Rust Cohle - True Detective

After God gives Adam his first commandment not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge in the story of Genesis, he brings each animal to Adam so that he may name them.  “And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.”  Because none of the animals that were created was a suitable helper for Adam, God creates a new creature out of Adam’s flesh.  Adam names this creature, Woman.

Names in the Bible have huge significance.  With all the names and biblical references in the HBO television show, True Detective, the names of the characters deserve a second look, and Rust Cohle, played by Matthew McConaughey, is perhaps the most important one.

Rest is red.  For me, rust always evokes the image of dried blood, given blood’s iron content and the texture of how it dries.  Rust implies that a material has been weakened.  Rust is precisely that, rusty.  In the interview room with the two clueless detectives, we think that he has lost his edge, or perhaps his mind. 

Coal is black.  Coal embodies darkness, but it also has the potential to eradicate the dark.  Coal is dirty.  Whatever it touches gets sooty marks over it.  Coal has the potential to burn you. 

Rust Cohle is both the darkness and the blood.  He is messy.  Broken.  Rust Cohle evokes powerful imagery and that is echoed by the near poetry of the evil he faces.  A great name for a great character.

Officer Solverson - Fargo (TV Series)

I noticed yesterday the name of the female police officer, played by actress Allison Tolman, in the new FX Channel TV show Fargo is named Officer Solverson.  It struck me how unique the name is, especially in light of the story.  

“This is a true story,” reads the title card that plays during the openings of each episode. “At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.”  I love the way they draw attention to the names of the characters: Solverson, Grimly, Malvo, Nygaard.  The way that people know the history of those characters because of the name; Malvo strikes hate or fear into the gangsters's hearts when they hear it.  Names carry legends on their wings.

Warning, there be Spoilers ahead:

In the first episode our first impression of her is as seemingly dim witted when she misses some easy details around the scene of the car wreck that we witnessed the night before…we already know what to look for, but she doesn’t.  The chief of police goes easy on her and points out how hard it is to pick up on those details, especially when it's a new thing to be at a grim crime scene, but our impression of her is already set.  The name “Solverson” starts out as being ironic.

We learn later that Officer Solverson's father is a retired police officer himself, who left the force after a particularly gruesome case several years prior.  He really wants her to leave as well, and we can see how much he worries about her.  I may be wrong, but I think it's interesting how the last part of the name is "son"…it makes me think that the father may have wanted a son instead of a daughter.  So their dynamic is particularly interesting precisely because he is so supportive of her career at the same time as he banters with her about her quitting and helping out at the restaurant instead.

This week's episode "Buridan's Ass" leaves her shot down from friendly fire by Gus Grimly, played by Colin Hank's, and it isn't clear whether or not she will survive.  In light of that, one wonders the effect that this will have on Grimly.  Solverson becomes more than just a character that solves a case.  She is a role model or moral tour guide for Hanks.  In the same episode we discover that Hanks only became a cop after being rejected by the Post Office and he needed a steady job to take care of his kid.  He references that before his wife died, he may not have had a job, leading one to think that maybe he was an unreliable slacker.   

Solverson maybe the calatyst that changes him from a weak character that the Duluth police rightly have relegated to animal control (which seemed unfair until we learned about his background) to drive him to stand up to protect his community and his daughter?  Solverson may not catch the criminal, but perhaps she is solving a bigger issue.

BTW, the IMDB credits list her as being in all 10 episodes, so don't count her out just yet!

Keep looking at the names!