the smoldering remains of Vince Vaughn’s career? Or a hobo’s campfire? All will be revealed–maybe–on June 21st when the season premieres.
