Time may be a flat circle, but that doesn’t mean writing on a rushed deadline can’t impact the quality of your work. That just might be what was responsible for the disappointing second season of True Detective.

In an interview with The Frame, HBO’s President of Programming, Michael Lombardo, was asked about what went wrong with Nic Pizzolatto’s acclaimed show from the first year to the second. Lombardo took responsibility for possibly rushing production before it was ready.

“When we tell somebody to hit an air date as opposed to allowing the writing to find its own natural resting place, when it’s ready, when it’s baked — we’ve failed,” he said. Lombardo mentioned that season one had been something Pizzolatto has been working on for a long time; whereas he was asked “to deliver [season two] in a very short time frame.”

While critical acclaim for the second season was…ahem, lacking, the ratings weren’t, which might explain why Lombardo was hesitant to call the season a failure. However, he said he doesn’t plan on repeating the mistake of rushing a project to air before it is ready. “And so I think that’s what I learned from it. Don’t do that anymore,” he said.

As someone who actually enjoyed season two (no, it wasn’t season one, but the acting was generally good, I was still interested in what happened, I looked forward to the show every week, and some of the bad stuff was so bad it was amazing), Lombardo’s comments make sense. The story felt incomplete and bizarrely paced.

Considering HBO has a deal to continue working with Pizzolatto, this could be a smart executive taking a bullet to protect the talent, but to me it rings as honest assessment.

But I still hope Lombardo tells Larry David to hurry up and get us another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

What did you think of True Detective season two? Tell us in the comments below.

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HT: collider.com
Image: HBO