Why Woody Harrelson Deserves the Emmy for 'True Detective'

Detective Marty Hart might not have been a good guy, but he was a great character

Photo: Jim Bridges/HBO

WARNING: Video contains profanity

Though Woody Harrelson’s Martin Hart spent much of True Detective being a straight man to Matthew McConaughey‘s Rustin Cohle and doling out droll reaction lines like, “Stop saying odd s—,” Harrelson wasn’t just comic relief.

While McConaughey’s character was more or less the show‘s weird, overactive brain, Hart was its deeply flawed soul. Unfaithful, drunk and violent, he managed to prove himself by the season’s end, and in doing so, gave Harrelson an opportunity for some of the best acting of his career.

The scene above, in which Hart recuperates in the hospital after a bloody confrontation with the show’s villain, is a particular highlight – as one of the show’s deep South characters might say, that’s some good cryin’.

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