So, that first episode...
EDIT: SPOILERS abound, derp. Should've put the disclaimer originally.
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I can't say I wasn't a little disappointed. I think I went in with pretty realistic expectations -- I never expected it to be as good as S1, which I think was kind of a "lightning in a bottle" situation for several reasons -- but there quite a few things that felt like a tangible step-down in quality to me here.
For starters the cinematography was super inconsistent. There were absolutely some fantastic shots scattered around (the motorcycle-at-night sequence was a standout, with Justin Lin showing off that Fast & Furious skillset), but if often felt like it would randomly lapse into a more typical, synthetic-feeling TV show look. Also, it seemed like they were trying to use the same stylistic method for shooting LA as they did with the Bayou and...it just doesn't quite work. Some folks have been saying that it's because the Bayou is just more exotic and we're all so used to seeing LA on screen, but I don't think that's really the main issue. Instead, I think the problem was that there was a great sense of coherent geography and place with S1, while here it feels like they were kinda just throwing around (admittedly beautiful) overhead shots of highways and industrial parks without them feeling they were really establishing a particular location.
Which comes to another issue of the opener, the editing/pacing. It just felt like it was all over the place -- literally and figuratively. Very disjointed. In S1, only the two leads had any real depth as characters I think, which was fine since the whole show was structured around them. With this, we have twice as many leads, all who seem potentially interesting (especially McAdams and Kitsch), but most of their supporting cast were non-entities. Clearly this is going to change, what with the ending of the episode pretty blatantly bringing them all together, so I'm hoping that was just a structural quirk of the introduction.
My biggest problem though was probably the writing/tone. It really felt forced to me, more than once, to the point of straddling on self-parody. The endlessly brooding and ominous music, the almost hilariously over-the-top pseudo-philosophical dialogue (Never act hungry, even when you're eating/I welcome judgement/Everybody gets touched), the fact that every main character comes off as some different shade of glum and broken, etc.
As I write it sounds like I hated it, which I didn't. I actually liked all four main characters and their actors. Again, McAdams and Kitsch feel like they have the most potential, particularly the latter as he at least seemed to be the furthest from a typical trope. Colin Farrel's "unhinged, alcoholic, dead-beat father detective with a dark past" is somewhat freshened up by being so, so ridiculously unhinged. The part with Aspen and his father was both disturbing and darkly humorous for just how crazy it was. And ironically, even though I liked Kitsch, I feel his character should have been basically been saved for the last quarter of the episode, as it would have cut down slightly on the scattered feeling.
I'm still onboard and looking forward to the season, and I actually have a feeling that the show will be stronger at the end than the beginning (the opposite of last season, I think), so we'll see how it goes.
