Entertainment

New 'True Detective' Rumor Is Disappointing

by Jenny Jaffe

Remember how excited we all were that the leads of True Detective season two were supposed to be women? Well, The Wrap is reporting that the season two pilot script has leaked... and those rumors turned out to be false. Apparently, the script has hit the desks of Hollywood agents, who are saying that instead of two female leads, there is only one male lead, who is supported by a cast of "male and female co-stars".

But there's something fishy about this new "leak". After all, if the lead character isn't female, then why was Jessica Chastain reportedly approached to play her— or, I guess, him? Unless True Detective season 2 is helmed by a trans*, genderqueer, or gender-fluid lead (which would, by the way, be awesome), my suspicion is that the new reports of a male lead are willfully misleading somehow, and that there is a female part in the script meaty enough for a powerhouse like Chastain in the series' new season after all.

If there's one thing we know when it comes to True Detective, it's that we don't know anything. During season 1, the fan frenzy to decode the mysteries of the Yellow King lead us to a sort of mania about the show that was reminiscent of what Rust Cohle was going through. At this point, the creators know its fan base well enough to know that we'll eat up whatever shreds of information they're willing to give us. The rumor mill has been turning around this show for such a long time, perhaps this was their attempt to throw us off the trail of whatever's really in store.

Or maybe, this is just me going Rust Cohle crazy again, trying hard to twist the new rumors to fit my desperate hope for the series— that this time around, the women are not just victims, but key players in unravelling the mysteries of the universe.