True Detective: Church in Ruins Review

True Detective’s “Church in Ruins” didn’t do a whole lot to answer the main questions: Who killed Ben Caspere? Who is Chad’s real dad? Where is Frank Semyon’s five million dollars. But then at this point, where not even sure if these really are the main questions.

This installment picked right up with the kitchen encounter between Frank Semyon and Ray Velcoro over Ray killing the wrong guy for his wife’s rape based on information supplied by Frank. Ray’s deliberate set-up theory is easily explained away by Frank, and Ray’s claim that Frank knew he would kill the guy is laughed off. It was actually cute, in a way, how the two sat there with one hand on the table and one hand on a gun trigger under the table while they sorted out their distrust of each other. Ray gave Frank the low-down on Blake, Tony Chessani and Dr. Pitlor. Frank still needs that missing hard drive and Irina, the prostitute who pawned some of Caspere’s goodies. Frank says that Ray might be the only real friend he’s got left. Awwww. Ray thinks that would be really f–d up if true.

Ray’s visit with Chad is now being supervised by a state worker who takes notes and tells him to refrain from interacting with her. It is just driving Ray up the wall. Chad doesn’t like the air plane model Ray bought him because it kills people. The kid just wants to watch “Friends” and eat pizza. You have to wonder if Ray really loves this kid as much as he keeps insisting. He has never believed Chad is his biologically. He obviously finds the child’s habits repulsive. Remember the sneaker incident where he verbally abused Chad and called him a fat p*ssy. After this failure of a visit, he goes on the binge of the century, cocaine, booze, cigarettes. It’s a wonder he didn’t burn the place down. He did destroy all the model airplanes that he and Chad built together. When he comes out of it, he pitifully calls Gena and begs her to drop the paternity test in exchange for him dropping out of their lives forever. Gena says she is doing it for herself, not Chad. He makes her swear to never tell Chad the results. There will be no need to if he is Chad’s father, but he is so sure that he’s not, that doesn’t come up. She gives her word.

The good and bad sides of Frank Semyon continue to manifest themselves as he pays a visit to Stan’s widow and comforts Stan’s distraught son. Frank and his crew then extort information from a Mexican with nails. One in the hand and one in the back. The next one is going in the eye, so the guy spills and that lands Frank in a “Mexican standoff with actual Mexicans.” These are the same guys Frank previously refused to deal with. Now he needs their help and makes a lot of insane concessions to get it, like letting them run their stuff through his club 3 days a week and keep 100% of their profits for a year. He doesn’t trust these guys to begin with. They can have any old girl pretend to be Irina, but they don’t. Over the phone, she reveals that a skinny cop gave her the goods to fence. That leaves out the portly and flatulent Teague Dixon, doesn’t it? When Frank goes to meet Irina, unfortunately, his new partners have done her in because she talked to cops.

In spite of his personal troubles and the deal he made with Frank, Ray Velcoro is still on Kathleen Davis’ special detail with Paul Woodrugh and Ani Bezzerides. Ani is learning how to infiltrate one of those Tony-Blake-Osip parties with Dr. Pitlor’s products from her sister, Athena. As Ani practices on a target with her knife, Athena says she will be searched and won’t be bringing her purse, phone or anything else to the party. Paul and Ray figure they can still keep tabs on her if she sticks a transponder on her somewhere they won’t search. Ray suggests her shoe in response to her quizzical look.

Blake thinks Ani looks older than she claimed to be but let’s her get on the bus with the other women. She is transported to a mansion filled with rich and powerful dirty old men and apparently, some others who might recognize her since she keeps gasping and ducking into corners. She also had to go along with letting some woman spray a shot of “Molly” (ecstasy) into her mouth. All of this strains the imagination. After an old dude puts the moves on her, she escapes to bathroom where she forces herself to throw up, but while she was hallucinating, she kept seeing a long-haired bearded hippie enticing her to go to a van with him. We didn’t get how throwing up was going to help her get straight but that was nothing. Wouldn’t you just know that the missing girl, Vera, was in the ladies’ room. Quelle coincidence.

Meantime, Ray and Paul have made their way to the mansion by disposing of any obstacles in their path, like security guards. The approach the room of the home right where McCandless and Osip are talking shop. After they leave, Paul unlocks the window and stuffs a bunch of documents in his pants.

As Ani flees with Vera, the old dude tries to impede her progress but she flattens him. A big security guard accosts her and begins choking the life out of her. Ani had slipped a knife in the back of her dress when she passed by a carving table earlier so we see her make good on her claim that any guy who lays a hand on her will bleed out in under a minute– even if he is in the process of throttling her.

She gets out with Vera right where Paul is. Ray went to get the car. Off they go with gunmen hot on their heels, pile in the car and speed off. Ray notices Vera. Paul breaks out the documents and notices signatures all over them. Ani notices that she probably killed someone and dissolves into tears.

Two other scenes:

Paul Woodrugh met up with a detective assigned to a 1992 jewelry robbery when the blue diamonds were first stolen. The owners were murdered and their 2 little kids were left orphaned. The kids are now suspected of being Tony and Betty Chessani. By the audience. Not by Paul. There is also a theory that the skinny cop who dealt with Irina is Lt. Kevin Burris.

Ray paid a visit to the “real rapist” at the jail, making dire threats involving cheese grater torture. Ray told him to look in his eyes to determine how serious he was. It must have been awful scary.