TV Dad of the Year: True Detective's Colin Farrell

True Detective Season 2 debuted Sunday night on cable programming juggernaut HBO. The business behind Fraggle Rock, Tales From the Crypt, Band of Brothers, Entourage and Game of Thrones have carved out their own niche of television that is nearly unrivaled in terms of quality, innovation, sex and fan following. Sunday saw the launch of several new series joining TD like the "Entourage with sportsball" Ballers and some show with Jack Black about the government. While I hadn't seen the first season of Detective, I've only heard good things. Season 2's cast and premise intrigued me much more with a trio of Los Angeles cops (Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch) getting involved with a murder and a gangster turning businessman (Vince Vaughn) falling somewhere in between. Basically each cop is fucked up in their own way (Farrell is crooked and drunk, McAdams has hard sex and alienates everyone around her while Kitsch can't get it up and resorts to extreme danger to feel alive).

It only took one scene to guarantee my return viewing and that included one Colin Farrell along with a set of brass knuckles. Basically, Farrell's Detective Ray Velcoro is trying to be a good dad to a kid that was the result of a seemingly unsolved rape. But his kid is his kid even if the parents are separated. When a bully messes with said kid's new shoes, Velcoro goes to bully's house, slips on some knucks and proceeds to pummel the father while making bully son watch as a lesson. It's as horrifying as it is hilarious, a real vicarious experience for anybody who's ever dealt with an asshole.

A talented and likable actor, Farrell has become a Hollywood fixture even if he's never quite been able to crack it. Early films saw him working with the likes of Joel Schumacher and Steven Spielberg opposite Tom Cruise, Al Pacino and Bruce Willis. A fun performance as Bullseye in Ben Affleck's Daredevil was followed up by popcorn leading man vehicle S.W.A.T. but 2004's ill received Alexander and 2006's Miami Vice showed an eclectic and perhaps unfocused career path reflected by his booze and women filled Hollywood lifestyle. In Bruges showed he could still be funny yet sensitive but 2012's big budget Total Recall was pretty lame. I didn't even know he was in it but his portrayal as a day dreaming, alcoholic father in Saving Mr. Banks is arguably the most impressive. Detective debuted to mixed reviews comparing it too closely to the first season while drawing in a solid 3 million plus viewers. See you next week!