Honing in on the duo’s complex, deep South accents and Rust Cohle’s (Matthew McConaughey by way of McHale) inability to talk in anything other than philosophical limerick, the two minute video is less of a takedown and more of a goofy ode to the seriously dramatic series’ tension-building through eschewing. But man oh man did they ever nail the look and visual aesthetic of the series, didn’t they? From McHale’s ponytail and general demeanor (look at the way he paws at those beer cans. Also: Big Hug Mug! Yay!) to Rash’s perma-exasperated Marty Hart, there’s plenty of funny woven into the sketch thanks to True Detective’s highly stylized ways. Dare we say they're a season two dream pairing?)
But theirs is, duh, not the only parody out there on the Internets. No no no: in fact, The Soup’s silliness is merely one way to interpret the series. Several other takes on the show’s purposefully deceptive and philosophical leanings have found their way online. We’ve compiled some of our favorites for you, below:
Like this Law & Order-themed take on the opening credits, fitting perfectly in time with Dick Wolf’s universe of crazy cop shenanigans with its 90s look and goofy but iconic opening theme. The last ten seconds are particularly on-point:
Or this take on the opening credits — being the most Internet-y take, natch — which includes a bunch of cats. Seriously ferocious cats with ‘tude! Because cats apparently make anything and everything on the Internet instantly viral (and not with cat scratch fever, ahyuck):
Certainly, following the series’ finale this weekend (Sunday cannot come soon enough) it’s likely that we’re in for a shitton more of these parodies once the true identity of the killer is revealed. In the meantime we’ll be here trying to decipher what in the shit Rash and McHale just said.
