Okay, so I am only up to episode 5 (out of the available 7) at the moment.
My quick thoughts are that no one in this is free of some guilt, the characters are all flawed in different ways, which makes the show interesting, and kicks up a lot of mud when you think about who might be behind it.
Who do I think is behind the murders? I think it has to be someone we’ve seen on the screen a good bit, otherwise it might feel a bit contrived. If they showed their captain, or a major city politician more than once or twice it would open the field so to speak. So who do I think did it?
I’m going hedge and put some % against the likely characters.
10% goes to Det. Rustin Cohle – Why such a low number? My trite answer is it is too telegraphed. He’s clearly the focus for the new investigation. I just can’t see it being him. If they pin it on Matthew McConaughey’s character I’ll be very disappointed.
50% goes to Det. Martin Hart – Of the two main characters I find Woody Harrelson’s the more insidious. He can live two lives at the same time and showed how controlling he was when he attacked his girlfriends new boy after seeing them at the bar together. While he plays “good cop” he is also the one who blew Reggie Ledoux’s head off before the man could see him or speak to him. And I feel like there is something wrong with his family too. They show you his little girl all innocent and sweet in episode 5 and then jump to her being a rebellious teen who is having sex with two guys at once. What did he do to his daughter? When he lashed out at her was that the same response his old fling got?
10% goes to Reverend Billy Lee Tuttle’s – First of all he played such a small part in two episodes so far I would feel cheated if they made Jay O. Sanders’ character the murderer. I feel like he was thrown in just to be a red herring, and if they pin it on him it will feel contrived, nothing other than his crazy anti-christian rhetoric says anything about being unstable or having homicidal thoughts.
10% goes to demonic forces – Maybe the dream catching wooden things are actually there to try and stop some dark force from killing again? If this is it they better do it right or people are going to be up in arms. But I can’t really see this being it either, this is a series, and while they will have different casts very year, I think starting off with a supernatural ending really hurts them in the long run.
20% goes to a hard right turn out of the middle of nowhere – Maybe the chief of police is behind it as well as the town counsel. Again, I think this is hard to pull off and still keep your audience happy.