‘True Detective’ Season 3, Episode 6 Recap: The Pink Castle

Has it occurred to anyone else that Wayne has something on Roland, and that he is less senile than he wants to appear to be? During the scene where he walks in on Roland looking through his heavily annotated book, then acts surprised to see him there, I felt Wayne was faking senility. He doesn't want Roland to know he's as aware as he is. In E5 he told Roland he couldn't remember the crime they'd supposedly committed together. But I think he remembers things that he'd rather Roland not know he remembers? Maybe Roland is hiding something, and Wayne is looking for a way to expose the truth -- or to get Roland to tell what he knows. Roland may have been bought off, or he may be protecting someone. I'm not saying Wayne is as sharp as he used to be, but I think he's far more aware and suspicious of what went down than he's willing to let Roland know.

I'm glad to see others commenting on HBO's sound quality. I've noticed this for several years, and so have a number of my friends. Series on other networks (Showtime, Netflix, Amazon) never have this problem, so it's something specific to HBO. A friend got so frustrated that she bought a good set of headphones just to use when she watches HBO. She says the sound details are now wonderful. So now we have to purchase headphones just to hear the dialogue on one network--a network we also have to pay a monthly fee for, no less?

What if Roland's girl in 1990 (Lori?) who studied "poultry science" in college turn out to be part of the Hoyt Foods conspiracy? ...And she only got back with Roland to see where he was at in the case? I'm looking for twists that may not be there but I hope so. I agree with those who have a hard time understanding the dialog but I am in for the duration.

There was a lot to this episode, finally; lately it's been kind of poking along, apart from the terrific last stand of Mr. Woodward. Interesting question by the interviewer that we don't get the answer to, just how high had the body count gotten, in 2015. In 1980, as far as we knew, it was just 12: Will, Mr. Woodward, and Mr. Woodward's ten kills (random, unimportant hillbillies and cops). Can't be more or Woodward wouldn't have been convicted. Dan and Lucy seem to be 'kills' too, and I'm betting Tom just died shortly after he found the pink palace. Assuming Julie never winds up dying, that's still just 15, and I think the interviewer knows of more than that. So, these last two episodes, I'm going to predict, foolishly, that Tom dies right away in 1990, then Dan, then a few extras, then (shocking twist) the Hoyt security, ex-cop guy who planted Will's backpack at the shootout. Then Amelia Hays, probably not in a direct way, but indirectly linked. Then in 2015, Hays & West manage to pin a lot of blame on one major badguy at Hoyt (maybe the security guy if he doesn't actually die in 1990, maybe hugely annoyingly one of the Feds or someone we'd never seen). But they don't get the whole conspiracy, of course, because that can never happen. I'm willing to guess too that Julie will just never be seen again, except for clues that she's still alive. Anyway I was also hit by the sudden focus on Tom & Dave's encounter, but I've run out of room.

This is a great season. The writing is amazing, as is the cast. My only other comment that is not intended as a criticism is that at times I could not clearly hear Hays’ dialogue.

Aargh! Just reread my posts. “Will” should be “Wayne”!! Sorry, folks — I had two relatives with these names and never got ‘em straight!

I'm hooked to the end but feeling that, while the show has many very good aspects e.g. acting, cinematography, etc. the plot of the crime and the turn taken is tending to disappoint me a little. The idea of a ring of powerful people being responsible seems old hat. Season 1 & 2 had that and movies at least since the 1970's, e.g. Chinatown. So I agree with Mr. Tobias about this point. I cannot help feeling that the show is growing ever more Lynchian with a lot of these tropes, camera work, pink room. I like David Lynch and his take on noir but what about other takes on this kind of material? It will be interesting to see what happens with the fact that now the viewers know something that our detectives do not. Who was the man with the filmy eye at the reading? This weird incident is not mentioned in the column? Is he the man that some witnesses mentioned seeing with the white woman in the nice new car? Why is he so mad? Does Amelia tell her husband or write about this occurrence so he comes to know it in a later period of his life? Does he solve the crime, or has he solved it before, and then forget it in the fog of losing his memory and mind? Is that the loop? He keeps trying to solve a crime he has already solved but cannot remember? That would be a hell for an honest detective, would it not? Does Roland know more than he has said; I get that feeling. Remember that Scott was right about Will's son and the director having an affair.

