Here's how things turned out for the main characters on the 'True Detective' season finale
The finale to season 2 of "True Detective" wound up to be as violent and unforgiving as the whole season. And that's a good thing. One of the only downfalls of the first season of the series was how nicely everything was tied up by the final episode, with detectives Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Hart (Woody Harrelson) limping off into the darkness as best friends.
It wasn't likely "True Detective" creator Nic Pizzolatto would do that a second time.
Here's how things turned out for the main characters of season 2 that made it to the finale.
Detective Ray Velcoro
After tracking down the shotgun-wielding crow-mask wearing guy who shot him in episode 2 (turned out it was one of the twins from the blue diamond heist, not Burris)...
However, Velcoro makes the mistake of attempting to see his son one last time. It's a tough moment with his son having the glass-encased LAPD badge Velcoro gave him, but it gave crooked cop Burris (the one who killed Woodrough (Taylor Kitsch) in the penultimate episode) the chance to bug Velcoro's car with the hopes of Velcoro leading him to Bezzeridies.
But Velcoro sees what's happened and leads Burris and his goons instead to the mountains...
Frank Semyon
Following cleaning out the safes in the casino and clubs he owns before burning them to the ground, Semyon has one last piece of business, paying back Osip and McCandless for double crossing him on the rail line deal. After he and Velcoro are successful in that, Semyon takes his half of the $12 million and picks up a new passport and car before heading off to meet his wife. But on the way he gets cornered by the drug dealers he agreed to let them sell drugs at his clubs, and is driven against his will to the dessert.
Unhappy the clubs are no longer around, the men take $1 million from Semyon to close their business. But when one of their men wants Semyon's suit things go bad as Semyon smacks him around. One of the men stabs Semyon in the ribs during the scuffle and he's left in the dessert to bleed out.
With some powerful images in his final moments of life (seeing visions of his abusive father and people in the past he's done wrong)...
Detective Ani Bezzerides
Pizzolatto was criticized heavily for the lack of strong female characters in season 1, and though Bezzeridies was a vast improvement, she could have been better used in the finale.
After she and Velcoro sleep together, they learn that Woodrough is dead after Burris answers his cell phone. They can either make a run for it or continue to try to uncover what's really behind the Caspere murder. They choose the latter and track down the whereabouts of the twins who were orphaned after the heist of the blue diamonds in 1992.
Though Bezzerides comes to Velcoro's rescue when he's almost shot by Burris, Bezzerides is on the sidelines the rest of the episode. Preparing for Velcoro's arrival following his successful mission with Semyon to get the $12 million so they can take off to Mexico together. The plans change when he tells her that he's being tailed.
Velcoro ends up going to Mexico on her own. Time passes and she has a baby (presumably Velcoro's from their fling). She also racks down a New York Times reporter so she can hand off all the evidence she, Velcoro, and Woodrough compiled to take down the big wigs in Vinci. And she befriends Semyon's wife.
The final scene is Bezzerides and her child, Semyon's wife, and her bodyguard leaving together to a new life traveling through Mexico undetected.
Yes, an intentional message by Pizzolatto that he's capable to have a strong female lead, but it would have been great to see her in more of the action.