Don't apologize for the "long rambles"! I could discuss this show forever. IRL I only know one other person who's watched all eight episodes so far and so I'm rather hungry to interract with other people who enjoyed it.
As far as all the speculation, believe me, I did my share. I trolled every online forum and read a boatload of articles ("The Five Horsemen," anyone?), so was particularly eager to see my questions answered in the finale. I mean, not only the things you mentioned (Audrey being the biggest and most peculiar red herring in the bunch - although, in an interview, the actress said it was merely used as a tool to show how uninvolved Marty was with his family, that he would not take those huge red flags more seriously), but what about that prisoner in 2002 who revealed to Cohle that he had seen the Yellow King? After which he was, we assume, killed by the corrections officer named Childress? How exactly did he know the Yellow King? And if he did, and knew what he was up to, how did he manage to get away and survive? Makes no sense.
And, like you, I also tried to figure out who the original Five Horesemen were. To determine if they were still a threat, I suppose. Which led me to another weird thought. They never really explained if the human sacrifice rituals they performed were during a finite period in time and, if so, when did the Tuttle/Childress clans killing end and Errol's killing begin? And why were some of the children sexually abused, while others were killed? As far as the original group though, I counted Sam Tuttle (the grandfather), Ted Childress, Billy Childress, Reverend Tuttle and Senator Tuttle. Which would only leave the Senator alive at the end. I thought that the LeDoux boys were Errol Childress's personal "acolytes" and probably not directly involved with the abuse [that had been going on for decades] perpetrated by the more high falutin' Tuttle/Childress clan members.
But, it's funny. Once I knew those questions weren't going to be answered and I found the ending to be so truly moving, I totally didn't care. Not at all. Nick Pizzolatto said he wasn't interested in delivering a "twist" ending, but I can't tell you my surprise when, (a) both men survived and (b), Rust said, "There's only one story. The oldest. Light versus Dark." That was the ultimate twist. I think he loved the characters as much as the audience and was loathe to kill either one of them. It was nice. Not a cop-out at all, in my mind. In these dark and cynical times, it was a pleasure to see two characters have a shot at redemption.
Thanks to Nick Pizzolatto, maybe the light is making some headway. At least a little bit.
Like you, I haven't found anybody to discuss this series with, and I've been scouring the internet for reviews and forums. For awhile there were all sorts of wild theories out there. I think it was episode 5 that really sent people down the rabbit hole.
The 3 separate timelines, which were so ingenious in the way they developed Marty and Rust, made me kind of crazy in the sense of trying to make the timeline of the cult murders make sense. I understand that by design, we were never going to make total sense out of it, but I never stopped trying. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't very interested in the investigation itself, as well as the development of Rust and Marty, because the investigation was the fire they both had to walk through to get to core of who they really were.
Your theory of the identities of the five horsemen makes a lot of sense. I figure since Ted Childress was one of the originals (who knows if they were originals, this stuff could have been going on for decades), and that when the guy in the jail blurted out to Rust about the Yellow King, Ted made short work of him. However, it does seem rather stupid to keep a video (videos - did they all have them?) of the ritual murder of a child for years. Even locked in a safe, that's damning evidence that could be discovered by any competent burglar - like Rust.
I puzzle about how long Erroll was involved. Obviously there was family involvment through his father, grandfather and uncle, but he would have been quite young when that original creepy Dora Lang picture was taken.
Assuming Dora was about 8 years old in that picture, and 26/27 when her body was found in 1995, then the pic must date back to the early/mid-eighties. Also assuming Erroll in 2012 is in his late 30's/early 40's, he would have been about the same age as she was. I'm trying to think of that class picture from one of those weird schools, and wonder if he might have been in it. I guess being exposed to all that evil since early childhood, as well as being abused by his dad, he just went off on his own, and like you stated, gathered his own followers. Interesting to think that he might have grown up very close to Dora, though.
As far as why some children were abused and some were killed. I've wondered about that, too. Maybe they were all sexually abused, but there were a special few, who for some reason and through some ritual, were "chosen" for sacrifice IDK. I do think that Erroll was the only one who murdered and posed the adult women. Why he wasn't disposed of by the Senator was strange, since he must have had a clue that Erroll was placing the "family secret" at risk of exposure. Maybe the tenacles of family, fear and intimidation were just so far-reaching that the whole family arrogantly assumed that they would never be brought to justice.
Gah! I've done it again. Sorry.
