It’s not everyday I get to talk to two of my favorite people I’ve never met in the real world. And within the next month, that will all change. I asked Garrett Collins, host of the Binge Aftertaste, to join me in discussing a few things I’ve had on my mind lately. Most notably, those two things are the True Detective S2 finale and all of the crazy changes that are going on in Garrett’s life right now (think Caitlyn Jenner).
Before that, we call the great Adam Simon because we’re bored with our own stories and voices. Adam, en route to Utah, hypes up the world premiere of Synapse this Saturday August 22nd at the Wizard World Chicago Comic Con! Adam has been on the Binge Aftertaste a few times, as well as the director Kenlon Clark. These guys are super pumped about this project and we can’t wait to check it out. Adam also talks about karaoke’ing with and getting choked out by Noah Danby, a project he wants to work on with Clifton Collins Jr., and how he’s going to crash my wedding and sing Spanish love songs. Orale! Bring it!
After Adam dumps our asses, Garrett and I get down to business. I was so affected by Frank’s death that I had to write about it. Being that Garrett is one of the few people that I know that loved it, I had to talk to him about it. What I wrote, the “companion piece”, that we discuss in this show is below. We then get into what has been going on in Garrett’s life and how he’s dealt with some of the hurdles and hoops he’s had to go through. This gets DEEP yo. If you liked my discussion with Luke, you’ll definitely love this. Enjoy.
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Dignity and Frank Semyon
“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My
courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
It was early on that I wrote off the second season of True Detective, and for the most part, I maintain my
feeling that the season was self-flagellating with poorly written dialogue, bad storytelling masked as
“mystery” or “noir”, and acting that didn’t live up to the combine talents of those involved.
Nevertheless, and despite my own misgivings as well others’ opinions that I respected, I pushed forward.
What was it that kept me engaged each week? Was I hate-watching this? Was the viewing experience
itself my own exercise in masochism, deliberately tying myself to the tracks, waiting for the shit train to
plow over me?
Whatever the reason, I continued watching without consequence and took in the season finale, partially
thankful that it was finally over and then surprised by how much I liked it. Looking back, alright, that
was a first for the season. The “shootout” episode was ok, Woodrough’s being killed was tragic but
needed for the story, Ana was always annoying, and Ray and Frank were the more interesting
characters, even though their storylines were sometimes flimsy at best. I went to bed that night like I
normally do.
And then something happened.
I woke up in the middle of the night.
I was haunted.
I couldn’t get back to sleep.
And my mind went back to the season finale. In particular, all I saw was Frank Semyon, limping through
the desert like a wounded lion, still determined, still maintaining the strength to push on. And it wasn’t
even so much for Jordan and the plan to hightail it to Venezuela that he was pushing on for, but himself.
It’s a drive to move forward, in spite of everything, even with a fatal gut wound. I realized that what
Frank was fighting for, and had always fought for, was maintaining his dignity, the last remaining virtue
he had when everything else was out of his control.
If you think back to Frank’s storyline in the season, all of the long, ponderous monologues and
reflections, you realize that Frank’s ultimate fate was hi[...]
