As we head into the homestretch of True Detective Season 3, director Daniel Sackheim joins Vanity Fair’s “Still Watching” podcast to reflect on the season’s many twists and turns. A veteran of massive hit shows like The X-Files, The Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones, Sackheim took over some directing duties after Jeremy Saulnier—who was originally supposed to helm the whole season—left the project. All told, Sackheim directed four out of the eight episodes including this week’s episode, “The Final Country,” and next week’s finale, “Now Am Found.” The entirety of Sackheim’s interview will be available to download after Episode 7 airs, but in advance of tonight’s installment the director is here to clear up a fresh, but inaccurate theory. In Episode 6, True Detective revealed that Scoot McNairy’s character Tom Purcell was a closeted homosexual who leaned hard on the church in order to try to stifle desires that would have made life in rural 1980s and 90s Arkansas difficult. What does this new information mean about Tom’s close relationship with Stephen Dorff’s Detective Roland West? Not what some may think.
Fans eager to find clues in any given corner of the mysterious HBO series have wondered if Roland’s inability to settle down with Lori (Jodi Balfour) the poultry scientist meant that his strong attachment to Tom was more than platonic. The fact that his partner, Wayne Hays (Mahershala Ali), is vocally conservative as well as Roland’s defensiveness around Will and Julie’s dad led some to conclude that Roland was hiding a key aspect of himself from his friend/fellow detective. “Roland was never able to successfully have along term relationship with a woman,” Sackheim concedes. “That, in essence, is the role that Tom fulfills. I think that’s his love affair.” But Sackheim further explains that this doesn’t mean the two are romantically linked.
“I feel pretty comfortable saying that conjecture that’s out there doesn’t hold any water,” Sackheim says. “They have a close relationship and that continues to play out for the rest of the season. Not in any way is it a romantic relationship.” Series creator Nic Pizzolatto corroborated Sackheim’s comments in an Instagram post over the weekend responding with a simple “No” to a comment reading: “Roland’s Gay !!!” In the same post, Pizzolatto also cleared up any questions around the sexuality of Harris James (Scott Shepherd) who leeringly complimented Wayne on his body in Episode 6: “Harris is not gay. He was messing with Wayne (effectively) because Wayne was messing with him.”
As “Still Watching” co-host Richard Lawson pointed out on the podcast last week, sexuality as “plot twist” is not exactly a good look for a TV series in 2019, so we’re relieved to report that True Detective isn’t peppered with secret gay characters. But Sackheim points out that Tom and Roland’s connection is still incredibly important. “That connection to Tom is a port by which we view Roland’s humanity,” he explains. “It’s not something we get a chance to see a lot. [Roland’s] a cynical guy by nature. As the story progresses he becomes more and more cynical.”
We’ll see Roland’s cynicism potentially reach a boiling point in the final two episodes of True Detective. Tune into “Still Watching: True Detective” after Episode 7 for more discussion of the episode and insights from Sackheim on what to expect from the finale.
This story was originally published by Vanity Fair
via USAHint.com
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