True Detective Review: Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (Season 3 Episode 2)
On True Detective Season 3 Episode 2 “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,” the investigation turns towards its many threads and its potential suspects. Wayne Hays (Mahershala Ali) and Roland West (Stephen Dorff) chase the leads wherever they may take them, including the events of Halloween and the whereabouts of a child predator.
“You ever been someplace you couldn’t leave, and couldn’t stay? Both at the same time?” – Brett (Michael Greyeyes)
It’s the defining line of Wayne Hays, who is trapped inside himself but finds himself wandering away all the same. It’s uttered during the questioning of “The Trash Man,” a nickname for a man who collects scrap in the hopes of selling for a profit, who was seen before their disappearance. But it’s words tied tightly to the show’s lead, as his condition is explored more loosely than the premiere, but more affecting, as the last moments show.
The episode opens on the investigation in full swing. Checking the river, dusting for evidence on the bike, and an autopsy report: someone broke Will’s neck. The raw fear of the murder and disappearance of the Purcell children leaves the town in a panic, with families keeping their kids home from school.
A small town on edge even reflects down on Wayne and Roland’s methods, a tip sending them into aggressively interrogating a convicted child predator, which ultimately turns into a dead end.
The framework is more immediate in the second episode, with 1990 and 2015 complementing and adding to the past with little asides and windows into the various periods of Wayne’s life as he speaks with Alan (Jon Tenney) during the deposition and his son Henry (Ray Fisher) in 2015 as they overlook the community center.
Visiting old haunts and touchstones is Wayne’s way of trying to reconnect to the past, his wife Amelia (Carmen Ejogo) being a significant piece of the puzzle to his memories.
Amelia manages to help with a lead on the dolls, getting one of the other children to reveal how they were being given out over Halloween and Julie had had one. But it causes the detective duo to scrape up against the world of politics, where voluntary searches of the Halloween route would rub constituents in the wrong way. The information is instead given out at a press conference, leading to their only clue lost to the wind.
Wayne and Amelia continue to grow closer over the course of the episode, at the town hall, during the question of Will and Julie’s friend, and at the bar.
Their honesty and chemistry really settles each character down to their core in what they choose to reveal and how forthright they are to one another. The bar scene is wonderful for both Ali and Ejogo, allowing them to play to their strengths.
The questioning of cousin Dan (Michael Graziadei) leads down some intriguing paths. Ali’s eyeing him up and down with disdain throughout the scene is fantastic, as you know can almost feel his disgust and the peephole question coming (from Will’s closet). But it never comes, not with such an audience at the funeral.
Tom (Scoot McNairy) tries to return to work after such devastating loss, but his anger and pain and everyone treating him different leaves him at a loss. His breakdown in the back of the detectives’ car is heartbreaking, and Scoot McNairy gives an exhaustive and moving performance as a man at his wit’s end.
“Do not worry
Julie is in a good
Place and safe
The children shud [sic]
Laugh do not
Look let go” – Note sent to the Purcell home
Little hints, like with Eliza (Sarah Gadon) in the interview mentioning “what happened with Julie and her father [Tom],” and the hellish note the Purcell home receives leaves the investigation to be at a square one at episode’s end. Information earlier in the deposition mentions how they “got the wrong guy”, leaving the first two episodes with a large amount of speculation.
In the other timelines, 1990 Wayne wants to pursue Julie’s reappearance. He has more of a temper now, as though the weight of the world has crashed down on him. Wayne looks at Amelia’s galleys for her book about the case almost contemptuously, incredibly distracted from his family.
2015 Wayne reminisces on Amelia’s success fondly, as though those moments we saw earlier never happened. Wayne mentions he never could finish the book with how much he is mentioned in it, a flaw in his character to avoid a potential trove of information.
But it’s in the final moments of the episode, where Wayne reflects on his daughter Rebecca potentially coming home twice without realizing it and then snaps to a parking lot with deep concern on his face, where we see memory, and possibly even reality, is malleable in Wayne Hays’ world.
The parking lot must have some sentimental or significance to him, as it appears to be the shock of the location and not the sudden shift of venue which upsets him the most.
True Detective Season 3 Episode 2 is a strong follow-up, giving the characters room to breathe and show who they really are. The bar scene becomes the most genuine and engaging moment of the episode, where the everything settles and is allowed time for two great actors to work together. The seeds of the past are compelling, and will hopefully help an older Wayne gain some peace.
Some extra observations:
- Mahershala Ali makes excellent lightsaber sounds, and should do them more often.
- Cousin Dan watching CHiPs was a surprising revelation.
What did you think of this episode of True Detective? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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True Detective airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.