And when he dies, ask yourself: Did anyone in that show really notice?
Then, one night, Stan gets into his car. The engine turns over. And the car explodes. Here is where True Detective Season 2 does its best, most brutal work. After Stan dies, Frank has a conversation with his right-hand man, Ray (Colin Farrell). Frank isn’t crying. He isn’t raging. He’s confused.
That is the horror of Season 2 . Stan is every disposable soldier. He is the loyal friend who isn't interesting enough to survive the plot. He is the guy who shows up to work, does his job, and gets vaporized so the main characters can feel sad for exactly four minutes before returning to their existential crises. Later, Frank visits Stan’s widow. She’s standing in a cheap kitchen, holding a coffee mug. She asks Frank what her husband really did for a living. Frank, the king of bullshit monologues, has nothing. He mumbles something about "consulting."