HBO Boss Defends True Detective Season 2, Promises the Finale Is "Enormously Satisfying"

Despite the harsh criticisms of season two, exec Michael Lombardo has full faith in showrunner Nic Pizzolatto

By Sydney Bucksbaum Jul 30, 2015 11:50 PMTags
True DetectiveHBO

It's no secret that True Detective season two is not as good as its groundbreaking and award-winning first season. Just google the words "True Detective season two" and see what pops up. We'll wait.

Yeah, the reception has been...well, less-than-desirable, let's put it that way.

But despite all the harsh criticisms the sophomore outing has earned, HBO boss Michael Lombardo is "enormously proud" of this season. 

"I think the show works," Lombardo said during the 2015 Summer TCA press tour. "First of all, I think you need to watch the entirety of it. I have and I think it's enormously satisfying."

Watch: Colin Farrell Dishes Major Scoop on "True Detective"

But is there anything that Lombardo would change if/when the network greenlights a third season from showrunner Nic Pizzolatto?

"I'm not in the business and never been in the business of micromanaging the process in a sense of telling the writer that this is the beat they need to follow in how they tell a story," Lombardo says. "I think Nic is a very—adventurous is not the right word—he's a bold storyteller. I mean that only in the most positive of ways. I think he takes risks in how he lays out a story, in the pacing of stories and I think it pays off in this particular season."

And Lombardo is definitely interested in doing another season with Pizzolatto at the helm.

"I have already called him and said, ‘Nic, if you want to do a season three, let's start talking,'" Lombardo says. "I'm not calling him to say, ‘Let's talk about season three if you follow some rules of mine.' That's not a conversation I'm ever interested in having or think I need to have with Nic. What he's doing on True Detective is so much bolder and braver and ultimately, for me, satisfying, that I would happily be in business with him for a very long time."

True Detective airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.