Honestly, HBO doesn’t even need to advertise the second season of True Detective – after that powerhouse of a freshman year, audiences will be tuning in when the anthology series returns later this month regardless of whether they see any trailers. Nevertheless, the premium network is piling on the atmosphere in its marketing campaign for the second season, and the result has been some remarkably moody and reticent previews.
The latest two (one above, one below) don’t offer much by way of plot, but they fleetingly introduce tormented characters played by the likes of Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch. And from the looks of it, the new characters will have demons to rival Rust Cohle’s.
Unlike the first season, which focused on two cops (Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson) trailing a serial killer over two decades, the new string of episodes follows three law-enforcement officials (Farrell, McAdams and Kitsch) brought together by a bizarre and brutal murder that somehow involves a career criminal (Vaughn). Their hunt for justice and fight for survival lead them into the seedy and dangerous underbelly of California, where hard people make hard decisions under the rays of a scorching sun.
True Detective will begin its sophomore run on June 21, with two episodes helmed by Fast & Furious director Justin Lin.