The better detectives


"Some mistakes last a lifetime. Don't let this be one of them." - Terry, "Murder in the First"

This summer there was a lot of buzz about "True Detective's" second season. The anthology series had lofty ambitious and the weight of a ton of fan expectations, but it fizzled with both. There was plenty of promise in the story -- featuring a murder investigation, corrupt cops and corruption in general in California. But it didn't come together.

On TNT this summer, "Murder in the First," the Steven Bochco drama, is going through its own second season. It doesn't have a lot of buzz or acclaim, and it doesn't have as high profile of actors. But it's doing a similar story in a much better way.

"Murder in the First" is its own kind of anthology. The primary cops stay the same, but it follows a different crime each year. The first year, the crime fizzled and the show was only OK. I, in fact, was on the fence about seeing a second season. But this year, the show has come into its own.

Taye Diggs and Kathleen Robertson make for compelling leads, and the slow burn of this season-long mystery has been great to unpack. The irony is that its followed the same blueprint in terms of story as "True Detective," a much more heralded show. But the devil is in the details -- or in this case in the execution -- which has been much stronger with "Murder in the First."

Two episodes remain in this second season, and I can't wait to see how it all comes to fruition.

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