This episode struct me as increasingly eerie. Tom’s skulking around, especially. Of course now we’ve got a second dead-eyed black man to add into the thicket. I wonder about the sexual relationship the episode opened with - this is the couple’s first time, and the ending shot of the scene with Ali considering himself was striking to me, though something of a throwaway. Just foreshadowing of his always keeping a distance, even from himself, which morphs into the dementia? True Detective is about manifold mysteries. I’ll go along with what it churns up, whether I immediately get it or not. Who actually builds Pink Rooms? Do the designers die, too?

I thought the scariest part of episode 6 was the music at the end as the viewer saw a blurred image of Harris James creep up behind Tom Purcell and then the picture went to black. That creepy and eerie music continued through the credits. It freaked me out so bad I had to hit the mute button. As scary as it was, I thought that music was the best part of that episode.

To those who are having trouble understanding the dialogue, try watching on Roku with the subtitles turned on. It helps. And I grew up in the Ozarks, and I still go back regularly. There may be a few poor, deviant people, but there are mainly poor fundamentalist / Evangelical people, with very low crime, though now I think there's more meth with the young. One thing that's is entirely missing are black detectives (and black people in general).

Seriously though, I can't understand a word Wayne says.

Excellent episode. The phone call where the caller says "That man is not my dad." Who is the father of these children? And some people here commenting on not being able to hear or understand some of the actors, I recommend they use the "closed captioning" on their televisions. Two episodes left.

I do find it difficult to follow Mahershala Ali, a talented actor but here, through much of his performance, he reminds me of the Urban Dictionary definition of so-called mumble rap: "sounds like a stroke victim trying to deliver a speech; it is often incomprehensible and illogical." I frequently have to back up the program and listen to him a few times to understand what he's saying. It makes the entire show choppy and less compelling.

I reluctantly watched this episode since it started to lose its appeal with the previous episode. Sporadic brilliant acting with byzantine plot, illuminating nothing. Noir for noir's sake. Started with great promise but has, sadly, jumped the shark. Will continue to watch since only 2 more episodes, but I am much less engaged.

Great acting and good main characters (the two detectives and Hays' wife and son) wasted by a self indulgent director/ auteur playing around with totally confusing time sequence games. This is no longer noir, but a mud field.

I can't help thinking we're getting close to "Twin Peaks" territory...

I am about to give up. The dialogue is really hard to understand with the very poor sound quality. I realize there are some really poor, deviant people in Arkansas, but do they all have to appear in this show? This thing is ending up a mess.

Oh come on, no mention in the first investigation that Devils Den might have been a cruising location as a road to investigate? & the director's big build up that 'holy cow' moment as Wayne rolls up this small piece of note paper it fits perfectly through the peep hole as if they found the amulet from the lost ark?- come on a 3rd grader could have come up with that. So we're now being led down the path that they're investigating a Nick Cage 8mm conspiracy. pedophile turned snuff? No doubt everyone watching must have thought this was a pedophile ring gone off the rails since episode 1. The Hoyt industry connection via the ex-cop security chief Harris James, at the end of the episode as he appears behind Tom pretty much confirms where this is going. Dan saying he and Lucy shared 'milestones' growing up in the same household, seems to indicate some incestuous family ties & that he may be the real father not Tom. The mystery is what did Roland & Wayne do that they keep referring to that they have to maintain silence about? We know Tom beat the Hoyt name info out of Dan, but did he kill Dan, or did Roland and Tom kill him? Tom's last words- "Julie" in the pink room, was she there- or just her photos?

I have come to a sad conclusion. I may not be smart enough to watch this series. The twists and turns are hard to follow and I frequently have to ask, amid the proliferation of minor characters, who is being talked about. The hint at a pedophile ring seems like a construct devoid of previous clues, possibly a tease. This series is most compelling when it focuses on Hays and West, and the relationship between Hays and his wife. The best stories are deeply personal, so am hoping Pizzolotto doesn't veer off in some distant conspiracy land.

Harris James' passing comment to Hays about him having a good body is going to figure into this somewhere.

This episode is where I started losing interest and Mr. Tobias hits on the main point. If the culprits are the big bad plutocrats at Hoyt, the lower rung players lose agency. Does every crime have to lead to a massive conspiracy? Put it another way, this was the episode where I started sensing (as with the prior seasons) that the writers are just messing with us. I'll stick with the series through the bitter end, but at this point, it's getting to be a slog.

Could the interviewer be Julie?

What a cliff-hanger! Tom’s words “the dolls”. What did he see? Really liked the scene with Wayne and his son.

Maybe I've seen entirely too many shows like this or maybe I'm just overly cynical, but I sure wish I could've looked through those blinds with Roland. So he didn't spot a black sedan? Really? I've looked out that window every other time. Why not now?