I will close by agreeing that the ending was just right. Marty and Rust gained a kind of peace, but at great cost, and although they didn't get all the bad guys, they got "their" bad guy.
As far as all the speculation, believe me, I did my share. I trolled every online forum and read a boatload of articles ("The Five Horsemen," anyone?), so was particularly eager to see my questions answered in the finale. I mean, not only the things you mentioned (Audrey being the biggest and most peculiar red herring in the bunch - although, in an interview, the actress said it was merely used as a tool to show how uninvolved Marty was with his family, that he would not take those huge red flags more seriously), but what about that prisoner in 2002 who revealed to Cohle that he had seen the Yellow King? After which he was, we assume, killed by the corrections officer named Childress? How exactly did he know the Yellow King? And if he did, and knew what he was up to, how did he manage to get away and survive? Makes no sense.
And, like you, I also tried to figure out who the original Five Horesemen were. To determine if they were still a threat, I suppose. Which led me to another weird thought. They never really explained if the human sacrifice rituals they performed were during a finite period in time and, if so, when did the Tuttle/Childress clans killing end and Errol's killing begin? And why were some of the children sexually abused, while others were killed? As far as the original group though, I counted Sam Tuttle (the grandfather), Ted Childress, Billy Childress, Reverend Tuttle and Senator Tuttle. Which would only leave the Senator alive at the end. I thought that the LeDoux boys were Errol Childress's personal "acolytes" and probably not directly involved with the abuse [that had been going on for decades] perpetrated by the more high falutin' Tuttle/Childress clan members.
But, it's funny. Once I knew those questions weren't going to be answered and I found the ending to be so truly moving, I totally didn't care. Not at all. Nick Pizzolatto said he wasn't interested in delivering a "twist" ending, but I can't tell you my surprise when, (a) both men survived and (b), Rust said, "There's only one story. The oldest. Light versus Dark." That was the ultimate twist. I think he loved the characters as much as the audience and was loathe to kill either one of them. It was nice. Not a cop-out at all, in my mind. In these dark and cynical times, it was a pleasure to see two characters have a shot at redemption.
Thanks to Nick Pizzolatto, maybe the light is making some headway. At least a little bit.
Reply
Like you, I haven't found anybody to discuss this series with, and I've been scouring the internet for reviews and forums. For awhile there were all sorts of wild theories out there. I think it was episode 5 that really sent people down the rabbit hole.
The 3 separate timelines, which were so ingenious in the way they developed Marty and Rust, made me kind of crazy in the sense of trying to make the timeline of the cult murders make sense. I understand that by design, we were never going to make total sense out of it, but I never stopped trying. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't very interested in the investigation itself, as well as the development of Rust and Marty, because the investigation was the fire they both had to walk through to get to core of who they really were.
Your theory of the identities of the five horsemen makes a lot of sense. I figure since Ted Childress was one of the originals (who knows if they were originals, this stuff could have been going on for decades), and that when the guy in the jail blurted out to Rust about the Yellow King, Ted made short work of him. However, it does seem rather stupid to keep a video (videos - did they all have them?) of the ritual murder of a child for years. Even locked in a safe, that's damning evidence that could be discovered by any competent burglar - like Rust.
I puzzle about how long Erroll was involved. Obviously there was family involvment through his father, grandfather and uncle, but he would have been quite young when that original creepy Dora Lang picture was taken.
Assuming Dora was about 8 years old in that picture, and 26/27 when her body was found in 1995, then the pic must date back to the early/mid-eighties. Also assuming Erroll in 2012 is in his late 30's/early 40's, he would have been about the same age as she was. I'm trying to think of that class picture from one of those weird schools, and wonder if he might have been in it. I guess being exposed to all that evil since early childhood, as well as being abused by his dad, he just went off on his own, and like you stated, gathered his own followers. Interesting to think that he might have grown up very close to Dora, though.
As far as why some children were abused and some were killed. I've wondered about that, too. Maybe they were all sexually abused, but there were a special few, who for some reason and through some ritual, were "chosen" for sacrifice IDK. I do think that Erroll was the only one who murdered and posed the adult women. Why he wasn't disposed of by the Senator was strange, since he must have had a clue that Erroll was placing the "family secret" at risk of exposure. Maybe the tenacles of family, fear and intimidation were just so far-reaching that the whole family arrogantly assumed that they would never be brought to justice.
Gah! I've done it again. Sorry.
I will close by agreeing that the ending was just right. Marty and Rust gained a kind of peace, but at great cost, and although they didn't get all the bad guys, they got "their" bad guy.
Reply
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