There's Reportedly Friction Between HBO and Nic Pizzolatto over the 'True Detective' Season 3 Finale

By Dustin Rowles | TV | January 18, 2019 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | January 18, 2019 |

So far, I am loving HBO’s True Detective through its first two episodes, in part because of Mahersala Ali and in part because it’s filmed in an area of Arkansas of which I am familiar (I am 95 percent sure I’ve been in that cave where a body was found). I’m also predisposed to like this sort of show, particularly when it’s done well. Two episodes in, and I’ve already fallen so far down the rabbit hole that three nights ago, I was checking the television schedule. In 1980 (and for the record, Cousin Dan’s alibi does not hold up — he says that he was watching CHIPs on the night of the murder, but the murder happened on a Friday, and CHIPs was both on hiatus because of an actor’s strike in November 1980 and it aired on Sunday nights, which means I’ve either solved True Detective or Nic Pizzolatto got sloppy with the (very tiny) details). I may have also spent another hour tracking the whereabouts of Will’s bike throughout the opening episode.

Point being: Pizzolatto has sucked me back in, though I am perfectly aware of both his track record and rumors of on-the-set difficulties (those rumors also plagued production on season three, which saw Jeremy Saulnier — who directed the first two episodes — leave over “scheduling.”) That difficulty has apparently extended to some potential friction between Pizzolatto and the network over the season three finale, or at least the runtime. This, according to Stephen Dorff (who is doing a bang-up job this season, so far). Dorff hasn’t seen the final episode yet, and there’s a reason for that, as he tells Yahoo Movies UK:

I haven’t seen that one yet, as they’re still in flux about the cut of it. There’s a timing issue, I think it runs a little long. I hope Nic gets his way. I think audiences want a little bit of a longer finale. Maybe it’ll screw up the programming for that clean hour thing, but who gives a s***? Come on, give the fans what they want, baby! So I’m hoping he wins that fight. You never know, though.

I should note that the season two finale ran 24 minutes long. It was crap. But then again, the first season finale ran at a brisk 54 minutes. It was also disappointing, but only relative to the rest of the first season. Compared to the season two finale, it’s goddamn Orson Welles.

via GIPHY

Meanwhile, I feel 90 percent confident that Hays set that fire to the Purcell place.

via Uproxx