Love this show like most of you guys, but I'm a bit troubled by one aspect. We are presented with two versions of Rust Cohle - young Rust and future, older Rust. To me, these two Rusts seem like totally different characters, not younger/older versions of each other. Sure, they may share the same pessimistic world view, but I find hard it to believe that Rust, at some point in his life, would regress into some grizzled, redneck dude who basically lives in a shed in the wood and spends his days in a bar (ie, the type of southern dude, younger Rust routinely clowns). Older Rust is basically Wooderson from Dazed and Confused if he got burned out from all the drugs and alcohol. But I guess the point of the show is that something very traumatic happens to Rust in the course of the investigation to turn him that way, so I'll reserve full judgment and see what goes down.
Also came across some interesting theories in the course of reading up on the show -
- The references to the "Yellow King" may be taken from supernatural/horror stories involving aliens and other dimensions that influenced HP Lovecraft. This could signal the show will take a supernatural turn, leading to the trauma that Rust experiences. Also may explain the shift between reality and fantasy in Rust's perspective. See http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/01/12/true-detective-premiere/
- Recall Rust's monologue about the type of torture inflicted by drug cartels. Rust himself may have been tortured during his stint in the undercover drug unit. Even worse, he may have been castrated, hence his seeming lack of interest in women.
