True Detective (HBO)

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i love the show. i could really identify with rust and felt like he was some sort of feminist superhero. but i was a bit disappointed in the way the season ended. i won't say why because i don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't already seen it.

In the wake of Rust's blood sacrifice, the Yellow King exerts power over Rust and turns him into exactly the sort of person Rust once denigrated, a person at peace. After Rust describes his near-death experience to Marty, Marty reminds Rust that he used to look up into the sky and tell stories about the stars. It's another interesting "little priest" moment for Rust?him spinning stories about the bright stars when the Yellow King is linked to the rising of black stars. Rust now views that as "the oldest story?light versus dark." Marty looks up and replies, "[I]t appears to me that the dark has a lot more territory." But as the two men hobble back to Marty's car, Rust finishes with, "Once there was only dark. If you ask me, the light's winning."

Should we believe this newfound optimism? It's interesting that, in the very next shot, we see the night sky that Marty and Rust were just discussing. What do we see?

No stars. In fact, the only light we see in this scene isn't cosmic; it's from human-made lighting. Rust can't actually see the true, cosmic light because it is hidden in light pollution, hidden by human-made light just as the true struggle against the Yellow King is hidden behind human religion. Rust may have scored a point against the Yellow King, but it appears that the cosmic entity has knocked Rust off the chessboard.