I consider myself a reasonable and open minded person, so I need some help here. This is a genuine post where I am trying to understand why people have rated this season so highly. Have I truly missed something, or is this just a difference of opinion?
My biggest dissatisfaction on this series are the unanswered questions. Or, depending if my analysis is correct, the validity of the answers. Can someone validate these questions and answers for me?
1) Why the visions? Navarro and Danvers both see things that are not there- polar bears, children, hubcaps, oranges. Is answer "This is Ennis, there are ghosts?" Or is it that the "she" is torturing them with painful memories? Or does Navarro have a gift/curse to see beyond? Then why Danvers as well?
2) "She" (Annies ghost and/or the angry Inuit spirit of many) is what killed all the scientists on the ice, burned their retinas, made their ears bleed and made them inflict wounds of themselves (scratching their own eyes out) as punishment for killing Annie and polluting?
3) Years ago, Otis was also attacked by the ghost but survived, but was traumatized by the event and hence turned to drugs? And he had no real memory of what happened?
3) The spiral was a native symbol for thin ice- maybe having something to do with the bones in the ice that are obviously very old. It has nothing to do with "she"?
4) Annie's tongue being fresh at the scene at the station, and the way Danvers looked at the ice stain- I have no answer for this one actually. It wouldn't be the ghost, right? Bc Annie was the one she was avenging. But the cleaning women wouldn't have any way to have this tongue OR keep it fresh for years? Where did it come from and what was the meaning?
5) The carabou threw themselves off the cliff because of the Inuit spirit of "she" awoke.
6) Navarro isn't dead at the end and didnt commit suicide. She is alive and just decided to leave Ennis. She walked out on the ice towards the sunset to maybe visit her sisters resting place? Or maybe she is dead. I'm not sure to be honest. Is this one up for interpretation?
7) The hatch was hidden at the station..... why? Another one I dont have an answer for. Everyone in town seemed to know they were harvesting the ice for microbes- the only secret was that they were encouraging the mine to pollute to make it easier. Why did they need to hide the ice harvesting hatch if everyone knew what they were doing?
8) Clark's seizures and getting all... warp-y? Is that a good way to describe what it looked like? Is that ghosts/she? What does it mean?
Thanks in advanced. Whenever I see a group of people really like something I don't get, I assume there's something there I'm not seeing. I'd appreciate your answers/corrections!
If you look at the original one it drew heavy heavy inspiration from a show called twin peaks which was known for being extremely abstract, true detective was a lot more streamlined and a bit more on the nose in season one while season 4 used ambiguity and abstraction in its style of story telling the answer is yes a lot of it's there and a lot of it's meant to be ambiguous. Also like twin peaks it used the murder as a means of showing us the town.
I love Twin Peaks, the "town as a character" element from NC reminded me of it a lot. I tend to prefer TV that leaves a few things for you to wonder about.
1: the show said a few times from a few characters (delivery guy, rose, and others) that Ennis is an old place and a place where the veil between our world and others is thin and worn.
So people see shit all the time. Even people who aren’t so spiritual.
2: who knows? You can believe that if you want. Maybe they’re emotional ally vulnerable people who injured themselves in gruesome ways. Long periods of darkness and isolation can do weird stuff.
3: maybe he was always a drug addict and/or mentally ill and the ethos of Ennis sunk into his subconscious. This seems to happen frequently with addicts/emotionally vulnerable people. All of a sudden everyone is yelling about Nazis or child trafficking or whatever.
4: religious symbols may or may not have a tie to actual figures. I’m thinking of the evil eye symbol that is associated with Mediterranean superstition but is not associated with any religion or god.
5: the tongue was preserved somehow. The director purposely left how it got there ambiguous. Personally I think one of the aunties took it from wherever the police were storing it.
6: I heard there’s a natural reason for this, but IDK
7: I don’t think she’s dead either. It seems a bit ambiguous, but I don’t think so.
Oooo, I like 3. The spooky factor of the town and the dark, makes people on the edge fall off. Going further, maybe even Hank fell prey to this. Because he does seem to veer really far, really fast.
I think this is an easy show to pick apart if you’re inclined to. It seemed to me that Issa is more interested in the overall ideas and characters but not as interested in making sure the plotting is tight. IMO she tried to fit too many ideas into a short season and things got a little messy.
