Seeing Things (True Detective)

The episode was watched by 1.67 million viewers, earning a 0.7 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale. This means that 0.7 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.^[2] This was a 29% decrease from the previous episode, which was watched by 2.33 million viewers with a 1.0 in the 18-49 demographics.^[3]

"Seeing Things" received critical acclaim. Jim Vejvoda of IGN gave the episode an "amazing" 9 out of 10, writing, "As we begin to learn more about what makes Marty and Rust tick as people, we also dive deeper into an existential morass. True Detective may not be the feel good show of 2014, but it sure is great at making you want to fall down this particularly bleak rabbit hole."^[4]

Erik Adams of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+ and wrote, "Television history is full of characters who hold the same job as Marty and Rust; the medium's more recent history is full of men who behave like Marty. But what's making True Detective exceptional programming is in the way the program doesn't indulge their masks or their disguises, instead getting right to the point of depicting the animals within."^[5] Britt Hayes of Screen Crush wrote, "It becomes quite clear in 'Seeing Things' that Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey are indeed very much playing to type, but they're so damn good at it."^[6]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "So even though some progress is made in the case, with the ruined church having a familiar-looking antler painting on one of the surviving walls, what we have mostly investigated here are these two men, one of whom claims to have all the answers but really understands almost nothing about himself and his surroundings, the other of whom understands far too well, and has therefore given up. Flip a coin as to which one of them you'd want to be. Neither option seems appealing right now, even as True Detective itself only becomes more engrossing in this second installment."^[7] Gwilym Mumford of The Guardian wrote, "This episode is preoccupied is [sic] masculinity, and the ways in which men seek to control the world around them—but there is still no sign of a suspect."^[8]

Kenny Herzog of Vulture gave the episode 5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Although outside of Cohle's Big Hug Mug at the '12 case interview and his way of half-heartedly demeaning possible sources into Dora's death, along with alluded-to stock office dustups, True Detective has already shed nearly any trace of being blackly comic. In fact, apart from the napalm-sky visions Cohle encounters en route to leads on the Dora Lange case, 'Seeing Things' is as charred as that torched First Revival Church. But as we head toward chapter three of eight, there's more to like in its darkening pull."^[9] Tony Sokol of Den of Geek also gave the episode a full 5 stars and wrote, "Marty learns that the new detectives, the ones handling it now, in 2014, not the task force investigating animal mutilations, are onto something new. Once again, there is no fluff or bullshit on HBO's True Detective. Even Rust Cohle's flashbacks are handled realistically. He can tell what's real and what's not. Whether it's from the drug residue, political circle jerks or satanic scrawlings on abandoned churches, it sometimes feels like he's mainlining the secret truths of the universe."^[10]

Chris O'Hara of TV Fanatic alao gave the episode a 5-star rating and wrote, "With the second installment in the book, I can confidently say that I think we have a winner on our hands. The show reminds me more of The Killing than anything else, and that is a good thing in my mind. It's not the first crime drama and won't be the last, but the combination of Harrelson and McConaughey I think, will set True Detective apart from the rest."^[11] Shane Ryan of Paste gave the episode a 9.8 out of 10 and wrote, "It's difficult to know where to begin here, because I'm on fire with this show in a way that hasn't happened since—when? The Wire? But The Wire is organized and clinical and entirely different, lighting unrelated, landlocked pleasure zones of the superego, so the comparison doesn't make sense. Different passions, different planet altogether. This, this True Detective, is an offering of a separate magnitude, something bright and intelligent yet ultimately murky, ultimately of the id."^[12]

• "Seeing Things" at HBO
• "Seeing Things" at IMDb