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True Detective Deleted Scene: What Happened to Laurie?

By Courtney Enlow | Videos | March 13, 2014 |

By Courtney Enlow | Videos | March 13, 2014 |


Rust Cohle’s relationship with Laurie Perkins (Elisabeth Reaser, who you know I adore) is a prime example of the few issues I had with True Detective’s first season. It was a potentially interesting dynamic that was spoken of as though it was meant to be meaningful, then unceremoniously dropped due to the time constraints of the show. Which is something I understand, but for a show so meticulously plotted, it should have been strategized better, and they hopefully learned that lesson and will plan better for season two. The DVD release will be interesting if for no other reason than the presence of deleted scenes. And today we got one that shows the fate of poor Laurie.

This deleted scene, showing the end of Rust and Laurie’s doomed relationship is, as Slate said, a tad on the nose. But it feels real. Rust is a deeply flawed, broken character. Anyone involved with him would want to fix him—not just in a dating relationship, but any relationship, just like we saw with Marty and at times Maggie. Rust might be a genius, he might be crazy, or he might be, as Laurie says, just an asshole who’s a little smarter than most.

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All told, it’s probably best this was cut. A fight about Laurie’s desire to have children would not have helped the show’s perceived “woman problem,” though I might be the only person on the internet who doesn’t particularly agree with the misogyny angle against this show, and in fact totally disagrees with any criticism or dismissal of Maggie. But that’s a digression for another day, hopefully after we get more deleted scenes. Because that was a fascinating character and I have a way bigger issue with critics writing her off as nothing more than a scorned wife.