The ending of True Detective Season 2 left viewers with plenty to think about, as it wrapped up the Ben Caspere murder investigation in a unique way, with the case getting solved twice. Ray Velcoro, Ani Bezzerides, and Paul Woodrugh discover that a prostitute named Irina Rulfo has stolen Caspere’s belongings.
This included $5 million belonging to Frank Semyon (played by Vince Vaughn). This leads them to Rulfo’s pimp, Ledo Amarilla, and eventually into a deadly shootout in Vinci City. The confrontation claims the lives of several officers, but it ends when Ledo is killed.
From badges to betrayals the end is never what it seems (Photo: True Detective Season 2/Arnold Shapiro Productions)Secrets buried under layers of power and corruption
With no way to question him and no more leads on Irina, the law enforcement agencies decide that Camarillo was the one who killed Caspere, and they close the case.
Two months later, Velcoro hands in his badge to work for Semyon full-time, while Bezzerides faces a demotion that forces her into the evidence locker at Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Meanwhile, Woodrugh gets promoted to Fraud Detective, keeping him off the streets.
However, Katherine Davis, the future Attorney General (played by Michael Hyatt), doesn’t buy the official story that Amarilla was the murderer and suspects a cover-up. She enlists the help of the original three investigators, keeping her investigation off the official record.
Semyon, now dealing with losses and having to downsize his lifestyle, strikes a deal with a Mexican cartel to track down and question Irina Rulfo. In return, the cartel runs drugs through Semyon’s nightclubs. Rulfo eventually reveals that a police officer had paid her to steal from Caspere.
However, before Semyon can find out which officer it is, the cartel kills Rulfo for working with the police. Meanwhile, Bezzerides goes undercover at a sex trafficking party in Central California, where she uses her sister’s identity.
While there, she and the other investigators witness the current Attorney General and the Police Chief of Vinci involved in the event. Velcoro and Woodrugh also find documents detailing a land deal involving Semyon, which further complicates the case.
Things go from bad to worse for Semyon, who ends up losing all his properties when an old business partner takes over behind his back. This motivates Semyon to burn down his properties and plan an escape to Venezuela.
He invites Velcoro and Bezzerides to join him, offering to help them steal money from his former partner, who has a big cash exchange planned for the next day. At this point, Woodrugh’s life comes to an end after being ambushed by Velcoro’s former colleague, Detective Burris (played by James Frain).
Velcoro and Semyon manage to steal $12 million and make their escape. However, everything falls apart when they split up. Velcoro, while visiting his son at school, finds that Burris has placed a transponder under his car.
He discovers it and decides to lead his tail into the Southern California mountains, planning to take them out one by one. He manages to take down a few of Burris’s men, but they eventually get him. On the other hand, Frank is intercepted by the Mexican cartel while en route to meet Bezzerides and their coyote.
They hijack his car and take him out to the desert to negotiate reparations for the loss of his properties. After giving them a duffle bag of millions, Frank’s pride gets the better of him, and he gets physical, leading to one of the cartel members stabbing him and leaving him for dead.
Bezzerides eventually makes her way to Venezuela, where she meets with Frank’s wife. She then gives a journalist the full story, including all the documents Woodrugh had stolen from the party.
The journalist urges Bezzerides to return to America to testify against the corruption, but she refuses, knowing that she and her son (who might be Velcoro’s) would never be safe, especially with several corrupt individuals now holding high-ranking positions of power such as Governor and Mayor.
What Was True Detective Season 2 About?
At its core, True Detective Season 2 is about power, betrayal, and the harsh reality of a world where trust is scarce and survival is a constant struggle. The pilot introduces viewers to three very different police officers, each struggling with their flaws.
Detective Ray Velcoro, from the Vinci Police Department, is a broken man dealing with his son, whom he isn’t even sure is his biological child. Years earlier, his wife was sexually assaulted, and nine months later, she gave birth to Chad.
Justice may be served but justice isn’t always fair (Photo: True Detective Season 2/Arnold Shapiro Productions)When Ray isn’t with his son, he is a corrupt officer working for Frank Semyon, a criminal entrepreneur with grand ambitions. Paul Woodrugh, a veteran and California Highway Patrol officer, finds himself suspended after an incident with an actress who accuses him of sexual misconduct.
However, what no one knows is that Woodrugh is secretly gay, a truth he hides due to fear for his life. The stress from the suspension leads him to take a night ride along the Pacific Coast Highway, where he stumbles upon a dead body that pulls him into the investigation of his life.
Antigone “Ani” Bezzerides, a CID agent with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, is another key player in the story. She’s just as dangerous with a knife as she is with a gun and struggles with a gambling addiction and self-destructive tendencies.
Ani’s troubled childhood is marked by her mother’s abandonment and her father’s leadership of a commune called “Good People,” which attracted various individuals. As the season progresses, some of Ani’s childhood memories start to resurface, but they remain incomplete.
She and Detective Velcoro work closely together on the Caspere case, which leads to them developing romantic feelings for each other. The body that Woodrugh finds is that of Ben Caspere, a business partner of Frank Semyon and City Manager for Vinci.
Caspere’s murder is at the center of a complex web of corruption, involving a large land deal meant to build a high-speed rail line in California. The three main law enforcement officers are tasked with solving the case, each for their reasons.
Woodrugh is involved because discovering the body gives him a way to end his suspension. Bezzerides is assigned to the case to uncover corruption in Vinci, and Velcoro, who works for Semyon, takes on the case to prevent the corruption from being exposed.
Caspere’s death complicates things for numerous powerful people. He was involved in a land deal with Frank Semyon, and together, they had been manipulating the land prices by spreading toxic waste to lower costs.
The California government was eager to buy the land for the rail project, allowing those involved to make a huge profit. However, Caspere’s murder throws everything into disarray, as he had been tasked with delivering $5 million to the right person.
Frank’s mission to recover the money becomes a major point of focus, with Velcoro working for him throughout the investigation.
