Philosophical pessimism and influences '' as the backbone for much of the season's story. Critics have offered many readings of the influence of
weird and
horror fiction on
True Detective narrative, often examining the influence of
Robert W. Chambers' short story collection
The King in Yellow (1895) and
Thomas Ligotti. Allusions to
The King in Yellow can be observed in the show's dark philosophy, its recurring use of "
Carcosa" and "The Yellow King" as
motifs throughout the series, and its symbolic use of yellow as a thematic signature that signifies insanity and decadence. Pizzolatto was accused of plagiarizing Ligotti because of close similarities between lines in
True Detective and text from Ligotti's nonfiction book
The Conspiracy Against the Human Race (2010)—accusations Pizzolatto denied, while acknowledging Ligotti's influence. Other philosophers and writers identified as influences include
Arthur Schopenhauer, Mathijs Peters, in a piece for
Film International, argued that
True Detective probes Schopenhauerian philosophy through its approach to individuality, self-denial, and the battle between dark and light. Ben Woodard noted the show's evolving philosophy, which examines a setting where culture, religion and society are the consequences of biological weakness. Woodward wrote, "Biological programming gets recuperated and socially redistributed visions, faiths, and acerbic personalities take the reins of uncertain ends creating a world where 'people go away'." Even the setting, Fintan Neylan argued, emphasizes a world "where the decrepitude of human ordering cannot be hidden". "This is not a place where hope fled; it is a place where hope could never take root. It is with these people and environs that the real horror is sourced". Cohle ultimately confronts "an entire philosophical history which has taken its task as that of sweeping frailty away". Some commentators noted further influences from comic book literature. Adams likened Cohle to the protagonist of ''
Alan Moore's The Courtyard'' and drew parallels with
Grant Morrison's
The Invisibles for the show's brief exploration of
M-theory with one of Cohle's monologues.
ComicsAlliance and
New York columnist Abraham Riesman cited
Top 10 as the inspiration for the season finale based on dialogue from the episode's closing scene.
Auteurism (pictured in 2015)
directed the first season in its entirety, with Pizzolatto as the sole writer. Such an arrangement is extremely uncommon in American television production and prompted
auteurist readings. Another major topic of discussion concerns
True Detective artistic merits under the framework of
auteur theory. Auteurism (from the French
auteur, "author") is a critical framework in which films (or other works of art) are assessed as reflections of the personal vision of individual authors, typically the director or writer. Colin Robertson at
The List saw
Twin Peaks as the most notable artistic antecedent to
True Detective first season, seeing that both shows challenge
generic crime drama cliches and "use the genre conventions of a
whodunnit-style mystery as a sublimely subversive diving board, and leap off from there to tell a broader story."
Scott Timberg at
Salon noted that Pizzolatto's previous writing experience was not in film or television but
literary fiction, a "more purely auteurist form" for which total creative control by an individual author is the norm. Fukunaga did not return for the second season, which instead featured six directors across eight episodes, and Pizzolatto retained control of the writing. Met with mixed reviews, season two prompted critics to reevaluate the "auteurist" perspective on the previous season. A critical consensus held that, in hindsight, the response to season one had overestimated the extent of Pizzolatto's individual creative responsibility. Conversely, Brian Tallerico of
RogerEbert.com recognized the common view that Fukunaga had provided "balance" to "Pizzolatto's overwriting" but argued "the balance came equally" from Harrelson and McConaughey
playing against type in serious roles, as both actors were "widely-known as 'laid-back
dudes,' often in comedies as much as drama".
Religion True Detective explores Christianity and the dichotomy between religion and rationality. Born into a devout
Catholic household, Pizzolatto said that as a child he saw religion as storytelling that acts "as an escape from the truth". According to Andrew Romano at
The Daily Beast, the season alludes to Pizzolatto's childhood and creates a parallel between Christianity and the supernatural theology of "Carcosa": "Both ... are stories. Stories people tell themselves to escape reality. Stories that 'violate every law of the universe.'" Stapleton observed that the crimes on
True Detective—through its victims and the implications of sacrifice and sexual violence—"respond to the conservative Christianity from which they originate, and seek to exploit the opportunities for the pleasure of transgression such a structure offers." Theorist Edia Connole saw connections to
Philip Marlowe and ''
Le Morte d'Arthur Lancelot in True Detective
presentation of Cohle, all "knights whose duty to their liege lord is tempered with devotion to God." Other aspects of True Detective'' evoke Christian imagery, including the opening scene, which Connole felt mirrored the
crucifixion of Jesus. The author and philosopher Finn Janning argued that Cohle's evolution illustrates an affinity between
Buddhism and
philosophical pessimism.
Masculinity and depiction of women Commentators have noted
masculinity as a theme in
True Detective. Christopher Lirette of
Southern Spaces said the show was about "men living in a brutally masculine world" and women are depicted as "things-to-be-saved and erotic obstacles" à la
Double Indemnity (1944) and
Chinatown (1974). Some commentators saw Hart's characterization as a manifestation of this idea, evident through his conventional view of
women as virgins and whores, as well as his treatment of Maggie and Audrey. When Hart confronts the two men who had sex with Audrey, he is in essence "charging other men a price for infringing on the daughter he sees, in a muddled way, as both deserving of protection and badly in need of being controlled". Sam Adams of
Indiewire contended that the story was about "the horrible things men do to women", many of which are never reported to or investigated by authorities. Adams wrote, "No one missed Dora Lange. Marie Fontenot disappeared, and the police let a rumor stop them from following up". According to Scott Wilson, a cultural studies lecturer at
Kingston University, women are categorized as "the
superegoic, the
obscene and the
sacred". The philosopher Erin K. Stapleton subscribes to the theory that Dora Lange's corpse serves to "provide the initial territory or orientation through which the communities of
True Detective are formed." It is through Dora's corpse that Cohle and Hart's partnership is first clearly articulated and in addition to their own bond, "the intimate knowledge" of her body is the basis of all of the other relationships in their respective lives. Her narrative thus, by proxy, influences both men's character development as they delve into the case. == Reception ==