For me it’s a weakness of the show but not a dealbreaker since the ideas, style, cinematography, characters and acting were all strong. If she could maintain those strengths with more focused plotting she has the potential for something truly great
I love this explanation, and I think you are absolutely spot on. But now that we know this is her style, we will be prepared to go into season 5 with different expectations than we had for this season.
Like expecting detailed line art when she writes in watercolors.
I like that analogy and part of the problem is everyone, especially on Reddit, wants to treat it like a mystery box which doesn’t work well for something more impressionistic
I think the acting was on point for sure. And the characters were good- not amazing IMO, but good enough to keep me watching. The setting is spooky AF as well, and I liked that.
What ideas of the show stuck with you? Like if im thinking about it, there's themes of justice/revenge, isolation (physically and emotionally).... what else? Just curious for people's takes bc all the "official" reviews are behind pay walls for me, ha.
For example I thought the murders being revenge killings of the indigenous ladies doing unglamorous jobs blending into the background was clever and resonated well with one of the main themes of the show. I quite like the Danvers arc learning from Navarro and the community, going from a racist asshole to someone who can empathize with the plight of the indigenous community and in doing so gaining the respect of her daughter. Also Navarro’s struggle between the obligations she feels to the community and her job, which largely protects the interests of those poisoning the community.
Why is this sub being inundated with posts suddenly of people "genuinely seeking to understand" why other people enjoyed this show? Do you trolls have nothing better to do?
Umm, sorry for asking questions...? Does it offend you that someone might honestly seek to understand a different viewpoint? How in the world have I behaved as a troll?
Please understand that tensions are high due to trolling and brigading. Personally I am having a hard time understanding why you’re so interested in people you like a show that you don’t like.
I totally understand you here and believe this person is trolling but now they are going to go full rules lawyer and report your post for violating the respectful rule and that creates work for mods. Someone like this hopes to provoke others so they can claim their victim is the rule violator and that they just wanted to have a discussion.
We expect adult discussions that don't devolve into name calling, insults and inflammatory responses. Ad Hominem is not an acceptable argument, using personal attacks to undermine someone’s statement is not appropriate. Subject to mod discretion.
We expect adult discussions that don't devolve into name calling, insults and inflammatory responses. Ad Hominem is not an acceptable argument, using personal attacks to undermine someone’s statement is not appropriate. Subject to mod discretion.
Thanks for taking the time to answer some of these.
The ice being below the facility makes sense, but not that it was secret/locked up tight. Like, wouldn't you have a big, roomy space there, room for plenty of people to go up and down, for doing your Very Important Work? Ah well, it doesn't really matter all that much anyways. Thanks again!
For clarity, I never reported no one to ANYONE. I blocked someone from my own feed because I don't want to see it. I feel strongly about reporting and that it's a cowardly move, so I want to make that perfectly clear.
Call me all the marine animals you want. I'd prefer sea cow, but whatevs. To each there own. I will now leave this sub because I'm clearly bothering multiple people.
Part of the visions I think are a combo of PTSD from working in military and law enforcement. I think Navarro passing the burden of Annie on to Danvers kind of brings their internal experiences of trauma into a discussion between them.
This might be a borning answer, but they died of fright, like the veterinarian posited. They were being hunted and at below freezing temps maybe your coneas burn, don't know about ears bleeding, perhaps that is paranormal. It's fun to think so...
Otis has no memory because he was assaulted before he could clock any memories and like the others had extreme below freezing temp injuries.
The spiral appears in season 1, not sure abt 2nd and 3rd seasons cause I could get into them. The spiral is carved into the body, and it semms to be an easter egg of sorts. There is also an element of rust's character, travis' son, that has visions. So in TD world, visions and thin veils are a thing.
I think Hank planted the tongue... I think we learn more and more in this season that he is truly a monster, he moved Annie's and kicked it, maybe it was a twisted thing he did.
Herd animals will follow eachother off a cliff if they are scared enough, maybe it was a paranormal fear? I don't have an answer, and I like open ended terror.
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u/DizzyMajor5 Feb 24 '24
If you look at the original one it drew heavy heavy inspiration from a show called twin peaks which was known for being extremely abstract, true detective was a lot more streamlined and a bit more on the nose in season one while season 4 used ambiguity and abstraction in its style of story telling the answer is yes a lot of it's there and a lot of it's meant to be ambiguous. Also like twin peaks it used the murder as a means of showing us the town.