While there are a lot of iconic detective duos dotted throughout TV history, HBO’s iconic crime thriller from 2014 offered viewers the most satisfyingly complex and layered chemistry ever captured in the genre. Detective duos are almost as important an element of the cop show format as memorable criminal villains and high-speed chases.
Without a Starsky and Hutch, a Rizzoli and Isles, or a Boyle and Diaz, a cop show can often struggle to make its main characters feel memorable. The tension between a loose cannon and their by-the-book partner is what made everything from Lethal Weapon to Miami Vice succeed, and this was central to the success of HBO’s 2014 masterpiece True Detective.
True Detective’s Marty and Rust Are TV’s Best Detective Duo
While a lot of cop shows spent the 2000s and 2010s trying to reinvent or subvert the classic detective duo, True Detective season 1’s Marty and Rust succeeded precisely because the series took this classic archetype seriously and dug deep into the underlying psychology of both characters. At their core, Rust and Marty were opposites.
Rust was a volatile, brooding nihilist, while Marty was a family man who believed in law and order and the virtues of small-town living. Of course, what made True Detective season 1 a modern masterpiece was the show’s exploration of these two complex characters and their surprising similarities. Early on, Marty’s infidelity and hot temper proved he was no saint.
Later, Rust’s tragic backstory and his deep-held conviction that justice could be served proved that he wasn’t as hopeless and detached as he wanted to appear. By the show’s finale, the characters had arguably swapped places, as chasing a monster gave Rust’s life structure and purpose again, while Marty’s once-solid domestic life was shattered by the case’s fallout.
True Detective’s Later Seasons Never Matched Marty and Rust’s Chemistry
While police procedurals like Bosch might have earned plenty of critical acclaim, Prime Video’s seven-season hit never managed to become a breakthrough success to the same extent as True Detective season 1. To be fair, even later seasons of True Detective itself were unable to replicate the incredible chemistry between Rust and Marty.
Casting Woody Harrelson, who was known for decades as an offbeat, quirky, mostly comedic actor, as the show’s straight man was a genius move, while rom-com icon and real-life surfer dude Matthew McConaughey was nothing short of a revelation as the laconic but lethal Rust. Sadly, it would have been impossible for True Detective, or indeed any other cop show, to replicate their unique dynamic.
- Release Date
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January 12, 2014
- Network
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HBO Max
- Showrunner
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Nic Pizzolatto