'True Detective' Ends How You Thought It Would

In a twist that literally everyone in the world saw coming, both Ray Velcoro and Frank Semyon die in the True Detective Season 2 finale.Throughout the episode's 90-minute run, this outcome was hinted at repeatedly. From Frank's long speeches and conversation about getting out with his wife to Ray's need to go off-course from his escape plan, there was no way the show would have any other ending, so I just hoped that they would do some good before they died. Unfortunately, things stayed just as corrupt as always in Vinci, despite all of Ray, Paul, Frank, and Ani's efforts. However, True Detective surprisingly didn't end in a completely hopeless state.

Ray and Frank's ends didn't come quickly, as they both fought until the bitter end. Ray and Ani were helped by Frank and Felicia to get the perfect plan to escape the city and the country into Venezuela, which Frank was also hoping to do with Jordan. But from the moment that Frank decided in the penultimate episode to take revenge on all those who screwed him, especially Osip, he seemed to know that he was never going to survive this plan, and he was willing to take any precautions necessary to make sure that at least his wife would survive.

First, Frank tried to break things off with Jordan and send her away without him, but no matter how hard he tried, she refused to leave him behind for good. She made him promise that if she left now, he would have to join her two weeks later in Venezuela. Jordan then got in the car, but I'm sure even she knew he would never come. Frank's plan seemed to be going well throughout his revenge, as he was even able to brutally kill Osip. But just as things seemed to be going his way, he was abducted and taken to the desert, where he was confronted by the Mexican gang who took all of his money. There was no way in the world that the gang would let him survive, and everything went wrong when one of the gang members demanded to take Frank's suit. Frank attacked him and was immediately stabbed by another gang member.

When the gang left him to die, Frank refused to quit and began walking, presumably fighting on so he could be with Jordan. Even as the buzzards started following him via the trail of blood he was leaving behind him, Frank kept walking. He started seeing hallucinations of people he killed and his abusive father, until finally he saw Jordan, who told him to stop fighting and rest as his body had stopped moving much earlier. When he sees his body behind him, Frank finally drops dead.

Ray, on the other hand, literally went out swinging. After his plan to escape with Ani seemed to be going according to plan, Ray decides to take a little detour on the way to meet his new ladylove so he could go see his son one last time. He and his son share one final bonding moment and Ray walks back to his car, where he realizes he is now being tracked. Ray calls Ani and, like Frank, tells her to go on without him and that he'll catch up. But unlike Frank, he is much more accepting of his death. To be fair, I think Ray has been assuming he will die since day one of this case. Ray then tells Felicia that he will die, and that Ani must go on with the plan.

Ray tries to send his son one last message and then runs into the woods to have a long shootout with the corrupt officers under Burris' charge (yes, the same evil Burris who killed Paul Woodrugh). At first, it seems as though Ray is dominating the firefight despite being by himself. But when he runs out from behind the trees, he is instantly shot several times in the chest and dies. In an evil twist of fate, Ray doesn't realize that his message to his son never sent.

In the end, Ray and Frank's legacies aren't forgotten completely. Ani hands over her evidence to someone new as she and Jordan take Ani's son with Ray on a new journey, despite Vinci still being as corrupt as ever, with Tony Chessani becoming the new mayor and Burris still in the police force. Could the show have ended differently? I don't think so. Frank and Ray's deaths seemed pretty written in stone. But seeing Jordan and Ani walk out of their hotel room with the baby, looks of determination, and Ani's signature knives, it's clear that things didn't end in complete ruin, because no one will be taking down these two women anytime soon.

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